Baildon Parish Council
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Baildon Parish Council
Contents |
Getting Started
There is a legal procedure to follow in forming a Parish Council. Bradford Metropolitan District Council are encouraging local communities to form Parish Councils.
Petition
The first step in getting a Parish/Town Council is to get a petition with a signature count of more than 10% of the electorate. In 2005 a pettition, which said: "We the undersigned wish to petition the Secretary of State for the formation of a parish council for the town of Baildon to be called Baildon Town Council. The Proposed Parish Council will cover an area as outlined on the attached map." was handed in to Shipley Area Committe. At the time Baildon had 12,836 electors and 1332 valid names where on the petition which represented 10.37%. The petition was therefore valid.
Shipley Area Committee at is meeting held on 7 December 2005 considered the petition and resolved (amongst other things):
- That the Secretary of State be notified of the petition.
- That residents of Esholt be consulted on whether they wished Esholt to be part of the Baildon Town Council proposal.
- That a ballot of electors in the proposed area (which includes Esholt if residents are in favour of being part of Baildon Town Council) take place between the 9 to 27 January 2006 asking electors whether they are in favour of establishing a Town Council for Baildon (Yes/No).
Who originated the signature collection?
Esholt
150 letters were sent out to registered electors in Esholt providing information on parish councils and asking the question "If a Baildon Parish Council is established should Esholt be included?"
33 responses were returned
| Yes | 14 |
| No | 18 |
| Undecided | 1 |
On the basis of these returns and following consultation with the Chair and Ward councillors of Esholt the boundaries of the proposed Town Council were not amended to include Esholt.
Ballot
Following the petition a postal ballot was held in 2006, (which month?) excluding Esholt, where the question was "Do you agree with the proposal to establish a Parish Council for Baildon?" and the response was:
| Yes | 3275 |
| No | 1571 |
| Majority for the proposal | 1704 |
| Rejected | 15 |
| Returned undelivered | 36 |
| Ballot Papers issued | 12,818 |
| Percentage poll | 37.92% |
As a result, in March 2006, the Shipley Area Committe resolved, amongst other things,
- That a recommendation be made to the Secretary of State supporting the establishment of a parish council for Baildon.
- That any information produced relating to the petition should state Parish Council and not Town Council.
There were various consultations about naming and councillor numbers and 12 came out as favourite. There were objections about the originally proposed ward names though no clear alternative suggestions were made so the names proposed at a meeting of Baildon Community Council were adopted.
| Draft Ward Name | Proposed Ward Name |
|---|---|
| Belmont | West |
| Baildon Moor | North |
| Jenny Lane | East |
| Tong Park | South East |
| Ferniehurst | South |
| Baildon Green | South West |
So now in 2007 Baildon is to get its own Parish Council with up to 12 councillors.
Baildon is split into 6 wards with 2 councillors for each ward. The nominations for the 2007 elections on May 3rd were as shown in the table below. Two wards had 3 nominations and therefore an election was held for those 2 wards. The names in bold are those that were elected. Baildon South West had no nominations.
| Ward | Polling District | Electors Total 14071 | Nominations. Bold indicates elected. Number in brackets is vote count. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ward - Belmont | 1A | 1,660 Ballot papers 782 Poll 47.11% | Election | Derek Ernest Green (344), Peter Hartingdon (Independent) (376) and Roger L'Amie (561) |
| North Ward - Baildon Moor | 1B | 2,186 | No Contest | Mark Nicholas Fisher and Valerie Margaret Townend |
| East Ward - Jenny Lane | 1C | 2,367 Ballot papers 857 Poll 36.21% | Election | Joanne Marie Crowther (552), George William Everall (Independent) (344) and Paul Richard Marfell (488) |
| South East Ward - Tong Park | 1E & 1F | 1,860 | No Contest | Debbie Davies and Eddie Ward |
| South Ward - Ferniehurst | 1G, 1H & 1J | 3,466 | No Contest | Stephen Albert Heaton and Renee Lancaster |
| South West Ward - Baildon Green | 22A & B | 2,532(previous) | No Contest | No Candidates |
Early Days
The first official meeting of the Baildon Parish Council was held on 14th May 2007 at 7:00pm in Ian Clough Hall. The nominated and elected people had met previously, 9th May 2007, in a side room of the Ian Clough Hall so that proper officers from Bradford Council could talk through the up and coming meeting and discuss the responsibilities being taken on.
Councillors
The Parish Council decided to try to co-opt 2 councillors for Baildon South West who lived in the ward. Three nominations were received and at their October 2007 meeting the Council voted to co-opt Alan Smith and Rebecca Malekottodjary as Councillors.
In May 2008 Eddie Ward resigned from his post as Councillor for Baildon South East. At the July 2008 meeting the Parish Council co-opted Denis Colman from 3 candidates that were nominated.
In July 2008 Stephen Heaton resigned from his post as Councillor for Baildon South. Stephen had been a member of the Planning Review sub-committee for 2007-2008
| Name | Date | Ward | Responsibilities/Interests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denis Colman | Co-opted July 2007- | South East | |
| Joann Crowther | 2007- | East | Xmas Lights 2008- Carnival 2008 |
| Debbie Davies | 2007- | South East | Youth Champion 2007- |
| Mark Fisher | 2007- | North | Chair 2007-2008 Vice Chair 2008- |
| Peter Hartingdon | 2007- | West | Planning Review Committee 2007- (Chair 2008 -) |
| Stephen Heaton | 2007-July 2008 resigned | South | Planning Review Committee 2007 - 2008 |
| Roger Lamie | 2007 - | West | Eco warrior 2008 - Staffing Committee 2007- |
| Renee Lancaster | 2007 - | South | Baildon in Bloom 2007 - |
| Rebecca Malekottodjary | Co-opted Oct 2007 - | South West | Staffing Committee 2007- |
| Paul Marfell | 2007 - | East | Vice-Chair 2007-2008 Chair 2008 - Planning Review Committee 2007 - (Chair 2007-2008) Parish Council Liaison Rep. 2007- Staffing Committee 2007- |
| Alan Smith | Co-opted Oct 2007 - | South West | Baildon in Bloom 2007 - |
| Val Townend | 2007 - | North | |
| Eddie Ward | 2007-May 2008 resigned | South East |
