Alan Draper

Bridge Lane security gate opening/closing times:

• Summer (1 April to 31 October): 8.30am – 8pm
• Winter (1 November to 31 March): 8.30am – 6pm

The parish council has taken the difficult decision not to have hanging baskets or Christmas lights on the street-lamp columns this year.

This is because Wakefield Council (who own the street-lamp columns) have this year decided to pass on the cost of the lamp column testing to parish councils. The cost of this to the parish council would have been approximately £2,000 (and that’s aside from the cost of the hanging baskets and Christmas lights).

Therefore, alternative arrangements will be made, such as planters and hopefully a Christmas tree.

A1 – Advance notice of work – Wentbridge Viaduct and Wentedge Bridge – sent from National Highways

The closures will be in place each night, between 8pm and 6am, from 22 February until 8 March.  These will be in both directions, but not at the same time. During the day, the A1 will be open under contraflow.

The closures will be in place to move the contraflow currently in place between Barnsdale Bar and Ferrybridge, enabling essential work to switch from the A1 southbound to northbound. In addition to the previously advertised closures, we have extended our work through to the 8 March to include additional maintenance work planned between Barnsdale Bar and the viaduct.  This will allow for resurfacing work, road marking, new signage, an upgraded weather station, drainage cleaning, vegetation clearance and litter picking.

A single overnight closure is also due in place on 20 March.  All work is subject to weather conditions and existing diversions will be in place.

In addition to letters issued in January, customers are being kept up to date on social media, via local media, road signage and on our website https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/yorkshire-and-north-east/a1-wentbridge-viaduct-and-wentedge-road-bridge/

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing info@nationalhighways.co.uk or contact 0300 123 5000

Information from Wakefield Council regarding arboreal works and road closures – Great North Road, Wentbridge

Please be advised that following the emergency road closure in December, for the removal of some dead highways trees, to north of Wentbridge village, further works are now planned to take place on the dates listed below, to remove further Ash die back trees which have been identified on the highway.

The closures have gone through the full legal notice period, and have been published in the appropriate places.

The works will take place on each occasion under a full road closure, in place 09:00-15:00 each day, and the road to be open at all other times.  The works need to take place under a road closure, due to the speed limit in this area, no clear lines of sight for traffic, safety of the teams involved, the complexity of the operation, and as a result an uncertainty of how the trees will fall, and the time it will take to clear the carriageway after each tree is felled, makes it unworkable to complete under traffic signals.

Closures in place:

February – 19/02/2024 – 21/02/2024

September – 17/09/2024 – 19/09/2024

October – 22/10/2024 – 24/10/2024

November  – 12/11/2024 – 14/11/2024

There will be a fully signed diversion in place via the A1 in both directions.

Advanced warning signs will be in place 2 weeks before each closure is due to take place, and a letter drop will be conducted to all residents affected in the area.

PRECEPT 2024-25

The parish council has taken the difficult decision to increase the precept for 2024-25.

The annual charge for the average ‘band D’ household will increase from £34.92 to £52.38  which is an increase of £17.46 per year or 34p per week.

Apart from a 3% increase in 2023-24, there has been no increase in the charge for the previous five years.

The parish council has not taken this decision lightly but it has to ensure there are sufficient funds to cover its expenditure. There are several reasons why the parish council has had to increase the precept:

• The overall inflationary increase in costs across the board.
• The reduction in the number of households due to Wentbridge being removed from the parish of Thorpe Audlin.
• The subsidence at the sports field which has resulted in a £1,000 insurance excess to be paid, modifications to the pavilion as well as an increase in the insurance premium.
• To ensure an adequate level of reserves for contingencies.
• The contested parish council election in May 2023 means that Wakefield Council will charge the parish council in the region of £2,000.

In view of the above, the parish council hopes that residents will understand that the increase is necessary and sensible.

The car park at the sports field is to be re-surfaced. The work will start on Monday 5 February 2024 and will last for (approx.) seven days, dependent on the weather.

Obviously, this means that the car park will not be in use during this period.

WDLP Adoption Statement