Re Elect Councillor Sean Hornby

Bit of light relief from the Election

One of the nicest things about being a Ward Councillor is the many invitations I receive from local schools to give talks, make presentations and, in this case be a judge at the Mytham's Got Talent 2010.

At my expense - have a laugh

Thanks Magic Mark



Sean

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

Darcy Lever On My Mind. No 1. Housing Development on Radcliffe Road

All the Blogs so far have been primarily to do with Little Lever.

A considerable part of my attention has also been focused on Darcy Lever and I am pleased to have been able to help and sometimes resolve the concerns of Darcy Lever Residents.

The subject of this particular Blog is a 'Biggy' for Darcy Lever

On the 2nd December 2009, a Planning Application was received from Great Places Housing Group for the construction of 42 affordable dwellings on Greenfield Land off Radcliffe Road. Most of these would be rented with a few on shared ownership

This was opposite an existing new estate and raised many concerns for the residents there.

The proposals had already been notified to the residents and, when these were brought to my attention, I called the first of several Public Meetings on the subject which took place at the Farmers Arms in November.

I invited Officers from the Council, representatives of Great Places and the Architect who all attended.

I did point out that the other two Ward Councillors were unable to pass comment because they were members of the Planning Committee.

It was clear that the Residents didn't want the development at all.

I had to point out, as I had had to do many times before when on the Planning Committee and as Chairman of it, that when people bought their houses they were not, unfortunately, buying the views across the fields.

I also pointed out the distinction between Green Belt land (no housing) and Greenfield land (housing permitted.

There was of course much listening to and discussion of the residents concerns.

It was likely, in my view, that the development would be approved and I suggested that a better way forward would be to concentrate on changes to the proposals rather than just outright opposition

From my point of view there was likely to be a major issue with the entrance and exit of vehicles from the development onto an already busy Radcliffe Road.

Having looked at the plans I also had concerns over the proposed wooden cladding on the faces of the buildings. The best way I can describe it is akin to what they've stuck on the appalling building that has replaced the old Lido Cinema in Bolton.

Ok, I was on the Planning Committee when that was passed, but we were assured by the architects that it was 'the thing of the future' Trust me - - It isn't.

There was no way that this cladding should be allowed on this development.

The development as originally proposed, in its appearance, would have stuck out like a sore thumb. The bricks used need to be the same as those used on the existing estate across the road.

Another feature was the porch roofs. These would have been flat but have now been changed to pitched.

Anyway, the offshoot of all of this is that the development is to go ahead but with changes and many many conditions attached which address some, if not all, of the concerns of the residents across the road - let alone the Greater Crested Newts which inhabit the site.


Greater Crested Newt



Still to be sorted - The bridleway at the edge of what will be the new estate must be surfaced and illuminated because the new wall will obviously create a potential focus for anti-social behaviour.





There's much more detail I could provide. There has been a lot of work put into this by the Residents Association and I hope I was able to advise and help them to produce the best outcome that could be realistically achieved.

Sean

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

It may be re-cycling but it's still rubbish

When it comes to the attractiveness of the Village Centre, it's the little things that matter. The kind of things that local people are so used to that they don't notice them anymore.

But new visitors to the Centre do notice these things and that contributes to their impression of us.

Follow the new Car Park signs and turn into Foundry St.

Tesco's on the right - all very neat, clean and wonderful.

Everything to the left - rubbish - a mess.

Finding a new location for these bins has been in the Little Lever Action Plan since 2006. But once again it has been the Little Lever No Action Plan.

Last year I once again brought it up with Environmental Services even suggesting a new location on the 'footpath to nowhere' at the side of the Conservative Club.

'Excuses Why Not' - not - 'Reasons Why'

I mean, damn it, most of them are one wheels. It would only take half an hour.

I was tempted, but after 'The Mattress' ...............

Apart from anything else, as you turn into Foundry St they are ruining the view and the image of the Conservative Club.

Just shift them! - I say - (BUT NOT UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION - Ha Ha)

Sean

Comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

The Village Centre - Block Paving

As I promised - A few thoughts about the block paving on the 'Co-op' side of Market Street.

To be honest, I had a few misgivings about spending such a large part ( 62%) of the money from the District Improvement Fund on just one project, particularly when the tarmac had only been laid a few years ago.

I thought that perhaps we could spend the money on a greater number of smaller projects

The spending was authorised by the Executive Member in late July 2009, but even after that a review was ordered.

