Birdsedge First School Eco-Schools and travel plan

I have been a governor at Birdsedge First School, representing the Parish Council, for several years now. I was invited to a meeting tonight (17/1/08) about the eco-schools initiative, and to help with the formation of the travel plan. I was really pleased that lots of children and parents were there too, all taking an active part in the meeting. This means that people really support the ideas, and the children will learn from the project, thereby making it truely sustainable.

The travel plan is an important part of the eco-schools initiative as this aims to reduce the number of car journeys to school, thereby reducing pollution. This will be a challenging project as only 15% of pupils attending the school live in the village, therefore most pupils (currently 82%) travel by car.

The plan is still being developed, but initiatives are already underway to meet an initial target of reducing car journeys by 5%. Children, parents and the local community are being involved at every stage, as was shown at the meeting. Surveys of residents, children and parents have taken place and are already feeding into the plan and actions taking place. Discussions took place about the main road being very dangerous, and people expressed strong wishes for traffic to be slowed by 30mph limits and flashing signs. Initiatives discussedfor the travel plan included:

1. Walking bus. Here parents are trained to escort children to school, and the children wear something reflective so they are easilly seen. Three parents have started operating this, which allows parents to drop children off at a set point away from school, thus reducing congestion around the gates. This will be appreciated by local residents, it helps children learn roadsense and encourages walking over car use. There has been a high volume of cars trying to pick up on Birdsedge Lane, which is narrow, and some parents just drive round in circles until their children come out. At the meeting it was said that it was operating successfully, drivers were slowing down and passing them widely, and that perhaps more children would join in the summer when it was warmer. Children at the meeting said they didn't like waiting outside in the rain till school opened, as the walking bus always arrives before school opens, so its timing will be adjusted. Also a shelter will be considered.
2. Car sharing. It was felt this would be effective, as people could take turns to drive. Many people pass near other's houses on their way to school. An official scheme has not yet been implemented, but ideas are being discussed and developed. Ideas included rewarding children who car share, and setting asside a special area for them to park in when dropping off.
3. Cycling. A few children sometimes cylcle to school with close parental supervision. Cyle lockers were discussed as some money is available to spend relating to the travel plan.
4. Buses. Parents expressed a wish for a service specially for children, so they would not need to come with them, as busses to return home are few and far between. Also timings of existing busses could be changed to suit school times, although young children could not travel on these on their own.

Eco-schools is a framework to help schools become more sustainable. Schools work towards bronze, then silver then green awards (www.eco-schools.org.uk) and do so as part of an international group of schools working towards education for sustainable development. Birdsedge First School is now working towards the bronze award, and the children are keen to achieve this.

A basic action plan has been introduced to achieve the bronze award, and ideas have been put forward for the silver award and green flag. These were discussed at the meeting. Ideas included an environment day, an eco code, assemblies, outdoor learning, a website to log onto and discuss ideas without using paper, and a school cookery club which will use veg grown in school. An energy audit has taken place, and issues raised are being investigated. There is currently a problem with the heating system in school as rooms are either too hot or too cold. Wind power would be a good demonstation project for renewable energy, especially due to weather conditions at Birdsedge!

Clayton West war memorial

On the 2nd October the parish council discussed the issue of the surrounds of the war memorial, as the area is looking tired, and the wall was damaged. I believe this is an important part of the village, and that the men who died in the war should be remembered in surroundings that help pay tribute to their sacrifice to this Country and our freedom.

Minute 241, accessible on the website, details this. We wrote to Kirklees to ask that a wall be repaired, and that consideration be given to improving the area. The wall was quickly patched up in time for Remembrance Sunday (well done Kirklees!). I am pleased to report that the area committee have since taken up this idea, as Cllr. Elaine Ward has mentioned this as a way to help improve the village centre.

What do you think needs doing to the area? Post your ideas and comments here. I believe a start would be to re tarmac the area immediately around the memorial, as this is very worn and damaged. The wall itself is attractive and made of stone, but the topping is made of concrete which spoils the appearance. The grass area could be improved by planting some shrubs, and maybe some flowerbeds. The wall could also have some steps put in to access the grass area easily, and improve its aesthetics.

On the Buses!

As people who use busses in this area know, there are many problems. I am on the busses subcomittee, with several other interested councillors. This was set up several months ago in response to the axing of the services to Barnsley, but many other issues have been discussed.

