Middleton Environment Forum

Minutes – 18 th January 2012 Present Councillor Neil Emmott (Chair) RMBC David McKail Friends of Wince Brook Geoff Grime Middleton View Resident Christine Grime Middleton View Resident Audrey Riches Middleton Civic Association Terry Linden Middleton Resident Michael White Alkrington Resident Bob Magee Friends of Wince Brook David Lappin Alkrington Resident Anthony Dickinson Dane Bank Resident Jean Bunner Middleton Resident Paul Harris Middleton Resident Carol Harris Middleton Resident Councillor June West RMBC Councillor Carol Wardle RMBC Councillor Susan Emmott RMBC Councillor Peter Williams RMBC Councillor Malcolm Boriss RMBC Councillor Donna Martin RMBC Councillor Teresa Fitzsimons RMBC Julie Simpson RMBC Environmental Enforcement Debbie Choularton RMBC Township Support Officer

Apologies Jon Davenport Environment Agency Harry Alldritt Middleton Community Training Centre Ian Ray Friends of Wince Brook Gary Leigh Absolute Angling Pat Donald Langley Environment Group Ron Donald Langley Resident Ivy Isherwood Langley Environment Group Mick Ripley RMBC Street Services Councillor Lil Murphy RMBC Councillor Phil Burke RMBC Councillor Mike Holly RMBC Councillor Alan Godson RMBC Councillor Jonathan Burns RMBC Councillor Maureen Rowbotham RMBC Councillor Linda Robinson RMBC

1. Minutes of the last meeting The minutes of the meeting on 16th November 2011 were agreed as a true and correct record.

of 5 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).

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.

of 5 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.

of 5 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 20th 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 19th 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.