Residents Meeting - The New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield, 8.00pm - All Welcome

Monday 3rd November will be the first Monday in the month so it's time for our monthly jaunt down at the New Lamp. This month Cllr Webster (his choice of photo, from the HPBC website, not mine!)

wishes to address the meeting and is afforded the right to reply to Ralph Bennett's letter to the press on the subject of 'H.P.B.C. Investments in Icelandic banks'.

I'm sure we all look forward to hearing some words of wisdom from Glossop's answer to Ian Paisley but if we were to follow H.P.B.C.'s own protocol we might have to limit him to just 3 minutes timed out to the second! Would we do that?

A busy and exciting Agenda this month with campaigns on several fronts. This week sees the launch of Dig Hadfield, aided and abetted by TAHRA, but soon to be an autonomous group, whose aim will be to push for allotment allocations in ...well Hadfield, obviously.

Also we continue the campaign to persuade the council to opt-in to the Sustainable Communities Act, which we feel may be beneficial in terms of giving grass roots organisations more of a voice and have an invitation from Tom Levitt M.P. to attend a meeting on the subject later this month. Hurrah.

So without any further ado here is the full Agenda. Quite a full one so get along early and we can make a punctual start.

====================================================

TINTWISTLE AND HADFIELD RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Meeting at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield, Monday 3rd November at 8.00pm.

AGENDA ITEMS
PART ONE

1. Apologies for absence.

2 (a) Correspondence – H.P.B.C. Investment in Icelandic banks.
Cllr. Chris Webster (Old Glossop ward) has asked to come along to address the subject on a personal basis. He is of course cordially invited and afforded the right to reply to Ralph Bennett’s letter on the subject, recently published in the local press, which Ralph will read in person.

PART TWO

(b) Invitation from Tom Levitt M.P. to attend “Communities In Control” – a discussion on the Govt. White Paper.
(c) Invitation from Dai Larner (Strategic Director – Planning and regeneration) to set up a meeting to address issues regarding the councils planning service and anything else we would like to cover. Progress! See also Item (4) below.
(d) A response to Ralph Bennett from Tintwistle Parish Council.

3. Matters Arising/Outstanding Business
(a) Postal dispute.
(b) Litter under Tintwistle Bridge.

4. Meeting with Dai Larner – Finally Mr Larner has agreed to meet us over the various planning issues we have raised over the past couple of years. The recent discovery of a cannabis plant on Rossington Park seems to have confirmed our fears about lax planning procedures. Hopefully this is an opportunity to set matters right. We need to suggest dates, times and delegates for proposed meeting.

4. Dig Hadfield – with our help a new group has been founded whose point of focus will be to campaign for allotments in Hadfield. News and update.

5. Sustainable Communities Act. Potentially useful tool for grass roots involvement in community issues. We are campaigning for the council to opt-in or we cannot use it. Progress report and correspondence to date.

6. Safer Neighbourhood Meeting – report back from Pat Bennett.

7. Fundraising re: Bradbury House Xmas stall.
8. Announcements.
9. Any other business.
END
We always aim to close business by 9.30pm but as always feel free to stay for a chat and a drink afterwards.

==========================================================

Coffee Morning At Tintwistle Conservative Club

On Saturday morning (25th October) there will be a coffee morning upstairs at Tintwistle Conservative Club from 10.00am till noon. Entry fee is 50p which includes a raffle ticket. The event is a fundraiser for Tintwistle Cricket Club.

Expect to find on sale items such as cakes, books, CD's, DVD's, videos, bric-a-brac etc. So if you have a free morning why not saunter on down, grab a bargain and help the village cricket team at the same time?

For the latest news and information about the club check out their website by clicking here. You can also access their website by clicking on the permanent link located on the blue sidebar to the right hand side of this blog.

Safer Neighbourhood Police Staffing Changes

There have been some staffing changes on the Hadfield SNT due to the Glossop policing section now encompassing New Mills and Hayfield, which took place from the 29th sept 2008.

In view of this there has been a review of the current structure of staffing in the district to reflect a balance of experience and skills and the following decisions have been taken:

PCSO's Lee Baker and Matt Hill will be working with the New Mills and Hayfield SNT, Pc James Taylor will be working on the Glossop Town centre team.

