Three Nuns Walk for Councillors on Sunday 4th March 2012

Campaigners from Keep Roberttown & Hartshead Rural feel that many Kirklees Councillors have no idea just how beautiful this small part of North Kirklees is.  It may look like a blank space on the map, conveniently placed close to Junction 25 of the M62 and perfect for covering with industrial buildings.  After all, what developer would choose a brownfield site when tempted by the offer of over 100 acres of Green Belt?

KRHR invited all 69 Kirklees Councillors to take a short walk over some of the land under threat to see for themselves what is at stake before voting the LDF through at the Extraordinary General Meeting on Tuesday and condemning it to concrete and tarmac.
Apart from a handful of replies from those with prior commitments, not one Councillor turned up.  Well, it was a cold, wet morning...
Instead, about 40 people turned out (including Mirfield Town Councillor David Pinder), having read about the plan in the Spenborough Guardian and no doubt hoping to have a word with one or two Councillors themselves.

Local people ready to escort Kirklees Councillors

The gathering were undeterred by the weather, and children and dogs enjoyed a rare communal walk in the mud.  The route was up Leeds Road to Mock Hall Farm, over the stile there and across the fields, through Hartshead Hall Wood, then left down to the bottom track  (where the Green Woodpecker could be heard marking out his territory) and back to the Three Nuns.  This walk was planned as being likely to cover some of the 42 hectares (103 acres) set out in the LDF.  Thank you all for your company!

Striding across the Green Belt at Mock Hall Farm