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Directorates and service areas

Economy and Environment

Economy and Environment is a new Directorate incorporating Highways and Engineering, Regeneration, Planning and Housing and Environment.

Director: Ian Gray

• E-mail:
• ian.gray@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Fax:
• 01422 392205
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

Highways and Engineering

Head of Service: Dave Tee (Acting)

• E-mail:
• highwaysandengineering@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Fax:
• 01422 392193
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

Highways and Engineering is a major provider of services to the public and other Council service areas. The service is responsible for civil engineering, highway maintenance, provision of transport services and the management of Calderdale's indoor and open air markets.

• Transportation: The development and implementation of the Council's transportation policies in partnership with the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority and the other West Yorkshire Districts including preparation of the annual Local Transport Plan.
• Highway Management: Making the most efficient use of the existing road network for all road users by:
  • improving accessibility
  • giving priority to the needs of public transport, business and industry
  • improving the flow of traffic
  • reducing road accidents
  • minimising adverse effects on the environment.
• Highway Improvement: Improvements to existing highways and the construction of new highways to:
  • reduce conflict between local and through traffic and between different classes of road user
  • to reduce congestion and delay
  • improve conditions for public transport, access for industry, road safety and environmental conditions
  • to assist in the development of residential and industrial sites.
• Highway Maintenance: The statutory duty to maintain adopted highways to:
  • preserve the existing infrastructure
  • to provide for the safe movement of all road users
  • to preserve the environmental contribution made by the highway. This service also includes salting and snow clearing in winter.
• Highway Development Control: Provision of highway inputs to the development control process.
• Parking: The provision and management of off-street and on-street parking facilities.
• Road Safety: Measures to reduce the number and severity of road accidents by:
  • accident investigation and prevention
  • road safety education
  • training
  • publicity
  • good highway design
  • adequate safety levels of highway maintenance.
• Civil Engineering Services: The provision of a wide range of civil engineering services to other service areas of the Council.
• Land Drainage Services: Enforcement of the Council's statutory powers in relation to land drainage, the investigation and promotion of works to prevent or alleviate flooding and the maintenance of those installations for which the Council is responsible.
• Transport Services: Provides and maintains vehicles for all service areas of the Council including the carrying out of, the testing of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.
  Transport Services also provides transport services for special needs school children, the elderly and disabled.
• The Access Bus service is provided under contract to Metro.
• Emergency Service: Operation of the Council's Out of Hours Emergency Service
• We also provide a wide range of transport related training to the Council, Schools and Voluntary/Community Organisations throughout the Borough.
• Markets: Management of all the Council's indoor and outdoor markets.

Regeneration

Head of Service: David Moore

• E-mail:
• david.moore@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Fax:
• 01422 392059
• Address:
• Westgate House
  Westgate
  Halifax HX1 1PS.

Regeneration Services is responsible for the economic development and regeneration of the Borough. Services provided include support to new and existing businesses, the planning and delivery of regeneration projects and help for local residents to gain employment.

The service provides the following:

• Building Maintenance:Client functions in relation to the maintenance of Council property except housing.
• Land and Property Services: management of council owned property, acquisition and disposal of land and property, strategic asset management and management of the Councils' Terrier (Ownership) system.
• Management of major regeneration projects.
• Support for businesses and economy including economic inclusion and enterprise, sectoral support (Creative, Manufacturing, Tourism and Rural), business competitiveness and attracting and administering external Public Sector funding developments. The borough has 3 strategic economic aims: developing resilient and competitive economy, encouraging economic inclusion and increasing employment opportunities in the work place and creating conditions for sustainable growth.
• Building Design and Construction Management:The design, cost management, procurement, consultant management and construction management of Council building works.

Planning

Head of Planning: Geoff Willerton

• E-mail:
• town.planning@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Fax:
• 01422 392205
• Address:
• Planning Services
  Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

The Planning Service are responsible for controlling development in accordance with the policy framework.

• Development Management: This is the process that manages the development and use of land. It involves deciding planning applications in accordance with local and national policy, taking into account the views of consultees and local people. Many issues have to be balanced, such as the benefits of proposals to the economy and their impact on the environment, as well as on the interests of the local community.
  The Service also deals with appeals against the refusal of planning permission and enforcement when planning controls are breached. It makes and administers Tree Preservation Orders, and provides general information and advice about the planning system along with more detailed guidance on specific proposals.
• Development Strategy: Development of Planning Policy: including the Replacement Adopted Unitary Development Plan (adopted in August 2006) and the preparation of the Local Development Framework. Promotion of Sustainable Development including Energy Management: promoting a better quality of life for everyone and for generations to come and seeking to ensure a reduction in CO2 emissions to meet policy targets.
• Building Control Services: Decisions on deposited plans and on-site inspections to make sure the Buildings Regulations are met.
  Our role is to maintain the health, safety, welfare and convenience of people in and about the built environment, furthering the conservation of fuel and power, preventing waste, misuse or contamination of water, protecting the environment, facilitating sustainable development and supporting the prevention and detection of crime.
  We aim to achieve these objectives by:
  
  • The administration and enforcement of Building Regulations and allied legislation.
  • Controlling demolition.
  • Dealing with dangerous buildings and structures.
  • Sealing up empty properties.
  • Ensuring safety at sports grounds.
  • The provision of a consultancy service, including surveying and reporting, training and guidance relating to fire safety together with access and inclusion issues, in particular the Council's obligations under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Disability Discrimination Acts.
  • Protective against climate change and avoiding flood risk

  We are committed to providing consistently high quality services, transparently, fairly and reasonably to all our customers. Our quality management systems are accredited to BS EN ISO 9001:2000 and we have been awarded the Government's prestigious Charter Mark for customer service excellence.

