A protest group opposed to the development of a waste tip in Denholme has voiced concern about traffic statistics collected in the village.

Denholme Residents Action Group (DRAG) is worried that a traffic survey carried out by engineering consultancy firm Wardell Armstrong on Tuesday this week will provide a misleading representation of traffic flow in the village. Members of the group say that because of roadworks on the A629 Main Road through Denholme, vehicle numbers have been reduced as motorists seek out alternative routes.

And they are concerned that the figures will be used at the imminent appeal over the site at Buck Park Quarry, called for by Humberside company Wastewise.

However, a spokesman for Wardell Armstrong this week told the Keighley News the survey could be redone.

DRAG member Bryan Church says: "It is a coincidence that they were carrying out a traffic survey at Lane Top when there is roadworks on the A629. We know that because of the work being carried out by Yorkshire Water, motorists are finding alternative routes around the village. Therefore the figures they are getting will not reflect a normal working week.

"The level of traffic on the A629 was one of the reasons for refusal of the planning application in July so we think it is a relevant point."

Staffordshire-based engineering consultancy Wardell Armstrong is working for Wastewise, which is appealing against the refusal to grant planning permission for a waste tip at Buck Park. Wardell Armstrong associate John Sceal says: "We didn't find out about the roadworks until we arrived in Denholme so we will have to either take account of that or re-do the survey. We would like to do it next week but again it would be affected by the school. But we have got plenty of time to do another survey before the appeal date."

The application to develop a landfill site with a capacity for 2.6 million cubic metres of waste was turned down by Bradford council's Shipley area planning sub-committee in July.

Members of Denholme town council, DRAG and Bradford council are uniting to fight the appeal brought by Wastewise.

The public inquiry, presided over by a government-appointed inspector, will be held early in the new year, with a February or March date slated. Wastewise had hoped the inquiry would start on November 30, but that date has been put back to give Bradford council time to prepare its case.

Denholme town mayor Cllr Russell Driver has called on Bradford council to hold the hearing in the Mechanics Institute in Denholme. If this move is okayed the council will have to refurbish the upstairs section of the Institute in preparation for the inquiry, which is expected to last 12 days.

Bryan Church also stresses the need for residents in Denholme to keep 'buzzing' about the subject and to maintain an active interest in the case. Members of DRAG have invited Bradford councillors Margaret Eaton and Simon Cooke and Shipley MP Chris Leslie, who all represent the village, to their committee meeting at the Five Flags Hotel next week.

People in Denholme are being invited to apply for a vacant seat on the town council. Prospective candidates are to have another two weeks to apply for the seat which was left open after Shirley Wilde resigned at last month's meeting.

So far the town council has received one application and they are keen to give local people a chance to apply for the seat. They will interview the prospective councillors on November 9 and the successful person will then be co-opted onto the council.

Speaking at this week's town council meeting, Cllr Barbara Rayner said: "I think it is only fair that we give everyone in the village a chance to apply for the seat."

After Mrs Wilde resigned at the last meeting, notice was given inviting villagers to petition for an election. This expired last Friday with no one in the village indicating they would like an election.

The only way that someone can now join the town council now is by being co-opted by the existing councillors.

Anyone interested in the position should send an A4 resume to the town council clerk Stuart Carlton, 37 Hebden Road, Haworth, Keighley, BD22 8RH.

Youngsters at Denholme First School are to be given vital lessons in road safety by a voluntary action committee.

Denholme Road Safety Committee will visit the school in the first week of November to teach youngsters about crossing the road safely. Members have come up with the idea after watching young children from the school crossing the busy A629 Main Road.

Cllr Barbara Rayner, a member of the road safety committee, said: "We have decided to go up to the school because the children simply don't know how to cross the road safely. We have got a road safety kit from Bradford council which includes a pelican crossing and signs. We hope to get the children to write stories about road safety and get the younger ones to paint pictures which we will then judge and award prizes for." The road safety committee has also thanked people in Denholme for supporting its coffee morning last Saturday which raised £60.

A special garden planted in memory to Diana, Princess of Wales has become the victim of litter louts in the village. The garden at the front of the Mechanics Institute has become a dumping ground for litter in the middle of the village. And the problem reached a head last weekend when the garden was filled with cash till receipts and empty fast-food cartons.

Cllr Anne Jay said: "The level of litter in the garden, especially at the weekend, was absolutely disgraceful. The bin at the front of the Mechanics is badly damaged and it seems to me that we could do with a new bin at the front of the Mechanics where people are actually walking."

Cllr Rayner agreed and asked for the town council to write to Bradford council, asking for the bin to be replaced or repaired.

Town councillors want to brighten up the village for the approaching festive season.

Councillors are to look into purchasing more Christmas lights to brighten up the village during December. However they have decided not to have a large Christmas tree in the village after the one erected last year was vandalised. They have instead decided to settle on the usual arrangement of having ten smaller trees suspended from brackets placed above shops and on the front of the Mechanics Institute.

Deputy mayor Cllr Hilary Mayes said: "I would gladly donate a big Christmas tree for the village but I am uncertain about putting another big tree up after the last one was vandalised." Cllr Val Sokald said: "I think we are safer having the trees high up like we did last year."

Cllr Mayes concluded by saying that the project would, as always, need help from residents in the village.

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