Baildon Town Council
Page originally called Baildon Parish Council. Baildon Parish Council changed their name to Baildon Town Council
Getting Started
For a number of years there have been people promoting and enquiring about the formation of a Local Council for Baildon and the Shipley Times and Express reported on Wednesday 26th April 1978 on one such initiative by Baildon Residents Association - Residents' views sought on need for parish_council
Churches Together, Baildon Community Council, and other groups held meetings about the prospect of there being a Local Council. Representatives from nearby, and newly formed Local Councils talked at some of the meetings, it was also a topic for several Neighbourhood Forum meetings. There was a reasonable level of interest and in 2004 a working party titled Proposed Baildon Town Council Steering Group was created.[1]
There is a legal procedure to follow in forming a Parish Council.
Bradford Metropolitan District Council (in 2005) were 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 petition, 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." After a lot of hard work the petition, with 1356 signatures, was handed in to Shipley Area Committee on October 7th 2005.[1] 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 its 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).
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 Committee 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.
Baildon Wards, Nominations and first Councillors
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.
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.
| Draft Ward Name | Ward Nmae | Polling District | Electors Total 14071 |
Nominations. Bold indicates elected. Number in brackets is vote count. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | West | 1A | 1,660 Ballot papers 782 Poll 47.11% |
Election | Derek Ernest Green (344), Peter Hartingdon (Independent) (376) and Roger L'Amie (561) |
| Baildon Moor | North | 1B | 2,186 | No Contest | Mark Nicholas Fisher and Valerie Margaret Townend |
| Jenny Lane | East W | 1C | 2,367 Ballot papers 857 Poll 36.21% |
Election | Joanne Marie Crowther (552), George William Everall (Independent) (344) and Paul Richard Marfell (488) |
| Tong Park | South East | 1E & 1F | 1,860 | No Contest | Debbie Davies and Eddie Ward |
| Ferniehurst | South | 1G, 1H & 1J | 3,466 | No Contest | Stephen Albert Heaton and Renee Lancaster |
| Baildon Green | South West | 22A & B | 2,532(previous) | No Contest | No Candidates |
In 2007 Baildon got its own Parish Council with up vacancies for 12 councillors, 2 per ward.
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.
A scan of the December 2007 Prosider "Baildon Local News".
Council Logo
At the 12 June 2007 meeting it was agreed that local schools should be approached for the design of a logo for the council. The artwork of Emily Rhodes of Hoyle Court Primary School was selected by the Council to be the graphical part of the logo and letterhead.
Office and Meeting Locations
For the first few years the Council's address, the Clerk's office, and meetings were in the old building of Baildon Community Link before moving to the new building.
In 2007 the Council visited the Towngate Rooms that were no longer being used, with a view to the Council taking them on. With the old building at Baildon Community Link seeming to be suitable, taking on the Towngate Rooms was thought to be too much, too soon.
The office then moved to the Ian Clough Hall. With the demolition of the hall the office moved to above the library at 2 Northgate, Baildon. This was originally intended to be temporary accommodation while the Conservative Club was refitted. As of 2024 this refit looks unlikely.
