Secretary: Mike Rooke, Sycamore Mount, Higher Arthurs, Greenfield, OL3 7BE

May ‘05

Dear Everyone,

Open to all Greenfield and Grasscroft residents, our next meeting is on Monday June 20th ’05 at 7.00 p.m. at the King Bill, Chew Valley Road, Greenfield.

AGENDA

Minutes of our last meeting held on April 19th ‘05

Present: George Bennett, Pat & Tony Bywater, Carl Evans, Neil Langton, Kath McNeeney, Mike Rooke. Dave Sanders.

Apologies: Mr and Mrs Andrews, Adele Baxter, Trevor Baxter, Christine Bennett, Mavis Bingley, Edith & Mike Howarth, David McNeeney, Des O’Brien.

In David McNeeney’s absence due to work commitments, the Chair was taken by George Bennett.

1. Matters Arising

	Fletchers’ Mill – It was agreed that we should object to any decision being made on the Planning Applications for flats and houses at Nut Bottom and the Social Club, on grounds that an agreement to allow residential development on these sites could prejudice the bigger decision about the future use of the entire Greenfield Mill site.
	It was also agreed that we should write to Sue Collier, OMBC’s Overview and Scrutiny Manager, asking to explain the purpose of O & S mini-bus trips taking place to the Fletchers’ Mill. These visits were giving us some cause for concern, as hitherto at November’s Area Committee residents had been reassured by Andrew Fletcher (Assistant Chief Executive) that nothing would be decided about the site until the outcome of the UDP Inquiry, after which the public would be consulted.
	Mike will be writing again to Phil Woolas re. policy on house building/educational and medical provision now the election is over.
	Prompted by Simon Shuttleworth (OMBC Area C’tee) Gail Richards (NHS Primary Care Trust) had replied to our Chairman’s question last November “What is the PCT going to do to cope with increasing pressures on their services due to additional housing developments in our area?” She explained that she had requested an in-depth “catchment area study” from OMBC, providing information about “the size of developments planned and types of housing, the number of additional people expected to live in the area and the expected demographic breakdown of the additional population – e.g. age ranges, family groups etc)”. Gail said that following a tour round the Lees area with herself and local councillors, a decision had been taken to provide new buildings form community based health care services in Springhead. She was now planning a similar trip round the Saddleworth area with Jan Joshi, our Area Manager. It was agreed that Gail’s letter should be passed on to Parish Chairman Dr Atherton who’s expressed concerns about local health provision in the past.
	Customer Care – We had received a letter from Andrew Kilburn (OMBC Chief Exec.) responding to specific information we’d given about 14, Mossley Rd, Kinders/Boarshurst lorry traffic issues and Wood Square/Chew Vale PFI developments. Mike had replied on 12 th May, indicating that Mr Kilburn had failed to address our underlying concerns as council taxpayers and OMBC customers about the service given and the relationship between the council and its residents. In the case of Kinders Lane , Trevor Harrison, the original complainant, had not been invited to a site visit when councillors had been consulted. Mike also explained to the Chief Exec. that the PFI developments had not been handled well at all. Our final para. read – “Our assoc. would still like to know what is being done to improve OMBC’s performance in relation to the people it serves. As indicated in our follow-up letter of April 6 th ’05 , my association is asking what steps OMBC proposes to take to improve its relationship with the general public and change its practices. We’re trying to help, not hinder, in this regard.” If no satisfactory reply is received, we agreed to send a follow-up letter, asking what OMBC is doing to carry out the Government’s requirement of local councils to prepare Statements of Community Involvement based on key principles i.e. the public’s right to “access to information, opportunities to contribute to ideas, options and proposals, opportunities to be consulted and opportunities to get feedback and be informed on progress and outcomes.” To best support the communities we serve, organisations like the GGRA need to base our work on facts and knowledge of policies not on hearsay.
	Road Improvements – Mike Donmall had asked if priority could be given to resurface Higher Arthurs. Pat and Tony asked if the same could be requested for Bradbury Lane , Hey Top and the Reservoir, all also in an appalling state. Following our requests, these would be put forward at the next Area Committee.
	PFI Wood Square – Phil Woolas had responded to Neil’s request for a meeting. A date was to be arranged for Phil to see a group of 3-4 residents.

2. Correspondence and Communications

	We’d received a Thank You card and a £20.0 donation from Lesley Webb for our support in helping block the planning application to build a detached house at Chew Brook Drive .
	CPRE had written to remind us that our subscription was due for renewal. George agreed to arrange cheque payment.
	CPRE Lancashire Branch had written to thank us for our supportive response to a survey. The branch hoped to be more proactive in future in identifying major developments and providing help in local campaigns.
	As agreed at our last meeting, Mike had written to all the firms at Boarshurst Business Park requesting that they request haulage contractors to use smaller lorries in making deliveries to the site.
	Carl Evans reported that he’d continued his campaign against the heavy lorries entering the village down Shaw Hall Bank Road and in the Greenfield Station area. Contrary to previous avoidance by OMBC officers on this issue, he reported that Tony Noblett had now admitted there was a problem in Greenfield .

3. Treasurer’s Report

After £50.00 had been paid to Anthony Chiu to cover his expenses in helping set up our website, our current balance is £695.97.

George asked us to bear in mind that £612.00 had been received from a grant from the Oldham Community Chest. £78.20 of this amount had now been paid for website hosting and to Anthony Chiu. Mike said that the costs of printing/ distribution with GTEC Printers in Chadderton and with Oldham Chronicle, would be less than first anticipated.

4. Policing Issues and GGRA Constitution

We deferred both these agenda items till our June meeting, when Mike Howarth and/or Val Smith would hopefully be here to discuss policing. In our Chairman’s absence, it was felt we couldn’t cover all our constitutional issues.

5. Website Update and Publicity

Following visits from Anthony Chiu to Mike’s house, we could now edit content directly onto the website. There was still a lot of updating and corrections needed, but Mike felt confident that the website would be in good shape when our door-to-door leaflet is distributed in June, though we could do with some help to write “copy” for our Big Issues’ section.

George asked whether we’d researched into publishing our Minutes on the website. Mike said he’d ask Anthony about this facility.

The leaflets were now ready to go to print. It was felt that we should time their distribution about a week before our next meeting on June 21 st.

6. Any Other Business

There was no further business, although after the meeting had closed we did hold an informal discussion about the future of the Knoll Spinning site and the forthcoming Public Inquiry.

For past minutes, please visit the minutes archive.