3. Wilsden Village Society
Wilsden Village Society?
A shorter version of the notice to local organisations was delivered to almost every house:
The Problem
The
recent expansion of Wilsden, bringing many outsiders to the village,
together with the heart of the old village slowly disappearing, will, if
nothing is done to incorporate the newcomers into a community,
eventually lead to Wilsden becoming a commuter suburb of Bradford and
Bingley.
A village society can help to prevent this.
The Aim
To promote recreational, social and cultural activities.
To investigate the feasibility of a community centre.
To
consider the future growth of Wilsden, and represent public opinion to
the planning authorities and to make other representation on behalf of
the people of Wilsden.
Public Meeting
A Public Meeting will be held on Tuesday 27th January 1970 at 7.30pm at Royd House, Wilsden.
Please come along, show your support. There is much we could do. Be prepared to help. Don’t just grumble when nothing is done.
The
upstairs room at Royd House was filled to capacity by 150 people, some
of them representing other village organisations. Counc. Calvert chaired
the meeting at which three members of the steering group spoke before
opening it up to general discussion.
Peter
Booth, a member of a long-standing Wilsden family, asked that one
priority should be to reclaim the Mechanics Institute by appointing new
trustees. It seemed not to be owned by anyone now that all the earlier
trustees had died and its committee was almost defunct following the
recent death of one of the few remaining members.
Counc.
Tyler explained how there was already the opportunity to influence
future development of the village. The local planning authority was
making a survey with the intention of producing a map showing future
development and the county assistant planning officer had asked for
help, which a village society could give.
Marcus
Catling spoke as a member of the Hebble Bus Action Committee, formed a
few months previously because of dissatisfaction with the local bus
service. His committee had put the village case to the Traffic
Commissioners with the result that recent fare increases were not as
high as they would have been. It was decided that the Bus Action
Committee should become part of a village society if one were to be
formed.
It was agreed that a village society should be set up, with the aims as proposed:
1. To promote the recreational, social and cultural welfare of the village and to encourage village activities in this respect.
2.
To provide so far as possible, or to procure the provision of, the
facilities that are at present lacking in the village – for example a
village hall or community centre.
3. To hold such public meetings as may from time to time seem desirable for the debating of vital issues affecting the village.
4.
To consider the future growth of Wilsden as a community and to
represent public opinion in discussion with the local authority, county
council or similar bodies.
.
The
suggested committee, which almost unchanged became the main, or general
committee of the society, was asked to draw up a constitution and bring
this to the official inaugural meeting.
The
officers proposed were president, Mrs. Barrie Downs; vice-presidents,
Counc. Mrs. Emily Hall and Mr. Reginald H.Fawcett; chairman, Counc.
Maurice Calvert; vice-chairmen, Mr. Peter Booth and Mr. Marcus Catling;
secretaries, Mrs. Anne Lloyd and Mrs. Janet Catling; treasurer, Mr. John
Hansen; legal adviser Counc. Gerald Tyler.
Counc.
Calvert had not had the opportunity to ask Mr. Fawcett, who was not at
the meeting and subsequently declined to hold office, although
supportive of the society’s work. Mrs. Lloyd became secretary of the
planning sub-committee.
Names
were recorded of those willing to serve as committee members and those
who would form social and planning sub-committees to share out the work.
On
Thursday April 9th 1970, a well-attended first annual general meeting
was held in what was then the County Primary School on Tweedy Street.
The rules and constitution of the new society were put to the meeting
and approved and members of the steering group and embryonic
sub-committees reported on actions already taken. Funds were needed
right from the start for postage, printing and room-hire, and a jumble
sale and whist drive had raised £68.
Mrs
Downs had kindly offered to make a room available for committee
meetings. Mrs. Downs was the widow of George Downs of the textile firm
of Downs Coulter, which operated Spring Mill for many years. Mrs Downs
still lived in Spring Mill House, which had one room directly accessible
by a flight of steps from the mill yard and this became a most useful
base for the work of all the various sub-committees for several years at
no charge other than anything members chose to put in a collecting box
for RSPB.
The
secretary had written to the clerks of Bingley Urban District Council
and the County Council and the Area Planning Officer for the County
Authority to notify them that Wilsden Village Society had been
established.
Counc.Tyler,
who was chairman of Bingley Planning sub-committee, reported that the
County planning authority had agreed to cooperate with the village
society and encourage public participation in drawing up a plan for
Wilsden. Areas of Main Street that would benefit from a clean up were
being identified. The planning committee would divide their forces
between a clean up campaign and production of a village plan. The social
committee were to investigate the condition and potential use of the
Mechanics Institute, working with Tom Hargreaves, the remaining member
of the Mechanics Committee. They hoped to be able to use a room for a
youth club almost at once, while considering further the future of the
building as a village hall. This committee would also consult with
church authorities since some of the village churches were considering a
new building, which might incorporate a hall.
The
structure of the society worked well, unchanged for many years. The
president served for renewable three-year terms, giving continuity
since, for at least the first decade, most other officers changed
annually. The chairman of the society was also chairman of the general
committee. This was the body which framed the overall policy of the
society and had overall control of its finance. It was the only
committee with a restricted membership, comprising officers of the
society including its sub-committees, with a few places to be filled by
election at the annual general meeting of particularly keen members who
did not yet hold office. This ensured the general committee was made up
of those who were taking responsibility for areas of work. The
sub-committees were open ended, for any members with an interest in that
particular aspect, no nomination or election needed, just a willingness
to be involved. The first of these were planning, social and transport
(formed from the Bus Action Committee).
Although
the village hall was the biggest and most conspicuous single
achievement and will be described in some detail, it was the planning
committee that formed the backbone of WVS and continued to have impact
on the development of the village throughout the 37 years of the life of
the society.
This
openness of the sub-committees and the expectation that there would be a
steady turn-over of officers helped to guard against any tendency to
exclusiveness or the formation of cliques. The society was non-party
political, neither excluding nor including on the basis of party
affiliation.