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Mirfield Town Council

Nicola Musgrave - June 2011
administrator@mirfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk



Kirklees Council have carried out a review of the five parish and town councils in Kirklees. This was called a 'Community Governance Review'. The review covered: Denby Dale, Mirfield, Meltham, Kirkburton and Holme Valley.

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 2015.
Meetings
Meetings of the Full Council are usually chaired by the Town Mayor who this year (2011/12) is Councillor Mrs Patricia Sutcliffe; she will serve until next May when the annual meeting of council will elect someone for the next 12 months.

Her Deputy is Councillor Mr. John Nottingham, who as the term implies substitutes for Patricia when she 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 (F&GP)Committee on the 3rd Tuesday, and Plans, Environment and Development Committee 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. Mirfield residents are allowed 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.
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 (2011/12) the people of Mirfield are paying a total of £52,600.00 to fund the administration and functions of the Town Council.

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 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.
Committees
To help run the council efficiently the council has two sub-committees:- the Plans, Environment and Development and the Finance and General Purposes.

The Plans, Environment and Development, is chaired by Cllr. David Pinder.
The Finance and General Purposes, is chaired by Cllr. Mark Hamilton
Contact us
Mirfield Town Council
Council Offices
198 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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