environment
Cherishing Churchyards Week – June 3 Activities for Children
On Saturday 3 June Chris Sutcliffe, a Calderdale countryside officer, will be organising Half Term Nature Activities for Children in St. Matthew’s Churchyard (opposite The Sun Inn) from 1:15 pm as part of our Celebration Event. All welcome. The Mayor & Mayoress of Calderdale are also visiting on that afternoon.
You are always very welcome to come and wander around St. Matthew’s Churchyard, Lightcliffe which has been restored over the past few years. If you can’t visit the churchyard that week, then visit www.lightcliffechurchyard.org.uk and take a virtual tour or trace a family headstone.
A fresh look at litter and fly-tipping
Ways to reduce the amount of littering and fly-tipping in Calderdale have been discussed at the meeting of Calderdale Council’s Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel.
At the meeting of the Panel on Thursday 20 April, members of the Litter and Fly-tipping scrutiny review group presented their report and recommendations to reduce litter and fly-tipping in the borough.
The cross-party review group has been looking closely at the issue since October last year and their findings have now been published with fifteen recommendations for Cabinet to consider… Read more…
Clean up Calderdale with 3 days of action in Elland
Every day, the Council do a wide range of jobs you may not always be aware of. Some jobs, such as street cleaning, may be done in the early hours of the morning, while others, such as pest control, licensing and road safety may not be seen directly – but all contribute to making Calderdale a better place to live.
From Wednesday 1 to Friday 3 February, Calderdale Council will be out in Elland on the key themes of safer, cleaner, greener with partners including Together Housing,West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Fire Service.
Let’s be safer
We will be focusing on a range of things, including tackling problem parking outside schools, safety checks at bars and food hygiene inspections.
Let’s be cleaner
We will be doing a range of activities including litter picking, bin emptying, jet washing and de-odourising, plus spot fines for littering and fouling.
Let’s be greener
Some of the activities which will take place will include advice on recycling and pest control to residents and businesses. We will also be checking on air pollution.
The video below shows some of the things Calderdale Council and partners did during the first week of action held from 23 to 29 October 2016.
Help build a map of Calderdale’s historic water infrastructure
The Environment Agency is appealing for help from historians, landowners and communities in the Calder Valley to help produce a detailed map of old land drains, goits and mill ponds to determine whether they could be brought back into use to aid the fight against flooding.
As well as identifying the locations of the old water control structures and drains, the Environment Agency is seeking details of their depth, size and condition.
People with information can post this on the Calderdale heritage website.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appeal-to-help-map-calderdales-historic-waters
August bank holiday Waste and Recycling Collection Dates
Please remember your Waste and Recycling Collections will be a day later through bank holiday week
Usual (new) collection day: Collection will be on:
Monday 29 August Tuesday 30 August
Tuesday 30 August Wednesday 31 August
Wednesday 31 August Thursday 1 September
Thursday 1 September Friday 2 September
Friday 2 September Saturday 3 September
Collections should be back to your usual scheduled day by Monday 5 September and Household Waste Recycling Centres will be open throughout, operating Sunday hours on Bank Holidays
Greggs Foundation’s Environmental Grants Scheme Opens
Using money from the 5p levy on carrier bag sales in Greggs shops, the Greggs Foundation has established the Environmental Grants scheme offering grants for projects which make a difference to local areas, with preference given to projects which include one of more of the following:
- Improves the local environment.
- Insures involvement of local communities.
- Delivers a sustainable and measurable difference.
- Supports people in need.
Not-for-profit organisations with a turnover of £300,000 or less as well as schools in England, Scotland and Wales can apply now for grants of up to £2,000.
Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate that their project delivers improvements against at least one of the following Key Performance Targets:
- Delivers real environmental benefit.
- People have better access to/are more likely to use their local environment.
- People have improved their lives through participation in an environmental activity.
- Activity delivers not only an immediate improvement but also an ongoing plan to ensure the improvement is sustained.
For further information and to apply visit greggsfoundation.org.uk/environmental-grant
Engineers lay foundations for a new Elland Bridge
Engineers are reaching an important milestone in the rebuilding of Elland Bridge as they lay the foundations for the new canal bridge… read more…
The canal is expected to reopen on Monday 4th July and will reinstate an important link between the Rochdale Canal and the rest of the waterway network. Boaters will once more be able to head to Sowerby Bridge and Hebden Bridge to use the businesses and services there.
