5. Planning Committee
Planning Committee 1
This
was the section of the society that functioned most like a traditional
civic society. Its brief was the environment of Wilsden, taking in the
preservation of heritage, practical meeds of the day and a duty to the
future. In the 1970s the village’s 19th century heyday and signs of even
earlier times were still clearly to be seen. Farms, mills, blacksmith,
garages, churches, chapels, shops, small businesses, pubs and clubs and
houses spanned more than 300 years. WVS supporters did not want to put
everything before 1900 in mothballs but neither did they want to see
20th century development swallowing all that had gone before.
They
made a small but very visible start. Where Wilsden Autos now stands was
a gaping hole which had been the basement of a chapel demolished some
years previously, fronted by a neglected and overgrown graveyard with
rusting gates hanging off their hinges. With the consent of the chapel
trustees, WVS volunteers cleared and tidied the site, weeding and
cutting down grasses which were much higher than the wall fronting Main
Street. The workers included young people from local guides, schools and
Sunday Schools.
The
next project was the corner of Main Street and Crack Lane. Cottages had
been demolished and left in an untidy and dangerous state by Bingley
Council, with cellars half filled wuth rubble. Volunteers working mainly
at weekends over about five months, converted the corner into a garden
with turf supplied cheaply by the Sports Turf Research Centre at St
Ives. Flowers and shrubs were donated by society members and friends.
The result was a grassy area with a paved path and seats. It will be
seen later that this was so popular that there were protests at plans to
change it into a car park as part of a planning application in 2003.
Other
small visible improvements to the village scene include the strip of
garden at the front of what was to become St Matthew’s Church car park,
trees planted in the URC (now Trinity) churchyard and at many other
sites around the village. Several trees and shrubs were given by local
people who appreciated what was being done. The little triangle of grass
at the bottom of Crooke Lane was tidied and enhanced with a flowering
tree donated by Diane Jowett who owned a hair salon in Main Street. Many
hundreds of bulbs have been planted and several seats provided.
WVS
arranged for the village war memorial to be cleaned, the brass plaques
polished and sealed and the surrounding flower bed restored. The
cleaning was done professionally by D.Smith Ltd., stone cleaners from
Shipley, and the cost met from a War Memorial fund of £45.5.6 which had
been handed over to the village society. Society member Anne Lloyd
helped to clean the name plates.
All
these activities improved the environment in the short term but it was
evident from the beginning that any more significant success would
depend on there being some sort of agreed scheme against which planning
applications or objections could be measured. Neither Bingley Urban
District Council nor the West Riding County Council had any sort of plan
in place. A road line proposed in the 1930s by the county council had
never been either officially adopted nor rescinded and was causing
planning blight along Main Street. So Wilsden Village Society embarked
on producing a local plan well before such a thing became the norm. They
approached West Riding County Council for advice and looked at their
questionnaire which was intended for circulation only to new sections of
the village. The society produced a much more comprehensive version and
urged that the results should represent the whole village. The council
planners agreed to the modifications, and that it should go to one
household in four, covering old and new property. The village society
was involved in delivery and collection, which was completed by June
1970. WVS arranged a public lecture ‘Planning a Village’ which was held
in the school in June. This was in addition to the local authority
series of lectures ‘Know Your Village’ to be held in winter.
Questions
included where they wanted shops, went to school, sought entertainment,
how they expected the village to develop, what improvements they would
like, what developments they did not want. At the same time groups of
volunteers from the planning committee looked at aspects of village life
– roads, shops, schools and housing. The results were carefully
collated and analysed under a range of categories.
Key
problems discerned were: fragmentation of village social life, decay of
centre of village, lack of proper modern facilities. Given the
distribution of newer housing in 1970, key areas to the east of Main
Street were suggested for limited future expansion. Some of the gaps
along Main Street itself were suitable for more housing though it was
important that design should attempt, not to copy but to blend new with
old. In suggesting improvements to aid traffic flow, the plan cautioned
that the essential character of a twisting, winding village main street
should not be prejudiced and that nothing should be done that was likely
to increase the speed of traffic up and down Main Street. To provide
something of a green heart for the village, there should be no
rebuilding on that part of Main Street where demolition had opened up a
view of the park. There were sections on shops, schools, the industrial
future, footpaths, amenities and recreation.
‘A Plan for Wilsden’
was published in January 1971 and given comprehensive coverage by the
Bingley Guardian. It was produced first as a typed, foolscap version,
made available to all members of the village society. A copy was placed
in the Royd House reading room and anyone else interested could purchase
it for 5/- (25p). It was presented at a public meeting in the school on
January 21st, attended by over 200 people.