All About Thornton

How do you see Thornton, what does it need? What are Bradford Council’s and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s plans for Thornton? How can we influence them to improve Thornton?

A Parish Council could be the answer

A Thornton local council could be called Thornton Parish Council, Thornton Town Council, Thornton Community Council, Thornton Neighbourhood Council, or Thornton Village Council, although the area covered is more than the village and more than one neighbourhood, and when we last tried to get a parish council named Thornton Community Council the word “Community” was misleading because the area contains many communities, plus communities of interest.

What is a Parish or Local Council?

A parish council is a local authority that makes decisions on behalf of the people in the civil parish.

It is the local government level closest to the community, with the City of Bradford Metropolitan Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority above it. Currently those 2 large councils make all the decisions which affect Thornton Civil Parish. 

Parish and town councils are executive bodies which have statutory powers and duties. Each is expected to, and often asked to, voice the views of the community that they represent on planning applications, local plans and other issues. They also nominate members to represent the view of the parish on outside bodies and, in turn, report back on the business of the body concerned.

They are frequently expected to lead on projects that will benefit the local community because it is often the only body with access to information and with the resources to take an initiative.

What areas of Bradford Council are covered by a Parish Council?

The following local councils exist in the Bradford Metropolitan District:

Steeton with Eastburn Parish Council,  Silsden  Town Council,  Addingham Parish Council,  Ilkley Town Council,  

Menston Parish Council, Burley Parish Council,  Baildon Town Council, Shipley Town Council, 

Keighley Town Council,  Oxenhope Village Council, Haworth, Cross  Roads & Stanbury Parish Council, 

Wilsden Parish Council, Bingley Town Council,  Harden Village Council,     Cullingworth Village Council, and

 Denholme Town Council. 

That’s the whole of the Metropolitan District apart from most of Bradford itself. Within Bradford are  Sandy Lane Parish Council,  Clayton Parish Council,  Wrose Parish Council, and Bradford Trident Community Council

Having a local council brings more say in local matters, including planning, and could bring finance from new house building in Thornton, through the Community Infrastructure Levy for use in Thornton.

Most Parish Councils are not political. Most councillors sit as Independents, working together to bring improvements to the civil parish. They are not talking shops, but they get things done as shown in the examples given. They are the first level of democracy.

Local Councils can undertake a wide range of activities to improve the areas they serve. 

What area would a Thornton Parish Council cover?

It’s proposed to cover Council polling districts 23C, 23D, and 23E. Those who have the opportunity to vote at St. James Church Hall, Thornton Methodist Church, and for Thornton and Allerton ward at Keelham Primary School (the school has two voting areas, one for Thornton and Allerton Ward ad the other for Bingley Rural ward, and Denholme Town Council.. It could include other areas, as long as they’re not already covered by a parish council. One such area covers Dean Lane and Old Allen Road to the crossroads with Black Dyke Lane and Tewitt Lane. That area is currently in Allerton civil parish.

A description of the current boundary for the Thornton part of the Thornton and Allerton Ward:

From Keelham crossroads it goes down the centre of Thornton Road to the traffic lights on the A629 Halifax / Keighley Road. There turns left and goes down the centre of the road to the boundary with Calderdale (north of Coal Lane and Soil Hill). It then goes along the boundary with Calderdale eastwards towards Perseverance Lane.

It goes along the rear boundary of houses on Perseverance Lane (the houses are in Calderdale), to Brighouse and Denholme Road, where it turns left down the centre of the road. After about 150 yards it crosses fields to the junction of Headley Lane with Malt Kiln Lane and Pit Lane. (Pit Lane is in Queensbury civil parish, as is West Scholes), and from that point goes eastwards to Cockin Lane, just west of Mavis Farm.

It goes down the centre of Cockin Lane to what is the continuation of Pinch Beck where it turns right and goes down the centre of the beck, which soon becomes Clayton Beck, to its junction with Pitty Beck. It then turns north-westwards into the centre of Pitty Beck, under Thornton Road, and later Allerton Lane and Egypt Road, to its source to the west of Manor Farm.