The Hadfield Tintwistle Safer Neighbourhood Team will now be as follows:

PC 2427 Gareth Podmore Gareth.Podmore.2427@Derbyshire.PNN.Police.UK

PCSO 4415 Brian Buller Brian.Buller.4415@Derbyshire.PNN.Police.UK

PCSO 4597 Martine Molden Martine.Molden.4597@Derbyshire.PNN.Police.UK

PCSO 4596 Rick Bowman Richard.Bowman.4598@Derbyshire.PNN.Police.UK

The new look team look forward to working with you all in the near future and if you need to get in touch and discuss any Hadfield /Tintwistle or Padfield issues please approach them by phone, email or in person.

This information was supplied courtesy of PC Gareth Podmore.

There is a permanent link to your Safer Neighbourhood Team on the blue panel to the right hand side of this blog.

Rossington Park Alarm - Hadfield's Very Own Cannabis Farm!

News reached yours truly last Friday from various local sources that there had been a major drugs sting down in the park - Rossington Park, that is! First wind that something was amiss came from local delivery people, who had noticed lots of police activity in the area. Fortunately it was my day off so I got out the old bike and had a nose on down. I found a solitary police car guarding the premises, as you can see from the photo below.

(For those of you who don't recognise the whereabouts of this particular tin shed, it's on the left as you enter the monstrosity known as Rossington Park, via the infuriatingly off-centre roundabout that unnecessarily impedes motorists. The road that leads into the park has been named in keeping with the wretchedness of the place as Graphite Way.)

Then followed an unsubstantiated rumour that nine Chinese men had been arrested for growing cannabis plants looking something like this:


Further 'news' claimed that people had been living in these sheds on a fairly permanent basis. Sleeping facilities, a T.V. set and various other home comforts were alleged to have been seen removed from the building during the bust, along with an entire lighting system.

I cannot substantiate these details but what I can say for certain is that the early rumour of a raid on a cannabis growing factory on Rossington Park has definitely proved to be true and has indeed now been confirmed as such on the Advertiser's website. They state however, that only two arrests have been made to date.

The photo below which I also took at the scene is quite interesting and mildly amusing. It suggests that CCTV is in operation 24 hours a day. So how come it failed to pick up footage of people entering and leaving the premises, along with the truckload of baggage and belongings that comes with permanent residence and the operation of a wholescale agribusiness?!

Dare I suggest that CCTV in this instance stands for Cannabis Cultivation Treatment Vacinity!

Notice when you read the Advertiser story that the Police were alerted to the incident as a result of "vital information from the community" and NOT from CCTV footage, which one suspects, does not exist.

People will have their own views as to the pros and cons of growing the cannabis weed but the real issue here is all about the dopes in planning who have never had any control over this sprawling mess known as Rossington Park and who continue to have no control. We have always argued that the site has been uncontrolled and unregulated from the start and continues to be.

From the beginnng S.C.C. were allowed to dump hundreds of concrete pods on the opposite bank of the river for the best part of two years without any planning permission and in the teeth of local opposition.

Then the supposed live-in workshops, (passed in planning on the basis that they would provide local jobs to reduce commuting) are now being marketed not as workshops but as Rossington Homes... a luxury riverside development.

A modern day scandal of monumental proportions if ever there was one, were it not for the fact that this is the free for all known as Rossington Park where anything goes, so long as HPBC gets a revenue from it!

When planning rules and regulation have been flouted from the start, when the voices of local people don't count for one jot, where monitoring procedures do not exist and when actual planning permissions are simply ignored or blatently flouted, is anyone really all that surprised that this can happen and go unnoticed for so long?

The only real surprise is that the incompetence of our planning officials has been tolerated for so long and that our councillors have simply turned a blind eye to what's going on here. Questions have to be asked and heads need to roll over this one.

Tintwistle and Hadfield Residents Association meet at the New Lamp, Bankbotton, Hadfield, the first Monday in every month at 8.00pm. As today(6th) is the first Monday in the month you are welcome to join us. This month will be an open forum without a structured Agenda so it will be an opportunity for anyone to come along and raise an issue. No doubt one or two of you may want to raise this particular story as a discussion item!

