News From Walton Village Hall

Housing developments

The Chartford Homes/Homes England application (18/07278/FU) for 26 dwellings continues on site. The development is now almost complete. The Homes England/Lovells development Ref: 17/07970 for 119 houses, has now started on site. There are a number of conditions that Lovells will be expected to abide by, and the Parish Council will be monitoring these very carefully to ensure they are delivered. Any queries or concerns about the development can be forwarded directly to Lovells at: Nicola. Bailey@lovell.co.uk Tel: 01132022200

Leeds Vaccination Programme

For information about the vaccination programme in Leeds please visit: www.leedsccg. nhs.uk/health/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/

Lifting of Lockdown Restrictions

The Government has produced a timetable and information about the lifting of restrictions: www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19response-spring-2021

Report a Problem

Residents can report a range of problems online to Leeds City Council concerning potholes, street lighting, dog fouling, blocked drains, footpaths, bridleways, fallen trees and street signs. Please make a note of the link and report problems directly at: www.leeds.gov.uk/parkingroads-and-travel/report-an-issue-with-a-road-orpavement

Police Report

Two crimes reported for March. Register for a community alert: For daily crime updates in your area please register for community alert. Here you will receive updates about crime in your area, and crime prevention advice. Visit www.wypcommunityalert.co.uk.

Crime Reporting

Please ensure that you report all crimes. For nonurgent issues and to pass on information, call West Yorkshire Police on 101. In an emergency (if a crime is in progress or you think the offenders are nearby), call 999. Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired people can use textphone 18001 101. Go to the West Yorkshire Police website - www.westyorkshire. police.uk. Click on the ‘Contact us’ button and a range of ways to report will appear including the 101 Live Chat System. Or click on the ‘Report it’ function and numerous types of crime which you can report online will appear. Contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team to speak to a local officer about community issues: Email: nel.npt@westyorkshire.pnn.police.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/ WYPLeedsNorthEast

Twitter: www.twitter.com/WYP_LeedsNE

To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Newsletter Sign Up

The Parish Council now produce their own electronic Newsletter. This can be accessed via our website: www.thorp-arch.org.uk If you would like to receive the newsletter and other information directly from us, then please sign up via the website. The Newsletter sign up box can be found on the Homepage.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Monday July 12th – 7pm 9pm. Meeting venue to be confirmed.

My name is Brian Eldred and I am the Chairman of the Walton Village Hall committee. I’m sure many of you know me.

I wanted to take the opportunity to bring you up to speed with what’s been happening in the Village Hall over the last 12 months. Despite the pandemic, we have many pleasing things to report from the last 12 months. We will be organising an AGM: the date of this will be Monday 28th June, assuming the Covid roadmap goes as planned. In the last 12 months we have continued to earn good levels of income which is very important, as it allows us to not only maintain the building, but also to make improvements to our wonderful Village Hall. We have been able to do this in a Covid safe way and predominantly from one client offering essential worker services. A noticeable investment has been the resurfacing of the car park, which is now secure, even and safe to walk on or park. We continue to make some small improvements, whether that be some touching-up, decorating or general cleaning, and we are all set to go to open up the Hall very shortly for future bookings and events.

Our website and automated booking system continues to work well and we are already seeing very promising signs for the second half of the year – indeed we have a number of new customers joining us and enjoying our facilities. We have several parties and weddings booked, which is something we have been hopeful for in our planning and organising. With this in mind, we are also working very hard on expanding facilities in the Village Hall, and we have plans in place to build a modest extension to the North West corner. This will house brand new toilet and washroom facilities, including for the disabled, and we are hopeful to make progress on this over the next 6 to 12 months. We have submitted a planning permission application with a view to understanding the requirements of the planners, especially from a conservation and construction perspective, and we hope to hear from them in the next few weeks.

As a result of the increased interest in our Hall, and with a view to the potential extension in the future, we are making a decision to install a container as a temporary storage facility on the right-hand side of the hall. This will allow us to house a lot of assets from the Hall, including the substantial number of chairs we have and many other items in storage, which are currently stored above the front porch and present health and safety issues - we don’t feel this creates a good impression for hirers of the Hall and could limit its use.

The tidying up of the inside of the hall will allow us to maximise the hiring capacity and the proposed extension that we have would allow us to turn the existing washrooms into storage facilities and hence the container is a short-term plan. We have consulted local residents who are comfortable with this decision and we will be using appropriate fencing to ensure it does not become unsightly.

As lockdown eases, we are considering a community get together for the village and will update you further if these plans materialise. As ever, we always appreciate your feedback and should you have any questions or queries before our AGM, please do not hesitate to contact me at the email address below.

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