By Jill Stocks
Horsforth Town Council released its annual report this week – and also has a new Chair going into the 2025/26 council year.
The report reflects on the activities of the council over the 12-month period from April 2024 to the end of March 2025.
Over the 2024/25 council year the town council hosted events for Christmas and Remembrance Day in November as well as commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the D Day landings in June.
Details of the work on No 3 The Green are also included in the report.
Cllr Simon Dowling says of the development: “In April, we officially handed over the keys to the developers, marking the beginning of the renovation work required to bring this vision to life.
“This project represents a major milestone for Horsforth, and once complete, will provide a lasting resource that serves people of all ages and backgrounds – a space for the entire community to enjoy and benefit from for generations to come.”
The report also details grants awarded by the town council over those twelve months.
Grants of £500 each were awarded to four community groups; Horsforth Hawks Rounders Team who attended a national tournament, Horsforth Cricket Club who made repairs to their all weather training facility, the 7th Airedale Scout group who made improvements to their outdoor facilities and Horsforth Churches Together who used the funding for the Good Friday Walk of Witness.
Information regarding the council’s Neighbourhood Plan is included in the report. Cllr Aiden Goulden is the lead of the Neighbourhood Plan Working Group.
He said: “This vital document allows residents to have their say in steering future development across Horsforth, and allows the Town Council access to additional Community Infrastructure Levy money from construction projects across Horsforth. This money is spent on projects that benefit local residents.”
Cllr Mark Fletcher provides information on the council continuing towards its aim of being recognised as a Council of Sanctuary.
“Horsforth Town Council is pursuing the process of being recognised as a Council of Sanctuary. This award is given by City of Sanctuary UK, a national charity that aims to foster greater understanding between the public, refugees and people seeking asylum.
“Horsforth Town Council aims to create a culture of inclusivity and welcome in Horsforth for refugees and people seeking asylum in the town and surrounding area, and we have been working closely with the local Horsforth Town of Sanctuary (HToS) support group to achieve this.
“The group primarily supports men seeking asylum who are temporarily accommodated in north Leeds as well as asking the men themselves to sit on the steering group, ensuring they play an active part in the running of the group.”
Cllr Fletcher is a regular attendee at Town Of Sanctuary steering group meetings and events, including the very successful Get Together event held in February to highlight their work.
Also in the annual report are individual reports from all of the committees of the Town Council and a finance report from Town Clerk Becky Crabtree.
The Heart Of Horsforth awards are also mentioned. Last year’s awards were presented in January this year and nominations for this year close on 1 September 2025.
At the Annual Meeting of the Town Council at the end of May a new Chair was elected, taking over from outgoing Chair Cllr Simon Dowling, who has held the role for three years.
Cllr Dowling wrote: “As I approach the conclusion of my third year serving as Chairman of Horsforth Town Council, I find myself reflecting on the progress we have made together and the many contributions that have brought us to this point.
“It is with sincere gratitude that I extend heartfelt thanks to all my fellow Town Councillors for their tireless work and commitment to serving the residents of Horsforth over the past twelve months.”
Cllr Gill Garvani was elected as Chair, having previously served as Vice Chair, and is looking forward to representing the community in the role.
“It’s an honour to be elected as Chair of Horsforth Town Council and I hope that I can carry on doing the best for Horsforth as previous Chairs have done,” she said.
In April Horsforth Town Council was given a silver award under the Local Council Award Scheme which is administered by the National Association of Local Councils.
The award scheme is a peer assessed scheme “designed to both provide the tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector.”
“The Silver Award recognises that the Town Council excels in strong governance, active community engagement, and a clear commitment to continuous improvement—demonstrating a standard that goes above and beyond statutory obligations.”
Horsforth Town Council is elected to represent the community of Horsforth, address local concerns, host events and ratify spending decisions.
There are 22 elected town councillors, covering five wards, who are currently serving a four year term which began in May 2023.
There is currently one vacancy on the town council with a by-election due to be held for the Brownberrie Ward of the town council on Thursday June 26th.
You can read the full Horsforth Town Council Annual Report here.
Sponsored content
All the money you recived from the people of horsforth! Yet a bloke spent money out of his own pocket so I have been informed, too put a decent set of goal nets on Stanhope Reck! So tell me what do you spend our tax money on? Even if there are say 800 houses in and around horsforth and each say pays £100 that is a hell of a lot of tax payers money? Yet you can not even put a pair of decent nets on two goal posts so I am told! A part from not getting paid exept for expences for your 22 councilors that is?