Agenda and minutes

Nominations for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Forum are invited at this meeting.

Any person nominated needs to be present and seconded in order for the nomination to stand.

If there is more than one nomination then the matter will be determined by vote.

The positions of Chair and Vice Chair may be filled by either a Core Member or an Advisory Group Member.

If the position of Chair is taken by and Advisory Group Member, the position of Vice Chair must be taken by a Core Member.

A Core Member may take the position of Chair or Vice Chair.

Councillor Yvonne Wright welcomed all of those present to the meeting. She explained that she had been the chair of the Township Forum for the past year and had been very proud to take up the role. Councillor Wright thanked the Members of the Forum and the officers for their support for the previous year.

Nominations for the role of Chair were requested;

Councillor Daly nominated Councillor Gunther and this was seconded by Councillor Gartside . No other nominations were received.

Nominations for the role of Vice Chair were requested;

Councillor Gartside nominated Councillor Hodkinson and this was seconded by Councillor Daly. No other nominations were received.

It was agreed:

1. That Councillor D Gunther be appointed Chair of the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor Township Forum for the Municipal Year 2015/2016.

2. That Councillor R Hodkinson be appointed as Vice Chair of the Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor Township Forum for the Municipal Year 2015/2016.

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.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

It was reported that Alistair Waddell representing Greenmount Village Community Group had been confirmed as an Advisory Group Member for a further term.

Councillor Gunther asked that more local groups be contacted and invited to apply for an Advisory Group position on the Forum.   

The Minutes of the last meeting of the Township Forum held on 3 June 2015 are attached.

That the Minutes of the last meeting of the Township Forum held on 3 June 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair, subject to the following correction;

Minute RTNM.39 - Future public meeting on potential Scout Moor development. The date of the public picnic to be held should read 14 June 2015 not 14 July as stated in the minutes.

Further to Minute RTNM.40, Public Question Time, representatives from Rosso Buses, Brendan O'Reilly and James McCollom attended the meeting to update thiose present on the work they were undertaking and to answer questions.

          A question had been asked at the last meeting relating to the 476 service between Bury and Greenmount that had been withdrawn 2 years' previously.

          It was explained that the service had been withdrawn as it was not commercially viable to run and there was no subsidy available from TfGM. The service had never carried the numbers of passengers required to sustain the service.

          Issues had also been raised regarding the frequency of the 480/481 service and it was explained that this service did run a half hour service throughout most of the day but there were a couple of gaps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon when the peak times are school journeys. The company would have to purchase another vehicle to allow them to fill the gap and this was not a viable option. It was however explained that the school services that run during these times were available for public use.

          Mrs Taylor stated that she had contacted Rosso to suggest that they re-route the 468 to take in Greenmount or run a circular service.

          It was explained that this suggestion had been received and Rosso were currently looking at their options in relation to this. It would be down to economics and other factors such as current service provision from other operators.

          Mrs Taylor also stated that she was very impressed with the standard of service provided by the drivers on Rosso buses, they were always very helpful and courteous.

          Councillor Gunther referred to services that used to run through Hawkshaw but had been withdrawn.

          It was explained that the service had not been commercially viable and therefore could not be sustained. Rosso was a small company that was owned by Rossendale Council and run for their residents. They provided services outside of their borough to help bring in a profit.

          Councillor Daly asked a number of questions relating to TfGM subsidised routes and how these were decided and it was suggested that a TfGM be invited to a future meeting of the Township Forum.

          Mr Schwarz referred to the school buses that had been mentioned and asked if these were included on the timetables.

          It was explained that they weren't but a request could be made for them to be. This would also have to be done through TfGM.

          It was agreed:

1.That a representative of TfGM be invited to a meeting of the Township Forum.

                   2.That Brendan O'Reilly and James McCollom be thanked for their attendance.

A presentation will be given at the meeting.

Rachel Henry, Anti Social Behaviour Co-ordinator attended the meeting to explain the work that was being carried out over the summer in relation to anti social behaviour across the borough.

It was explained that most of the occurrences of ASB reported over the summer months were carried out by youths. The Safe 4 Summer initiative was being run jointly with the Council, Police, Fire Service and other partners and was aimed at young people to help keep them safe and address certain behaviours.

The initiative was rolled out across Bury high schools and educated young people on issues such as grassland/moorland fires, water safety and enforcement that could be taken including behaviour contracts, restorative justice events, civil injunctions and closure powers.

Rachel explained that the enforcement carried out following incidents of ASB involved a large number of partners and included liaising with the young persons’ parents or guardians.

There was a safe 4 summer website available where activities were promoted such as youth clubs, zumba classes, family days out and football tournaments and young people could find out more about the initiative and enter competitions.

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

·         Phillippa McIntyre, the Chair of Summerseat Village Community explained that there had been ongoing issues with youths holding parties in the woods next to The Spinnings in Summerseat. This had been going on for a number of years and nothing had been done to stop it. It was explained that up to 80 young people would gather in the woods and light fires and drink. They would arrive after 11pm and stay until the early hours. There had been damage to vehicles parked in the car park and residents were disturbed by the noise. It was also very intimidating and frightening for residents. The police were aware of the situation but their shift allocation meant that there was no police presence in the area after 11pm. It was also explained that this coming weekend was likely to be the worst of the year as the exams had finshed and the school proms were being held.

Rachel stated that she would be able to set up a joint initiative with partners and get something in place but this would take time as there would have to be some work done around shift patterns etc. She would contact Bury's Security Service and the Police to advise them of the situation to see if something could be put in place in the short term.

Dave Thomas explained that this would also be reported to the next meeting of the Joint Engagement Team which brought together a number of partners to deal with issues affecting the Borough. The situation would be monitored by the team and initiatives carried out to deal with it jointly. 

Councillor Daly asked if Bury Council’s Security Service could visit over the weekend and it was also suggested that the Chief Executive be informed of the situation.

·         Phillippa also explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item RTNM.127

Feedback from the round table discussions will be reported at the meeting.

Dave Thomas explained that the round tables discussions had produced a huge amount of information. Dave was in the process of incorporating this into the Township Plan for 2015/2016 plan and he would send the refreshed plans out to all Members.

It was explained that a review of The Township Forums had been carried out through a consultation and following this it had been agreed that the way that the Township Forums operated would change. There would still be meetings but these would be reduced to quarterly and discussions were taking place with partners to see about having a market place type event before each meeting which would allow members of the public to drop in and talk to partners prior to the formal meeting. The partners included in this were the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Housing, Highways and any other deemed appropriate.

Dave also explained that the way that Township funding was allocated was changing and would now be allocated by a panel made up of Township Forum Councillors and Advisory Group Members.

Councillor Gartside referred to the reference made to online meetings and asked what this meant.

Dave explained that there would still be the physical meetings which would be held in the community at various locations as they are now and there would 4 of these each year. The online meetings would be developed as a social media type community forum which would hopefully engage the members of the community that have historically been hard to reach.

The development of this type of facility was at the early stages but once more was known it would be reported to the Forum.

Mr Schwarz referred to the seating format of the meetings and asked if this could be reviewed to be less formal so that more people could take part.

·         Councillor Wright asked a question on behalf of Dr Binns who was unable to attend the meeting; Dr Binns had asked about the lack of water to the Urn at the Market Place in Ramsbottom and had been informed that it would be turned back on in time for summer. As yet it was still not running.

Dave Thomas stated that he would investigate the situation and report back.

·         Alistair Waddell reported that he had spoken to the police about a youth nuisance issue in Greenmount and they had advised him to use the 101 telephone number and to get his neighbours to call as well. The more calls that were logged on this number would improve the response to the incident.