Agenda and minutes

Members of the Township Forum are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the Agenda and if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

Nominations for the positions of Chair and Vice Chair are requested. Councillors present will be asked to confirm the appointments.

It was agreed:

That nominations for Chair and Vice Chair of the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor Township Forum would be deferred to the next meeting of the Forum being held in July.

Councillor Wright thanked all those present for attending and welcomed them to the meeting.

Councillor Wright also congratulated Councillors Hodkinson and Hussain on their recent re-election at the local elections which had been held in May.

The Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 5 March 2015 are attached.

It was agreed:

That the last Meeting of the Township Forum held on 5 March 2015 be approved as a correct record.

Mr Noel Booth referred to the question that he had raised in relation to the Summerseat PLC and asked for confirmation on who owned the building as he had been told that it had been sold.

Mr Alex Holland, Head of Property and Asset Management reported that the building was owned by the council and would remain to do so. The PLC would be relocating to the old Coney Green School site and the Summerseat building would be used as a training facility.

Further to Minute RTNM.789 of the last meeting Interim Chief Executive, Mike Owen and the Head of Property and Asset Management, Alex Holland attended the meeting to update those present on the work that had been carried out in relation to the issues around the Ramsbottom Markets.

It was reported that the Cabinet Member had been tasked with looking at the issues and she had been working closely with Alex to discuss the options.

No decisions had yet been made but the following suggestions had been put forward:-

The old toilet facilities should be removed and market traders would be able to use the facilities at the Morrison’s supermarket.

The market site to be permanently shrunk to open up around 25 extra parking spaces.

The containers to be replaced with new ones and reduced in number.

Union Street to be opened to traffic and double yellow lines installed along the right hand side going up the street.

A 12 month trial of a weekly farmers market at the Urn to be carried out which would be run on a franchise basis along with the monthly market.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were raised:-

Councillor Hodkinson asked what day the farmers market would be held and it was reported that this would be held on a Saturday.

Gregg Fletcher asked whether any of the current market traders had expressed an interest in moving up to the Urn site. It was explained that one trader had but this was before the franchise option had been discussed.

Councillor Wright asked what the hire charge would be at the Urn site. Alex explained that this would be up to the operator but the Council would be consulted.

Councillor Hodkinson referred to the area where the recycling bins used to be positioned and asked what the plans were for this site. Alex reported that this would be reviewed but possible extra parking spaces could be an option.

It was reported that parking issues across Ramsbottom generally would be reviewed separately.

A member of the public referred to the lack of PACT meetings recently and asked if these would be reinstated in the future.

Dave Thomas, the Township Co-ordinator explained that work was being carried out around the structure of the Township Forum Meetings and one option being considered was to incorporate the PACT meetings into the Forum meetings.

Dr Binns referred to a question that had been raised at the last meeting concerning the  ...  view the full minutes text for item RTNM.36

Dave Thomas, Township co-ordinator explained the role of the Advisory Group Members and asked that if anybody present at the meeting was interested in becoming a member they contact him for more information and an application form.

It was explained that Councillor Members of the Forum would be contacted to ask if they supported any new application received or requests for current members to continue.

A report from the Township Co-ordinator is attached.

David Thomas, Township Forum Manager, gave a presentation setting out the 2014/105 Township Plan and how work had been carried across Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor to meet the ambitions within the Plan. 

The Plan contained the following key themes :-

·         Employment / Worklessness / Training

·         Crime & Perceptions of Crime

·         Health & Wellbeing

·         Rural Issues / Promoting Outlying Areas

·         Community Cohesion & Integration

·         New Priorities

Current issues relating to each theme were highlighted and those present were asked to split into groups to discuss further work required to achieve the ambitions set out and any other areas of concern that should be included within the Plan.

Dave explained that he would take away the information that was gathered from the discussions to assess the data. The previous years' action plan would be reviewed and any outstanding priorities would be carried forward. New priorities from the session will be identified and Members of the Township Forum will meet to discuss those priorities and identify key themes.

The 2015/2016 Plan will be presented to the Forum at its next meeting in July 2015.

A representative from Holcombe Society will give details of upcoming public meeting.

Tom Whitehead representing the Holcombe Society attended the meeting to inform those present two planning applications that had been submitted to Rossendale and Rochdale Councils.

The applications were in relation to the windfarm site at Scout Moor which  overlooked the town.

It was reported that if approved, the applications could see the number of turbines increase from 26 currently, to 54.

Tom reported that Bury Council had been consulted but no objection had been submitted.

There were due to be 2 events in relation to the applications;

A public picnic was due to be held on 14 July at Holcombe Hill - Peel Tower to promote awareness of the proposals and a public meeting would be taking place from 7pm on 18 June at Ramsbottom Civic Hall.

The Chair, Councillor Wright invited those present to ask questions or raise issues of concern relating to the provision of local services:-

Mr. Schwarz, Chairman of Tottington District Civic Society, reported that last November a representative of the Society had attended a Bury Rural Inequality meeting to complain about the bus services between Bury and Greenmount, to be passed on to ROSSO. When two months later no reply had been received the civic society sent an appropriate e-mail to ROSSO which so far has also remained unanswered.

The civic society wished to make the following points -

(1) The withdrawal of the 479 service unduly lengthens the journey time between Bury and Greenmount.

(2) There is no service to Bury between 0730 hrs and 0850 hrs and from Bury between 1445 hrs and 1615 hrs – a far too long gap.

(3) The Society suggested a long-term solution: a circular route: Bury-Tottington-Greenmount - Holcombe Brook-Bury and vice versa.

The Area Partnership agreed to invite a representative from ROSSO to its next meeting.

A member of the public explained that a Farm Watch website had been set up by the Police a number of years ago. The officer responsible had since moved on and the updates to the website had stopped. It was explained that this had been a very useful tool in keeping the local farmers updated with information and advice, particularly in relation to thefts from farms. There had recently been a number of thefts from farms in the area and it was suggested that use of the website should be re-established. 

It was reported that the next meeting of the Township Forum would be held on 2 July at Tottington Methodist Church.