A TASTER DAY IN THE HISTORIC ART OF DRYSTONE WALLING – 16TH OCTOBER 2016

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Sunday, 16 October 2016 from 10:30 to 14:30 (BST),

Crompton Moor, off Buckstones Road, Shaw, OL2 8LS

Come and try your hand at the historic art of dry stone walling.  This is the perfect opportunity to try our taster day, and learn how to take down and re-build a dry stone wall within the beautiful setting of Crompton Moor.

No experience is necessary, and all tools, protective eyewear, and materials will be provided.

Please dress, according to the weather, and you will require stout outdoor footwear and work gloves.  Please bring a packed lunch and something to drink.

We will meet in Brushes Clough car park, on Crompton Moor, at 10:30 am and finish around 2:30 pm.

If you have any questions please let us know by email – cromptonmoor@gmail.com, or you can call us on 07792 156295. Booking is essential for this popular event.  You can book online at Eventbrite using the following link –  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-taster-day-in-the-historic-art-of-drystone-walling-16th-october-2016-tickets-27318643799

Or, use the contact details below: Marian Herod, Secretary – Friends of Crompton Moor, 07792 156295.  www.cromptonmoor.co.uk

Letter re Implications of the EU referendum for Oldham Borough

_88328563_euThe Rt Hon Teresa May PM, 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

Re:  Implications of the EU referendum

Oldham Council considered reports on the implications of the EU referendum on this borough and Greater Manchester at its July 2016 meeting.  This was in the context of the referendum result and consideration of the potential impacts of a “leave” vote by the GM Combined Authority in March of this year.

Regarding the referendum, we respect the right of the British people to decide on the country’s future relationship with the EU via this mechanism, but naturally we are concerned about the impact on business and consumer confidence, the various sources of funding the UK benefits from due to its relationship with Europe, and on community cohesion and community relations issues.

Business confidence is currently fragile as a consequence of the referendum, and requires urgent and co-ordinated local and national action to return it to its pre-referendum levels.   We are working in concert with GM colleagues and local/regional chambers of commerce to this effect, but would welcome a dialogue with you about sustaining business and investor confidence in Oldham in a new and uncertain climate.

The recent Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic review sets out the scale of this challenge and opportunity, and we fully support the Greater Manchester case for continuing investment in the Northern Powerhouse project to make this a tangible gesture of confidence in the business community in the North of England.

Greater Manchester and Oldham benefit from significant structural fund schemes impacting directly on skills, employment and business support mechanisms which are essential to supporting our local economy.

We would encourage you to give urgent certainty to the Government’s position on non-contracted ESIF funds as part of the renegotiation strategy, and to the contingency plans the Government intends to put in place to secure equivalent levels of investment should these funds reduce or disappear as a consequence of EU withdrawal.

Local businesses and training providers are looking for such certainty.  We fully support the Local Government Association’s call for local authorities to be involved in the renegotiation planning with such schemes in mind.

We note and welcome subsequent announcements from the new Government – your own in respect of continuing commitment to the “Northern Powerhouse” concept, and those of the Treasury in respect of European Structural Funds.  Dialogue on both is ongoing between Greater Manchester and Government as you will know.

Finally we remain concerned about the negative focus on immigration matters and the consequences for community relations and cohesion in highly diverse urban areas of the North of England.  We are vigilant on these matters, and wish to unequivocally support and nurture the benefits a diverse, tolerant and multi-cultural society brings to our economic growth and development.  We would encourage you to give this matter the highest priority and to not give in to political pressures that risk disrupting many years of stable community relations in Oldham and similar areas of the north by giving any message to the contrary.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Jean Stretton – Leader of the Council

Cllr Howard Sykes – Leader of the Opposition

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council Grant – response to Oldham Council’s proposals to cut the £20K grant

Shaw and Crompton logo red and blk

Further to your letter of 1st August 2016 regarding the possible reduction or withdrawal of the Council Tax Support Grant to the Parish Council with effect from 1st April 2017, please note the following response from Shaw & Crompton Parish Council in terms of potential impact –

Shaw & Crompton Parish Council relies on the Grant to support local community priorities within its annual plan, namely environmental maintenance and improvements, community events,  grant funding and the Citizens Advice Bureau advisory service. Although the Parish Council strives to make improvements and efficiencies, a reduction or withdrawal of the Grant would seriously compromise the Parish Council’s ability to continue to deliver sustainable activities for the benefit of local residents. The key priorities are outlined as follows:-

Environmental maintenance and improvements

The Parish Council has an annual contractual agreement with Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale covering a range of operations (litter removal, footpath maintenance, landscaping ) which keeps the visual appearance of areas within the Parish at a high standard and meets with local public satisfaction. In addition, The Parish Council also undertakes the treatment of public footpaths over and above the footpath maintenance programme carried out by the Borough Council. As such, any reduction in the Grant would put more pressure on Oldham Council’s resources in order to absorb this extra work. It should also be noted that the arrangement with Groundwork also adds value through involvement of local people in the Princes Trust work experience programme.

