News and Events

Denby Dale Parish Council EcoFest Saturday 19 October 2024

Timetable for Free Bus Service

Connection to Upper Cumberworth, Birds Edge and High Flatts available by request – please phone 0759 385 2259 to arrange a pick-up, and ask the driver when boarding if you need a drop-off.

Latest publications available: Emley Tittle Tattle

We are delighted to be publishing a re-print of this fascinating local history book – the reminiscences of Tom Swallow, born in Emley in 1894. This follows our publication of 5 books by the late Scissett historian Leslie Robinson see denbydale.com/history/ for details.

Citizens Advice ~ Drop-in Advice Service

This runs every Friday of the month, 10.00am til 1.00pm, (Contact the clerk on clerk@denbydale-pc.gov.uk or see here for further information.)

Park Gate events

Become a Friend of Park Gate

For general information about the wider Park Gate project, visit www.denbydale-pc.gov.uk/news-and-events/

Park Gate nature area consultation

Planning and development work continues at Park Gate nature area!

Kirklees Council and Denby Dale Parish Council are working together to develop plans for landscape and biodiversity improvements at the old screens site off Park Gate in Skelmanthorpe. The site already has some very biodiverse wet woodland along the Dyke, as well as plantation woodlands, different types of grassland and scrub habitat which have developed since the colliery operations ceased and the site was re-profiled in the late 1980s. The site recently came back into Kirklees Council ownership and this is a really exciting opportunity to make it into something really special both for wildlife, through habitat enhancement and creation, and for a range of local community uses. 

Consultation on a draft master plan for the site was undertaken in Autumn 2020 and the masterplan was updated in light of the responses received. Please see the full consultation report, and the updated Master Plan.

The main themes emerging from the consultation were that the focus for the site should be on nature and biodiversity enhancements and allowing people to use the site for quiet enjoyment using a network of good footpaths with accessibility for all. Many people also wanted to find out more about the history and ecology of the site.

Since the consultation was undertaken the project team have been busy:

• Planting over 3000 trees over the winter at the site to create additional wildlife habitat and contribute towards climate emergency mitigation;
• Working with local volunteers to better understand the ecology of the site, including bird and bumblebee surveys ;
• Developing a list of practical management tasks that existing volunteer groups can make a start on at the site, and planning for setting up a site-specific Friends group once Covid restrictions allow;
• Recruiting a local artist, Helen Brook, to run activities at the site to explore possibilities for public art features in future that would be in keeping with the site and help to explain some of the history and ecology; and
• Working with Experience Community to explore how the new path network can be as accessible as possible and how it might be funded.

Watch this space for more updates soon!

Community Orchard in Skelmanthorpe

This is a small piece of land owned by Kirklees council that has no strategic value to the council, and was identified by Cllr Turner and Simpson has been a suitable space to create a community orchard, which will create a much more bio diverse area and help tackle the current climate change emergency.

Dave Wilde and Andy Wickham, a kirklees officer supported by a member of the northern fruit group, planting a variety of apple and pear trees to create a community orchard in the centre of Skelmanthorpe, last week.

Newsletters

Denby Dale Parish Council is keen to bring you news from around the parish and to keep you informed about the work of the council. If you have any community news or events to share please contact the Clerk and we will try our best to include it! Newsletters are delivered quarterly around the ward, however, if you are missed out, they are put on the council’s noticeboards and can be collected from Skelmanthorpe Library. 

As each newsletter is produced, it will be published on this website – use the links below to access the parish council newsletters.