Green Activist Mick Coat's Statement

 on the Rochdale Turner Brothers Asbestos Site:

I must apologise for my unavoidable absence; accordingly I have submitted this written report with regard to matters surrounding the TBA site and my concerns.  Clearly there are a number of issues that should be in the public domain.
Afterall it is us who are most affected by the problems of this highly contaminated site.

This is the question I put to Rochdale Township regarding the TBA site.
'Has the site survey on contamination been completed?  Are there any preliminary results and will these be shared with RMBC councillors and council officers?  Will these be shared with the Save Spodden Valley group?  What action do the owners intend to take to remove the illegally dumped rubbish on their site? What progress has been made in terms of prosecution by the Environment Agency?  What action has the council taken to address the public health threat posed by this rubbish to the residents of Rochdale?'
I recieved the following replies.
First, the survey has been completed this month.  Originally we were told it would be completed in 3 weeks in October.  However it took 4 to 5 months.
Why?

Secondly, I asked if preliminary results would be shared with councillors, council officers or experts from Save Spodden Valley?  The response was that the report would eventually be published at a later date. Presumably the answer to my question was 'no'.

Thirdly I asked about all the rubbish that had been dumped on the site by the lorry load.  No information was forthcoming about a prosecution by the Environment Agency, the response being that this was in the hands of the Environment Agency.
No comment was made with regard to the council's duty to protect public health.

I prefaced my question by saying that in the light of the council's wish to see 250 houses on site (Stragetic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2016) the problems of the site should be dealt with in a transparent and open way.
In addition I offered to take councillors and council officers round the site to show them my concerns. This was met with a stoney silence from the councillors.  Clearly not interested.

Subsequently Cllr Biant has ascerted that the rubbish is 'mainly inert'.
What does she mean by 'inert' – not dangerous, not disease ridden, not contaminated?  What tests have been done?  As this is private land what tests have the site owners undertaken, or have the council undertaken tests on behalf of the owners?  Can we have access to the results of these tests?
And most alarmingly,  MAINLY inert. I really do not think that mainly is good enough. Just a few germs, a little bit of asbestos?   Not good enough.

It seems that the phrase 'mainly inert' is more appropriately applied to councillors, not the rubbish on site.

Mick Coats

Rooley Moor Road

Daniel Clayton & the Rochdale Allotments

Letter to Editor of Rochdale ONLINE (28th, March 2017) :
Dear Editor,

Further to my recent letters about the creation of new allotments in Rochdale, I am now in a position to reveal that within the last 12 months twelve new plots have been created.
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/107621/kellett-street-allotment-plot-thickens

Many thanks to Val at Townships & Communities for her efficiency and thoroughness in dealing with my enquiry.

Her letter states:
“In 2016 / 17 we have created 12 new allotment plots at a derelict horse grazing site on Kellet Street.
In 2013 [this site was] derelict and dangerous structures plus fly tipping of tyres, fridges, a boat etc.
All this has been cleared, the perimeter secured with fencing / gate repairs and new installation, small car parking area to prevent parking issues on already congested streets around the site,

Japanese Knotweed treated, path network created and new allotment society set up to run the site. The work to get the next 20 plots on this site ready for allocating is nearing completion and these should be ready for allocation from mid-April.

Work is also ongoing with our Estates Department to identify other sites and as a result of that process multiple sites are now being tested for suitability (checking access, if the soil is contaminated etc) prior to organising works to bring these other sites into operation as allotments during 2017 and 2018.”

Hence, by the end of next month 32 of the promised 100 allotment plots will have been created.
I had stated in a previous letter that my hunch was that the actual figure would be zero and it is reassuring to know that some work is being done. However, as things stand, just 12% of the stated target has been reached so I do not feel that my cynicism is entirely unwarranted.

Finally, I’d like to wish good luck to the people now tending those new allotments and to the people waiting for a plot of their own.

Growing one’s own food is a beautiful way to foster a relationship with nature, and with issues such as the exponential use of foodbanks these are vital skills that we all need to share with each other.

Yours,

Daniel Clayton

Rochdale Green Party

Inconvenient Questions at Rochdale Township!

GREEN Party activist, Daniel Clayton in a letter in this Wednesday's Rochdale Observer challenges the process and working of last Wednesday's Rochdale Township Committee.  Mr. Clayton, who was present at the Township Committee to hear a response to his query which we set out below:
'It was reported on 14 March 2016 that the Labour Group wanted to adopt a policy promoted by the local Green Party to create additional allotments in Rochdale.  How many allotments have been created over the 12 months since then?'
The Chair described Clayton's question as 'too politically motivated'.
How extraordinary!
The Chair told Mr. Clayton, that his question was tardy and hence, as Private Eye might say 'Reply came there none!', but he then promised that a written response would be forthcoming.
It now seems that in truth the question from the Green Mr. Clayton had been in fact been received in good time but that it had been forwarded to the Environment Dept., and seeming lost in the Council machine.
The Chairman was much kinder to one of his council colleagues, Allen Brett who got pride of place with the questioning allowing him to use the Township as a platform to ask his own question about when the Metro tram would be able access the town centre again after the recent upset caused owing to the long-neglected buildings on Drake Street?  Councillor Brett, it seems, is anxious to prove his worth since he moved to represent a ward nearer the town centre.

Rochdale Fly-tipping Evokes Nothing Much!

MICK Coats' question about illegal fly-tipping on Spodden Valley off Rooley Moor Road, did not evoke much response from the assembled councillors on the Labour dominated Rochdale Township Committee meeting tonight.   Sullen councillors sat stiffly as Mr Coats asked what the owners of the controversial site invested with asbestos intend to do to stop or resolve the problem of the fly-tipping.
Ten days ago the Mail on Sunday journalists Ross Slater and Sanchez Manning warned of how an idyllic country estate endured the 'shocking toll of fly-tipping gangs who despoil Britain'.
The Mail story rells of how  'Balaclava-clad intruders used bolt-cutters to break into (an) estate (in rural Shropshire) .... and dump up to 200 tons of rubbish in woodland'. 
As a consequence the Mail on Sunday reports that the Staffordshire Police are appealing for information.
The Mail journalists comment on the situation regardin waste disposal across the country that we in Rochdale are all familiar with:
'Local authority waste collection services are being cut, leading to criminals offering to dispose of waste at knockdown prices.  They then dump it illegally.'
As the Mail on Sunday rages about the crisis of illegal dumping, Mr. Coats appealed the Rochdale councillors tonight for some kind of response but amid the concern about the state of debis being deposited on the slopes of Spodden Valley, from the assembled councillors reply came there none!
The best Mick Coats can hope for is that a written reply will be forthcoming shortly.