In the Leisure and Recreation Committee Meeting 13 June 2019:
c) Possible gate at the Hoyle Mill Road entrance
Having each declared a pecuniary interest, Cllrs G Eccles and J Eccles took no part in the discussion or vote on this matter.
Resolved that a gate be procured, subject to lawful compliance in respect of any potential highway matters.
Ferret has posted about this before, However a reader of this site has asked Ferret to point out that they believe, that Hemsworth Town Council has acted unlawfully in erecting the gate at the Hoyle Mill Road entrance to the Waterpark.
The gate is controlled by Councillor Gordon Eccles and his wife Councillor Jean.
When reading the article Ferret has to agree.
So, Mr Jim Kenyon and Independent Hemsworth Town Council – Can you provide us with the legal advice you received in respect to this, to ensure your “lawful compliance”?
my concerns reguarding the gates and questions …the gates are in front of the house …making it look like an estate …the public can walk in but not drive in at night …has this been done so the people of the house dont get woke up by cars which the public have every right to enter …..2 what happens if theres a fire or emegency at the park ? do emergency sevices have to knock on door to be let in? 3? are the gates locked and not opened after a certain time? how do the people in the house get in and out if that the case..which also makes another question ..if the people in the house are out how do the emegency sevices get in the water park? people have mentioned it getting more like a private estate so makes me wonder what are the plans for hemsworth water park.
Subject to lawful compliance have the appropriate emergency services been Informed and given key access? Freedom of information anyone?
Having just read the article via the link, I have to agree Ferret. Both Hemsworth Council and Wakefield Council have questions to answer on this one. Public use has without a doubt been severely restricted by this gate to a publicly owned recreation area. There is also the access restrictions caused by the land that was taken by the building of the garden wall by Eccles on the land owned by Wakefield adjacent to the road. This once again has restricted the area that can be used by the public and is a safety issue at busy times.This road just as the one in the linked article, now looks like a private access driveway to lord and lady Eccles private stately gardens. Just as with the “free carpark” at the farmers, how long will it be before this park is fenced off entirely, paid for by us once again, of course and if we’re lucky enough to be allowed to use it, charged an entrance fee at the new gates. Literally day light robbery from the community. We are being mugged in plain sight. We have a District Councillor who is also a Town Councillor, Womersley, who is ideally placed to deal with this. He needs to step up and come out of hiding, answer the outstanding questions and deal with this issue as a priority, unless he is complicit with what is going on at Hemsworth then he too needs naming and shaming.
just looked at 9th september leasure meeting notes ..just got to ask this it states….04 HEMSWORTH WATER PARK (including the café bar)
To consider the following matters:
a) Request for a pitch in the park for a ‘pamper van’.
b) Lantern event – request for (free) refreshments and stalls.
c) Entertainment acts – café bar.
d) Access to the top field from the main road.
e) Memorial garden – location.
f) Quote for remedial work on the drains in Playworld …..(f) if they asked for a quote on the 9th didnt it have to go back to table with prices they had been quoted? cant see any more meeting after this to get it passed and work began on the 16th september? quick reply and quote ……..meeting was on 9th september but signed off on the 2nd september puzzling have i missed something do mimites of meeting get done before the actually meeting ?
sorry again the work started on the 6th september meeting was on 9th when they asked for a quote yet they put a notice up on site on 24th august stating work will begin on 6th sept ……..? im going dizzy trying to work this out ..am i thick or have the public been decieved again?
Looks to me like these gates shouldn’t be there at all so talk of key holders etc is just distracting from the main issue, they should be removed. This is exactly how Kenyon works, deflect, distract and change the talking from his skullduggery to something he will happily continue to lie about all day. There’s a quick and easy answer, Mr Kenyon, get in your diggers, dig another big hole, preferably on Eccle’s land, then knock down the gates and bury them in the hole. Then do us all a favour, drive into the hole and bury yourself, your digger and your lies.
