Agenda and minutes

Nominations for the position of Chair and Deputy Chair will be requested. Councillors present will be asked to vote.

Councillor R. E. Walker nominated Councillor M Hankey as Chairof the Bury West Township Forum and this was seconded by Councillor S Kerrison.

Councillor R.E.Walker nominated Councillor S. Kerrison as Vice Chair and this was seconded by Councillor J Harris.

It was agreed:

1. That Councillor M Hankey be appointed Chair of the Bury West Township Forum for the Municipal Year 2015/2016.

2. That Councillor S. Kerrison be appointed as Vice Chair of the Bury West Township Forum for the Municipal Year 2015/2016.

3. That Councillors Nuttall and Southworth be thanked for their work as Chair and Vice Chair for the  2014/2015 Municipal Year.

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

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

The Minutes of the Last Meeting of the Township Forum held on 12 March 2015 are attached for approval.

It was agreed:

That subject to the inclusion of there being 8 members of the public present at the meeting, the Minutes of the meeting of the Bury West Township Forum held on 12 March 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillor R Walker referred to Minute BWTF.553 - Mile Lane update and reported that since the last meeting of the Township Forum all of the shops on Mile Lane were open.

The old newsagents had reopened and was selling magazines, the post office service was due to start operating on the 4 June, newspapers would be available from 9 June and newspaper deliveries would begin again on 22 June.

A verbal update will be given.

Police attendance is subject to the availability of officers on the evening.

It was agreed:

That subject to officer availability, a police update would be given at the next meeting of the Bury West Township Forum due to be held on the 21 July 2015.

A report from the Township Co-ordinator is attached.

Christine Maksymowski, Township Co-ordinator, provided an overview of the Bury West Township Forum Performance report. The report outlines the Township Forum’s progress towards the vision for Bury West to promote better outcomes for the social, health, economic and environmental wellbeing of people in the community.

The Township Co-ordinator reported that the Township plan is split into six areas of work:

·         Improved employment opportunities

·         Community safety

·         Improved health and wellbeing

·         Educational Attainment/Learning

·         Improved Road Safety & Public Transport

·         Community Pride and Belonging

The Township Co-ordinator reported that contained within the performance report were a number of Township forum success stories, including;

·         Backing Young Bury has supported over 100 businesses to help them engage with apprentices.

·         Daisyfield Job Club has supported 35 families to date

·         ROC Youth Club still up and running

·         Township Co-ordinator attends weekly Joint Engagement Team meetings to discuss individuals causing ASB

·         Dark Nights Project promoted

·         Good Police attendance at the Forum meetings to give updates on issues and police work in the area

·         A weekly fruit and vegetables scheme is in place at Daisyfield Centre

·         The 'Big Bill to Little Bill' initiative promoted across Bury West

·         I Will if You Will activities are being delivered across Bury West at a number of venues

·         Reaching Families Scheme has identified and supported families to encourage reading at an early age

·         The Highways Sub Group continues to meet

·         Recycling Rates across the borough have increased

The Township Co-ordinator asked members present at the meeting to consider what issues they may want to see incorporated into the Bury West Township Forum Action Plan 2015/2016; the following issues were suggested:

• Access to adult learning within Bury West
• Support for Carers
• Highways – street signs and general cleanliness of the area
• Pot holes
• Public Transport issues - Changes to bus schedules
• Anti Social Behaviour issues in parks
• Digital Inclusion
• Children's Centres Outreach provision

It was agreed:

The Township Co-ordinator will develop a revised Bury West Township Forum Action Plan for consideration at the next meeting of the Township Forum due to be held on 21 July 2015.

Questions are invited from Members of the public present at the Meeting on any matters about the work or performance of the Council or Council services.

The Chair, Councillor Hankey, 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.

A member of the public present explained that the pot holes on the corner of Trimingham Drive and Brandlesholme Road were getting worse. Some had been filled but there were still some remaining.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

Councillor Walker provided members of the Township Forum with an update in relation to issues discussed at the Highways sub group.

20 mph schemes on the Brandlesholme East area and Haig Road had been agreed and work would commence when the teams were available.

Hunstanton Drive  20mph zone was currently being consulted on.

Work was being carried out in relation to a change of speed limits on Bolton Raod, this has now become part of a GM wide piece of work.

Speed activated signs were due to be located at the bottom of Watling Street and Crostons Road.

The review of the bus lanes had been agreed at a meeting of full Council and officers were currently working on the methodology to be used in the review.

It was also reported that there had been reports of increased deer activity towards the top of Brandlesholme Road and some deer had been killed in accidents with vehicles. It had been suggested that this was partly due to an increase in the numbers of deer and the fact that some hedgerows had been removed during the construction of the new sports club.

It was agreed:

The update be noted.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

It was reported that Brandlesholme Residents’ Association had held its AGM on 13 May; The Purbeck Drive park project would have to be terminated unless more funding could be obtained. If funding could not be found it was likely that it would come to an end within the coming six months. It was also reported at the AGM that there would be a Residents Association Members' lunch at the Garsdale pub on 10 June 2015.

It was also explained that the Brandlesholme Festival would be taking the form of an art and Photographic event titled Beautiful Brandlesholme with residents being invited to 'Draw it, Paint it, Click it’. Residents were being invited to submit entries explaining where their works had been created. Events would be held across Brandlesholme between 17 - 19 September to display the entries.

The next meeting of the Township Forum will be held on Tuesday 21 July 2015 at Bolton Road Methodist Church, Bury at 7pm.

It was agreed:

The next meeting of the Township Forum will be held on 21 July 2015 at Bolton Road Methodist Church.