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Dukinfield East. Residents’ Association.

Affiliated with New Charter Housing Trust Group

Public meeting held on 28th September2015

Present: John Heywood (JH) Chairman

David Bottomley (DB) Treasurer John Bevan (JB) Committee Member

Arnold Hodgkinson (AH) Committee Member Angela Dickson (AC) Committee Member

Guests

Simon Blomeley, (SB), Neighbourhood Coordinator for Gorse Hall, New Charter. Councillor David Sweeton (DS) TMBC Councillor

Jo Nike, GMP PCSO

Apologies: Kathy Inglis (KI) Secretary

Linda Whyatt, (LW), Resident Involvement Officer Khadeja Begum, Neighbourhood Coordinator for Yew Tree Estate, New Charter.

Preamble to Meeting:

JH confirmed that there were sufficient members present to form a quorum, under the rules of the constitution. The meeting, therefore, proceeded to the agenda.

Chairman’s Annual Report (Reported Verbatim)

Again, this year, I intend to keep my report short and succinct, so that we can get through the formalities of the AGM quickly, and move on to the general meeting.

In January of this year, as discussed at the previous AGM, we affiliated with New Charter housing

trust and we have benefitted from their input, expertise and, indeed, funding.

Our minibus scheme continues to run successfully and, although a major element of the

Association’s expenditure is on running the scheme, it generates a substantial income, to the

point where it is approaching the position of self- financing.

Sadly, we were forced to terminate our arrangement with Astley Sports College whereby the bus

was securely parked within their grounds, in return for its being available for their regular use,

when it was not reserved by other organisations. Some of the pupils did not respect the vehicle

and there were instances of vandalism that required us to withdraw the facility. An alternative

secure parking site was provided by Trinity School, Stalybridge.

On a brighter note, a Xmas event was held in conjunction with New Charter and the Moravian

Church, which raised £95.87 for our funds, after deduction of expenses.

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New Charter provided a community Christmas tree, sited on Meadway, dressed with decorations

made by local school children and lit with solar lights. Around 50 people attended the switch on

where refreshments were provided on a chilly winter’s night and it was gratifying to see that the

tree was respected and despite windy conditions, survived in fair condition into the New Year.

In March 2014, DERA was approached by residents of the Tennyson Estate who wished to create

a play area for children on the land bordered by Tennyson Avenue and Arnold Close. This was not

possible due to previous episodes of antisocial behaviour. However, it was subsequently

discovered that there was a mown grass play area within Gorse Hall Country Park, accessed via

Macauley Close maintained by the Friends of Gorse Hall it was just that the residents of Tennyson

Estate were unaware it existed. It has since been used regularly by children and DERA is entering

into discussions with FoGH and the council in order to extend the facility.

The two young ladies who raised the issue of the play area joined our committee in April 2014

but, unfortunately are not standing for re-election due to the difficulties of fitting our activities

into their busy family lives. Therefore, we would still like to increase committee membership if

any members present are interested.

On the 21st and 28th March, respectively, Waste Skips were placed on Chester Avenue and The

Royals, and then Gorse Hall road and surrounding area. A great deal of rubbish was collected

improving the appearance of both localities, considerably.

Last Easter, our very own Angela Carr threw away the brush and got married, to become Mrs

Dickson. We wish her a long and happy marriage.

During March and April the appearance of the shops on Yew Tree Lane was considerably

improved by painting the balconies and planting gardens in the forecourt. This is particularly

important because the shops form the entrance to the estate and give an immediate impression

of the standards of the area.

Our April Public Meeting consisted of a consultation event with residents of Lyne Edge Road to

propose a project to convert the spare ground between there and Rowan Crescent into

community gardens, with support from DERA and New Charter. The outdoor potato pie supper

event was well attended and the idea, initially, seemed to be received with enthusiasm.

However, following this up with a survey at a later date, interest had waned and it seems that the

plot is now being used as additional parking space.

We took a new approach for our June Public Meeting, whereby attendees were split into small groups and

circulated amongst invited guests who updated them on latest developments in their area of expertise and

then answered questions.

Guests who attended were:

Karolyn Schofield GMP PCSO Sangita Patel TMBC Neighbourhood Project Officer Dave Sweeton TMBC Councillor Khadeja Begum Linda Whyatt and Simon Blomeley for new Charter. Although there are no minutes, due to the nature of the event, feedback showed it to be popular with both guests and members and we intend to repeat this type of meeting in the coming year.

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On the 4th July, DERA attended Dukinfield Festival demonstrating the construction of flower

baskets and offering them for sale. The event was successful and well attended and raised

£118.70 for Association Funds. We propose to participate in the festival again, next year.