I am not knowledgeable in planning laws so if this is a stupid question forgive my ignorance.
My question is.. if the gates are there unlawfully, no planning permission etc can this not be reported to planning and as a result then be made to remove them. Same with the wall encasing the street lights. Or are HTC not governed by planning laws and such?
Oh Ferret how could you? Hemsworth town council commit an unlawful act? as if. Could you ever believe such upright members of the community as Cllrs Kenyon, Eccles and co would or could ever do anything that wasn’t 100% legal. Oh just a sec I’ve woken up now, I should have said would they ever do anything that was 100% legal. Every day another scam is being revealed, our money and our assets being diverted into their or their cronies pockets, and huge amounts too. Keep up the good work ferret, I’m sure it will be worthwhile in the end when these people are called to account for all the unlawful activities that seem to be the way business is now conducted at Hemsworth. They are a disgrace and an affront to decency.
It’s a joke how the decisions get made.
If the councillors have a conflict of interest in the meetings they don’t leave the room.
I’ve watched both Eccles just sit back in their chairs with arms folded when an agenda item was discussed by all fellow councillors around them and the voting take place with them sat their doing their Mime Artist impressions of Marcel Marceau.
I went and checked the minutes.
Hemsworth Town Council meeting 11th December 2019.
As recorded
Council Meeting 11 December 2019
Present: Councillors Bugge, Dodson, G Eccles, J Eccles, Hardacre, Hirst, Kenyon, Mitchell, A Westmorland, G Westmorland, Wilson, Womersley and the town clerk.
10 members of the public were in attendance 299 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Colvin, Holmes and Pringle. Resolved that the respective reasons for absence be approved.
300 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr G Eccles declared a pecuniary interest in agenda item 7 Accounts and a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 14 – solicitors.
Cllr J Eccles declared a pecuniary interest in agenda item 7 Accounts and a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 14 – solicitors.
301 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
302 CORRESPONDENCE
……. It’s a farce that they stay at the meeting and sit at the table during conflict of interest discussions
Nick Knack Paddy whack give the dog a bone, this old man came rolling home
Hi Sharon,
Gone into sleuth mode I see – great work!
I’m just taking a step back and putting myself in Cllr Eccles’ shoes for a minute. What would I do if I were them, with their agenda? Having managed to put their items onto the agenda, probably without any supporting paperwork to share with other Councillors (just to keep them in the dark as much as possible), the only way they can influence any discussion or (more importantly) any voting, is to be in the room to hear who said what and who voted for or against. So, their “independent” co-Councillors can’t be as open and as transparent as perhaps they would otherwise be, because there could well be animosity or other consequences.
This makes perfect sense if I were them and wanted my own way!
BUT – clearer, all the guidance states they must leave the room, unless they have been granted dispensation to stay.
Maybe it’ll be a worthwhile exercise to go through all the minutes, just to check if anything else looks out of order (and maybe illegal) eg meetings being held and decisions being taken outside council meetings, and not minuted!
We should write a comedy drama, with irony!
Yeah but it looks nice for Eccles holiday park/retirement village doesn’t it
The fact that people are still voting in people who give this man the majority votes astounds me
Everything that gets voted in should have a business plan, risk assessments, viability, costs and at least 3 different quotes not just one for their mates or own businesses does anything they have done ever had this done the answer is no they don’t need any when they have puppets who will vote yes to everything the cult leader suggests no one of them understands the law and not one of them actually looks into whether the leader is telling the truth or not
They are constantly on that between fine line of is this illegal or not
I suspect that’s down to the clerk keeping them just above water to not break the law keep them sweet to get his pay packet
Hes the one that should be held accountable for most of the stuff they are doing he’s the one that should be saying NO he’s the proper officer of this council
When this goes t*ts up for them all They will do is blame the clerk saying he’s the legal bloke he should have stopped us
A vote of no confidence will get rid of Kenton and his cronies let’s get it done