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Local Council:Mirfield Town Council
Nicola Musgrave - January 2009
administrator@mirfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk
Kirklees Council are carrying out a review of the five parish and town councils in Kirklees. This is called a 'Community Governance Review'. The review covers: Denby Dale, Mirfield, Meltham, Kirkburton and Holme Valley.
The review opened on the 6th October 2008 with a first phase of consultation, where we asked people to give their views on whether parish and town councils:
- reflect the identities and interests of the community in their area
- are effective
- are convenient.
The 2nd phase consultation is now closed.
The responses received are currently being analysed and a report will be considered by the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee on the 30th June 2009. The committee will then make its recommendations for the future shape of parish councils in the area. The final decision will be taken by all 69 Kirklees councillors at a meeting of the full Council on the 15th July 2009.
| Welcome to Mirfield Town Council |
| About Mirfield Town Council |
The residents of Mirfield lamented the
loss of their urban district council, upon the formation of Kirklees way back in 1974. It wasn't long before
locals looked for ways to redress that ‘injustice’ and after much hard work a Parish Council was
formed in 1988, this evolved into today's Town Council.
All Town Councillors are volunteers and give up much of their free time to attend meetings, organise
projects and undertake case work for residents.
The council comprises of 16 councillors (members) who serve a four year term of office. Elections for the
whole council take place at the same time, unlike Kirklees which works on a rotating basis, and the next
elections for the whole town council will be in 2011.
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| Meetings |
Meetings of the Full Council are usually chaired by
the Town Mayor who this year (2009/10) is Councillor David Pinder; he will serve until next May when the annual
meeting of council will elect someone for the next 12 months.
His Deputy is Councillor Janet Hirst, who as the term implies substitutes for David when he is unable to
attend functions or chair the meetings.
In addition to the work in the Chamber they are also asked to represent Mirfield at events around the area
and to attend functions in Mirfield to represent the Town Council. The Town Mayor is invited to many functions
organised by neighbouring town and parish councils even over the Pennines in Saddleworth and Mossley.
The council has three meetings each month. They are Full Council on the 2nd Tuesday, Finance & General
Purposes on the 3rd Tuesday, and Plans Scrutiny on the Wednesday following the F&GP. .
In recent years the Town Council has also organised successful public consultation meetings on important
local issues such as policing, development applications and the Kirklees Boundary Review.
The council is committed to public engagement, this and is currently in the middle of a trial which allows
Mirfield residents to address or question the Town Council prior to the start of each meeting for a period of 3
minutes each (only one speaker is allowed when representing a group or organisation) and notification must be sent 7 days prior
to the meeting. Not long ago members of the public were not allowed to speak at Town Council meetings, so this
‘freedom’, is a great step forward.
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| Mirfield Town Council accounts |
Mirfield Town Council is funded by a levy or precept set against
each house in the town and collected by Kirklees for the Town Council with the annual rates.
This year (2009/10) the people of Mirfield are paying a total of £41,000.00 to fund the administration and
functions of the Town Council. For the first time in the memory of Mirfield Council, and probably any other,
the budget was set without a single councillor voting against it!
Full details of the budget are available for residents, however to remind people, a quick breakdown is:
- 30% of the money is used on administration (clerk's wages, costs, election coverage etc).
- 30% of the budget funds regular projects which the council is involved in at this time of year
residents will see the benefits in the hanging baskets around the town, the wonderful condition of
Eastthorpe Gardens in the Town Centre, and from a contribution to churches for maintenance of the clocks
in the town. Mirfield residents may also remember the impressive display of lights and activities over
the Christmas period.
- The largest chunk of the budget is this year allocated for
what Councillor Bolt referred to as community support, making grants to groups and causes in Mirfield, organising events such
as the Civic Service. Money can be used for to form a partnership with other groups or Kirklees Council
to boost projects in Mirfield, by partnership working it has been shown that the money the Town Council
has can be increased in some cases by 4 times to help worthy causes.
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| Committees |
To help run the council efficiently the council has two
sub-committees:- the Plans Scrutiny and the Finance and General Purposes.
The Plans Scrutiny, is chaired by John Nottingham.
The Finance and General Purposes, is chaired by Mark Hamilton
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| Contact us |
Mirfield Town Council
Council Offices
Huddersfield Road
WF14 8BA
Tel: 01924 499240
Email: administrator@mirfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk
Website: www.mirfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk"
Administrator to Mirfield Town Council: Nicola Musgrave
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