| WUTF.195 | Councillor Grimshaw acting as Chair welcomed those in attendance to the first meeting of the Whitefield and Unsworth Township Forum. She then introduced Councillor Mike Connolly (Leader of the Council) and invited him to address the meeting.
Councillor Connolly explained that he intended to visit each of the Township Forums at their first meetings. He thanked everyone for attending and for the hard work that had gone into setting up the initiative. The Township Forums had been introduced as part of a commitment to provide local people with a strong community voice and enable involvement in local decision making. There were six townships and each would develop to find out what works in each area.
As part of the operating framework each Township Forum had the authority to request the Leader to attend a meeting to discuss the work of the Executive and refer matters to the Overview Management Committee for consideration by a Scrutiny Panel.
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| WUTF.196 | There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.
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| WUTF.197 | The Chair informed the meeting that eight Advisory Group Members had been appointed to the Township Forum with one additional place allocated to a young person via the Youth Cabinet. It was reported that members of the Advisory Group had been chosen by a ballot of the core members. The Advisory Group members were as follows:-
- Leonard Lott - Whitefield and Unsworth Homewatch Association
- Alex Stacey - Whitefield Business Group
- Pamela Taylor - Hollins Village Community Association
- Sharon Bannister - Manchester Jewish Representative Council
- Barbara Carter - Hunters Hill Tenants and Residents Association
- Theresa Heyworth - ELMS Tenants and Residents Association
- Eric Riley - Hillock Estate, Association of Residents and Tenants
- Marlene Dawson - Victoria Estate Tenants and Residents Association
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| WUTF.198 | Councillor K Audin nominated Councillor D Boden as Chair of the Whitefield and Unsworth Township Forum and this Councillor A Matthews.
Councillor A Audin nominated himself as Vice Chair and this was seconded by Councillors D Boden and A Matthews.
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| WUTF.199 | Kim Griffiths introduced herself as the new Township Co-ordinator (Whitefield and Unsworth and Prestwich) and gave an outline her areas of work to promote the social, economic and environmental well being of the Whitefield and Unsworth areas. The purpose of the Township Forums was to give local people the opportunity to voice their opinions on local matters and raise their concerns.
The development of public sector partnerships was also crucial to the success of the initiative through attendance at meetings by local agencies and the input of local residents.
The Township Forums were different from the meetings of the Local Area Partnerships in that the Township Forums were constituted committees. The Forums had targets to achieve and measure as part of an annual plan. The Leader can be called to discuss issues and topics can be forwarded for more in depth consideration through the Council’s scrutiny process.
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| WUTF.200 | The Township Forum received a presentation from Neil Long (Assistant Director Environment and Development Services) on the key changes to be made to way the Council collects household waste. The changes would take place from 4 October 2011 and would include a grey bin collection every 2 weeks. At the moment Bury had the second lowest recycling rate in Greater Manchester at 28%. Under the new system it was anticipated that this would increase to a 50% recycling rate with a potential of a 75% recycling rate of items taken from the kerbside. The cost of waste collection and disposal to the Council was £14 million this could over rise could rise to £21 million in 2015.
To promote and encourage recycling in Bury it was proposed that a green bin for paper and card will replace the use of green bin bags and these will be distributed during September. From October both cooked and uncooked food waste could be placed the brown bin. A small kitchen caddy will be provided with a role of 52 biodegradable liner bags and instructions to use the bags to wrap the food waste before it is placed in the brown bin.
The collection of bins would be as follows:
- Green bins - every 4 weeks
- Blue bins - every 4 weeks
- Brown bins - every 2 weeks
- Grey bins - every 2 weeks
In addition new technology would be used in refuse collection vehicles to increase efficiency through communication between the public and the Customer Contact Centre.
The use of new collection regimes had proved to be very successful within other local authorities and there had been no problems regarding odours or pests. Families with six or more members would be provided with an extra grey bin with a red lid and smaller bins could be provided where necessary. Work was ongoing within communities to raise awareness through advice sessions and the issue of information leaflets on the new collection regime. Further information was available on the Bury Council web site which included a frequently asked questions page. There was also a 24 hour information line and a help line.
The Chair invited questions.
Question - Is it possible to have small green or brown bins instead of a large one?
Response - We are encouraging residents to use their large bins which will be collected once a month. It is possible to have a half size bins but not in brown.
Question - Can we do anything to prevent the closure of the Prestwich waste disposal site?
Response - The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) has decided to close five disposal sites across Greater Manchester. We have made representations to the GMWDA to reconsider the closure Prestwich site but the position remains the same.
Question - Would it be possible for sheltered accommodation residents to have their bins returned to their path after it has been emptied? Some residents of Elms Close have difficulties.
Response - Contact must be made with the Customer Contact Centre to request an Assisted Service. At those properties where it is required, the bin will be placed at the point of collection and returned to the property after it has been emptied. A meeting will be arranged for the residents of the Elms Close.