It then goes to the Old Allen Lane crossroads with Black Dyke Lane and Tewitt Lane and it continues westwards on both sides of Tewitt Lane to the Ten Yards Lane junction where it turns left down the centre of the road to Half Acre Road at Moscow, where it turns right down the centre of the road towards Well Heads. There it turns right down the centre of Well Heads to Keelham, where it turns left down the centre of the road to the Keelham crossroads. See map:

Examples of what parish councils have done:

More examples of what parish councils have done can be found in 2 downloadable publications of the National Association of Local Councils – Points of Light 2019 and Points of Light 2020, plus an index 150 Points of light index, version 2. Where their electorate or population is known, it’s given. The 3 polling districts which make up Thornton have a total number of people registered to vote (electorate) of 5,364.

Community Awards

• Garstang Town Council, Lancashire, (electorate 3,575) instigated the Garstang Town Council Awards as a way of acknowledging and rewarding individuals, volunteers and teams for the hard work they do for the town. Categories in the inaugural awards were each sponsored by a local individual or organisation and included sports team of the year, youth group / community team of the year, business in the community award, and good citizen of the year.

Community Composting Schemes

• Winford Parish Council, Somerset. The Parish Council compost site is located on Kingston Lane, High Winford, opposite the Cricket Club. It is open to local residents (private individuals) ONLY between the hours of 2pm and 5pm on Wednesdays and 10am and 1pm on Saturdays for the deposit of green garden waste. Contractors are NOT permitted to use the site to deposit waste, but are welcome to obtain the compost – see details of how below. The site has been running successfully for 15 years, managed and maintained by the Parish Council and volunteers. The site has been inspected and approved by the Environment Agency. The green garden waste is deposited by local residents in the Parish and surrounding villages. The stacked material is inspected and foreign matter extracted, and then professionally shredded and allowed to mature. It is then screened professionally and matured into good quality compost.

Community Events

• Brinsworth Parish Council, South Yorkshire Organises the village gala on the first Saturday of July, every `year.

• Cookhill Parish Council, Worcestershire, (electorate 970), runs a free weekly computer club. Local residents are invited to the village hall every Wednesday fro 10am to 12 noon to practice computer skills, ask questions and catch up with fellow residents over refreshments.

• Beverley Town Council, East Riding of Yorkshire, (electorate 14.635) runs the multi-award winning Beverley Food Festival and the Christmas Festival of Food and Drink. The first Food Festival held in 2006 featured 32 stalls and a small food demonstration area and attracted over 5,000 visitors. Today (2019) the festival has 140 stalls selling local and international produce, has a food theatre marquee, and a variety of festival entertainment and attracts around 25,000 visitors a year.

• Hook Parish Council, Hampshire, (electorate 5897) Held a Christmas Day lunch at a Commuity Centre for local residents who would otherwise have spent the day on their own. Support from local businesses enabled the council to provide the lunch free of charge and transport to an from the community centre was offered to those who needed it.

Community Transport

• Five small parish councils in Kent, (total electorate 6,800), support Wealden Wheels community transport service. Managed largely by volunteers and run on a not-for-profit basis, Wealden Wheels aims to provide an accessible, affordable and flexible means of transport to village members. 4 minibuses are available for hire by village families or groups who join the scheme either on a self hire basis or with a volunteer driver.

• Hartley Wintney Parish Council, Hampshire, (electorate 4,464) Owns and manages a community transport scheme. The scheme includes aa Monday to Friday commuter service, a 3 day a week timetabled shopper service and a twice weekly door to door service running to Fleet Town Centre and the local Morrisons. Fares start from £1 for a single trip with concessionary pass holders able to travel free on the daytime shopper service.

• Sedlscombe Parish Council, East Sussex, (electorate 1,192) runs an informal lift scheme for local residents who find it difficult to attend doctors / hospital appointments because of lack of transport. names and contact details of volunteer drivers are posted on council notice boards outside the village shop and medical centre.

• Wilsden Parish Council, West Yorkshire (electorate 3,782) has a similar scheme, with a scheme co-ordinator linking requests for transport with voluntary drivers.

