All were welcomed to the meeting by the Chair of the meeting, Councillor Sue Smith, who advised that she was covering this meeting on behalf of Councillor Donna Williams.  Introductions were announced.  It was requested that mobile phones were switched off and put on to silent.  Lauren gave a reminder for everyone to ensure they had signed in.

Apologies were noted as above.

Any Other Business – No Entry Signage
David Lappin stated that the minutes are incorrect, and the ‘No Entry’ signage he was talking about was the area outside Aldi, not outside NatWest, and advised that since he moved to the bungalows at this area he has seen so many vehicles ignoring the ‘No Entry’ signage.  Lauren advised that as this is a ‘moving traffic offence’ it has to be dealt with by GMP colleagues and she would email them to ask them to look into this matter.  (Action: Lauren to liaise with GMP colleagues and request that another ‘Day of Action’ was undertaken in the area)

8J – Friends of Mellalieu Street ‘Residents Parking Scheme Update’
Sharron Stevens queried progress on the Mellalieu Street ‘Resident’s Only Parking Scheme’.  Lauren advised that she would ask colleagues in Highways to contact Sharron with an update.  (Action: Lauren to request colleagues in Highways to provide an update to Sharron Stevens)

Lauren advised that Nick O’Neill hadn’t been able to make the meeting, and as such he has provided a written update.

Waste

·           After a recent recruitment drive, the service now have fully staffed crews apart from holidays and sickness, so the use of agency staff has reduced from approx. 35-40 per day to 6-10, with the majority of staff being from within the borough.

·           The service has invested heavily in new vehicles which are more fuel efficient with less emissions and a greater carrying capacity.

Street Cleansing

·           A new dedicated Supervisor, Peter McCallion, is in post and the service has also recruited to vacant positions in this area.  Peter is looking at mapping the area for schedules of cleansing to be implemented.

Grounds Maintenance

·           Middleton in Bloom judging is on 24 July 2018 so there is a big push on this work as we get nearer the date.  The recent dry spell has hampered efforts in watering but they are trying to get an additional bowser in to assist the present two.  As the date gets nearer, they will be flooding the route with resources from Street Cleansing, Grounds, Clean and Green and the Hit Teams.

·           In the months March, April, March and June, the Clean and Green Team carried out 216 jobs.

Hit Teams

·           The Hit Teams attended 3,368 jobs across the borough in 12 months collecting 685 tonnes of waste, 657 tonnes from Council land and 28 tonnes from private land.  The cost of this provision including vehicles, staff and tipping charges is £450k per year (not including enforcement officers’ costs).

Sharron Stevens advised that the bins on Springfield Road and in Jubilee Park are still not being emptied on a regular basis, and in the current hot weather conditions they are becoming increasingly smelly.  (Action: Lauren to contact Nick O’Neill and Gerard Proudman and request that bins are emptied on a more regular basis)

Mike White advised that he would like to thank the ‘Street Cleaning Team’ for the brilliant job they do, but felt that improvements could be made with the waste collections team who often, after emptying wheelie bins, just dumped them and don’t return them to where they were collected from.  (Action: Lauren to feed this back to Paul Bowerman who is Waste Manager)

Howard Bowden stated he felt grateful that Rochdale Borough Council does not charge for waste bins, as is done in some Local Authorities.  A discussion took place about previous pilots in other Local Authorities to charge a set amount per waste bin when the bins are collected and weighed.  Councillors confirmed that this is not something that Rochdale Borough Council has ever done nor is this being considered.

Concerns were raised about the amount of cigarette ends and glasses (plastic and glass) dumped outside the Roebuck Pub, and following a discussion it was agreed that this problem would be raised with the Public Realm Inspectorswith a request for them to visit the location.  It would also be fed back  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Unfortunately, Andrew Entwistle was unable to attend the meeting and due to staffing had no representative available to attend on his behalf.  He sent a written update, which was read out by Lauren:

·         Andy King, Chief Executive of Link4Life, is meeting with Councillors over the coming months to present the update on Link4life and future plans at Middleton.

·         Link4life are working on the Events building and a dedicated Events Team that will oversee the programme and improve services.

·         Summer Holiday Programme is out and Link4life are running a two week summer holiday camp.

·         A number of improvements have been completed over last few months on long standing and essential building works.  Roof domes have been repaired to prevent leaks, drains in all changing rooms have been upgraded.  Boilers and the hot water system is currently being upgraded due to be completed at the end of the month.  This work was undertaken in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council and investment will be around £500k when all completed.

