Monday 15th June 2026

This month the village was shocked at the death of Junior Slater who lost his life on the Tush. I’d like to thank the Emergency Services for their efforts in a very difficult rescue effort and our thoughts are with his family.

On the that evening I attended a Community Services Committee meeting at RVBC. On the agenda was an item about providing a training qualification to a staff member to enable them to provide in house training to lifeguards when Ribblesdale Pool reopens. I raised the idea of going further and adding to this training offer open water emergency response. It’s clear, having spoken to some young people who were present on the Tush, that in addition to the issues around cold-water shock, that young people present had no clear idea of how to respond. I will be making this point further at Full Council next month. Whilst I’m unsure of how useful the emergency throwline would have had in those circumstances, I’m quite sure that the current arrangement is entirely unsuitable in case of further emergencies, it needs to be more easily accessible.

Now is an excellent time to give the Parish Council a heads up on a project I’ve been working on with residents, so I’d like to update you all on progress towards gaining Village Green status. I’ve been working with residents and the Borough Council to apply to place Greenside on the LCC register of village greens. It’s a slow process and taking up far more energy than I would have believed necessary but I’ve drafted a motion to Community Services Committee to make sure that this gets done. It’s a slow process which has been slowed down and though it won’t be finalised before the cricket match on Field Day at the weekend I’m delighted to see a cricket strip is being prepared.

I’ve been dealing with a number of residents complaints about Greenside car park which appears to have a problem with untaxed and uninsured cars being parked on there in the mistaken assumption that they are off road and untouchable. I don’t think that’s the case and there is a risk that they may get reported and removed, being considered abandoned. The Council is aware of the problem and I have asked for signs to be placed at the entrance to the car park. Currently the height barrier is down due to recent damage.