It transpired that by that time plans were in an advanced state and to change them would threaten completion by the end of the financial year and we would lose the money.

So Block Paving it was.

I must admit that now it is completed, it looks pretty good and the installation of the bollards which we insisted on has stopped completely the possibility of vehicles part-parking on the footpath. (Even though they shouldn't be parking there at all)








It has been made even better by the extremely expensive renovation of the frontage of the old Co-op, - now a NISA store.









Next must be the similar block paving of the Precinct side of the road, but at an estimated £70,000 this is even more than the District Improvement Funds that will be available in 2011.

We're going to have to look for another source for the money.

Happy Shopping

Sean

Comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk


Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

Village Centre - Takeaway ? No - Go away !

In terms of Village Centre decline, one of the biggest blows was the closing of the Village Butcher. Not just the loss of a long standing business but even less variety in the types of shops in the Centre.

Although interest was shown in the empty property by several businessmen eventually a planning application was submitted for it to become a Hot Food Take Away.

This raised all kinds of objections relating to increased litter, parking issues, another focus for disaffected youth and anti-social behaviour as well as competition with existing food outlets.

Several local business people organised a protest against the plans

Fortunately, when I was Chairman of the Planning Committee, I promoted a new Planning condition for this kind of application - that there could be no more than 2 Take Aways within a 75 metre area.

The application went to the full Planning Committee when I took the opportunity to speak at length against it.

The Planning Committee refused the application.

Job done.

Since then a Carpet and Flooring shop has opened up in the premises with a particularly attractive window display which enhances the look of the Centre.

Much better - and a different kind of shop.

Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 33 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

The Village Centre - The start of a long and difficult job

The first problem we identified was that the paved area of the Precinct Square together with the tarmac surrounds and footpaths as well as the shutters of the shops was FILTHY

With a grant from the Area Forum, the business group arranged for the whole thing to be jet washed including clearing out the slit drains which has stopped the lower end of the square from flooding. This took ten hours on a Sunday.

Give them something to respect and they'll respect it. Immediately after this the litter problem was significantly reduced.

Solving the other Precinct problems required a dialogue with the owners of the Precinct. All we've managed so far is a vague promise from the managing agents that they will do some maintenance work in 2010.

In terms of the whole Village Centre, a sum of £50,000 was available in 2009/2010 for Village Centre Improvements. By July the projects had already been identified and the bulk of the money was to be spent on block paving the 'Co-op' side of the street.

After representations to the Executive member, an amount of money was set aside for floral decoration, new metal litter bins and car park signing.

A seperate Blog on the block paving, but today we can see a new picture as we look at the Precinct Square.









Now we've got to get the walls repainted and decide what to do with the murals. More on that later.

Sean

Any Comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

The Village Centre - The First Blog of Several

After a hundred years of Little Lever having a self contained Village Centre where anything required for daily life could be bought, it has been clear for a few years that in this respect it has been declining.

As shopping patterns changed and out of town shopping centre became more popular, the viability of some of the businesses suffered and one by one businesses closed so today, although you have your hair done at ten different places you can't buy a pair of socks.

In August 2008, in sight of the impending recession I was approached by a local businessman who had concerns for the future and we had several discussions about what could be done to halt or even reverse the decline.

This resulted in the formation of a small group of business people and together with the other Ward Councillors we had quite a few meetings during 2009 to identify problems and possible solutions.

It became clear that a major part of the problem was the unattractiveness of the Precinct buildings.

The whole of this is privately owned by a company registered in Gibraltar and managed by a small company in London.

Although the Precinct Square is similarly owned, it has been 'adopted' by Bolton Council and we are able to do some cosmetic work

Here are some pictures of the situation in early 2009 showing the 'grot spots' around the Precinct

























Disgusting !!!

Who would shop in a Precinct like this?

Next Blog - We make a start.

Sean

Comments to electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Willams St Little Lever Bl3 1LQ

Stopes Road - Traffic Calming

A couple of years ago I was approached by two residents of Stopes Road who had concerns about speeding vehicles and asked if we could consider some form of traffic calming.

I suggested that they should organise a petition which they did and this was presented to the full Council when I also spoke on the matter.

I asked for a traffic monitor to be put on the road to gauge the speeds of vehicles.
Some of the speeds recorded shocked me.

I then contacted Greater Manchester Police who agreed to do some speed checks of their own.

On the first occasion they caught 91 speeding vehicles in two hours one of which was doing 68 mph.

