For details click on the link: Bulletin_18 July
Bus changes by First Manchester effective from 24 July 16
First Manchester have advised TfGM of a number of changes to their network which affect the Oldham area. All will be effective from Sunday 24 July brief details below:
Service | Route | Notes |
24 | Rochdale/Thornham – Royton – Chadderton – Manchester | Daytime journeys operating between Thornham and Manchester withdrawn. Monday to Friday Peak journeys (4AM/5 PM) operating through to Rochdale maintained.
Rossendale have looked at diverting service 408 but there isn’t enough time in the current or revised schedule and they have expressed concern about running on Springfield Lane having witnessed two buses getting stuck. Patronage is low. |
59 | Rushcroft – Shaw – Oldham – Manchester | · Monday to Saturday daytime service between Oldham and Rushcroft reduced from 4 buses an hour to 2 buses an hour.
· Daily evening service revised – every 30 minutes between Manchester and Oldham, extending hourly to Rushcroft. During the daytime services 58 and 59 will combine to provide a 10 minute service between Middleton and Oldham and every 15 minutes between Oldham and Shaw, Wren Nest. |
83 | Sholver – Oldham – Manchester | Monday to Saturday evening service reduced to operate every 30 minutes between Sholver and Manchester. Short Oldham to Manchester journeys (every half hour) withdrawn.
Services 83/180/184 will combine to provide a bus every 15 minutes between Oldham and Manchester. |
149 | Oldham – Cheetham Hill – Manchester | Daytime service curtailed to operate between Oldham and Cheetham Hill (via North Manchester General Hospital).
This service is tendered between Oldham and Cheetham Hill – First extend to Manchester commercially. This action should improve service punctuality as delays in the city centre cause issues along the route. |
181 | Shaw – Chadderton – Manchester | Route revised to serve St Mary’s Road and Nuthurst Road (New Moston) instead of Broadway.
This leaves one pair of stops (near Park Avenue) that is not within 400m of existing stops on Nuthurst Road or Oldham Road. |
182 | Shaw – Chadderton – Manchester | Daily daytime journeys curtailed to operate between Shaw and Manchester. Some peak journeys extend to Milnrow and evening journeys continue to serve Rochdale.
Service 58 will maintain a 30 minute daytime service between Shaw, Milnrow and Rochdale. |
184 | Huddersfield/Uppermill/Grotton – Oldham – Manchester | Monday to Saturday journeys that terminate in Diggle revised to terminate at Grotton. Dobcross and the Diggle terminus (Sam Road) will lose their link with Oldham.
Services 353/354 will maintain an hourly daytime link with Uppermill where connections can be made to service 184. |
409 | Rochdale – Oldham – Ashton | Monday to Saturday evening service reduced from every 20 to every 30 minutes. |
415 | Oldham – Middleton | Sunday daytime service withdrawn.
We’ve tendered for replacement and will recommend award of the new contract, replacing all journeys. |
Officer response from TfGM after I raised concerns about some of these changes.
First of all please let me apologise for the delay in responding.
In terms of the changes, most of the 182 journeys will turn short at Shaw Wrens Nest as opposed to continuing to Rochdale. First will continue to provide a service between Shaw and Rochdale on service 58 every 30 minutes and service 181/182 will continue to run through to Rochdale at times when service 58 doesn’t. In addition, peak journeys on 182 will continue to Milnrow.
I appreciate that service 59 will operate to a reduced frequency in the evenings that I agree will have an impact on the local community.
All of the changes that have been registered for implementation are fully commercial changes which First have determined will maintain a commercially viable service; First will continue to provide services to all of the affected routes albeit to reduced frequencies.
It is fair to say that the medium term effects of the introduction of the tram between Oldham and Rochdale will now be fully felt and will no doubt have had a bearing on their decision.
We would not be in a position to tender for services to enhance this service as it would in effect be competing with, and undermining, a commercially provided service which would ultimately lead to a further reduction in frequency.
Notwithstanding this, we are fully committed on our budget; any commercial services that are withdrawn that TfGM needs to reinstate must be funded from the withdrawal of other services. It would therefore be extremely difficult to justify the withdrawal of an entire service to one community to enhance the service to another.
I would add that as part of the changes First have been able to co-ordinate all of the services through Shaw and as a consequence the combined 58/59 will offer an approximate 15 minute combined service to Oldham.
I hope that this provides some additional information.
Michael Moore, Service Planning Officer, Transport for Greater Manchester, 2 Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1 3BG.
Giant Rats a Real-life Horror Story
The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, is calling for action to combat giant rats in Oldham Borough.
Councillor Sykes is proposing a motion on this issue to Wednesday’s full Council (13/07/16) and he explained why:
“The image of giant rats in our Borough may sound like a vision of horror from a James Herbert novel but the industry’s professional body, the British Pest Control Association, has recently issued a report identifying rats of increased size and with an increasing resistance to conventional poisons as a real problem in urban Britain.”
Commenting Councillor Sykes said: “In our motion we recognise that sometimes residents can inadvertently make the situation worse by resorting to ineffective off-the-shelf poisons.”
“This means that the rat problem is often not eliminated and repeatedly exposure to these poisons enables rats to become more resistant to them.”
Councillor Sykes is proposing that Oldham Council promotes the services of its professional pest controllers to residents, and the Chief Executive is asked to write to local MPs asking them to call for Government action in Parliament.
He explained: “Only a pest-control specialist has access to the most toxic poisons with the proven ability to eliminate even the most-troublesome and largest rodents.”
