West Yorkshire

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Grant for new Friends group

The new Friends of Heptonstall Chapel and Sunday School has received a grant of £3,000 towards a feasibility study of conversion of the Sunday School from Calderdale Council, plus a further £1,000 from Heptonstall Parish Council.

Although this is not sufficient for a full feasibility study, it is a very good starting point towards the kind of level of detail that would be required for a large Heritage Lottery Grant application. A full study would cost about £6,000, and the group is looking at additional sources of funding.

The Friends group will be spending part of this money on financial projections for a holiday let on the lower floor and public hall upstairs in the Sunday School, and on architect’s sketches for creating this with disabled access to both floors. When these are available they will be made public for comment.

The Friends group is also looking at ways of forging stronger links between the Chapel and community. To this end, with the Church Council’s support, three local textile artists will display their work as part of the Hebden Bridge Open Studios event in July.If the Chapel renovations are not completed by then, they will use the Sunday School.

The group is also hoping to organise a Gala production of an unusual version of Handel’s Messiah to be performed in the Chapel in Spring 2018.  This will incorporate Easter sections of the piece not often performed and use young local soloists for a brighter sound than the traditional Christmas version.

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Bush Tucker Trial and Barbeque

The Cross Inn is following up Thursday’s haggis supper with a family event “Bush Tucker Trial” event from 5pm on Sunday, 26 January.
Try your stomach with a large and wacky variety of strange foods. There are prizes to be won with all proceeds to local charities.
For the more “traditional” palate, there will also be a family barbeque. Terry looks forward to seeing you there.

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Charity walk from Bowling Club

The third Heptonstall 10 mile Cancer Research Charity Walk will take place on Sat. 4th Jan 2014, leaving Heptonstall Bowling Club at 10am.

Entry fee is £5 and includes mulled wine and festive snacks at the start and soup at the end when there will also be a raffle, with a shorter walk which is pushchair friendly for anyone not able to commit to the full route.

For further information please contact Susan Greenwood on 0794 4466724 or by email sue.greenwood@talktalk.net

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Bus Service Threat

Metro and First bus companies are proposing to scrap through buses from Heptonstall to Halifax.

There will be a half-hourly service from Blackshaw Head through Heptonstall to Hebden Bridge, and a bus every ten minutes from Todmorden via Hebden Bridge to Halifax.

Their statement below:

First are considering making substantial changes to bus services in Hebden Bridge,  particularly services 591 and 593 at the end of January 2014. The company plan to operate every 10 minutes (Monday to Saturday) between Halifax and Todmorden via Hebden Bridge. To achieve this there will no longer be a direct service to Halifax from Heptonstall and Old Town.

Metro is proposing a revised minibus network for the area which will both address recent unreliability problems and maintain links to Hebden Bridge which would be lost following the changes to services 591 and 593.

Metro and First would like to seek your views on these proposals.

Why change is needed        

  • First have indicated that they wish to concentrate resources on an improved Halifax – Hebden Bridge – Todmorden service
  • Unreliability of current minibus network due to vehicle problems
  • The current minibuses are reaching the end of their working life
  • Poor connections to train and longer distance bus services
  • Duplication of bus resources on routes to/ from Old Town, Heptonstall, Keighley Road and Cragg Vale
  • The need to find a solution which does not involve additional public subsidy

Proposals by First

  • Service frequency between Halifax and Todmorden increased to every 10 minutes from 0700 until 1800 (Mon – Fri). “Turn up and go” frequency between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden
  • Services 591 (Heptonstall – Halifax) and 593 (Old Town – Halifax) withdrawn

Proposals by Metro

  • Metro will invite tenders for a new minibus network increasing from 3 buses to 4 buses
  • Smaller minibuses introduced to improve access

What type of buses will be used?

Metro are proposing to increase the number of minibuses from 3 to 4 and to use smaller vehicles which are better equipped for roads in the area. This will enable us to serve more areas.  The smaller buses will carry up to 16 passengers. Unfortunately the use of smaller buses will mean less room for shopping, buggies etc. Also some passengers may find it harder to get into and out of a smaller minibus.  We will finalise the make and model of buses when we appoint a bus operator for the services.

To complete the survey, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/hebdenbridgebusreview

Alternatively, public consultation drop-in events during August, where First and Metro staff will be available to answer questions and listen to your suggestions.

DATE TIME LOCATION
Wednesday 07 August 10:00 – 18:30 Hebden Bridge Town Hall
Thursday 15 August 14:30 – 18:30 Halifax Bus Station

If you need to contact Metro regarding these proposals, please email busconsultation@wypte.gov.uk