A project that has been under consideration for some time is the expansion of the kick-about area

within Gorse Hall Country Park, close to the entrance from Macauley Close. For various reasons it

took some time to gather information on the possibilities available and then to meet with the

Friends of Gorse Hall to discuss this as a joint venture. At a meeting on the 2nd September with

the Friends and a representative from TMBC Parks Department, it was agreed that the parties

wished to pursue the project.

It is proposed that the area will include a selection of items from trails, mounds and hollows, fallen trees and shaped logs, willow tunnels, domes and arbours; layout and costs are yet to be discussed. However, if the project is to succeed there will need to be commitment and involvement from the community, particularly on the Tennyson Avenue Estate and the next step will be to arrange a consultation with the residents to determine their interest and points of view. We have a couple of residents. Young ladies that DERA has worked with previously and we hope that they may assist us in this respect.

This concludes my report for last year. Please feel free to discuss any issues raised, in the public meeting following the AGM.

In the meantime, on behalf of myself, the committee and members I would again like to acknowledge and thank New Charter officers, Linda Whyatt, Khadeja Begum and Simon Blomeley for their assistance in supporting and working closely with DERA for the betterment of the community.

Open Meeting SB had made a response to a query raised at the last AGM regarding the shops on Yew Tree lane, and why bread could not be sold by the supermarket once the bakery had closed. The shops were bought from TMBC in 2002 and the leases were inherited. The leases are quite specific as to what each shop can sell, and were intended to protect the businesses that were there at the time; so, the bread shop can sell bread, but the minimarket cannot sell bread without the agreement of the bread shop and this has not been forthcoming. There followed a written suggestion by a member regarding waste disposal: Dear Sirs During recent weeks TMBC have done a change of bins (Black for plastics, tins etc.) green for general rubbish. The distribution of notices of this change was not 100%. During my daily walk (Cheetham Hill Road, Oxford Road, Lodge lane) 11/2 miles approx. I meet about a half dozen dog walkers and of this small amount, at least 4 or 5 including myself did not receive the TMBC notice. To inform the switchboard receives nil response. “We have no money and that is why we did not use the postmen” As to whether the bin change will be successful – I hope so for TMBC’s sake. I have an idea to ease the rubbish disposal. On ground set aside for recreation areas at low lying situations to excavate a 25’ trench (width? length?) and fill it with general rubbish to a depth of 15’ with bales of rubbish compacted and bailed at Bayley Street. Stalybridge. The higher level achieved with more than 10’ of top soil could be used for playing fields etc. This is just a thought! Do you think it is any good?

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DS admitted that there may have been a small number of oversights in delivering the leaflets, though details were also published on TNBC website. Regarding the disposal of waste, this was not a feasible solution as it was merely landfill on a smaller, more expensive basis. Guests were then invited to update the meeting with any issues and updated that might be relevant to the members. Dave Sweeton Recently made chairman of the Stalybridge and Mossley District Assembly (SMDA) and, although the Council had very little money available, DS saw this as an opportunity to engage with the community to utilise resources in different way though he felt it was difficult to motivate people to contribute their time and effort to improve their lot: nevertheless, as the council withdraws from some of its activities and services it will be essential for the community to help take up the slack. Community groups attend the SMDA to inform the audience of their activities, as well as the difficulties they have overcome, so that this networking becomes a useful tool for progress and to encourage residents to become part of the solution to budget cuts. DS went on to talk about a recent informal meeting with JH about the Community Forum which is a very well run organisation which DS wishes to tap into and JH volunteered to be one of the drivers in this initiative. DS has to arrange an initial meeting. Rev Tim Hayes from St John’s Church will be deputy chair the meetings. In summary, the community has to help itself or some things will just not get done. A resident commented that money could be saved if the council were to schedule work so that it was only done the once i.e. that a road was not repaired or resurfaced and then dug up again within a short period of time for other work to be performed. PCSO Jo Nike JN advised the committee that there was a new Chief Constable and that he would have difficult decisions to make about future manning levels due to budget cuts, the extent of which would be announced on the 25th November. It was rumoured that the number of PCSOs might be cut, though this could not be confirmed at the time of the meeting. There was to be a shift in emphasis from community policing to Domestic Violence and Child Abuse crimes. JN confirmed that she cared about the community and the local environment and was prepared to put in extra time to become involved with associations such as DERA. JH made the point that PCSOs such as Jo and Mike Wardle were at the cutting edge of policing; they knew their area and the villains and the drug dealers and the crime hot spots on it and the loss of that knowledge and intelligence would be a massive blow to community policing. JN was pleased to report that those responsible for arson attacks at Oakdale Primary School had been identified by her, from CCTV images, due to her local knowledge. There then followed an open discussion, most of which was unintelligible on the recording. However, a member discussed a problem with his next door neighbour regarding burning of rubbish in his garden but he had already began to progress the issue with TMBC and this was not a matter where DERA could be of no assistance. The meeting was then brought to an end.