Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

Minutes of the last meeting held on 11 January, 2016.

It was agreed:

That the  Minutes of the meeting of the Township Forum held on 11 January, 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair, Colin Jones.

Matters Arising

Minute RTF.608

Councillor Walker informed the meeting that a Flood Grants Panel had been established and would be considering Flood Grant applications.  Councillor Walker had copies of the application forms available to residents at the meeting.

Doug Galvin will provide an update at the meeting.

Doug Galvin, patient representative on Bury CCG provided an update on the Healthier Radcliffe initiative which had been set up in 2014 in Radcliffe in order to transform health and social care services in Radcliffe, bringing services together 7 days a week, 8 am to 8 pm. It was reported that over the last 12 months, over 18,000 health and social care appointments had been offered to Radcliffe residents from Radcliffe Health Centre with services such as Breast Screening, Audiology, CAB and Diabetic Community Teams now operating locally. However, there was no guarantee that future funding for the scheme would be secured.  Doug asked that local residents and resident groups interested in improving health care in Radcliffe contact him so that together, they can lobby the Council and Health Care professionals to secure the continued improvements to health and social care provision in Radcliffe.

The Chair invited questions/comments from members/public present:-

·           The CCG commission health care services in Radcliffe - more should be made available at Radcliffe Health Centre.  Doug reported on the differing needs of Radcliffe residents compared        to areas such as Greenmount, where the current Chair of Bury CCG is a health care practitioner.

·           The new £6 bn health and social care budget for Greater Manchester  would need to accommodate the transfer of the current health and social care budget deficit.        

·           The current underuse of Radcliffe Health Centre accommodation and difficulties in getting access to the building.

·           Karen Young, Housing Officer to liaise with Doug Galvin to discuss current issues in service provision in Radcliffe.

It was agreed:

That the information provided be noted and Doug be thanked for his presentation.

An update on recent police activity in Radcliffe, subject to the availability of an Officer from Greater Manchester Police.

PC Vicky Shaw provided an update on recent police activity in Radcliffe as follows:-

·           Changes to the local police teams in Bury from 1 April would mean each area team would have their own Inspector and more Officers working from Whitefield.

·           Radcliffe East - significant reduction in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)incidents in last 12 months, from 33 incidents in February 2015 to 10 in February 2016.

·           Radcliffe North - slight increase in ASB incidents but decrease in burglary incidents.

·           Radcliffe West - ASB incidents remain constant.  Burglary (dwellings) - decrease in numbers reported.  Reduction in vehicle crime reportings or in some areas had remained constant, but no increases in number of reported incidents.

·           Future events - Bike Stamp 12 March; PACT meetings taking place on Square and on-line; Officers issued with   Blackberry's/IpadsAugust 2016 - mobile technology introduction would aid reporting and recording of crime in the area.

·           Radcliffe Floods - patrolling of empty properties will remain apriority in Radcliffe.

The Chair invited questions/comments from members/public present:-

·           Concerns expressed relating to the vulnerablility of resident's empty properties following the flood.  Reassurances provided that police patrols would be a priority for the forseeable future.

·           Concerns relating to the increased use of off-road trial bikes        across Radcliffe.

·           Is parking on pavements illegal?  If causing an obstruction then this is illegal and vehicles should be reported by ringing 101 - the vehicles parking illegally can be removed by the Police.             

It was agreed:

That the information provided be noted and Vicky be thanked for her presentation.

Questions/comments were invited from residents on any other issues during Open Forum and the Township Co-ordinator undertook to obtain a reply to matters that could not be dealt  with directly at the meeting:-

Colette Jones informed the meeting that residents had now set up a Radcliffe Residents Flood Action Group.  Any resident interested in joining the group to contact Colette.  A number of concerns were raised in Open Forum, as follows:-

•       The banks of River were still a mess and unsightly.

•       Thanks to those who helped clean up Close Park, however the 150 bin bags of rubbish collected had been left on the Park and were now damaged and litter was escaping from the bags.

•       Not all correspondence to the Leader of the Council had

received a reply. Some of the response received had been   deemed disrespectful.

•       Requests for access to the local Flood Incident Map had  been declined leaving residents frustrated.      

