| WUTF.494 | There were no declarations of interest declared in relation to any items of business considered at the meeting.
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| WUTF.495 | The Chair invited questions, comments and representations from members of the public present at the meeting. Questions were asked and comments made on the issues detailed below. The Township Forum Co-ordinator undertook to obtain a reply to matters which could not be dealt with at the meeting.
Question - The privets on the boundary of a property on Morton Avenue and Elms Road are too big and are causing an obstruction on to the pavement and need to be cut back. Can this be done?
Response - The details will be passed onto Six Town Housing to take action.
Question - Motorists are parking outside of the Co-op store on Parr Lane (Previously the Dragon Pub) and this is creating a hazard for pedestrians and motorists. Better signage to inform motorists of the parking area at the rear of the building is needed. Can something be done?
Response - This will be forwarded for the attention of the Highways Section to investigate the introduction of parking restrictions on the Parr Lane.
Question - Cars are parking in front of a bus stop on Hollins Lane near Sykes Avenue. This makes it difficult for the bus drivers to see people waiting at the stop and has resulted in the bus not stopping to pick up passengers. Can the Council do something?
Response - This will be reported to the Highways Section and the bus companies concerned.
Question - The road markings at various points in Whitefield and Unsworth are wearing out and in some area have disappeared altogether creating potential hazards to road users. Could action be taken to improve the markings?
Response - The Township Manager report that this matter has been reported the Highways Section for attention and will be followed up.
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| WUTF.496 | The meeting was addressed by Clare Rogers from NHS Bury to raise awareness on the issue of breast, bowel and lung cancer. Currently Bury had a high percentage of people presenting their symptoms to their GP at a late stage. NHS Bury is in the process of trying to raise awareness of these types of cancer for the benefit of local groups within the Whitefield and Unsworth area.
It was explained that more could be done in terms of treatment for those individuals who present themselves at an early stage rather than later. In a lot of cases the diagnosis given was not cancer, although support and help was available for those who require it.
Contact details and information was left for the audience information.
Councillor Grimshaw suggested that drop in centres could be arranged and details would be useful if put on the Council’s web site.
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| WUTF.497 | The Township Co-ordinator gave an update on matters previously raised.
Ann Marshall reported on the cenotaph at All Saints Church and gave the background to the siting of the monument. On the basis of the information that had been researched the cenotaph appeared to be the responsibility of the local authority as the land owner.
The Township Co-ordinator undertook to investigate further on the basis of the information received.
Mrs Moore referred to dog fouling patrols and the issue of notices to owners who don’t clear up when their dog(s) foul and asked how would residents know when a patrol would be taking place.
It was reported that residents would be notified of area patrols.
Tina Murray (Environmental Services) then addressed the meeting regarding the work of officers who patrol the borough to monitor dog owners and issue enforcement notices when required and advice regarding dog fouling. Bury Council has a contract with ‘Animal Warden’ to provide this service. Residents are asked to provide intelligence on owners and areas where dog fouling occurs to better target the limited resources available. Unfortunately owners were taking their pets out at night or when officers were not in attendance and made monitoring difficult.
Dog fouling is a public health issue and a high profile campaign was run about two months ago. Owners were advised that they could now place the bags containing dog waste into any bin, including domestic bins for disposal. The campaign covered one month for education on the issue and one of enforcement action.
A list of dog fouling hotspots had been compiled for the borough and the Old Hall/Sunnybank Road area would be added to this.
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| WUTF.498 | The Township Co-ordinator gave a brief presentation on the purpose of Area Plans and used demographic and other background information relating to Whitefield and Unsworth to demonstrate this.
As part of a co-ordinated approach across the borough, other Township Forums would be undertaking the same work. The members of the audience present were invited to choose a subject area work group in which ideas and suggestions would be discussed and list the three main priorities agreed on for inclusion in the Area Plan. The subject area to be discussed included:
- mployment/Worklessness/ Income
- Crime
- Health and wellbeing/ transport
- Educational Attainment/ learning
- Environment and living conditions
- Community pride and belonging
Each table included a facilitator and appointed someone to record the discussion and report their findings.
At the end of the session the Chair asked each work group for its findings and the following was reported.
Employment/ Worklessness/ Income:
- Create local provision of help and support individuals to develop skills and knowledge to be successful in finding employment;
- Develop a system of volunteering for people who were unemployed as a way to help them build self-esteem;
- Build partnerships with businesses to provide mentoring and training for unemployed people.
Crime:
- Help to engage with police and the probation service;
- Address the issue of young people who use Metrolink to travel into the area to commit crime;
- Promote the value to residents of establishing a Homewatch Group.
Health and wellbeing/ transport:
- Take health screening and checks into the community, target specific and hard to reach groups;
- Ensure people can access health facilities through the provision of regular scheduled bus services;
- Suggest the police use their vehicles to provide mobile health services for communities;
- Educate parents to cook at home and use healthy ingredients.
Educational Attainment/ learning:
- Target funding for Children’s Centres;
- Educate parents on how to learn with their children and ensure their children are ready to learn by eating breakfast before they go to school;
- Communicate between agencies on family issues to ensure a co-ordinated approach.
Environment and living conditions:
- Protect the environment through sustainable developments;
- Promote positive activity in parks through partnership working on events, focus on families doing activities locally and use available green spaces;
- Support local ‘Friends of’ groups to promote projects within communities.
Community pride and belonging:
- Increase employment opportunities;
- Improve parks and conservation areas;
- Work with housing providers to re-engage with residents to improve estates such as Hillock and Besses.
The Township Co-ordinator reported that the recommendations of each work group would be taken back and included in the Area Plan under production. The Draft Area Plan would be submitted to the next meeting of the Township Forum in March.
It was reported that volunteers would be needed to sit on a Steering Group to help put the Area Plan together
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| WUTF.499 | Inspector Mark Kenny provided an update on Policing issues within Whitefield and Unsworth. The meeting was provided with statistical information relating to anti-social behaviour, burglary and criminal damage and the comparisons to the previous years figures. Each area had seen a reduction in the number of crimes committed.
It was reported that locally the key threats remained commercial and domestic burglary and vehicle crime. PACT and Crime Prevention meetings were ongoing along with regular area patrols. Work also included schools intervention and youth PACT meetings. Volunteers were also being sought for training to act as youth workers.
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| WUTF.500 | The Township Co-ordinator reported that applications for funding up to a maximum of £250 and £750 for cross-ward group applications, were still being invited from constituted groups within Whitefield and Unsworth.
Application forms would be circulated to those interested.
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