Sustainable Communities: Time to 'opt-in'

This month the government will be asking Local Councils across the land whether they would like to opt-in to the Sustainable Communities Act.
(For more information on the Act please see previous blog dated 30/08/08)

Below is a sample letter to be sent from citizens to their borough/district/city/unitary councillors and also to their county councillors urging them to ‘opt in’ to the Sustainable Communities Act process.

The text below is a guide, please feel free to compose your own letters as they will be more effective. You could also email councillors; addresses and links can be found here

Please ask other people to write too – the more the better!

Note: You can find out who your borough/district/city/unitary and county councillors are by calling the respective council or going to their website.



Dear Cllr [your councillor’s name],

Re: using the Sustainable Communities Act

As a local resident I am writing to you to urge you to please do all you can to ensure that the council decides to ‘opt in’ to the new Sustainable Communities Act process when invited to by central government in October this year.

The Act is great news for all of us locally. For the first time we have a law that gives local government and local communities the power to drive central government policy on reversing community decline and promoting sustainable communities.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
[your name]
[your address]

You can send copies of any replies you receive to Local Works Campaign Co-ordinator, Steve Shaw, at steve@localworks.org or
Local Works
c/o Unlock Democracy
6 Cynthia St
London N1 9JF

COUNTRY LOVERS BIG DAY OUT

If, like myself, you look forward to the
Mottram Show and were disappointed to see it washed away this year, may I take this opportunity to introduce you to a fantastic alternative.

Those of you who enjoy agricultural shows and who would like to spend a great day out tomorrow (Saturday 13th) might be interested in the 136th Penistone Show.

Alright, it's not strictly a local event but it is only a short trip up the A628. It is also a colossal show (many times larger than our own Mottram Show) and there is usually at least one local group that have a stall there, so don't be surprised if you bump into a few people that you know or recognise.

At last year's event for instance the
Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team were present and tomorrow will see the
Save The Woodhead Tunnel Group (who want to re-open the railway line to Hadfield) make their debut at the Yorkshire show.

The group meet monthly at the Prince of Wales in Glossop and their next local meeting is on Thursday 9th October but in the meantime anyone who wants to help out at the stall and who needs a lift over should contact Alan on 07938 026056. The first 'shuttle' over the moors is planned to leave from Glossop Railway Station at 8.30pm.

Details of the show itself can be found on the
Penistone Show website, including an itinery of events and a map of the area, though having visited the show myself previously, the website hardly does justice to the event, due largely to a lack of quality photographs from previous shows. They appear to be trying to remedy this by having a photographic competition at this years show, with winning entries appearing on the website for next year's event, so take your camera along!

It really does have everything you would want and expect from a show of its type though. An example of what's in store is described in the text below, which I have shamelessly culled from the website:
"The aims of Penistone Show are to provide an agricultural show, which promotes the countryside, agriculture & horticulture and associated interests. There are various livestock on display i.e. Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats, Pigeons, Hens, Bantams, Shire Horses, Lurchers, Terriers, Companion Dogs and many more. There are exhibitions and displays including Vintage vehicles, Owls, Farriers, Dry Stone Walling, Hounds, Handicrafts, Horticulture, Photogaphy etc. Also promoted is the local farmers market where you can buy fresh produce direct from the growers, Butchers, Bakers, Cake makers, Jam Makers. The list is endless.

There are Livestock and equestrian competition classes, there is a 10 K road race organised by Penistone Footpath Runners Club and a Tug O War competition. Trade stands vary from farm machinery and implements to commercial enterprises selling country clothing, garden plants, furniture, cars and country crafts, etc.

There are 3 rings providing entertainment throughout the day, and there are food outlets to keep you going and a fully licensed bar.

Live music is played at various times through the day. There are Jazz Bands, Brass Bands, Ladies Choirs, as well as music from a local radio stations Road Show. There is an excellent programme of events to keep you entertained throughout the day."

So, if that's enough to be going along with, why not come along and enjoy a wonderful family day out - and keep everything crossed for the weather, which does tend to make or break these type of outdoor events, as Mottram 2008 bears testimony to!

TABLE TOP SALE - ST ANDREW'S CHURCH

There will be a Table Top Sale at St. Andrew's Church on Saturday 27th September from 10.00am till noon. Tables can be pre-booked for £5 by contacting Anne Roberts on (01457) 854832.