In the 1960's the Council demolished the picturesque Almhouses and post office which were the centrepiece of the village, adjacent to St Peter's and Sowerby Hall. In their stead was erected a row of six brick-built shops with living accommodation above, which were totally out of keeping with the rest of the area. Over the years, Calderdale MBC and Pennine Housing failed to maintain the shops so that they fell into disrepair. Several had long been unoccupied and so had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour including vandalism.

Many residents, outraged that for so many years the heart of our village was hideous and ugly, joined together to make the Sowerby Residents' Association. The first task was to tackle this eyesore, but now the well-attended meetings, at the Church Stile Inn, enable everyone in the area to voice their concerns and to work towards solutions to local problems.

We are a group of friendly, non-political local people. Our aims are to improve and enhance our village for the benefit of residents. Here is a brief summary of our achievements to date:

• We have set in motion an improvement and renovation plan for the shops at Towngate
• We have reached out to the Church, local schools and the police to invite them to our meetings
• We meet monthly in the Church Stile Inn, Sowerby New Road, on the first Monday or Tuesday of the month at 7.00pm, unless otherwise advertised. Please see the Events Page for details of the next meeting
• We have worked together with the police to tackle anti-social behavior
• We are currently discussing the use of empty shops in Sowerby, the prefabs on Dean Lane, the problems of litter and youth boredom
• We have been addressed by the local Community Support and Neighbourhood Watch Officers

For the next meeting please see the Events Page.

Click here for the minutes of the last meeting.

Chair:	Richard Ashton	richard@sowerbytown.org.uk
Secretary:	Irene Kitchen	irene@sowerbytown.org.uk
Treasurer:	Sharron Greenwood	sharron@sowerbytown.org.uk