Various locations have now been used for meetings.[2] Full Council meetings were often in the lounge of Baildon Community Link also Wesley's of Baildon Methodist Church on Newton Way. Annual meetings have been held at Sandal Primary School, West Lane. Sub-committee meeting were held in various locations such as
- Council office of 2 Northgate
- rooms of Wesley's of Baildon Methodist Church
- rooms at St John's Church
- rooms at Baildon Community Link
- rooms at St James Church
-
Baildon Link. (Decontamination Unit) -
Baildon Community Link -
St James -
St Johns -
Baildon Methodist Church
Councillors by surname
| Name | Date | Ward | Responsibilities/Interests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathy Andrews | Co-opted June 2011-2015 | South East | |
| Joseph Ashton | Co-opted Oct 2008-2011 Appointed 2011-2015 |
South | Vice Chair 2010-2011 Chair 2011-2012 |
| Sarah Breen | 2020 | South | |
| Leslie Brook | Appointed 2011-2015 | South West | |
| Alan Clubb | In office 2021 | East | |
| Denis Colman | Co-opted July 2007-2011 | South East | |
| Vicky Christensen | May 2019- | South West | |
| Joanne Crowther | Appointed 2007-Resigned Dec 2008 | East | Xmas Lights 2008- Carnival 2008 |
| Debbie Davies | Appointed 2007-Resigned May 2009 | South East | Youth Champion 2007- |
| Gill Dixon | In office 2020 | East | |
| Anne-Marie Dooley | In office 2019 | West | |
| Sue Hewitson | In office 2021 | South East | |
| Mark Fisher | Appointed 2007-2011 Appointed 2011-2015 |
North | Chair 2007-2008 Vice Chair 2008-2010 |
| Chris Flecknoe | Appointed 2011-2015 | East | Vice Chair 2011-2012 |
| Peter Haley | Appointed at meeting Mon 9 Feb 2009 | East | Planning Review Committee |
| Peter Hartingdon | Elected 2007-2011 Elected for 2011-2015 Resigned |
West | Planning Review Committee 2007-2009 (Chair 2008 -2009) |
| Stephen Heaton | Appointed 2007-July 2008 resigned | South | Planning Review Committee 2007 - 2008 |
| Roger Lamie | Elected 2007-2011 Elected 2011-2015 |
West | Eco warrior 2008 - Staffing Committee 2007- |
| Renee Lancaster | Appointed 2007-2011 | South | Baildon in Bloom 2007-2011 |
| Barney Lerner | Co-opted June 2011-2015 | South East | |
| Rebecca Malekottodjary | Co-opted Oct 2007-Resigned | South West | Staffing Committee 2007- |
| Paul Marfell | Elected 2007-2011 | East | Vice-Chair 2007-2008 Chair 2008 - Planning Review Committee 2007 - (Chair 2007-2008) Parish Council Liaison Rep. 2007- Staffing Committee 2007-2011 |
| Alan Martin | Co-opted Feb 2010-2011 Appointed 2011-2015 |
South West | Planning - 2011 |
| Stephen Place | In office 2019 | South East | |
| David Reed | In office 2020 | West | |
| Paul Sharkey | In office 2019 | North | |
| Alan Smith | Co-opted Oct 2007-2011 | South West | Baildon in Bloom 2007 - 2010 Chair 2010-2011 |
| Marian Taylor | Appointed 2011-2015 | South East | |
| Denise Thomas | Co-opted July 2009-2011 | South East | |
| Maggie Town | In office 2019 | North | |
| Val Townend | Appointed 2007-2011 Appointed 2011-2015 |
North | |
| Eddie Ward | Appointed 2007-Resigned May 2008 | South East |
Councillors by ward
The names in bold should be the latest councillors in the list but not necessarily the current councillors.
| Ward | Name |
|---|---|
| South East | Eddie Ward Debbie Davies Denis Colman Denise Thomas Marian Taylor Barney Lerner Kathy Andrews Stephen Place Sue Hewitson |
| North | Mark Fisher Val Townend Maggie Town Paul Sharkey |
| South West | Alan Smith Rebecca Malekottodjary Alan Martin Leslie Brook Vicky Christensen |
| East | Joanne Crowther Peter Haley Paul Marfell Chris Flecknoe Alan Clubb Gill Dixon |
| West | Peter Hartingdon Roger Lamie David Reed Anne-Marie Dooley |
| South | Renee Lancaster Stephen Heaton Sarah Breen Joseph Ashton |
Warden
The Parish Council appointed their first warden, Keith North, in October 2008. He resigned March 2010.
Mark Scrimshaw was recruited as warden June 2011 and retired September 2023.[3] His replacement was not being considered.
