Matt Palmer

The Co-op / Burley Library proposals are understandably generating a lot of interest, both for and against. In order to give everyone a say and ensure the co-op and the council can take local views into account, i have asked the Area Coordinators Office to support a Special Neighbourhood Forum on the issue. This will take place at the Queens Hall on Tuesday 6th September at 7.30pm. I am hoping the plans can be made available in the Hall earlier in the evening for viewing as well.

Artists impression of proposed building

The co-op does not want to run the library, contrary to the Gazette headline! The proposal is for Bradford Council to lease the library building to the co-op on a 99 year lease, with the co-op building a new library on the first floor. I have asked the developer and the Council to brief the Parish Council, which they will do tomorrow night. This meeting is open to the public, but is not a consultation. I have been assured that no decisions will be made before the consultation meeting on September 6th.

If you’d like to be kept informed of how this develelops and make sure you hve an opportunity to comment, you can add your email address here.

f you’re interested in the plans, more information (and discussion!) is available here:

• Ilkley Gazette – Co-op wants to take over Burley Library
• Ilkley Gazette – Growing Opposition to Library Plan
• Wharfedale Forums – Burley Library

Many Burley in Wharfedale residents will have been reading about the ‘iburley‘ campaign for faster broadband for Burley. BT have announced that the five exchanges with the highest level of support will be enabled, when they wouldn’t be otherwise.

So what’s the issue?

• Burley waits for everything. Broadband, Channel 5. Digital radio. Digital television. Carrier pigeons*. Most people have forgotten now that it was community campaigning and Bradford Council support that got us Broadband in the first place. Without that, we’d be stuck on dial-up.
• Today’s broadband is tomorrow’s dial-up: obsolete and out-of-date. If we don’t get the next generation service, in a few years time Burley will be back in the internet dark age
• Upgrading the exchange won’t happen without this. OK, it might eventually, but not for many, many years. This isn’t a timing issue. It;’s a yes/no issue
• Even if you’re not bothered at the moment, many of your friends and neighbours will be. Please support them and support Burley
• Campaigners have worked really hard and Burley deserves to win, and we can win. Don’t let your vote be the one that could have made that critical difference.

Burley is currently 4th out of 2,475. We need to stay in the top 5, but some exchanges are already 70% voted. This means we need EVERY vote to win – and that means you!

Please visit www.racetoinfinity.bt.com and vote today – it literally does only take minute…. and for years to come, will save your hours!

(*probably. I wasn’t here then.)

Following problems with phpbb, I activated plans last week to upgrade the discussion forum at www.wharfedaleforums.com, which is used by around 3,000 people each month to discuss local issues.

Site relaunch completed, with new look, new software, and new facilities. Please let me know if you find it useful!

Some residents obviously do – daily page views jumped from around the 5,000 mark to a record 21,999 pages on the 19th June. Just as well the new software can cope!

My thanks to Burley in Wharfedale Community Trust, whose prominent link to wharfedaleforums.com generates more visits than any other source apart from Google.

Regards,

Matt