Calder and Colne Community Clean Up
The Calder and Colne Rivers Trust is working with partners to clean up Hoyle House Beck. Go and help out, then visit the information tent in Wellholme park where you can have your say on planning for improvement to the river.
Tuesday 26 April – 10am onwards
Meet in Wellholme Park, Bradford Rd, Brighouse HD6 4AF
Litter pickers and gloves supplied – For more information text Judith on 07906 023165 or email judith.milner@calderandcolneriverstrust.org.uk
New Orchard and wildflower Meadow at Wellholme Park Brighouse
Safer Cleaner Greener apprentice group working together with Incredible Edible Brighouse have completed the planting of the new orchard to aid the promotion of fruit trees and fruit production in an urban community park.
Fruit varieties include (apples) Cox, Orange Pippin, Discovery, Jonagold and Golden Delicious, plus Conference and Williams Pears, also cherries which can often survive in difficult conditions, plus the apples are often quite large and they usually display a good degree of natural disease resistance.
The creation of the orchard is a powerful way to bring people together, to create green spaces and build healthier, happier and more sustainable communities.
The development of wildflower areas using seed that has been recycled by Safer Cleaner Greener apprentices from a new wildflower area in the town centre of Brighouse and will create a new wildlife habitat as part of the Grow Wild Corridors of Colour Project .
The apprentice group again working with Incredible edible have won a Grow wild Grant where the apprentices are to paint the onsite shipping container with colourful environmental scene’s information interpretive boards and to host a wildflower workshop and painting day in May.
Calderdale gets ready to ‘Clean for the Queen’
Calderdale Council is getting ready to take part in the biggest ever clean up of the country, in the run up to the Queen’s 90th birthday.
The first national anti-litter campaign took place in 1953, the year of the Queen’s coronation. Ahead of the Queen’s 90th birthday on Thursday 21 April, the ‘Clean for the Queen’ campaign aims to inspire people to take action and enjoy a few hours together litter picking to make the places where we live more beautiful.
From Saturday 5 March, the Council and partners will take to areas in and around Halifax and the Lower and Upper Valley, aiming to target spots in need of a royal clean up.
Volunteers are more than welcome to help staff, who will target sites that are owned and managed by Calderdale Council, ensuring the borough looks its best. If the land is privately owned, then Environmental Health teams will take steps to encourage the land owner to ‘Clean for the Queen’ or face the possibility of enforcement action.
Volunteers will need to dress for the occasion. Strong, comfortable boots or shoes will be needed; perhaps also warm, waterproof clothing and headgear. Gloves are essential if litter picking by hand.
Equipment and bags will be provided, and the Council will help with the removal of anything collected at the end of the day.
Alternatively, if you are part of a local community group, business or individual who would like to take part in your own event, please visit www.cleanforthequeen.co.uk to register.
The targeted ‘Clean for the Queen’ efforts will be starting at 9am in each area unless otherwise stated, and will take place as follows:
Lower Valley – Sunday 6 to Wednesday 8 March
- Sunday 6 March – Targeting the area around Wakefield Road at Junction 25 of the M62.
- Monday 7 March – Meeting at the car park at Hipperholme crossroads, teams will clean along Leeds Road, Brighouse Denholmegate Road and Brighouse Road
- Tuesday 8 March – Meeting in Elland outside the Spire Hospital on Elland Lane, team will spring clean the area around Whitwell Green and Springfield Road.
Halifax North & East – Monday 7 March
- Cold Edge Road, Wainstalls – Meet up with the Halifax North & East Team at the windmills off Cold Edge Road. We will be cleaning up to the Calderdale boundary and then making our way back into Wainstalls Village and Mount Tabor. This area has been the target for substantial amounts of flytipping and the Council is working with private land owners to take responsibility for cleaning up their sites.
Halifax Central – Monday 7 March
- Join the Community wardens targeting the area above and below Queens Road, meeting at the Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre. The team will be litter picking around the St Augustine’s School area and then above the neighbourhood centre to Mile Cross Road and Warley Road.
Upper Valley
- Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March – Join the ‘In Bloom’ Community group who are ‘Cleaning for the Queen’ at Junction 22 on the A672 on 5 March between 2 – 3pm and again on 6 March between 11am – 12noon.
You can also get involved on social media. Tweet your own clean up photos using the hashtags #CleanForTheQueen and #Calderdale
For more information and times, or for groups and/or businesses that would like to be involved and carry out their own local clean up, please contact
