Lost Community
Where Has The Community Spirit Gone?
Attention All Bailiff Bridge Residents:- Please help put a stop to the proposed plans to take away our villages last remaining Green open land for the residents to enjoy, play, walk our dogs and other outdoor activities.
Your Local Calderdale Councillors and your elected party representatives do not seem to take in the residents view and needs for us to have these open unspoilt spaces to help relieve the pressures of most of us, especially in these unprecedented times, we need these spaces more than ever? YOU! Need to remind these so called representatives of our village area ‘who votes for them and why we vote for them’? It’s not for them to give our right of green spaces to a village on the other side of town. Increase the Yob, Litter and antisocial activities that this will no doubt bring to our village.
The Whole Country is struggling to cope with the effects of needing somewhere to go just to breathe open fresh air without been overpowered with toxic fumes with enough space to keep a safe distance, along with been able to watch the wildlife in this area that is only now returning to some sort of acceptable level so we can enjoy and help educate our children to this unspoilt area of OUR village without the need of another village trying to build a monstrosity of a development on our last remaining village space.
Why don’t they build it in their own village? NIMBY ‘NOT IN MY BACK YARD’ springs to mind they have already done a deal with the council to use our only remaining open two fields in the name of children’s football, while most people would agree that the children’s needs, need to be addressed, are you sure that we need every spare piece of land in every Brighouse Village to be taken over by these football fields that restrict if not prohibit the villages from the activities they not only would like to do but need to do along with all the other forms of sport excluding football that many villagers would love to be involved with especially some people with special needs or other restrictive conditions, where these fields would go a long way to solving many of these people’s needs without the need for boozy unsociable people spoiling our village.
NOT ONLY IS IT TIME TO STOP THIS PROPOSED BUILDING BUT THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE VILLAGE TO RECLAIM THEIR FIELDS THEY SHOULD HAVE NEVER LOST?
There is also a another very special reason why we and the council can never ever let this land to be developed on is our ‘wildlife’ which was almost totally lost following the demolition of the mills along with the massive building program that followed and if it hadn’t been for this area of green land the village would now be void of many of endangered species that live in this area including Rare and vital Micro Organs, Crustaceans which are vital in building a sustainable wildlife which includes Crested Newts (these have been verified) it is also a vital flight path for our Bat population this again has been verified several times, along with dozens of other rare creatures.
Unfortunately due to my failing heath I am unable to take an active role in this campaign this time, but if you value YOUR VILLAGE and YOUR HOME you MUST STOP this now, Please Please form a small group of people to act as the village representatives without falling out and without one person taking over? Please Please get on to the Council our MPs and other bodies that can help, but WE must win this for the good of the village and the good of the Community, then we may also get our land back off Clifton Rangers and the Community Centre that was taken out of our control after the villagers tirelessly raised funds for this centre?
Please form a group. I don’t know how to do it but I guess you need someone who is good on social media to help you? Then spread the word by door knocking, flyers, etc. GOOD LUCK Brian Stewart.
It’s easy to look back 100 years and say it’s because of the changes to the work place! in our case the loss of T. F. Firths the largest employer in Bailiff Bridge? Yes this was a probable big factor but it goes much deeper than this.
Let’s take a closer look and try to understand why Bailiff Bridge along with many other towns and villages around Britain and especially in the north of England has such a problem maintain their Community Spirit.
Going back over a hundred years the Community Spirit was possibly at its highest ever? Why is this and can it ever return?
Well in those days family values were very strong a thing that has been lost for most UK people, although it’s still very strong in other parts of the world where most people lived, worked and even married partners from the place where they were born, they even bought ALL their produce and goods locally, the villages and towns had many social events, gatherings and Community Spirits were very high with local factories and works contributing some of their money to upholding this community spirit among their workers with some events and activities sponsored by these works.
While Loosing T. F. Firths and other key employers, possibly did make a difference? But this was not the end of the Community Spirit, even when we lost most of our green space, even now with the people of Bailiff Bridge now travelling further in their posh shiny cars and flying off to some foreign holiday spot. Other villages have survived, (take a look at Norwood Green it does not even have a village shop) but has a great Community Spirit.
Possibly one thing that Bailiff Bridge lacks and many of its residents believe this to be the main cause, is has lost the old local community committee that worked for the people and the good of the village along with its community spirit most of all Bailiff Bridge Lost its ‘Own Community Centre’ and all the help and community wellbeing that comes with this real ‘Community Centre’ so ok the village has a Community Centre it even says ‘Bailiff Bridge Community Centre’ on the end of this very nice building. But But But it has absolutely nothing to do with the Community apart from it was built with the money that the true people of Bailiff Bridge worked tirelessly to build up all this money through holding events, gifts, raffles and by many more means, that the so called modern community squandered on a building that has not and will never ever do anything for the people of Bailiff Bridge along with the spirit of a village.
Well I am with the majority of the genuine Bailiff Bridge Residents (and this is not just the old codgers it is the real villagers) who believe all the money that the older people scrimped and saved to have a village centre should have bought St Aiden’s or Ebenezer and not the unhanded deal that was allegedly struck with the developer to demolition Firths on Victoria road, it should have been developed in to industrial units with work for the residents and surrounding areas, also the old Firths Canteen would have made an ideal Community Centre that would have served the village and its residents well, without a profit making all singing and dancing posh club house that locals seemed to be banned from using.
If we had a Community Centre like Norwood Green it could be for the good of the community with daily get together for the residents, low rents for residents, open locals to pop in for a coffee or use the toilet and much more.