Community events

For the past 25 years, the Parish Council has organised a Family Fun Weekend and Vehicle Rally, which attracts upwards of 3,000 visitors. Incorporating the Chairman’s Charity Market, this is a key event in the diary and brings communities together to enjoy two days of fun and entertainment.  The Parish Council also arranges one Spring and one Winter Charity Market each year as well as a schools Christmas music festival. Next year (2017) marks the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Parish Council and a special, high profile celebratory event is already in the planning stage.  This is the largest community event in the Parish and special efforts are made to ensure all parts of the community are touched by the event especially the old and young.

Grant funding

Each year, the Council awards minor grants to support local church and voluntary groups and causes within Shaw & Crompton, ranging from Christmas meals for elderly residents to junior sports clubs, all run by volunteers who give something back to our community.  Some of these grants also act as match funding by levering in additional resources especially for our social inclusion projects and those with young people.

Citizens Advice Bureau

Oldham CAB is an established part of the town having delivered advice services from Crompton Library through partnership funding from Shaw & Crompton Parish Council for many years. Last year, the CAB provided advice to approximately 300 (of the more vulnerable) local people on matters relating to welfare benefits, debt, employment and housing issues. The Parish Council continues to fund this valuable service, which means that residents can receive advice locally on a weekly basis, which has resulted in tangible benefits to the most vulnerable people in the local neighbourhood.

In conclusion, the Parish Council seeks to continue the development of a pattern of civic life to benefit the whole community by fostering different types of activity. It does not have the resources to organise and run all varied and inclusive events and projects which make Shaw & Crompton into a thriving and cohesive community but is naturally grateful for the financial support it has received from the Council Tax Support Grant, which if withdrawn or reduced would mean that the Parish Council would have to consider its position in relation to the activities listed above, which we believe engender a sense of identity, aid community cohesion and promote a general feeling of well being resulting in a financial benefit to Oldham Council.

If Oldham Council is minded to remove this Grant, we would request that it is at least implemented in a phased manner so the Parish can plan and cope with the reduction in resources and re-profile its services in a measured and effective way, remaining cost effective and ensuring value for money, which is surely what Oldham Council would wish with the cuts it is suffering from Central Government.

Response to the many queries I have had about trying to recycling plastics

Bales_Crushed_PET_BottlesOldham’s refuse and recycling disposal is managed by Greater Manchester Waste Disposal  Authority (GMWDA). At present GMWDA are only able to recycle certain types of plastics – namely plastic bottles.

Plastics are made from different grades/types of plastics which melt at different temperatures, and therefore, a plastic bottle and a yoghurt pot for example, cannot be recycled together. Technically it is possible to recycle these separately, however, the range of materials that can be recycled is driven by the manufacturers that make the products. Currently these manufactures want high grade bottle type plastic to make their products (as they are easier to reprocess) and there is much less demand for lower grade materials such as plastic Pots, Tubs and Trays (PTT).

Plastic bottles tend to be made from either HDPE or PET polymers which are in high demand for recycling and it is this well-developed market which GMWDA feeds collected plastic bottles into for recycling. Whist bottle PET has a well-established market for recycling unfortunately this is not the case for PET trays. There are a number of reasons for this but principally the plastics reprocessors prefer the bottle PET as this is high quality and will not have been blended with lower quality polymers which is what happens with some trays. The current suppressed oil price is also reducing demand for recycled plastics as plastics produced from raw hydrocarbons are actually cheaper to produce at the moment.

There are local authorities collecting PTT on the back of public demand, however based on current data (from the Waste Recycling Action Programme) around 62% of this plastic collected in the UK (household and commercial) actually ends up being disposed of rather than recycled. This is due the lack of established markets for recycling of PTT. The most likely outcome for these materials is that it will be separated from the plastic bottles and then treated as a residue for energy generation. This is a very disappointing statistic and needs action at a national level. There is a good market for the recycling of poly–propylene (PP) yoghurt pots but not all pots and trays are made of PP, instead cheaper alternate polymers are used that reprocessors do not want. The solution would be for packaging manufacturers to consistently only use PP, however this change requires either legislation or a binding commitment to implement that change, and we therefore need central Government action.

GMWDA is committed to its aim of zero waste and we continue to lobby for consistency in the use of plastic polymers for PTT. We are also continuously monitoring the plastics market and should viable markets develop for PTT in the future then GMWDA would look to increase the range of plastic materials that can be collected from households for recycling.

Please be assured that the plastic you place in your general waste bin in Oldham does not go to waste. Across Greater Manchester we send your residual waste to one of our five Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities which separates and treats residual waste to generate end products and electricity. Below are links to our Recycle for Greater Manchester website which contains further information on recycling and producing green energy.

FAQs: http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/recycle/faqs

Green Energy: http://www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com/recover/how-we-recover-energy