The Chair introduced himself and officers present, and welcomed all to the meeting.  He referred to the code of conduct and asked all to abide by the code for the duration of the meeting.

The forum held one minutes silence in memory of the Reverend Hopkinson who had passed away between the previous forum and this gathering.

After once again extending best wishes to Rachel Hudson on behalf of the forum, the Chair stated the importance of villagers continuing to work hard for the village, regardless of developments on the national and global stage.

The Chair agreed to amend the agenda to include a number of presentations.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 12 June 2018 were approved as a correct record subject to the following two amendments.

Apologies

Christine McHugh had sent apologies that had not been noted.

Pippin Hill Project
The project near Pippin Hill is Moss Row Woodland and Community Orchard.  It is directed and led by Richard Whittle, the Community Ranger, and the Green Volunteers with some voluntary input from members of the Moss Row Community Allotment Society.  Resident volunteers and Ward Councillors also contributed and continue to contribute to the project.

MATTERS ARISING

Paperless
The forum was informed that, in line with the Council’s move towards paperless meetings, paper copies of agendas and minutes would no longer be provided at area forums from April 2019.  All were encouraged to print copies when they receive them via email.

Neighbourhood Plan
A meeting will be held on 19 January 2019, 10am – 12 noonat Norden Old Library.  Discussions will include how best to take the Neighbourhood Plan forward.  There will also be an opportunity for Villagers to fill in evidence forms in support of the upgrade of Furbarn Lane to an official, recognised Right Of Way.

St Paul’s Car Park Barrier
No progress had been made as no meeting of the Church Council had yet been convened.
Action 1: Councillor Gartside to raise the question of an opening time system with the Church Council.

PRESENTATION 1: Rochdale Foodbank
Martin Newnham explained that he is preparing to move away from Norden, and he took the opportunity to thank Nigel Morrell for all his help and for chairing the forum since its inception.

Mr Newnham thanked all those who had donated to the Christmas Foodbank collection and he said that demand continues to increase.  He stated that statistics confirm that the introduction in summer of Universal Credit has led to an increase in demand, with usage up by 17% during September, and 18% during October.  It was explained that people have to be referred to the Foodbank, and there is a limit to the number of times they can visit.  There is considerable concern that the present Foodbank premises, on South Parade, is afflicted by dry rot and it has a hole in the floor.

Residents were informed that the Foodbank is on South Parade and that donations can also be left at Norden Library and Norden Co-op.  The importance of donating in January and February when the number of gifts tend to drop was stressed.

The Chair informed the forum that numerous children, projects and institutions have benefitted from Martin and his work, and thanked Martin on behalf of the forum.  Councillor Gartside presented Martin with a thank you gift.

PC Giblin introduced himself as the Neighbourhood Officer for Bamford, Norden and some parts of Spotland and Falinge.  The following crime statistics during the past three months were given.

Burglary
32 in total, 19 in October alone.  Most burglaries were patio door breaks in non-specific areas.  Numbers have dropped since the arrest and incarceration of an individual offender.  A further two arrests were made in November resulting in a further significant drop in offences.  PC Giblin intends to work with Homewatch Schemes, social media and leaflet drops.  He also intends to make best use of hi-vis patrols, plain clothes operations and analysis of crime patterns.

Business burglaries
5 in total, including a school, a public house, a farm and the Co-op store.

Taking from motor vehicle
14 in total, some vehicles were insecure and some displayed valuables.

Taking of motor vehicle
4 in total, some included removal of car keys from jacket pockets in public places.

Interfering with vehicle
10 in total.

Robbery
2 in total, one at the Co-op store and one outside St. Michael’s Church.

Sgt Simon Sutcliffe will be responsible for the P1 beat, and he will be supervised by Insp. Jameson.  Bamford and Norden Wards will also be allocated one PCSO each.  Plain clothes operations require more resources which will inevitably mean staff will sometimes be required to help each other across other wards.  PC Giblin hopes to re-establish Pub Watch.  A new shift system has been introduced for response officers consisting of 2 x morning shifts, 2 x afternoons and 2 x night shifts.  Officers will have designated areas which will allow them to assist in neighbourhoods when possible.

PACT meetings
A long discussion took place around the online PACT meetings.  It concluded by the forum unanimously agreeing that they would like to resume face-to-face meetings; the forum accepted that they may not take place monthly as previously.