We are lucky to have a group of volunteers who travel every day on public transport and are keeping a diary of their experiences. Stagecoach have admitted that their services are unreliable in letters to the parish council and have set out action plans to remedy this. They are to introduce a new timetable from the 26th January, which allows more standing time inbetween runs, so that if they are running late then the knock on effect on the next run will be less. They also promised us new busses, the introduction of which unfortunately keep being delayed. They have taken note of overcrowding by ordering busses with 46 seats, as opposed to 40 seaters.

Will this be enough? When Yorkshire travel operated the 240 service, there were two companies each operating a 15 minute interval service, which were popular because they were frequent, reliable and comfortable fast new busses.

We have also looked at changes to the Wakefield buses, and discussed new routes to Barnsley. More information will be posted soon - watch this space.

Vacancy for Parish Councillor

If you are interested in local issues why not join us as a Parish Councillor?

We are a very friendly bunch who would welcome anyone new. It is fairly easy to get the hang of things - especially if you are good at talking like me! As you can see from our website we cover many local issues, and as a councillor you would have your say and be able to put issues on the agenda to be discussed.

The vacancy is for Skelmanthorpe ward, but you do not need to live or work in Skelmanthorpe, just in the Denby Dale Parish.

For more details please see our website http://www.denbydale.com/ and/or contact the Parish Clark Hazel Chowcat on 222963. Go on - give it a go!

Flooding

These photos show the floods of June 2007 in Clayton West and Scissett. If you have any photos or details of flooding elsewhere in the Parish please feel free to let me know and I could add them. The first photo shows houses in Clayton West next to the river. A new development is proposed in fields on the opposite side of the river bank. If these houses are built they will suffer a simular fate, and will add to flooding problems through contributing more water to the river. Water will run off hard surfaces such as roofs and roads into the river, whereas in fields it will soak harmlessly away.


Footpaths were also affected - in the second photo you can see there was no access to the bridge to cross the river - not even in wellies!




The Parish council has discussed the flooding issue and there is a report about this on the website. I believe possible local solutions could include creating natural flood areas in the valley floor so that fields are flooded not houses and businesses. This would also be good for wildlife (see photo 3).

If you feel strongly about this, write to your MP (Mary Creagh for Denby Dale Parish) asking for better defences. The government have issued compensation to many victims, but it is much better to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence. I (and many others in Britain) believe the current freak weather patterns are linked with global warming - more action immediately needs to be taken by the government to reduce greenhouse emissions.


The fourth photo shows behind the Junction Pub on Wakefield Rd. As can be seen the dirty waters of the river flooded these houses and the cellar of the pub, causing destruction and distress to all affected.
The fith and sixth photos show how the river took a new course through a new development (which is now a nursery) and ran across Wakefield Rd, causing chaos to traffic. The new Kitchen Salesroom business slightly further along the road was also devastated by the flooding. The waters had started receding when I took these photos, so the floods were even worse at their peak.

The 7th 8th and 9th photos show the proposed site of a new development of houses at Scissett - very wet!
The 10th photo shows the bridge and path on the snicket opposite the swimming baths leading to Clayton West, looking towards the main road. The bridge support was washed away but fortunately was quickly fixed.

The 11th and 12th photos show devastating damage to businesses at Scissett. The 13th shows the bridge on Barnsley Rd, Scissett / Clayton West, near the main Wakefield Rd. The river was very nearly onto the road here. The 14th and 15th photos show the damage to houses on Dearne Terrace / Barnsley Rd, near to Wakefield Rd. I used to live at number 7 and the river flooded here back in 2000, unfortunately soon after we moved in, so I have personally experienced the devastation floods cause. This shows flooding at this point is a reoccuring problem.

Unfortunately, some damage caused by the flood has not yet been rectified (January 2008). A bridleway leading from behind the Junction pub at Clayton West (Langley Lane then Frank Lane) up to Emley is still officially closed due to flood damage.

Cycle routes between villages

We have recently been discussing this idea to provide safe links between our villages without having to wrestle with the dangerous traffic on the main roads.

The first route we will look at is between Scissett and Skelmanthorpe along Pilling Lane. Ideas for other routes are welcome - we will then look at the possiblities of signage from the main road, better surfaces etc.

Not sure where we will get the funding from yet - we are only at the ideas stage so any comments are welcome.