Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no items of urgent business received.

There were no declarations of interest received.

The following questions were received from Parish Councillor Louie Hamblett and replied to:-

Question 1

On Sunday 19th November evening two trams had their windows broken by acts of vandalism, from people throwing ballast from the embankment between Failsworth and Hollinwood. I myself was a passenger on one of the two trams. The following evening, 29th November, a tweet was sent out by Metrolink to state that more acts of vandalism were carried out on the East Didsbury Line, but did not state where, A later tweet then went out to state it had affected the whole Rochdale Line also, however when quizzed by tweeter as to what can be done Metrolink stated it was out of their hands and for GMP to be assisting on.

Could the DE please urge Metrolink to perhaps invest in track side fencing or higher fencing, as many passengers feel that the impending transportation costs do not justify the safety levels and loss of service should a tram be damaged. 

Reply

A couple of points in relation to this. Firstly, the tweeter probably wasn’t quite right in that it is not entirely the responsibility of GMP. Perhaps on that occasion they were waiting for GMP to arrive at the scene.

In reality we are working quite closely together on the problem – TfGM, GMP and the Metrolink Operator. Following the incidents this last weekend and earlier this week (in fact it happened 3 days in a row) the Operator have increased staff presence on the Oldham and Rochdale Line as have GMP and they did at least 3 nights (to my knowledge) of plain clothes patrols.

Stone throwing always “spikes” at this time of year following bonfire night with darker evenings. It is all too easy for youths to target trams under cover of darkness and very disappointing (and expensive) for us.

We try not to stop services when this happens, except to remove the damaged tram from service, but when it happens to 2 trams in a row we stop the next services from running through until we can be sure that the area is clear of vandals. We will always call the police but quite often it is the Operator’s staff who respond. This can take time. Unfortunately we disrupt our passengers’ journeys while we do this but most understand it is for their safety. We had a very serious incident earlier this year where a driver was badly hurt after a rock was dropped from a bridge and entered the cab, which really shows that our safety concerns are justified.

Following that incident, we erected some temporary high level fencing on some structures – but we found that this didn’t deter the most determined vandals. The most effective method is providing a visible presence of GMP or security personnel.

The focus of our efforts now is to deploy our limited resource sensibly – targeting the most prolific areas at those times and days that give the worst problems. We have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Minutes of the Shaw and Crompton District Executive held on 10 October 2017 are attached for approval.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10^th October 2017 be approved as a correct record.

This is a standing item regarding Petitions received, relating to the Shaw and Crompton area, for consideration by the District Executive in accordance with the Council’s Petition Protocol. No petitions have been received.

NOTED that no new petitions had been received.

Superintendent Danny Inglis attended the District Executive to update members on the current situation with regards to the 101 non-emergency number.

He informed them that the service received 5000 calls each day and that, whilst the longest wait for a response had been 3 hours, this month the average wait time was 32 seconds. The time varied as it depended on demand and the resilience of the service. Phone calls covered a wide range of issues from very minor to serious crime. Approximately 10% were not related to police business, roughly 500 calls per day.

Members were informed that staff were being recruited and trained, and that a mentoring programme had been introduced. There were ongoing issues around retention as many of those recruited wanted a career in the police force and a constant turnover of staff as they moved on. It was difficult to get the level of staff availability right, as demand was not predictable. Web-chat had been tried, however it was not found to be successful.

Members noted that 999 calls took priority and were usually answered in 10 seconds. Analysis had shown that those that called 101 did not usually redial 999.

Members asked for and received clarification that the IT system recorded hang-up, failures to transfer and whether 999 was dialled afterwards. The police had been surprised when the analysis showed most people did not redial 999.

Members were given additional information as to local staffing and were informed that teams and shifts would be restructured with effect from March 2018. Oldham would have four Inspectors to deliver neighbourhood policing. The service was looking at how officers could be placed back in the community and needed to find venues that were sufficiently secure. PCSO’s were easiest to relocate as they had limited equipment to take with them.

Members asked about the frequent changes in officers and were informed that staff may still move on, however the aim was to have a dedicated Inspector for the area that people could contact and get to know.

The District Executive thanked Superintendent Inglis for attending the meeting and providing detailed information.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting the Shaw and Crompton Community Forum held on 10th October 2017 be approved as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report of the District Co-Ordinator, which provided Members with a summary of the budget, including the ward budget and the individual Councillor budgets.

The District Executive was requested to:-

1.     Note the following Councillor budget allocations-:

The District Executive was requested to approve or note the following allocations-:

2.     Junction Improvements at Fir Lane/Thornham Lane

2.1   That the District Executive approve spend of £4,105 towards the junction improvement scheme at Fir Lane and Thornham Lane from their Environmental Improvement allocation (ward capital budget) 2016/17.

2.2   That the District Executive approve for the remaining balance of £1,895 required to complete this scheme, be allocated from the 2017/18 Crompton ward revenue budget.

3.    Fir Lane Traffic Calming Scheme

        That the District Executive approve an allocation of £2,555 from the 2017/18 ward capital budget and that £5,439.50 be allocated from the ward revenue budget 2017/18.

4.    Milne St Improvement Scheme

4.1   That the District Executive note the use of £5,097 from the 2016/17 Shaw ward Individual Councillors budget towards an improvement scheme at Milne St, Shaw.

4.2   The District Executive approves the allocation of £2,983 from the 2017/18 from the Shaw ward capital budget towards the cost of an improvement scheme at Milne St, Shaw.

4.3   That the District Executive approve an allocation of £2,568 from the 2017/18 Shaw ward Individual Councillor budgets towards an improvement scheme at Milne St, Shaw.

5.    Pennine Vale

5.1   The reallocation of £165 from the 2016/17 Youth work budget to be reallocated to the Pennine Vale Improvement scheme.

5.2   That £146 from the 2017/18 Individual ward Councillors budget be allocated towards the Pennine Vale Improvement scheme.

5.3   That £2,334.50 from the 2017/18 ward revenue budget be allocated to the Pennine Vale Improvement scheme.

6.     George St Improvement Scheme

        That the District Executive approve an allocation of £4,500 from the Shaw ward revenue budget towards the George St Improvement Scheme.

7.     Street Skip Project

        That the District Executive approve an allocation of £500 for a Shaw ward Street Skip project from the Shaw ward revenue budget.

RESOLVED:-

1.          That the District Executive noted the Councillor budget allocations outlined in this report.

2.     Junction Improvements at Fir Lane/ Thornham Lane

2.1   That the District Executive approved spend of £4,105 towards the junction improvement scheme at Fir Lane and Thornham Lane from their Environmental Improvement allocation (ward capital budget) 2016/17.

2.2   That the District Executive approved that the remaining balance of £1,895 required to complete this scheme, be allocated from the 2017/18 Crompton ward revenue budget.

3.    Fir Lane Traffic Calming Scheme

That the District Executive approved an allocation of £2,555 from the 2017/18 ward capital budget and that £5,439.50 be allocated from the ward revenue budget 2017/18.

4.     Milne St Improvement Scheme

4.1   That the District Executive noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The next meeting of the Shaw and Crompton District Executive and Community Forum will be held on Tuesday, 23 January 2018 at 6.00 p.m.

RESOLVED the next meeting of the Shaw and Crompton District Executive will be on Tuesday 23^rd January 2018 at 6.00pm.