It’s worth remembering that some parts of Thornton civil parish are a long way from a bus stop. The 607 stops at the bus turnaround close to the main cemetery gates. There’s no service on Thornton Road from there to Keelham, and none from Keelham to Raggalds area. Since the Hebble bus stopped in the 1970s there’s are no buses run from The Raggalds to West Scholes, Clayton and on through Thornton and Back Heights to Bingley and Duckworth Lane. There’s no buses at Headley or Malt Kiln Lane, none to Cragg Lane, Springholes Lane, Egypt or Dean Lane Head. You can’t get to The Rock and Heifer on a bus. There’s no direct bus service to Halifax, though it’s now possible to catch the 67 to Denholme and the 502 to Halifax if you’re prepared to wait in Denholme. Clayton is 5 minutes by car but 55 minutes by bus. It’s unsafe to walk to Clayton because there’s only one narrow pavement on Low Lane. There is no direct public transport to Shipley or even the BRI.

Community Venues

• Burley in Wharfedale Parish Council, West Yorkshire Took over the running of the public library, community hall, toilets, parks and open spaces and the maintenance of flower beds from Bradford Council.

• Eye Town Council, Suffolk, (electorate 1,418) Funds Eye Community Centre, a local community hub. The centre consists of a large hall, lounge area and bar, and can be hired for a wide range of events.. The main hall is equipped with a projector and pull down screen and plays host to the cinema at Eye, a neighbourhood cinema hosting film screenings at the end of the month. We in Thornton have a Community Centre run by volunteers. They could do with financial support to improve the heating, insulation and front doors, etc.

Defibrillators

• Harden Parish Council, West Yorkshire (electorate 1,614) purchased with the aid of the Big Lottery Fund, and installed a defibrillator, which has both spoken and written instructions so that anyone can use it in an emergency even if they’ve had no training. It is placed in a prominent position near to the village pharmacy.

• Hemsworth Town Council, West Yorkshire Oversaw the installation of 3 defibrillators at prominent locations in the town, The first 2 were fully funded by the town council, whilst the 3rd was jointly funded by 4 organisations: Hemsworth Town Council, Yorkshire Ambulance Service Charitable Fund, L & T Transport and Farmfoods.. The town council has also organised and paid for council staff and the public to attend training run by Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Economic development

• Bruton Town Council, Somerset, (electorate 1,990) developed a town plan with the aim of improving Bruton. A one year review in 2018 highlighted actions the council had taken including entering into discussions with Somerset County Council about leasing two fields in Bruton, construction of a multi-use games area in Jubilee Park, and granting £2,000 to Bruton Community Partnership to set up a community group which will oversee and promote Bruton’s footpath network,

• Henley Town Council, Oxfordshire, (electorate 8,750) organises several highly successful markets which are held in the town centre. This includes the weekly Charter Market, currently (2019) at full capacity, with stalls selling everything from bread and cakes to bags, fish, fruit and vegetables and ladies fashion. There are also farmers’ markets in operation two or three times a month and weekend continental style markets.

Environmental Improvements

• Harlington Parish Council, Bedfordshire, (electorate 1,831) manages an area of woodland on the site of a former quarry. The council developed a management plan and involved teachers and pupils from local primary and secondary schools to set up a nature trail.

• Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council, West Yorkshire Worked with Bradford Council and Community Payback to clear footpaths in the area.

• Maldon Town Council, Essex, (electorate 11,998) Organises a high street hanging basket scheme with the aim of brightening up the town centre. The sceme runs from May to October and sees hanging baskets filled with flowers and placed on shop fronts around the town. The baskets are maintained and watered at least three times aa week by the Town Council’s contractors. Participating shops and businesses are asked to contribute towards the costs of running the scheme.

• St. Ives Town Council, Cornwall, (electorate 9,198) Administers footpath maintenance work under a partnership arrangement with Cornwall County Council. In addition to maintaining the pathways, St. Ives Town Council also trim the hedges running alongside the pathways up to 3 times a year. In doing so the Council aims to enable the footpath network around the parish to be a pleasant experience to all who use it.