Question - Are there charges for administration and replacement bins?
Response - If a bin is damaged while it is being emptied there is no charge. The cost of a new bin is £25. This has also helped to reduce the number of new bins requested and the number of bins left out on the street.
Question - A resident had the assisted service for their bin but this stopped when a friend took the bin out for collection. What should they do?
Response - Please call the Customer Contact Centre to have the service set up.
Question - What is the cost of collection for bulky items?
Response - £15 for three items.
Question - What will be done to make people recycle?
Response - We are trying to encourage people to recycle by providing the means to do it and raising awareness by explaining the reasons, both financial and environmental, for the collection changes. We can’t make people recycle but these changes will, over time, help people change habits and increase their understanding of the way their household waste is disposed.
Question - Why are we continuing to use land fill instead of developing a waste to energy plant?
Response - There is a county-wide push to use the chemical burner sited in Warrington to recycle waste to usable energy.
Question - Why can’t we put plastic waste items in the blue bin?
Response - We want these items to be recycled but at this time there is no provider in the market that is willing to take the material for recycling.
Question - Does every address in the Borough have a brown bin?
Response - There are approximately 57,000 who do not have a brown bin.
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| WUTF.201 | The Chair, Councillor J Grimshaw, 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 - Bury is a great place to live but the street scene is being spoilt through the placing of advertising signs and hoardings on street sign posts, lamp posts and road side barriers etc. on the highway. A report was produced in 2007 on the licensing of A-boards but was not considered by scrutiny. What happened to it?
Response - Councillor Cohen explained that he was the Executive Member responsible at the time and that the report was not submitted to the Executive. The Highways Section of the Environmental Services Department is undertaking area sweeps to take the signs off posts and barriers. The public can also help by taking the details on the advertisement and reporting it using the Customer Service Point number. The Planning Section can take enforcement action against A-boards when they are reported. Councillor Connolly welcomed the question and highlighted the problems A-boards and unauthorised signage cause. He reported that he had requested officers to look into what action can be taken to address the issue.
Question - We want to raise the issue of dog fouling by putting information on lamp posts. Do we need permission?
Response - This is an environmental issue and the Council have officers to visit sites and give advice.
Question - Parking on Elms Close is a problem with 30 bungalows and 3 parking spaces and a grassed area in the middle. Could a road be built around the grassed area to help the parking problem?
Response - Six Town Housing is aware of this and have stated that the cost for this work to create a new road is too high.
Question - There is a large house on Elms Close which was previously used by the warden and has been empty for three years. The property has been broken into and has attracted the attention of young people. Why has this three bed property been left empty for so long and can it be used to house a family?
Response - The property referred to would be brought back into occupation.
Question - Six Town Housing ran forums on garage sites but nothing has been heard since. What is the latest position? Dumping is a major problem which is causing an emergency access issue at the East Avenue garages.
Response - Six Town Housing is currently waiting for the Council to make a decision and will notify those concerned when it is received.
Question - There are double yellow lines on the Hunters Hill estate but this does not stop people from parking on them. Why has no enforcement work taken place?
Response - There currently no ‘no parking’ in place.
Question - Can an update be given for the landscaping relating to the Fitness First fitness centre and the position regarding the Whitefield Town Hall site.
Response - An update will be given at the next meeting.
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| WUTF.202 | A presentation was given by Dionne Brandon (Head of Policy and Improvement) on the Council’s Plan for Change consultation exercise which asks people who live, work or study in the borough what they think are important priorities for the council.
The ‘council choices’ exercise was taking place during August and September and asks participants to pick which priorities they see as most important by placing tokens numbered 1 to 10 into 10 boxes.
A copy of the list of priorities and priority tokens was circulated to those present and each person was asked to indicate which of the choices they considered to be important. The tokens were then placed in the relevant box. The Plan for Change was also available on the Council web site. People could also go to the Council web site, write or send an email to be involved.
Councillor Connolly informed the meeting that this was the largest consultation ever to be held in Bury and it was vital that the people who live, work or study in Bury give their opinions. This would help to make better informed choices on budget decisions.
The Chair invited questions.
Question: How do you detect duplication of choices?
Response: We are mindful of this. Checks can be made on the online system if we think responses are coming from the same email address.
Question: Will the Plan for Change be involved in citizenship lessons in schools?
Response: Yes. Contact has been made with schools, colleges and the Youth Cabinet.
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| WUTF.203 | Kim Griffiths, Township Forum Co-ordinator, informed the meeting of the next steps for the Whitefield and Unsworth Township Forum. It was reported that future meetings would focus on setting priorities for Whitefield and Unsworth for the next twelve months working with community groups and partner organisations. Regular updates would be provided at the Township Forum meetings.
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