Agenda item

The District Executive received 6 Public questions:

Question 1 – submitted by Barry Aspden.

Will all the pot holes in Failsworth and Hollinwood be repaired to a good standard before the onset of winter? By ‘good standard’ I mean they will not be in need of repair by spring 2019.    

Councillor Fielding responded to the question and advised that he was not able to guarantee that will be the case but if people report the potholes they will be repaired within a timescale and if not to email Councillor Fielding directly.  The repair service was reliant on people reporting the pot holes and as long as they reported will would be repaired.

Question 2 – submitted by Catherine Charnock.

Why are Manchester residents being given allotments in Failsworth when there is a waiting list of Failsworth residents that have waited over a year for a plot in Failsworth not to mention the other sites that all have waiting lists of Oldham residents? 

Councillor Fielding responded that the allotment waiting lists were maintained by each Society rather than the council so it was their responsibility to allocate the plots to whoever is at the top of the waiting list, wherever they come from. Oldham council when it did directly manage them did not have a policy of allowing Oldham people only onto allotment sites in Oldham, particularly when certain sites border onto another town, otherwise there would be empty and unmanaged plots

Question 3 – submitted by Leon Wild.

I should be grateful if you could inform me if OMBC received any S106 monies for the development by Bellway Homes (Lancaster Gardens), if so, how much did the Council receive?

If OMBC did not receive any monies from Bellway was any requested or not?

Should OMBC received a S106 sum of money is it earmarked for improvements in the immediate area, ie (Lower Failsworth Memorial Land/Moston Brook) or has it been earmarked for other improvements/development elsewhere?

Councillor Fielding responded by advising the meeting that to date the Council had not received any section106 monies from that development and the monies will be payable as houses are sold and it would be a percentage of the sales of houses.

The development will be built in phases so the figure will be calculated once the development is completed and the monies would go to the construction of affordable houses.

There was section 106 agreement for £138,000 for the development of Express Dairies that had been committed to Moston Brook and Lower memorial park.

It was also reported that there was opportunity for Bellway to extend to what would have been carpark of the soccer school and there could be an opportunity for section106 monies from that to go to Moston Brook and Lower Memorial park.

Question 4 – submitted by Anita Jefferies.

There is a persistent problem on Roman Road with speeding cars and off road motorcycles thundering down Roman Road at all hours. The motorcycles appear to be off road vehicles driven by youths with no helmets or number plates and have no regard for anyone or anything.

It is noisy and dangerous and only a matter of time before someone is killed or badly injured.

I appreciate policing in Failsworth is a bit of an issue with numbers of officers greatly reduced but could a speed camera be placed here?It might just act as a deterrent.

Councillor Garry informed the meeting that the the question would be referred to Inspector Anwar as it would fall under Section 59/60 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and an email to be provided to the questioner.

At this point in the proceedings the Chair gave a first warning to the meeting that as per Article 11 of the Council’s Constitution the conduct of some attendees was interrupting the proceedings and that this could result in them being asked to leave;

Question 5 – submitted by Judith Thomlinson Harris.

When I attended the last DE I asked a question which has not been answered by you.

I will ask the question again, but I think it is wrong if a resident takes the time and trouble to come to the meeting then they should be at least acknowledged by the Panel.

My problem relates to the alley-way between Roman Road and Hampton Road which is next to my home. The alley way has gates that should be locked at Dusk and Opened at Dawn by the Council’s First Response Team. Frequently they are left unlocked until well after dark.

Many youths gather in the ginnel making a nuisance of themselves, taking drugs and engaging in all kinds of activities. The neighbours feel very nervous and uncomfortable with their behaviour.

If the gates at Hampton Road are locked the youths gain access via Roman Road or they climb over the fence using the front of houses. Clearly the so called security in place isn’t working.

The ginnel itself is left in a filthy state as various pieces of rubbish are left behind by these kids and it is used during the day by young children and parents walking to and from school and also the public using it as a short cut. It is disgusting and must be deemed as a health hazard with all the can bottles and debris.

So my question is what measures are you prepared to put in place to help me and my neighbours feel safe in our own homes. My neighbour is in a wheelchair and feels particularly vulnerable as do I. We are not happy to confront these youngsters ourselves for fear of retribution and I feel scared at times.

I am so disappointed that 3 months has lapsed since I first drew your attention to this problem, 3 months in which you could have been working to help me and others resolved this situation.

Councillor Garry advised the meeting that the question although submitted to the last meeting was taken off line to deal with. Contact had been made with Judith and the District Office were dealing with this.

The Chair, as per Article 11 of the Council’s Constitution, following the first warning to some members of the meeting asked people present to leave the meeting as she considered their conduct to be detrimental to the meeting.

Question 6 – submitted by Joanne Potts, question received but not read out.

The DE meeting in March I submitted a question regarding Council Tax received from Failsworth residents and how much of the tax was regenerated back to Failsworth and it is now June I’ve had no reply.

The meetings was advised that the question was read out however members of the public wanted to address a number of issues in relation to Anti-Social behaviour and increase in crime etc and therefore the question wasn’t answered.

The following response was provided after the meeting by Councillor Fielding.

It is almost impossible to quantify the amount of Council spend in a particular District because a lot of the most resource intensive services that the Council provides are not District specific e.g. social services, children in care, back office functions such as HR etc.

If the premise of the question is to ascertain whether Failsworth as a District within Oldham is a net contributor or net beneficiary in terms of Council Tax collection and Council spend it can be said with some confidence that it is a net beneficiary since Council tax collection only makes up 40% of the money that the Council has to spend. The Council has other sources of income in the form of government grants which make up the remaining 60%. There is therefore no part of the Borough of Oldham that is a net contributor to the Council's revenue budget via Council Tax. In fact the Borough, including Failsworth, is effectively a net beneficiary by virtue of receiving grants comprising monies collected elsewhere in the Country and, at least in the short term, elsewhere in Europe

Question 7 – submitted by Kathleen Wilkinson.

The question was received but not read out. The question had been answered above in relation to the Section 106 Land at Lancaster Club.

RESOLVED – That the public questions be noted.