Minutes – 18th January 2012
Present
Councillor Neil Emmott (Chair)
David McKail
Geoff Grime
Christine Grime
Audrey Riches
Terry Linden
Michael White
Bob Magee
David Lappin
Anthony Dickinson
Jean Bunner
Paul Harris
Carol Harris
Councillor June West
Councillor Susan Emmott
Councillor Peter Williams
Councillor Malcolm Boriss
Councillor Donna Martin
Councillor Teresa Fitzsimons
Julie Simpson
Debbie Choularton
RMBC
Friends of Wince Brook
Middleton View Resident
Middleton View Resident
Middleton Civic Association
Middleton Resident
Alkrington Resident
Friends of Wince Brook
Alkrington Resident
Dane Bank Resident
Middleton Resident
Middleton Resident
Middleton Resident
RMBC Councillor Carol Wardle
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC Environmental Enforcement
RMBC Township Support Officer
Apologies
Jon Davenport
Harry Alldritt
Ian Ray
Gary Leigh
Pat Donald
Ron Donald
Ivy Isherwood
Mick Ripley
Councillor Lil Murphy
Councillor Phil Burke
Councillor Mike Holly
Councillor Alan Godson
Councillor Jonathan Burns
Councillor Maureen Rowbotham
Councillor Linda Robinson
Environment Agency
Middleton Community Training Centre
Friends of Wince Brook
Absolute Angling
Langley Environment Group
Langley Resident
Langley Environment Group
RMBC Street Services
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
RMBC
1. Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the meeting on 16th November 2011 were agreed as a true and correct
record.
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2. Matters Arising
From the Action Points:
d) Weeds on Farmway – Councillors were not happy with the response received in the
Action Point report from Environmental Management. Councillor Martin stated that the
area looks much worse than the rest of the Borough. Debbie was requested to chase up a
more appropriate response
e) Advertising posters on the railings surrounding Bowlee Park – Debbie was asked to find
out if those putting posters on the fencing are paying the Council to do so.
l) Entrance to Tesco car park – Terry Linden was not happy with the response that
members of the group should mark on an aerial photo the problem area as he said
Planning are fully aware of the problem and the other issues he had raised including the
taxi rank on Park Road have not been answered.. Councillor Williams came in to say that
as Terry was already aware, the Council had made strong representation to Tesco
regarding the entrance into the car park but Tesco were not minded to do anything about
it. As this was only the lay out of the car park and not a major change to the building, there
was nothing the Council could now do. With regards to the taxi rank, Councillor Williams
said that this was still being looked into. Terry asked that it still be checked as to whether
the cage at the rear of Tesco was breaking any planning conditions and if so, something
be done about it.
n) Blocked Gullies – members of the group listed the following as either new problems or
incomplete work on existing problem gullies: 1) gully opposite Brookside Community
Centre on Mainway East; 2) all the gullies by the Waste Exchange firm on Grimshaw Lane;
3) the road is breaking up around the constantly blocked gully on Manchester New Road
between Mount Road and Alkrington Green by the bus stop; 4) all the gullies on Walker
Street need cleaning; 5) gullies on Boarshaw Road by the Old Grammar School are still
not working – are they broken?; 6) gully behind McDonalds in the Town Centre has got
blocked again; 7) gullies on Oldham Road between the Hare & Hounds and William Street
– the bottom of William Street is flooding completely and there is no dry place to wait at the
bus stop.
o) Horridges paving – members of the forum asked for a timescale for replacing the
temporary tarmac with paving. It was asked if this was suitable paving for the area as
when it was replaced, it would already be the third time of doing so in two years. The same
paving at the side and rear of NatWest was also lose in parts, as was the paved area
behind Tesco near the underpass to the Arena. Members of the group also felt that this
yellow paving stone became very slippy in wet weather.
p) Disabled parking at Middleton Arena – Terry Linden did not agree with the response
provide by Parking Services, and some of the Councillors also felt that this was incorrect.
Terry Linden said that he would provide all correspondence regarding this matter to the
Township Office, to be sent to Linda Fisher for a definitive answer regarding who is
responsible for enforcing parking in the car park, gritting and weeding the concourse etc.
