Each month the Mayor submits an article for inclusion in the Wetherby News. 

Article for 31st August 2017

A much quieter month than July, with schools on holiday and a mixture of weather, but still lots of things to celebrate about living in our lovely town.

Tom and I went to Sheffield for the Yorkshire Society’s annual celebration on 1^st August. Mayors from all over the County attended the event, on a day of sunshine and showers! We assembled at 8.30am at the Sheffield arena where we were escorted across a sports field to the nearby Tram stop, not the best in high heels, but no matter! The Special Tram, the centrepiece of Sheffield’s updated transport system, took us into the City Centre where we walked down to the Town Hall, for refreshments in the Mayor’s chambers. We chatted with Mayors from Richmond, Knaresborough, York, Doncaster and Tadcaster while we drank our coffee and had our fat rascals! The Lord Mayors then went off to get robed up and then we were formed up into the procession to follow the Pipe Band through the streets to the Cathedral for the Civic Service, much to the astonishment of onlookers! After the service we processed back to the Town Hall, this time in the rain and then sat down to a traditional Yorkshire Lunch. We heard music played by students of Sheffield Music Academy and the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra, conducted by a very enthusiastic Musical Director and listened to two interesting guest speakers.

The main reason for the annual event, that has now been hosted by all of the cities in Yorkshire over the past 22 years, is to celebrate the Yorkshire towns and cities, their commerce, arts, and ingenuity as well as promoting Yorkshire as a great county to invest in, both in terms of finance and community living. Media coverage helps to advertise Yorkshire as a great place for tourists to visit and for people to study in and to work in. It was an honour for us to be able to tell people about Wetherby and encourage them to come and visit us and see for themselves what a special place we live in, in the centre of the County.

We took part, in a small way in the WiSE Community Walk, by joining the team of Marathon walkers for the last leg of their journey from Collingham to Wetherby. The aim of the walk was to raise awareness of the work the charity does, both among the people walking the walk, and those people in the villages who saw the walkers coming through. Look at the website: www.w-ise.org.uk or call in to the WiSE office in town for further information about the work they do to help reduce isolation in older people in our community as well as supporting those who live with dementia.

I was invited to go along to open the show homes at the David Wilson development off Sandbeck Way and managed to dodge the heavy showers to do so. There are just short of 40% affordable homes for rent/buy and housing association rental on the site, much needed for younger people in the area.

The usual business of the Town Council has continued during the holiday period, and it was encouraging to see several members of the public at our Town Council meeting when we had a presentation from Taylor Wimpey about their outline planning application for the land near the racecourse. Please look at the minutes of the meeting on the Town Council website, www.wetherby.co.uk for further information or call into the town hall to view a copy that will be available before the next meeting on 12^th September.

I know there is a lot of worry about development in the town, and would seek to reassure you that our Leeds City Council ward colleagues, who are also members of Wetherby Town Council work very hard on our behalf to get the best possible outcomes for our town. The issues that we currently face are compounded by applications being submitted to Harrogate Borough Council, so as soon as we are made aware of any consultations by developers we will respond to them. I would urge you to write to the developers direct and voice your opinions about their proposals, and also to let Leeds City Council and Harrogate Borough Council know when they launch any consultations too.

I hope that all the young people who have been receiving examination results have been successful, and whatever the results were, remember there are different options available. Speak to your teachers and college tutors for advice.

Let’s look forward to supporting the Wetherby 10K run, the Education Trust’s event at the High School, and the Leonard Cheshire Disability Annual Fete all at the beginning of September.