Neighbourhood Speed Watch
Residents would like to repeat the exercise done in the past on Seven Acres Lane.  PC Giblin happy to take this forward.
Action 2: Liaise with Rochdale Council’s Highways concerning the Neighbourhood Speed Watch (PC Giblin)

Edenfield Road Speeding
A discussion took place and it was acknowledged that speeding vehicles are an issue across the Borough.  There was a suggestion that average speed cameras might be used in the Village.  Councillor Winkler explained that this situation was a National Government matter and the issue had been so contentious that future planned schemes had been shelved.  Councillor Winkler confirmed that the matter of speeding and dangerous or irresponsible driving is being discussed at full Council.  Councillors also confirmed that discussions were taking place with GMP and Highways regarding the use of community speeding initiatives.

PRESENTATION 2: The Co-op
Keela is a Community Engagement Worker and she works with 110 stores and 67 funeral services across the North of England.  Keela gave an informative presentation which included the following information:

·           The dividend is currently frozen, a new membership has been introduced, and the organisation has reverted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Community Safety
Councillors are hoping to re-visit the very successful community safety event held earlier this year, and will possibly run something similar in the Spring.  With reference to the crime statistics given earlier, residents were urged to obtain and use car steering wheel locks.  Residents were also informed that, subject to GDPR and other regulations, Councillors have funded an additional CCTV camera for the village.

Councillor Winkler gave the following updates on behalf of all three Ward Councillors:

·           A new Lego Club is taking place at Norden Library, and there are also Christmas craft sessions.

·           The double yellow lines at Black Pits Road are now in place.

·           A number of trees have been cut down at Greenbooth to facilitate topographical surveys.  There have been assurances that no protected trees are affected.

·           There are plans to get Furbarn Road surfaced, albeit not to a highway standard.

Councillors extended their thanks to the following:
Caen Matthews for all his help with this year’s Remembrance Service.

NEEVA for their efforts with the very successful Christmas Lights switch-on event.

Friends of Heritage Green
The forum acknowledged the excellent news on the success of the group in their endeavours to achieve Village Green status.  The Chair cited this as an excellent example of community campaigning and an object lesson in how to do it.

Pippin Hill
A resident stated that the grass had been cut, but it wasn’t clear by who?
Action 3: Make enquiries regarding the grass cutting (Councillor Winkler)

PRESENTATION 3: Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum
The group has recently held its AGM and now has 9 trustees.  The Neighbourhood Plan is complete and it will go to Rochdale Township Committee in January 2019.  The Heritage Lottery Funded Shared Heritage Project is coming to an end.  Visitor interpretation boards are to be installed and two viewfinders will be replaced.  The gate at Knacks Lane/Rooley Moor Road is to be reinstated.

The group is considering an event in August 2019; there is further information about activities on the group’s Facebook page.

PRESENTATION 4: Friends of The Moors In Rochdale, Rossendale and Bury
The forum was informed that the current focus is on local planning allocations and the decommissioning of existing wind turbines and associated matters.  The fear is that the developers will not decommission the turbines at the end of their life.  There are no decommissioning bonds in place.  It is estimated that the cost of removal, per turbine, is in the region of £70k.  Examples of wind farms left abandoned overseas were discussed.

The Chair stated that the group has been very effective and performed an excellent service for the village, and he thanked all those involved, particularly our Ward Councillors, for their commitment.  The group meets quarterly and all are welcome.  Contact details are available from the Chair.

The Chair will circulate information once schemes are firmed up.

Highways issues
Mr Fowler was unable to attend but had submitted the following matters via email:

1.      There is fairly frequent illegal parking over double yellow lines outside Yummies Shop just before the bend.  Such illegal parking causes vehicles coming into Woodhouse Lane from Edenfield Road to have to veer to the wrong side of the road but out of view of other vehicles coming in the opposite direction past the cricket field.  I have witnessed (and also been involved in) near misses of head to head collisions, albeit at slow speed.  Mr Fowler requested the renewal of the fading double yellow lines, and the installation of a bollard on the pavement.

2.      Vehicles coming into Woodhouse Lane from the narrow part of the road behind the War Memorial seem often unaware of the need to give way to traffic coming into Woodhouse Lane directly from Edenfield Road.  The roadway markings to indicate 'Give Way' have never been renewed after the road surface was relayed several months ago.  I have witnessed some 'near misses' at this junction.

Action 4: Refer above matters to Highways Service (Township Officer)


In conclusion , the Chair thanked Val and her Team in the Township Office for their exceptional help and support to residents throughout the year.  He went on to wish all present a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Tuesday 5 March 2019 at 7.00pm
Norden Methodist Church, Edenfield Road, Norden