4. Recycling Plant on Grimshaw Lane
Jon Davenport from the Environment Agency (EA) gave the Forum his apologies but sent
the following update by email:
Waste Tonnages
As I mentioned at the last meeting, we served a compliance notice on the site relating to
movement of some piles of odorous waste and reduction of tonnages at the site. We
brought in some laser scanning equipment (LIDAR) and built up a 3D image of the site to
calculate volumes and then tonnages on the site. The results are in and the news is that
they had brought tonnages down sufficiently to be compliant with the Notice. The amount
of waste onsite is still causing concern with regards to efficiency and storage times, but
this is now dealt with in the sites Odour Management Plan (see below) and the recent visit
to the site was primarily about more clearance and litter (see below).
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Litter
Following reports of litter in and around the site over and since the Christmas period, we
informed the site the visited them. When I went to the site they were already in the
process of cleaning up litter within and around the perimeter of the site, so there wasn't
much more I could do short of warn them about it. We discussed waste levels onsite as
well as the littering (both in and around the site as well as from vehicles leaving the site).
I'm still looking into the littering - I was encouraged that they are going to continue the
clean up onsite and do an audit of third party contractors vehicles to check the state of the
mesh used to contain the outgoing 'product' and to ensure that the drivers are using the
air-line to 'blow down' the vehicles before they leave the building.
Odour
The odour problem has lessened marginally recently (obviously the weather has had a
large part to play in that), but the work we have done over last summer has mostly been to
drive forward some infrastructural and procedural changes at the site and to ensure that
we are in a strong position should odour continue to be a problem/nuisance in the future.
The Odour Management Plan is key to this and now it has been agreed by both parties,
becomes an enforceable part of their permit.
In February, we are planning to do a full audit of the site, where we will be checking
compliance with all permit conditions and checking whether they are following their own
procedures. The audit should highlight if there are any other areas we need to look into or
can take action against.
We have a meeting on Friday with Peter Rowlinson, Lucia Renshaw (Public Protection
Service) and Cllr Martin to clarify roles/responsibilities and to discus how we can work
together smarter going forward.
The Chair, Councillor Neil Emmott, stated that through the Township Committee and Peter
Rowlinson’s department, this issue needs to be pushed with the Environment Agency
continually until a resolution is reached, as the area around the site is suffering. David
McKail pointed out that actually all of Middleton is suffering, as some of the trucks
transporting waste to/from the site are not covered and dust and small bits of rubbish are
billowing out as they travel through the town. Evidence of this can be seen in gullies, up
against buildings etc and along with all the other problems, it is obvious the firm is in the
wrong place.
Councillor Neil Emmott asked if there is anything that can be done about the vehicles
dropping waste. Councillor Carol Wardle said that if you write to the Traffic Commissioner
in Leeds, any operators doing this can have their licences revoked. Councillor Neil Emmott
said that he would write on behalf of the Forum/Township, if Councillor Wardle could
provide details to the Township Office. Members of the Forum were also encouraged to do
the same, as the more complaints there are, hopefully more action will be taken.
Paul Harris, attending the meeting for the first time, felt that nothing is being done about
this situation. Councillor Neil Emmott and Donna Martin explained that actually a lot of
work has been going on behind the scenes since it was first brought to the Forum’s
attention in February 2011. It was explained to Mr Harris that the Council has very limited
powers in this situation and was working closely with the Environment Agency – if it was
up to the Middleton Township Committee they would close the site tomorrow, but
obviously they do not have the power to do that. At the Middleton Township Committee
meeting on 12th January 2012, Councillors had requested Peter Rowlinson, Head of
Planning and Regulation, to start pushing the Environment Agency even harder to try to
resolve the situation favourably.