Because the Council did not consider the road to be an Accident Blackspot, they were not prepared to do anything.






Luckily, they were shortly due to road alterations to parts of Market St and High St.
It was only white-lining and a couple of bollards, but, because they were in the area, to do some work on Stopes Road would be relatively inexpensive.

The Area Forum 'match -funded' the project

The work consisted of etching islands into the middle of the road and providing parking bays.





Most importantly we put in a 'Traffic Senser' . Apart from lighting up to show drivers they are going too fast it also records the speeds of vehicles so that information is available for the future in order to avoid having to do another monitoring exercise.

Our share of the costs totalled £5,000.

Sean

Any comments to electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk



Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

Bowness Road - Improvements

At the bottom of Bowness Rd is a narrow entrance to a patch of what can best be described as scrubland which is accessed by a narrow passage and a dilapidated gate.

An aerial view of the area. Pull the map to the bottom of Bowness rd



View Larger Map

Following complaints from local residents about the state of the place and access being gained by off road bikes it was decided within the Area Forum to allocate funds for the cleaning up of the entrance, replacing the wooden fencing with metal and the installation of a new metal 'kissing' gate.

The decision has been made and work should be carried out shortly at a cost of some £1,300.

Improvements to the pathways in the area will also be considered out of 2010/2011 budgets. This had already been costed at £1,838 which shouldn't be a problem due to the extra £4,000 mentioned in the Lancaster Drive Blog.

Not a massive project but, I think, for the residents it will be a much welcomed improvement.

Sean


Comment or contact me at electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ

Fearneyside and the Cricket Club Ginnell. Thinking ahead.

Fearneyside which branches off Church St at the side of Costcutter is an 'unadopted' road which originally led to the Brightmill Chemical Works.

Unadopted means that it is not maintained by Bolton Council, it was in the ownership of the residents and as such it was little more than a dirt track.

£60,000 had been sourced from the Traffic Infrastructure fund to remedy this.

However when developers bought the Breightmet Chemical Works site and submitted a planning application for houses, I, as Chairman of the Planning Committee at the time asked that they initially put a base coat of tarmac down before they did the development and, on completion of the sale of all the houses, they then fully surface the road.

This they agreed to and have done.

I'm not completely satisfied with the finish.








Anyway, this left the £60,000 still intact which we decided would be spent on the ginnel at the side of the Cricket Club which, although a major short cut and walk to school route, was a slutchy disgrace.






It looks a bit better now

Two birds with one stone - eh?

And saved the Council Taxpayer 60 grand.

Now that Fearneyside has been surfaced, it is due to be 'adopted by Bolton Council who will consider parking restrictions to ease the flow of traffic on this short but busy street.


Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

Little Lever Anti Social Behaviour - The CCTV System

In formulating the Little Lever Action Plan with covered 2006 - 2010 a survey was carried out with members of the public and traders.

The first session was held on 31st May 2006 during the afternoon in the Area Office. This was poorly attended. A subsequent event was held on 20th June 2006 in the foyer of the Somerfield's Store (now Tesco).

A questionnaire was given out to both traders and non traders. A total of 22 questionnaires were returned by traders with a further 38 returned by residents (60 returned in total).

The consultation exercise highlighted that the town centre trader and non trader priorities were the same with 100% of traders ranking reducing anti social behaviour as a high priority.

It was therefore agreed by all the Ward Councillors that District Centre Improvement Funds should be used for deployable CCTV cameras.

Executive Member approval was given in July 2007 and the £50,000 available in 2007 for Little Lever was used to purchase the cameras and associated recording equipment.

Since the system was installed there has been a large reduction in Anti -Social Behaviour in the areas it covers.

The cameras are able to be moved from the usual central location to any other area which from time to time is suffering from this problem.






Further to this we have just been able to purchase a large plasma screen to be used with the system which shows much more detail.

This one of the more successful and major initiatives I have been part of.

Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk


Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever Bl3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

Former Pennine Pets - Bradley Mill Site

As most of you will know, this is the site bordered by Lever St, Ainsworth Rd and Victory Rd .

Originally the site of Bradley Mill (where the Arch came from) it's final use was as Pennine Pets prior to it burning down.

The remaining structure was demolished but unfortunately the site has still to be cleared and the owner seems reluctant to do that soon.




In October 2007 Planning Permission was granted by Bolton Council to Wainhomes for the construction of 37 houses and 40 apartments on the site.

