The acting chair welcomed all to the meeting.  Reference was made to the code of conduct and all were asked to abide by the code for the duration of the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.

Updates from the previous meeting.

Anti-social behaviour issues - St Mary’s Church and Stoneyvale
GMP advised that their officers met with members of the Tenants & Residents Association to discuss matters and they will regularly keep visiting.  The association are happy GMP are now regularly visiting the areas of concern.

Kirkholt Estate lack of speed signage
Councillor Meredith has discussed the issues with Highways Engineers and they are investigating some options for the future.

Litter bin near Stoneyvale needs replacing
Councillor Meredith raised the matter with the Council’s Environmental Management Department who advised officers cleared up the area and installed a bin.

The Strand Community Hub – amendment to previous minutes
All activities are fully funded and free of charge for participants – except the luncheon club.

Officers from GMP provided the update:

·           Statistics were provided for the past three months as follows:

o    Residential burglary            2

o    Public Order offences         23

o    Vehicle offences                  8

o    Drug offences                      2

o    Possession of weapons       1

o    Criminal damage & arson    18

o    Stalking and harassment     25

·           The recent operation by GMP to tackle vehicle and traffic offences produced some really good results with a number of people arrested for uninsured vehicles, speeding and outstanding warrants for their arrest.

·           A discussion was held regarding Balderstone Park and CCTV cameras; it is felt that the cameras are too high up to gain good evidence but any lower and vandalism could occur.  Councillor Meredith advised that the Council are looking into possibly putting CCTV on Balderstone Library building.  Discussions continue.

·           A request was made for GMP officers to give passing attention to the bus stop situated near St Mary’s Church as youths are congregating and regularly vandalising it.

·           Councillors Meredith and Blundell extended their thanks to the PCSOs attending who will be leaving for other roles within GMP for Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.

Balderstone Park bins
Residents advised the bins at the park get filled too quickly for the changing cycle and some need brambles cutting and removing from the rear.
Action: Councillor Meredith to raise the matter with the Council’s Environmental Management Department

Balderstone & Kirkholt – Ward and Members funds expenditure/projects
Councillor Meredith would like an update on the progress of the projects funded brought to the next meeting.
Action: Townships to bring a progress update to next meeting

Sandbrook School traffic and parking issues
A resident raised a matter by mail that expressed concerns about parking and traffic outside Sandbrook School.  Councillor Meredith lead the discussion as he stated he has raised this matter several times with the Council’s Highways Department and they have both struggled in coming up with any solutions as a previous suggestion of a one-way system may not be supported.  Councillor Blundell added that she feels a dialogue should be held with the school regarding educating parents and a behaviour change suggestion for the parking.  Councillors advised that they are looking to improve the footpaths around the area to encourage walking.
Action: Councillor Meredith to raise the matter with the Council’s Highways Department

Medical Centre pavement
A resident advised the pavement between the new medical centre and the side of the building requires attention.  Councillor Meredith advised the road repairs need addressing first by the developers before the Council will adopt it.
Action: Councillor Meredith agreed to take photos of the location and raise the matter when the road repairs are completed

Great Gates Road footpaths repair/resurface
A resident raised whether the footpaths on Great Gates Road could be assessed for repairs/resurfacing.

Action: Councillor Meredith to raise the matter with the Council’s Highways Department

Councillor Meredith

Local Elections
Councillor Meredith thanked residents on behalf of all three Councillors for their support in the recent local elections.

Ward Surgeries
Councillors will be running a local surgery every Wednesday 12-12.30pm at The Strand and a surgery will also be set up at Balderstone Library in due course.  A monthly surgery will also be held with officers from GMP at Balderstone Library.

Queen Victoria Street
32 gulleys will be replaced as they are sunk/collapsed and the road will be resurfaced as will the right-hand side of the footpath.

Rhodes Crescent and Hartley Lane
Speed humps will be replaced on Rhodes Crescent and the road resurfaced on Hartley Lane this year.

Balderstone Park events
Councillor Meredith has been engaging with the Youth Service to address the issues relating to children who use the park.  There will be several events held within the park throughout Summer and residents can find more information out from the library or email Councillor Meredith for more details daniel.meredith@rochdale.gov.uk.

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing – Housing allocations
Housing and allocations contract has now come back under the Council’s control, with Rochdale Boroughwide Housing running the community desk.

Councillor Blundell

Bulky waste scheme and fly-tipping
Councillor Blundell advised residents of the bulky waste scheme initiative whereby residents can book two free collections of large items for collection/disposal.  The scheme will hopefully result in less fly-tipped waste in the area and encourage more residents to dispose of items responsibility.  Residents can report any instances of fly-tipping by emailing environmental.management@rochdale.gov.uk

Shaw Road footpaths
The footpaths will be resurfaced this year.

Elections registration
The Council’s Elections Service are in discussions to hold an event in the future to advise/encourage more residents to register to vote.

Councillor Massey
No update.

Kirkholt Million
The new library extension is now complete and it is the new base for Kirkholt Million.  It will contain a café and lots of local organisations like GMP, Rochdale Hornets and the Youth Service have already signed up to use the facilities available.  It is hoped that in three years when Kirkholt Million finish, the local community will take ownership of the building.

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
Councillor Meredith provided the update on behalf of P. Worthington:
A recent award has been made of £100k for the Kirkholt & Smallbridge Elderly Well Fund for engagement with the community; ‘Ambition for Ageing’ – which means that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing can now work alongside partners and set up a committee.  Any queries regarding this project can be emailed to phillip.worthington@rbh.org.uk

Community Café
The café has now reopened and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing are now running this venture alongside volunteers from the community.  It is open Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 8-1pm and it provides a community space serving food and drinks.

Thursday 29 September 2022 at 6.30pm
Kirkholt Community Church, Daventry Road, Kirkholt, Rochdale