• Waddesdon Parish Council, Buckinghamshire, (electorate 1,491) purchased additional street cleaning equipment supporting efforts by the parish council to keep the village clean and tidy.

Festivals

• Boston Spa Parish Council (population 4,091) held its 5th annual Scarecrow Festival this year, plus special activities during the weekend.

• Gnossal Parish Council, Staffordshire, (electorate 4,107) Holds a biannual festival called GFest which in 2019 lasted 9 days an included a Made in Gnossal Craft fair, a family bike ride, a canalside event, a classical music concert and heritage group open day. See details of the 2021 Festival here.

• Hadlow Parish Council, Kent (electorate 3,204) Holds a community breakfast one Sunday a month. For £4 per adult and £2 a child residents can go and enjoy a full English breakfast and chat.

• Little Paxton Parish Council, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (electorate 3,267) Organises the Annual Paxfest village fete and Fun Dog Show.

Grants and Funding

• Barkham Parish Council, Berkshire, (electorate 2,539) Manages the Barkham Sporting Endeavour Fund. Barkham residents under the age of 18 who participate in a sport at County level are invited to apply for a grant to put towards the costs of training and travel.

• Ilkley Town Council, West Yorkshire Donated £7,000 towards the building on a new athletics facility for the Ilkley Harriers.

• North Elmsall Parish Council, West Yorkshire Contributed £20,000 towards the cost of a new sports pavilion.

• Welton Parish Council, East Yorkshire, (electorate 5,963) runs a grant funding scheme for organisations which provide benefits and/or services for residents of Welton, Melton and Waudby. Local not-for-profit organisations can apply for a grant of up to £750 for work which will help improve the range of local services and activities on offer.

Health and Wellbeing

• Alcester Town Council, Warwickshire and West Midlands (electorate 4,835) Set up a Health and Wellbeing board in 2015 which mirrors the county structure. Members include representatives from the local NHS Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group, and charities such as Age UK and Citizens Advice. As part of this the council received grant funding to employ 2 part-time Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinators who aim to tackle isolation amongst older people and focus on preventative steps. the coordinators work with existing groups and help set up new groups. One new groups set up as a result is a weekly luncheon club. the club is now self sustaining and serves hot lunches to 40 members each week.

• Histon and Impington Parish Council, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, (electorate 6,773) developed a community companion course to help young people build relationships with older people in the community. the 10 session course for schoolchildren aged 11 and over,covered topics including what makes a good / bad companion, what young and older people think of each other services available for older people and dementia training.

• Painswick Parish Council, Gloucestershire, (electorate 2,693) Organised a warm clothing collection for homeless people in Cheltenham. Local residents were encouraged to donate unwanted winter coats, shoes, hats, scarves and gloves, and sleeping bags by dropping them off at the Parish Council’s Office.

Housing and Planning

• Wimbish Parish Council, Essex, (population 1,629) In 2006 the Parish Council decided to renew the housing needs survey to see if there were still people in the parish who were in need of affordable housing. A survey was commissioned and the result showed a need for 14 affordable properties (10 for rental and 4 for shared ownership). This time the parish council took the bold step of specifying a Passivhaus standard for the new housing development which was completed by Hastoe Housing Association in 2011. This was the first rural affordable housing scheme in the UK to be built to Passivhaus specifications. An independent study assessing the first 5 years of this development concluded that the Passivhaus approach continues to deliver. Overall, the homes are performing largely as designed and provide the occupants, none of whom had particular prior interest in sustainability or energy efficiency, with homes that they find economic to run, healthy to live in and very comfortable and spacious for the size. Some residents stated that their heating bills were only £30 per quarter. Click here for further details of Wimbish Passive houses.. and for a video here

Lengthsmen/women

• Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Council (electorate 5,335) employ a lengthsman to keep clean pavements, roads and report blocked gullies.

Neighbourhood Plans

The Localism Act 2011 introduced statutory neighbourhood planning in England. It enables communities to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan for their area and is intended to give communities more of a say in the development of their local area (within certain limits and parameters).

