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Home , Bradford, Northcliffe Park

Shipley Ward

Shipley is a town situated in the Aire Valley, West . It falls within Metropolitan District and the Region.

Shipley developed on a major rail, waterway and road junction linking Bradford to Leeds and a number of settlements leading into the . The town has a of around 28,000 people, about half of which live within a single ward boundary (Shipley). While Shipley's town council was dissolved 1974 and the town was absorbed into an enlarged Bradford local authority area, it maintains a strong sense of local identity as a town.

Notable features of the town include plentiful high quality Victorian housing stock, juxtaposed against a 1960s "brutalist" town centre and clock tower. Shipley largely developed in the 19th and early 20th Century, but saw a major period of redevelopment in the mid-Twentieth Century, with substantial clearances producing a very high proportion of social housing. This new, generally good quality social housing was built in small clusters around the town and is a feature of most neighbourhoods.

Popular local amenities include the world heritage site of Village and Mill, the and , and woodlands, Hirst Wood, Roberts Park, and numerous allotments. The town boasts plentiful and its own small brewery.

Local employment includes the public sector, new technology, light industry, retail, services, a small voluntary sector and a small tourism sector focussed around Saltaire Village.

Employment is often found in neighbouring Bradford. However, its long-term decline as an industrial and retail centre has led to increasingly strong economic ties with Leeds, where a large numbers of residents access employment as well as shopping and cultural activities.

Local travel infrastructure includes good local services and a modernised railway linking Shipley to directly Bradford, Leeds, the Dales and even . A lack of high volume road infrastructure is simultaneously blamed local congestion and credited for the area's relatively high quality of life and attractiveness as a place to live, especially for those working in Leeds. Various road building proposals have proved highly contentious and have been the focus of highly charged local campaigns for many decades.

Notably, Leeds is only easily accessed using the Aire Valley electric railway. Its 12 minute journey time has been credited with Shipley's relative economic buoyancy during the recent economic downturn.

Politically, Shipley Ward has elected exclusively Green Party councillors since 2000. The constituency has returned both Labour and Conservative MPs to Parliament during the same period. Shipley town centre was greatly expanded and modernised during the 1960s. However, it has suffered from both poorly constructed buildings and an offer focussed almost exclusively on retail and office space. It lacks many of the social and cultural features town centres often enjoy such as theatres, galleries and cinemas, although community- led initiatives have sought to address this. These have included The Kirkgate Centre's community cinema, pop-up café, live music and an alternative market, and pop up galleries and exhibitions by the Hive, Ante and Q20.

Local authority support for a large town centre supermarket in the 1980s is often blamed for the significant decline of independent retailers. Despite attempts to revive fortunes, the town centre continues to be dominated by shops and market stalls selling bric-a-brac and second hand goods.

Despite its small size, Shipley's voluntary sector has a very good reputation it is noted for its innovation, impact and high quality. Some key local organisations include:

• Friends of Northcliffe - preserving Shipley's largest area of parkland and woodland • HALE - a community health charity nationally recognised for its ground breaking work • The Hive - an innovative and popular community arts organisation • The Kirkgate Centre - Shipley's community centre and development trust, providing an eclectic mix of services and cultural activities alongside neighbourhood development work • Saltaire Inspired - delivering Saltaire's hugely popular annual festivals

Shipley Ward is made up of many identifiable local neighbourhoods, including:

• Central Shipley • Coach Road & Higher Coach Road • Dockfields • Hall Royd • Hirstwood • Moorhead • Nab Wood • Northcliffe • The Norwoods • Saltaire • Wycliffe

Neighbourhood action

Many different neighbourhoods across Shipley are identifying what residents like about their neighbourhood, what they would like to change and what their priorities for action are. Some neighbourhoods and areas have well-established local groups such as Hirstwood Regen, Friends of Northcliffe and Saltaire Village Society. Others are just getting started.

Since 2012, the Kirkgate Centre has been supporting neighbourhood planning across Shipley. This gives neighbourhoods an opportunity to develop their own priorities as well and contributing towards over-arching concerns such as Shipley Town Centre, transport and green spaces.

Shipley Neighbourhood Plan

Local neighbourhood plans are being drawn together into this Neighbourhood Plan. There are local discussions about options on how to realise this plan. These include any or all of the following: • lobbying Bradford Council for greater local influence and devolved decision making • formulating a formal statutory Neighbourhood Plan • forming an alliance of Shipley neighbourhoods • forming a /town council

How neighbourhood planning takes place.

The Kirkgate Centre is working closely with local neighbourhoods on a neighbourhood planning process which aims to involve as many residents as possible. This process typically involves:

• leafleting every in a neighbourhood

• providing every household with a "Have Your Say" pack

• visiting every household in a neighbourhood, offering a confidential interview

• collating findings and holding neighbourhood planning meetings to undertake table- top planning and agree priorities

• supporting the formation or strengthening neighbourhood groups to turn priorities into action

Every neighbourhood in Shipley is encouraged to get involved and any resident can contact the Kirkgate Centre to get the planning process going where they live.

Neighbourhoods currently or soon to be engaged include:

• Hall Royd and Manor Lane ("The Triangle") • The Norwoods • Coach Road • Wycliffe & Park St • Hirstwood

What do our residents want for their neighbourhoods?

Examples of identified neighbourhood priorities include

• Safer places for children to play • Traffic calming and reduction • Sustaining, improving and protecting our green spaces • An improved town centre that reflects the social, economic and cultural aspirations of Shipley • Support for local traders and other businesses • More opportunities for people to come together

What did they think needed to be done to help the local area?

• Communities coming together to take action and lobby • Investment in measures to contain A650, supermarket and school-run traffic • Investment in parks and community gardens • A community-led town centre regeneration process • Targeted support for local business start-ups and local traders • Improved local markets • Resistance to new supermarket developments • Resistance to increasing road capacity and traffic volumes • Investment in cycle ways and foot access across the Ward, especially to key local assets such as the station, town centre, the River Aire and Leeds Canal

As a result of these activities the suggested local priorities for Community First: List of priorities

• Priority 1: creating, enhancing or protecting green spaces

• Priority 2: a pedestrian friendly town – support for actions to limit the impact of traffic

• Priority 3: children and young people – support for activities by and/or for young people in Shipley

• Priority 4: supporting community life – support for activities that bring people together and strengthen community life

• Priority 5: people power – support for increasing the participation and influence of local people in their neighbourhoods and town