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5. Grot Spots
a) Christine Grime – the grounds of the Providence Chapel are again full of rubbish
b) Jean Bunner – are cigarette ends dropped outside pubs the responsibility of the pub
landlord as it is particularly bad outside the White Heart pub on Rochdale Road and the
Friendship Inn on Cheapside. On this point, Councillor West explained she was also
pushing for the special cigarette litter bins for the entrance to Middleton Shopping Centre
in the Gardens.
c) Jean Bunner – the resident waste bins are still being left out all week on Cheapside and
quite a lot are being put out with side waste.
d) Jean Bunner – the sub station on Cheapside has become an eyesore again
e) Terry Linden – there is already chewing gum dropped on the new paving in Middleton
Gardens – does Environmental Management still have a machine to deal with this and if
not, what can be done?
f) Paul Harris - there is a missing section of fencing around the Waste Exchange plant on
Grimshaw Lane – Councillor Martin said that if this is on private land, the Council would
have no powers to deal with it.
g) Councillor Martin – an area clean-up is being organised from St Peters Church on
Sunday 22nd January – would Environmental Management be able to clean properly the
pavement where it meets the walls of the terraced houses opposite St Michael’s Church,
as they have not been cleaned properly for a long time.
h) Operatives working in Boarshaw Cemetery have left rubbish/debris at the back of the
cemetery on Hereford Way.
i) David McKail – there is graffiti on the gable end of the shop facing Tesco Extra in the
town centre, some of it on the first floor level
j) Sunk Lane, opposite St Peter’s Primary School, is full of litter and people are dropping
bags of dog waste near the entrance rather than carrying them to a litter bin – could a dog
waste bin be put in?
6. Good News/Thanks
Councillor Martin asked that thanks go to Mick Ripley and his team or the work done on
the flower beds next to Barclays Bank and also the work done in the area around
Alkrington Moss.
Thanks were also requested to go to the operative working in Jubilee Park during the high
winds, for keeping on top of the blown litter/tree branch debris.
7. Transport Issues
a) Terry Linden - on Townley Street, by Bedcrest, 2 cars are parked on the pavement
tonight and there were 7 cars parked on the double yellow lines on Old Hall Street leading
to Middleton Arena.
b) The grid on Market Place in the middle of the road opposite Babyworld is banging again
every time a vehicle travels over it. There is also a banging grid at the bottom of Oldham
Road by the roundabout.
c) Gary Leigh – by the Stakehill Waterways, travellers doing road maintenance have been
staying for more than two weeks in the private car park. They are not causing any mess
but they are stopping fishing clients from parking.
d) Terry Linden – it was mentioned in the Middleton Guardian that the bottom of Wood
Street/Long Street is going to become one way, has any consultation been done on phase
2 of the work near Middleton Gardens? Councillor Williams answered that the consultation
was done in full before the first phase of the work started.
e) Contractors had to come back out to roadworks on Middleton/Oldham Road on Sunday
as they were not completed to a high standard.
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8. Litterwatch
No report.
9. Langley Environment Group
No report.
10. Friends of Jubilee Park
No report.
11. Friends of Middleton View
Christine Grime reported that the Green Volunteers are coming to the site for tree pruning
and other jobs on 22nd February 2012.
12. Middleton Civic Association
No report.
13. Friends of Wince Brook
David McKail reported that the group were having their first meeting on 20 th February at
Springvale Social Centre and said thank you to Debbie for printing the flyers. The group is
looking at working with local eco schools and will be working towards funding to improve
the paths and ponds.
13. AOB
a) Councillor Fitzsimons brought up the issue of a skip which has been on Mainway for a
long time and asked whether enforcement could have it removed. Julie Simpson replied
that she is already dealing with this, the skip now has a permit that runs out on 19 th
January 2012 (tomorrow). Julie will carry on dealing with this making sure it either has an
up to date permit or that it is removed.
b) The issue of cars being sold on Manchester New Road was raised, and again this is an
issue Julie is working on. Unfortunately it is proving difficult to prove they are all being sold
by the same person as they each provide different contact numbers, so any information
anyone can pass to Julie would help.
11. Date of next meeting
The next meeting of the Middleton Environment Forum will be on Wednesday 14th March
2012 after Middleton Planning Sub-Committee (approximately 6:45pm) at Council Offices,
Sadler Street, Middleton, M24 5UJ.
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