Housing and Environment

Head of Housing and Environment: Mark Thompson

• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

The Housing and Environment Service continues to deliver a variety of services and functions that are key priorities for the Council. These include Housing Access, Private Sector Housing Services, Environmental Health and Waste Management Services.

In 2001, the housing stock was transferred over to Pennine Housing 2000|.

The Housing Access services cover a range of areas including the Housing Options team, Temporary Accommodation Support Service and the Housing Strategy and Enabling team:

• The Housing Options team is responsible for ensuring that any household or individual experiencing housing problems have access to advice and information. The team is based at Doorways and provides a drop-in and triage service. Doorways also provides a specialist support service for clients with a diagnosed mental health problem, to help them find, move into and maintain a home: Housing advice;
• If a customer is found to be homeless the Temporary Accommodation Support Service are able to provide temporary accommodation, along with support to help them move on to permanent accommodation: Housing advice;
• The Housing Strategy and Enabling team work closely with planning services, private developers and housing associations to deliver affordable and social housing. The team are responsible for producing the Housing Strategy. The service leads on a number of key housing projects, including delivery of new affordable homes: Housing strategy.

Contact

• Name:
• Heidi Wilson (Housing Access Manager)
• E-mail:
• heidi.wilson@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

The Private Sector Housing teams cover a range of areas including Private Sector Strategy and Development, Home Improvement Services, Housing Energy Action Team, Accessible Homes Agency delivering disabled adaptations and Handyperson Service:

• The Private Sector Strategy and Development team work on specific initiatives including reducing the number of empty properties in the District and developing relationships with landlords of private rented accommodation. The team also works on a number of projects including assessing and addressing the need for older people's housing and co-operative housing: Private sector development;
• The Home Improvement Service offers assistance to home owners on low income who require works to their home that are considered essential to protect their health and safety and to make them warm and weather proof with reasonably modern facilities. The aim of the Service is to give financial assistance and help with the practicalities of employing contractors and ensuring work is carried out to a good standard: Home repairs;
• The Housing Energy Action Team can help owner occupiers and tenants in privately rented properties make their homes warmer, more comfortable and cheaper to heat. They provide information and guidance, as well as practical help with improving the thermal warmth of their home, lowering bills and carbon emissions: Energy efficiency;
• The Accessible Homes Agency provides essential adaptations to the homes of elderly and disabled people to help them live independently and safely in their homes. A range of adaptations are provided that improve access into and around the home and make it easier to use essential facilities in the home, such as a bath or shower: Adaptations for elderly and disabled people;
• The Handyperson Service can assist people with a disability and anyone over 55, who lives in their own home or rented property, with small jobs: Handyperson service.

Contact

• Name:
• Helen Rhodes (Private Sector Housing Manager)
• E-mail:
• helen.rhodes@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

Environmental Health

Our Environmental Health Service is organised around two teams dealing with domestic and commercial premises actively. The range of work is wide and includes:

• Animal Health - farm animal movement records, control of notifiable animal diseases.
• Atmospheric pollution - smoke and other air pollutants.
• Communicable Disease Control - preventing the spread of certain highly infectious diseases, especially those possibly linked with food, drink or water consumption.
• Contaminated land - for example problems of gas from closed landfill sites.
• Dog Warden Service.
• Drainage - advice or action on problems with defective or insufficient drainage of buildings.
• Environmental Protection - fly tipping, build-up of refuse, smells, animals and other statutory nuisances, filthy or infested premises and so on.
• Food safety - inspection of food premises, food and milk sampling, investigating complaints about food.
• Health and Safety at Work in offices, shops, warehouses, that is all non-factory premises.
• Housing issues including disrepair, damp, fire safety, unfitness and registration of Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMO’s)
• Licensing of caravans and camping sites, riding schools, boarding kennels and catteries, pet shops, dangerous wild animals and so on.
• Noise - industrial and commercial, noisy neighbours, barking dogs, burglar alarms and so on.
• Provision, cleaning and maintenance of public sanitary conveniences.
• Water supply - monitoring of private and public water supplies, swimming pool water samples.

Enforcement Policy

Calderdale Council has adopted the Enforcement Concordat drawn up by the Government's Regulatory Impact Unit. This requires enforcement and regulatory services to be open and helpful and to publish clear standards of service that ensure an approach to enforcement that is both consistent and proportional.

Contact

• Name:
• Peter Broadbent (Environmental Health Manager)
• E-mail:
• peter.broadbent@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

Waste Management

The Waste Management Service is responsible for ensuring that the Borough's household waste is collected, where possible recycled and appropriately disposed of. The team manage the Waste Recycling contract, which involves close monitoring of the waste contractor, currently SITA (UK) Ltd. Calderdale currently recycles 41% of its waste at the doorstep, the best performance in West Yorkshire, but is keen to improve further.

• The Collection, Waste and Pest control teams ensure that each of the boroughs 90,000 households receive a waste collection and recycling service regularly.
• The Disposal and Waste team are responsible for making sure that household waste is also appropriately disposed of.
• The Strategy and Recycling team support customers throughout Calderdale to help them understand how to recycle and are responsible for promoting recycling throughout the borough.

Contact

• Name:
• Heidi Wilson (Interim Waste Manger)
• E-mail:
• heidi.wilson@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 0845 245 6000
• Address:
• Northgate House
  Northgate
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

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