Neighbourhood Planing is a community-led framework for guiding the future development and growth of an area. It may contain a vision, aims, planning policies, proposals for improving the area or providing new facilities, or allocation of key sites for specific kinds of development.

Neighbourhood Plans relate to the use and development of land and associated social, economic and environmental issues. It may deal with a wide range of issues (like housing, employment, heritage and transport) or it may focus on one or two issues that are of particular importance in a local area.

A Neighbourhood Plan will be subject to examination and referendum and then form part of the Local Development Plan. This statutory status gives Neighbourhood Plans far more weight than some other local planning documents, such as parish plans, community plans and village design statements.

The purpose of such a plan is to give the people at a local parish level some degree of control over where
and how developments take place within the parish.

However, a Neighbourhood Plan cannot prevent or overrule the planning policies of the relevant Planning Authority. In this case the relevant Authority is Bradford MBC. The purpose of the Neighbourhood Plan is to give an expression to local views and wishes about any planned development. The Planning Authority must then take those views into account before making any final decision.

The major example is in relation to new housing developments. These developments cannot be prevented but the parish can say where these new houses should be built, and indicate what type of housing the parish is short of. The parish can also express its opinion on what other services or facilities may be needed in consequence of such new houses being built. Some local parishes in the Bradford Metropolitan District have produced Neighbourhood Plans . (Click on the areas shown at that link page for more details.)

Parish plans

• Are not the same as Neighbourhood plans. All Parish Councils consult on what improvements local residents would like to see and draw up plans to implement improvements.

Parks and Open Spaces

• Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council, West Yorkshire Stepped in to help maintain Haworth Central Park

Planning Applications

• Parish Councils are consulted by Bradford Council for views on Planning applications. Their comments must be made on material planning considerations only. Parish Councils normally have trading on how the Planning system should work.

Playgrounds

• Billingborough Parish Council, Lincolnshire, (electorate 1,081) Secured funding from South Kesteven District Council’s Community Fund for new play equipment for the village playing field. An adventure climbing frame and modern swing has now been installed in the park which is aimed at children aged 4 to 14.

• Harling Parish Council, Norfolk Embarked on a 5 year project to regenerate the village play facilities.

Swimming Pool

• Bingley Town Council, West Yorkshire Granted funds to Friends of Bingley Pool to fund a detailed feasibility study into acquiring the pool in Myrtle Place from its owner, Bradford Council.

Websites about the Parish

• Yes there is already this website, which uses a Free Plan from WordPress, but it could be improved and expanded, and a paid plan, which costs about £40 a year could make it a better website. This website was started by someone aged 69 at the time who is now 76. The website is well used.

Youth facilities

• Fair Oak and Horton Heath Parish Council, Hampshire (electorate 7,764) Operates the Y-Zone youth centre in partnership with Eastleigh Borough Council and Bishopstoke Parish Council. Y-Zone is open every weekday and caters for young people aged 10-17. Activities and facilities on offer include table tennis, Wii, computer access, Xbox, air-hockey and a pool table. A youth worker is also available to provide information, advice and support on topics including bullying, anger problems, relationships, sexual health, sexuality, alcohol and drugs on a one to one basis. The youth centre is home to 2 youth clubs, and afternoon club for young people aged 10-13, and an evening club for 13-17 year olds. Both clubs meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Attendance at the afternoon club costs 50p per session while the evening club is free to attend.

Local Councils cost money to run.  The current charges differ from council to council as seen in the table. (2023/4 amounts per year)

That’s the amount to pay, each year, in addition to what Bradford Council charge.

Unlike Bradford Councillors who receive a basic annual allowance of £13,042 each, and more if they chair a committee, parish councillors do not receive any allowances.   

A parish council has to employ a clerk, who is normally part-time, and may employ other staff.

What local councils are allowed to do in law.

These extracts are taken from The Good Councillor’s Guide, published by, and copyright © of the National Association of Local Councils. Many of their publications are downloadable. The odd thick black lines are irrelevant.

(Updated 29 April 2023)