Lovely Black Eyes & Agency Workers

by Brian Bamford
 Health & Safety in the Waste Manager's Office?

PEALS of laughter greeted the announcement at a meeting of the Unite Greater Manchester Activists last February, that a waste disposal manager had ended-up sporting a black-eye after an interview with an agency worker at Bury Council's Bradley Fold Waste Depot.  Last January an agency worker had been querying his own status, having been 8-years a temp working for Bury MBC on insecure tenure and unable to get a mortgage with a wife who’d just given birth.

The complaining agency worker, who'd done an 8-year unsecure stint, told Northern Voices that Mr. Stuart had claimed in justification that there were agency workers in other local authorities in Greater Manchester who had done up to 15-years as agency workers.

No-one knows for sure what took place next in the office of the waste manager, Glenn Stuart, but there seems to have been an altercation which resulted in a complaint to the police on the 23^rd, January from Mr. Stuart who ended up with a black-eye. Northern Voices contacted the Greater Manchester Police in April, and asked if the police were investigating this as an allegation of common assault and requesting the crime or log number on this case?

Although it's clear that this case was reported to the police it seems that it turned out to be 'one person's word against another', because we're told that Mr. Stuart keeps the blinds closed in his office.

The secretive Mr. Stuart has a thing about privacy, and doesn't like the fact that in 2016 some folk in Bury took to photographing the town's overflowing bins.  At that time on May 1st, 2016 The Mail on Sunday journalist, Martin Delgardo, reporting on the management style of Stuart in a headline wrote: 'Bin tsar who slashed collections to one every THREE WEEKS tries to crack down on opposition by banning photographs of overflowing bins'.


However, after the 'violent' incident at Bradley Fold, a letter was sent out to binmen and other members of staff reminding everyone of the importance of health and safety and the Council's commitment to a safe environment.  There is talk of a 'them and us attitude' in the Bradley Fold waste depot, and some cynics among the workforce are muttering about a cover-up as to what really went on behind the Venetian blinds of the waste manager's office last January.

As the headline 'Bin Tsar' in the Mail on Sunday report in 2016 above suggests, Mr. Stuart has a reputation as something of a zealot in the realm of rubbish collection, which he seems to covert.  

As the Mail on Sunday stated he was then warning that he may get tougher still to force the people of Bury into recycling, saying:  ‘People have been given ample opportunity to fall in line. We need to formulate a plan of action in terms of enforcement.’

The scheme’s opponents claimed it had led to an increase in rat infestation.   With Iain Gartside, leader of the Conservative group on Bury council, saying:  ‘It’s an absolutely disgrace, with overflowing bins and increased fly-tipping.’

Meanwhile in last week's Bury Times the leader of Bury Council, Labour Councillor Rishi Shori said:  'Fly-tipping is a growing problem in the borough, although the council has allocated additional resources to tackle the problem in three main ways, focusing on prevention:  the installation of CCTV cameras in fly-tipping hotspots, enforcement and, where possible, by removing fly-tipped items, although this is becoming increasingly more difficult due to the budget pressures we are under.' 

Recently we can't help but notice that the 'installation of CCTV cameras in fly-tipping hotspots' has had the consequence of shifting the flytipping from the town centres and urban areas of Bury to the more posh, leafy zones like Tottington and Stubbins.  No wonder the Tories are upset.

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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

Beggar's Opera* Or Comic Opera?

Strangling Civil Liberties on a United Front
by Brian Bamford

Tonight, at Rochdale Town Hall's Full Council meeting of the Rochdale Town Council, it was more like watching a stage show of Bertold Brecht's 'Threpenny Opera' than serious politics.  It was like viewing a tribe of back-patting gangsters as both the Tory and Labour politicians vied with each other to heap on the praise.  Talk about cosy council politics!

Councillor Liam O'Rourke even pontificated on how often the local Tories would join up with the governing Labour lads and lassies to proclaim and pass proposals and present a united front, no matter the perverse political origins of the proposals.  At one stage we were left wondering if the bashful Councillor Blundell was having an affair with one of the Tory lassies, so intimate was their demeanour.

There is much of the tragi-comedy about politics in Rochdale these days, which even in its own petty way rivals Brexit and Trump on the stage of national and international politics.

A major asbestos scandal has dogged the town for decades, the site of the former asbestos factory is now fast becoming a dump for waste which is being fly-tipped on an industrial scale; buildings surrounding the town centre neglected for decades are now cracking and disintegrating to such an extent that recently the trams to the town centre had to be stopped and buses diverted; travelling people now threaten Cronkeyshaw Common; market traders disappointed with the poorness of their trade in groceries have formed a co-op and are threatening to leave the town and now the Greater Manchester Spatial Strategy threatening the Green Belt around Rochdale.