A discussion took place concerning the issue raised at the last meeting about a person known to Officers feeding the pigeons.  Victoria advised that she has contacted the Public Realm Inspectors regarding this matter and other issues but hasn’t managed to arrange a meeting with them.  It was agreed that the email sent by Victoria will be passed to Lauren to raise with Stephen Pyke.  (Action: Victoria to send a copy of the email trail to Lauren and she will raise the concerns with Stephen Pyke and arrange a meeting/site visit)

Mike White reported that there are some local direction signs on Manchester New Road opposite the petrol station which have become covered by overgrown trees/branches.  It was agreed that Lauren would raise this issue with colleagues in Environmental Management.  (Action: Lauren to liaise with colleagues in Environmental Management to request that the branches are trimmed)

a)     Middleton Town Centre Management

b)     Friends ofMiddleton View

c)     Friends ofJubilee Park

d)     Friends ofWince Brook

e)     Green Volunteers

f)      Friends ofAlkringtonWoods

g)     Friends ofBoarshawCemetery

h)     Friends ofHopwood WoodsNature Reserve

i)       Absolute Angling

j)       Friends of Bowlee Community Park

k)     Friends of Mellalieu Street

l)       Status4All

m)    Middleton Lads & Girls Football Club

n)     Middleton Civic Association

o)     Middleton Roundtable

p)     Middleton Cricket Club

q)     Middleton In Bloom

r)      Any othergroups/events

Middleton Town Centre Management Company
Victoria advised that she and Adam take monthly walk-arounds of the Town Centre and report any issues such as graffiti or cleaning to the relevant departments.  During a recent visit Gerard Proudman (new Streetscenes Operations Manager) met with Victoria and agreed that the benches within the Town Centre required cleaning and varnishing.

Victoria explained that part of her role is to remove any illegal signage/banners, etc. from the Town Centre.  The issue was discussed and Victoria requested that an email be sent to the Public Realm Inspectors to arrange a meeting.  (Action: Lauren to liaise with Public Realm Inspectors’ Team Manager and request a meeting)

Councillor Nolan queried if the market canopies/covers could be cleaned, as they are looking very dirty.  Victoria advised that new canopies have been ordered and these will be much easier to clean than the older style canopies.  An image of the new covers was passed around to attendees at the meeting.

Friends of Middleton View
No representative present to provide an update.

Friends of Jubilee Park
Sharron explained that the group feel that there is a lack of support from Rochdale Borough Council:

·           Broken promises from colleagues in Environmental Management, such as when the old plants were stolen it has taken over 12 months to get new plants ordered and they still haven’t been put in.

·           The new pathway that was installed is still not finished.  There were also concerns raised about this due to the lack of consultation with the Friends of group from Environmental Management Officers.

·           The shrubbery from the sides of the Exedra was removed earlier this year, and despite requests this has still not been replaced.  Howard advised that when it rains the earth around the structure is just running off and as such in the long term this could affect the stability of the Exedra.

·           Volunteers from the Friends of Group feel they are not supported by Environmental Management Officers with excuses being given continuously whenever work is requested.

Following the above conversation it was agreed that Councillor Nolan will arrange to meet with the Friends of Group to support them and liaise with Environmental Management colleagues regarding the requests from the group.  (Action: Councillor Nolan to meet with the Friends of Jubilee Park)

Sharron advised that the group are looking to arrange a Christmas Market at St. Leonards Square and Rochdale Ladies Choir have already said they are happy to attend.  Councillor Nolan again offered to support the group.

Friends of Wince Brook

No representative present to provide an update.

Green Volunteers
No representative present to provide an update.

Friends of Alkrington Woods
No representative present to provide an update.

Friends of Boarshaw Cemetery
No representative present to provide an update.

Friends of Hopwood Woods Nature Reserve
Keeley O’Mara advised that the ‘Forest School’ has been delayed due to issues with the contractor, but is hopeful works will start very soon.

A new pathway has now been installed near to Oaken Bank Woods; Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

·           David Lappin advised that there is a leak at the sunken roundabout outside the Asheton Arms which has been ongoing for many months.  He stated that he has reported this previously, and Lauren confirmed that she has also previously reported this issue and agreed that she would again make contact with United Utilities to chase up the repair.

·           David Lappin advised that as previously discussed coaches are still parking in the ‘bus stop’ area outside Weatherspoon’s on match days.  Lauren advised that she did report this to GMP, who visited and asked the landlord of the pub to ask coach drivers to stop parking at this location.  (Action: Lauren to report the issue to PC Tracey Lowe and ask that this be raised as a concern via the Pub Watch Scheme)

31 October 2018
23 January 2019
20 March 2019