Public Question Time
The meeting will hear any questions from the general public.
Questions should be emailed to executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk no later than 5:00pm Monday 25th November 2024 .
Members of the public can ask questions relating to the work of the Town Board or issues set out on this agenda.
Decision:
Public questions were received and a response provided.
Minutes:
Written questions from Councillor Paul Moore:
1) With the closure of Dewsbury Sports Centre confirmed this month, which I appreciate is not the remit of this board, my question is about the devastating impact this will have on footfall in the town centre.
With just over 20,000 visits per month now gone forever, coupled with Kirklees staff being removed from Empire House how has the Dewsbury Blueprint been amended to reflect this chronic loss of footfall and what is the town board’s strategy to try and address/replace this footfall?
Joanne Bartholomew, Director for Development, provided a response on the Dewsbury Blueprint which was developed with footfall in the town centre in mind. Projects such as the Town Park, the Market and the reopening of the Arcade were key to ensuring increased footfall in the town centre. Ms Bartholomew undertook to forward the Cabinet report associated with the Dewsbury Sports Centre to the Board Members and the questioner, as it contained information on the impact of footfall in the area.
The Chair noted that the Board recognised that the Dewsbury Sport Centre was a priority for the community, however, that funding secured by the Town Deal, and any future funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government could not be used to fund its re-opening. Funding for the Dewsbury Sports Centre was a matter for the Council to respond to. The focus of Dewsbury Town Board remained on the delivery of committed projects to support regeneration and on a programme of interventions to be brought forward through a long-term plan to support economic growth.
2) Since being elected as a Councillor in May 2023 I have seen shops and businesses shutting at an alarming rate, little if any enforcement of street drinkers and large groups of men congregating and intimidating people in the town centre, especially women. People perceive Dewsbury town centre as not being safe, which I think is a fair assessment. Can this board agree to multi agency approach to target visible enforcement on market days, which are Wednesday and Saturday, so we give the public confidence and try and protect the only two days where there is some reasonable footfall left in Dewsbury town centre?
The Chair responded to the question by advising that the Board supported multi-agency working and would be seeking revenue funding to help deal with compliance and safety and security in the next financial year.
Question from Christine Cagna:
“Since Dewsbury was, and is still, billed as a Leisure Town, what specific plans are in place to make this a reality as Dewsbury Sports Centre, which was a given in original plans, has now been closed permanently?”
The Chair responded to the question by referring to his earlier response on Dewsbury Sports Centre and advised that the Board would support leisure and health activity in the long term plan strategy.
A supplementary question was asked, which queried how long it would be until plans were put in place to provide Dewsbury residents ... view the full minutes text for item 5