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Menston Parish Council In the early part of the twentieth century the village was part of the Wharfedale Rural District Council and Burley had its own District Council when, in 1929, the Local Government Act required County Councils to review their districts to form local government areas of more viable size. Menston had already indicated that it did not wish to combine with Otley in an enlarged Wharfedale Urban District Council and in 1930 Burley and Menston began to discuss possible amalgamation into a single District Council. Press reports of the meetings described Menston as the 'jewel in the  crown' no doubt referring to the relative wealth of the village and its rateable value. In 1937, after several years of wrangling central government decreed a scheme for local government that established llkIey Urban District, which included llkley, Burley and the greater part of Menston but not including High Royds. The Local Government Act 1972, which came into being in 1974, abolished the Urban Districts in Wharfedale and established the Metropolitan District of Leeds, which included Otley, and the Metropolitan District of Bradford, which included the IlkIey Urban District. Exceptionally, llkley Urban District area was permitted to have Parish Council status and in this way Burley and Menston became parts of llkley Parish Council. However, it was not always easy for the three communities to form an identity as one Parish council. In 2004 as a consequence of central government's encouragement to devolve decision making, there were moves to form three independent Parish Councils for Ilkley, Burley and Menston. An order by the Secretary of State for Local Government to create Menston Parish Council was made on 24th February 2006. The Parish Council was formed in 2006 and is one of 17 town and parish councils across the Bradford District. The Parish Council consists of seven elected councillors and a part-time paid clerk. Each councillor is elected for four years and the next elections will take place in 2011. Contact details for each of the councillors and the clerk can be found by opening the "Contacts details" link below The Parish Council’s running costs are funded (like other parish councils) by a precept, collected from local people with the Council Tax. Menston’s budget for 2009/10 is £15,562 – an average payment of £7.50 each year for local households (this figure has remained the same since 2006). The budget funds local projects through the Grants scheme, and also provides subsidies to other organisations for the benefit of the local community - for example the 967 “Hoppa “ bus service from Menston to Otley. More information about the Parish Council’s activities can be found in the first edition of the Parish Council newsletter on this website. The Parish Council and Planning Committee usually meet on the third Thursday of every month at 7.05pm at Kirklands. Members of the public are welcome to attend these meetings and raise issues of local concern in the public consultation slot. A list of the meeting dates can be found by opening the "2009 Parish Council Meetings Dates" link below.
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Parish Council
