Bradford Council’s executive has agreed a referendum for May, or whenever the local elections take place. Steeton-with-Eastburn parish councillors and Silsden Town Council decided in 2014 to develop a joint plan. The final draft was completed late last year. The 87-page document will help determine issues such as which areas of land should be protected from development – and where development should be encouraged. Highlighted in the plan is a decline over the years in traditional employment opportunities. Three of Steeton’s mills have closed and the number of shops in the area has fallen. Silsden once had 15 textile mills, but all of those have now closed – with many converted into flats or demolished.
She said: He was a lovely guy, he was a joy. I put him forward as Lord Mayor and was so happy to serve as his deputy. He was so lovely, he has a lovely wife and a lovely family and he was a really good friend to me. I always felt like part of his family, he always made you feel welcome and I m really upset by this, it s so shocking I still can t believe its true. I thought he was starting to get better; it s a shock. He will be truly missed, I went to Pakistan with him last year and it was such a good time, we laughed every day.
Bradford Council has been allocated nearly £2.3 million from the Government’s winter grant scheme. The initiative is designed to help ensure that children, families and vulnerable individuals don’t go hungry or without utilities and other essential items. Council chiefs are working with schools and community and voluntary-sector organisations to direct the help where it is most needed. Most of the money will go towards preventing school children from going hungry – but assistance will also be targeted towards care leavers, vulnerable groups such as refugees and asylum seekers and Roma communities, and households struggling with utility costs. Funding has been made available to voluntary and community groups to tackle school holiday hunger for the festive break and the February half-term.
AN ambitious plan has been developed to support the district’s recovery from the pandemic. The Bradford District Economic Recovery Plan sets out a blueprint to sustain jobs and boost productivity, whilst building a “resilient” economy. Bradford Council’s executive will discuss the document at its next meeting, on January 5, and it will be shared with key stakeholders and potential funders. The plan responds to local challenges including a rapid rise in unemployment, a gap in skills and poor connectivity. It also addresses national challenges including the economic fallout from full and partial lockdowns, social inequalities made worse by the pandemic, increased pressure on public finances and the UK’s exit from the EU.
RESEARCH has shown that 11,000 workers in the Bradford district are at risk of unemployment due to the pandemic. Professor Marc Cowling – from the University of Derby – and Professor Ross Brown, of the University of St Andrew’s, examined the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on the 100 largest cities and towns in the UK. They found that 1,353 businesses across the Bradford district were at immediate risk of failing as they ran out of cash – putting 11,862 workers into unemployment with little chance of finding a new job. Prof Cowling said: “The immediate consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on the economies of our cities and towns will be extremely severe at a time when people are already struggling to make ends meet and pay their bills.”