“Whilst calling the rat-catcher costs money it does provide a guarantee that the treatment will be effective and can be carried out without harm to family members and pets.”
Concluding Councillor Sykes said: “We have to recognise that Oldham Council and its residents can only do so much. This is a national problem and our national Government needs to take action.”
The motion to Council reads:
Council 13th July 2016 – Notice of Opposition Business –
Combatting Super Rats
This Council notes that:
The British Pest Control Association (the BPCA) has said that rats are becoming immune to traditional pellets used by homeowners and that the poisons which can be purchased in supermarkets may actually be turning the rodents into ‘super rats’.
The Chief Executive of BPCA has said, “The rodents have become resistant and, in some cases, immune to off- the-shelf poisons to the point where they’re actually feeding off the toxic pellets, which means their size and strength is increasing.”
Genetic testing by Huddersfield University has revealed that the rodents have developed a mutation that allows them to survive conventional poisons. In counties such as Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, a Suffolk, and Kent, all the rats tested were found to have immunity to poison.
Rodents are difficult to kill with poisons because their feeding habits reflect their place as scavengers. Rats will eat a small amount of food and wait, and if they don’t get sick, they then continue to eat.
Council further notes that.
Stronger rodenticides can be more effective, but most are subject to strict legislation and must only be used by professional pest controllers.
The BPCA is now predicting that rats are likely to seek to enter homes for warmth and food during the winter months
Rats can squeeze themselves through gaps as small as three-quarters of an inch and are often found living under floorboards, in the walls or in the loft.
In 2015, rats measuring 50-60 cm (2ft) have been captured in places as far apart as Cornwall, Kent and Liverpool.
Rats can carry illnesses which can be passed to humans, including Weil’s disease, which has flu-like symptoms initially but can lead to jaundice and kidney failure.
Rats chew on wood and electrical wires causing significant property damage and posing a fire hazard.
Council believes:
That rats are a danger to the health and wellbeing of residents
That the problem of an increasing rat population, which is immune to many standard poisons, must be addressed
Inexpert use of poison can make the problem worse
Council resolves to:
Ask the relevant Cabinet Member(s) to request officers publicise the risk posed by poison resistant rats and offer advice as to how residents can ‘rat proof’ their homes, by for example fitting strips to the bottoms of doors, filling small gaps in exterior walls, repairing roof damage and covering drains to prevent entry via pipes.
Ask the Chief Executive to write to our three local Members of Parliament asking them to lobby the Government for national action on the problem of super rats.
Shaw and Crompton planning decisions 4 July 16
Click on the link for details: Shaw and Crompton planning decisions 4 July 16
Pingot Stream Widening / Bridleway Repair Project in Pingot Quarry
The widening of the stream in Pingot Quarry will start week commencing the 11th of July 2016.
During this time please be aware of work in progress, and keep dogs under close control when in the quarry area.
Volunteers needed to restore and plant the banks of the stream, once the widening is complete. Please see contact details below for anyone interested in helping.
For further information, please contact: Marian Herod, Secretary – Friends of Crompton Moor. Mobile: 07792 156295 www.cromptonmoor.co.uk
Sunday 10th July 2016 – Butterfly and Bumblebee Walk with the Nordic Walkers
‘Eid Mubarak’, or ‘Blessed Eid’
Latest reply from Royal Mail re missing post boxes
Royal Mail reply: RM Reply – 30 June
Shaw and Crompton consultation meeting for FCHO tenants re service charges
Tenants will have received a letter inviting them to a consultation meeting about proposed service charges.
Your local Liberal Democrat Councillors made representations that there was no meeting in Shaw/Crompton.
We are now pleased to report, following our intervention, that a Shaw service charge consultation will be held on 3rd August 2.00 – 5.00pm at the Shaw Children’s Centre, High Street, Shaw.
Hopefully you should be getting written confirmation of this directly.
See frequent questions about this matter: FAQs for Customers – amended version 24.06.16
Historic England have decided that the Jubilee Pub will not be listed
27 June 2016
Mrs Karen Heverin, Conservation Officer, Oldham Council
Dear Karen Heverin,
PLANNING (LISTED BUILDINGS AND CONSERVATION AREAS) ACT 1990 BUILDINGS OF SPECIAL ARCHITECTURAL OR HISTORIC INTEREST
Jubilee Inn, Milnrow Road, Shaw, Oldham
As you will know from our earlier letters we have been considering adding the above building to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.
We have taken into account all the representations made and completed our assessment of the building. Having considered our recommendation, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has decided not to add The Jubilee Inn, Milnrow Road, Shaw, Oldham to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.
Please follow the link below to download a copy of our advice report, prepared for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which gives the principal reasons for this decision. The annex of this report will be published on our Heritage Gateway website in order to provide clarity about the building’s designation status. The website makes it clear that the buildings and sites included on the Heritage Gateway are mostly privately owned and are not open to the public.
If you consider that this decision has been wrongly made you may contact the DCMS within 28 days of the date of this letter to request that the Secretary of State review the decision. An example of a decision made wrongly would be where there was a factual error or an irregularity in the process which affected the outcome. You may also ask the Secretary of State to review the decision if you have any significant evidence relating to the special architectural or historic interest of the building which was not previously considered. Further details of the review criteria and process and how to request a review are contained in the annex to this letter.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance. More information can also be found on our website at www.historicengland.org.uk.
Yours sincerely
Cara Organ
Listing Coordinator, Listing Team North, Historic England, 37 Tanner Row, York YO1 6WP
Direct Line: 01904 601951. EMail: cara.organ@HistoricEngland.org.uk