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.