•       United Utilities lack of response to collapsed drains.

•       Problems with rat infestation due to collapsed drains.

•       Insurance issues.

•       Eviction threats to tenants from unscrupulous landlords  when Tenants had requested repair works to rented  properties.

•       Joint Authority report on flood risks in Greater Manchester in 2009 had highlighted the vulnerability of some areas of Radcliffe as at risk of flooding and reasons provided for flood risk but no action taken by Agencies to address issues raised.

•       Hardy's Gate development - report had stated that the "economic outcomes (of development) outweighed flood risk". Why had this development been approved and built in 2013?

      Councillor Shori gave an assurance that the issues raised would be related to the Council's newly formed Flood Task Group but reiterated the constraints on the Authority in dealing with issues that were the statutory duty of other agencies such as United Utilities and the Environment Agency.  The Chair commented on the need for the Agencies to take ownership of the short and long term flood issues in Radcliffe.  Karen Young, Housing Officer offered to liaise with residents in relation to the eviction concerns raised at the meeting.

•       Churches Together - 3 local Methodist Churches in Radcliffe had submitted a bid to the Government to open and run a Free High School in Radcliffe. Response from Governmentt on the outcome of the bid was expected in June/July and if successful the aim would be for the school to be open in September 2017.  Over 600 responses had been received following consultation of Radcliffe parents.

•       Thanks from Radcliffe Heritage Society for the £250 funding obtained from the Funding Panel.  The money had been used to purchase the Calendars which had been sold and had raised over £300 for the Society.  In response to a question from Councillor Walker regarding progress on the Paper Mill gates, it was reported that the group were looking at applying for lottery funding towards the required £15 k costs.  Councillor Preston informed the meeting that the society wished to save  ...  view the full minutes text for item RTF771

Updated Plan attached, for information.

Christine Maksymowski, Township Co-ordinator presented the report on each of the key priorities contained within the Township Action Plan for 2014/15.  A performance report highlighting the main areas of work would be produced for the next scheduled meeting of the Township Forum.

It was agreed:

That further ideas/comments on the Plan be forwarded to Christine Maksymowski, Township Co-ordinator.

Colette Jones, Friends of Close Park thanked all of the volunteers who had assisted in the clean up after the floods, including the Mersey Basin Canal Trust. The park was now clean but the issue of the Riverbank rubbish still needed to be dealt as a matter of urgency. The Rangers hut had now been repaired and would be opened soon.  The Radcliffe Running Club were planning to stage an event in the Park in May and feedback would be provided at the next meeting. Kingfishers had been spotted in the Park.  

Carol Kemp, Radcliffe Heritage Society reported that the HLF funding was ending soon.  The Society were hoping to be able to preview the Heritage Trail within the next 2months. Councillor Shori thanked the Society for their hard work and commented that their work was building on the other good news events happening in Radcliffe such as the bus station and market improvements and the new housing initiatives which were seeing more people wanting to move into the area.

It was agreed:

That the information provided be noted, with thanks.

A copy of the Community Funding Report for Radcliffe was submitted setting out details of the funding allocations to date in support of the work of local, voluntary and community groups.  The Township Co-ordinator provided clarification on the allocation of funding and the amounts available to the groups.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.

The Chair reported that this would be Councillor Isherwood's final meeting of the Township Forum as Ward Representative for Radcliffe West Ward.  Councillor Isherwood had represented the Ward for 31 years and would be retiring from serving on the Council in May 2016, at the end of the Municipal Year. 

The Chair, on behalf of all Members of the Township Forum, paid tribute to Councillor Isherwood's diligence and hard work in support of the Radcliffe community over the years, and behalf of all Bury residents in his role as an Executive Member of the Council.

The next meeting of Radcliffe Township Forum will be held on Tuesday 5 July at 6.00 pm.  This is a provisional date, subject to the draft Council Meetings Timetable being formally approved by the Council at a forthcoming meeting.  The venue of the meeting to be confirmed.

That a provisional date for the next meeting of Radcliffe Township Forum would be Tuesday 5 July, 2016 at 6 pm, venue - to be confirmed.