But recently, it has been the proposals for issuing Public Space Protection Orders with on-the-spot penalties that has been causing consternation.  And this seems to be where the Tories and labour parties are uniting most.  Tonight, Councillor Sullivan and Councillor Howard moved and seconded a motion for extending the imposition of Protection Orders to the proximity of schools.  The motion stated:
'This Council welcomes the future consultation on potential use of Public Space Protection Orders in the Town Centre and recommends the introduction of similar Orders to enhance road safety outside schools.  As a Council we are committed to protecting the safety and welfare of the Borough's children, which is often put at risk by irresponsible parking outside schools.  The Council calls upon the Cabinet to develop proposals to trail Public Space Protection Orders around schools with known parking problems to tackle the associated risk to children, parents and carers; and following a period of monitoring to establish the success of this intuitive, the Council should explore options to roll out a programme of Protection Orders around schools.'
What this means is that extra unnecessary laws will be brought in by the law-makers of Rochdale to duplicate laws that already exists.  Natural justice, it seems, will now be binned in Rochdale!
What began with a Labour Party campaign to clean-up Rochdale Town Centre of beggars and other  'wrong-uns' , is now moving relentlessly on to a campaign against improper parking around school yards.  To get support for the motion one councilor last night even invoked images of car-keys being snatched by an angry schoolmaster trying to restore order and cat-fights by parents outside the school gate over parking spaces as mothers hung up their handbags to freely sally-forth in a fiery frenzy claiming the right of place to a space nearest to the school gates.
Bring on the 'On-the-Spot' Fines for Rochdale's disabled beggars and down and outs! 
Let's have more 'Public Space Protection Orders' against irate parents who park badly! 
The good Councillor Jane Howard, the Shadow Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and seconder of the motion relating to good order at School Gates, even whinged last night about not just swearing, but about one councilor actually 'blaspheming in this Council Chamber' she said, as had happened at the last full council meeting. 
With such examples of innate wickedness, the good councilors of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale couldn't vote the motion through quick enough!  The band-wagon to corral the public is underway!  Bring on the Zoo-Keepers!



*  The Beggar's Opera is the story satirised politics, poverty and injustice, focusing on the theme of corruption at all levels of society. Lavinia Fenton, the first Polly Peachum, became an overnight success. Her pictures were in great demand, verses were written to her and books published about her..   Elisabeth Hauptmann (with Bertolt Brecht) and Kurt Weill adapted the opera into Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) in 1928, sticking closely to the original plot and characters but with a new libretto and mostly new music.

Answer to Councillor Cecile Biant in Fly-Tip Row

from Mick Coats:

JUST a few thoughts on Cllr Biants email to you:
First and foremost, the reply to my request for information has not been properly answered.
My original email was sent at the beginning of February, seven weeks ago.  That's a long holiday.
I never said, sorry 'proclaimed' that I was an expert. What I said was that Save Spodden Valley (SSV) have access to international experts.
Incidentally, untill my recent retirement I was a Chartered Member of the Institute of Safety and Health (CMIOSH) with my own health and safety company. You say that you are
'Familiar with (my) employment over many years' - what does that mean?
The piles of rubbish have littered the site for over 6 months and it is not possible to ascertain whether they are a threat to public health without due examination. What does 'mainly inert' mean in this context? 'Mainly' is not reassuring!
I am surprised at your description of councillors - Cllr Farnell, Cllr Brett, 'positive, knowledgeable, friendly, relaxed, and diligent.' Really?
Which (and who's) emails are 'hell-bent on nastiness or self indulgence'?  Examples please.  With regard to councillors, you say -
'Most (not all, name the ones who haven't) of us have a great deal of common sense, wisdom and experience'.
So why do you want to see 250 houses built on a highly contaminated site?
More substance, openness and cooperation would benefit resolution of the problems of this highly contaminated site which has been responsible for blighting, and ending, the lives of so many residents of Rochdale.

Councillor Cecile Biant on Fly-Tipping

Rochdale Councillor Biant representing Spotland & Falign Ward!
FOLLOWING the report in Northern Voices on the Rochdale Township Committeee Meeting at the Riverside building in Rochdale town centre, one of the Labour councillors for Spotland & Falinge ward, Cecile Biante, sent the response below.  Spotand & Falinge ward is where Spodden Valey is situated. (Editor)

Hello Brian,

What a lot of nonsense! We already had a paper in front of us with the answers to the questions which the officer read out, and the ward councillors knew anyway. The Head of Public Protection had been on leave for 2 weeks, that is why Mick Coates did not get a specific response from Wendy Cocks, a fellow Councillor, as she wanted to check for any updates beforehand. We discuss TBA frequently informally.

Mick proclaimed that he is an expert, and I am familiar with his employment over many years, but he apparently failed to notice that the illegal tipping was mainly inert material which did not pose an immediate health risk. The Environment Agency are dealing with this, not the Council. Mick Coates has been sent the answers to his questions  which I would have thought he would have shared with you by now.

The Councillors are all positive, friendly, knowledgeable, relaxed and diligent. We always try to respond to emails which are brief, civil, genuine requests, but not to those who are hell bent on nastiness or self-indulgence. Life is too short for that.

Most of us have a great deal of common sense, wisdom and experience. We are neither sullen nor were we sitting stiffly.

Please send me a photograph of how you sit, as I am curious to know how it compares with the Councillors present last night.

With best wishes,

Cecile Biant

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.