Wainholmes apparently are leasing the land.

One of the conditions was that the development had to start within three years of that date.

Six months to go and no indication that that is going to happen.

This leaves us with what is at best an eyesore and at worst a danger.




Consequently I have asked the Director of Development and Regeneration at Bolton Council to look into the idea of Bolton Council clearing the land and putting a charge on the owner of the land for the cost of doing so.

He has agreed to look into this.


Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk

Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

Little lever - The Health Centre

I must first of all make one thing clear.

The provision of GP service and other local health facilities is the responsibility of the local Primary Care Trust - not Bolton Council.

This Quango, with it's share of the squillions supposedly pumped into the NHS in recent years, planned to build 9 new super duper Health Centres across the Borough.

Three have been built and the remaining six were due to be completed by 2012.

The order in which they were to be built was based on 'health deprivation' in the various areas.

According to them, on this basis Little Lever was to be the last.

Our problem was that the existing building was way past it's sell by date with leaking roof, peeling paint, mould and an antiquated heating system controlled from - wait for it - Bolton Hospital.

On this basis, Little Lever should have been the first to be built.

Then what happens ? - the PCT runs out of money.

This means that the build is rescheduled so that we'll be lucky if we see it before 2015.

In the mean time £200,000 has been spent on a new roof and some interior and exterior decoration.

My comments which criticised this move were based on a suspicion that having done the above, the PCT would then say that the building is good for another twenty years.

I organised and chaired a Public Meeting last November where residents brought up many issues which have still to be resolved - appointments, patients from outside the area clogging up the system etc.

I feel able to say that as a result of my actions, Little Lever Health Centre has now been promoted to 4th position - still not good enough.

My view is that there must be a will and a way for Bolton Council to put pressure on the PCT to stop treating us like second class citizens because they judge that, health wise, we are better off than other areas.

This is what I intend to pester about after the Election.

Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk



Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

Little Lever - Up the Pole

Final score :- T Mobile -1 Bolton Council - 0

Not the finest moment for Bolton Council but worth an explanation.

Surprisingly, planning consent is not required for Mobile Phone Masts subject to certain conditions

However, the law did require T Mobile to apply to Bolton Council for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the Council would be required in relation to the siting and appearance of the thing.

This they did on 9th March 2007

The Planning Committee refused approval on the basis of siting and appearance at its meeting on 19th April and passed the decision back to the Officers in the Planning Department for them to notify T Mobile. For the Elected Members, this should have been the end of the matter. Job done!

However the Law also is very precise on the method and time scale for notifying T Mobile of the decision. It had to be in writing and had to be received by T Mobile by the 3rd May.

The Council itself has its own procedures for notification decisions - by e-mail fax and recorded delivery post, in accordance with best practice, and a means of recording what and when these events took place.

Trouble is they either didn't take place or there was no recorded proof that they had taken place.

In ignorance of this, when T Mobile erected the mast at daft o'clock on a Sunday morning, the Council issued an Enforcement Notice for it to be taken down.

T Mobile appealed and it went to the Planning Inspector.

Of course, when he discovered that the correct procedures for notification hadn't taken place, or couldn't be shown to have taken place, he squashed the Enforcement Notice and now we are stuck with the damned thing.

Cock up is the phrase that comes to mind.

Now, procedures have been tightened up to ensure that this cannot happen again.

Best I can say on this matter.

Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk


Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.

Land between Ascot Road and the Canal - Latest

At the request of a concerned resident who had organised a petition against any proposal for a travellers site, I attended a meeting at the entrance to the site which she had organised where some seventy to eighty residents were gathered.

We discussed their fears and possible courses of action and likely outcomes.

Although I personally believe that it is unlikely that a planning application will be submitted, let alone approved, whilst this 'threat' hangs over the area, there remains a serious effect on house values and saleability.

For this reason, the matter has to be quickly settled.





I have taken receipt of the petition of over 500 signatories and will pass it to the Director of Development and Regeneration, Keith Davies, so he is well pre-warned of the groundswell of Public Opinion.

The residents propose to organise a Public Meeting in the coming weeks to consolidate their approach to this matter.

I, for one, will be there to support them as I assume our other Ward Councillors and prospective Candidates will be.

Sean

Any comments - electseanhornby@hotmail.co.uk



Promoted by Paul Richardson 24 Ripon Close Little Lever BL3 1EQ on behalf of Sean Colin Hornby 35 Williams St Little Lever BL3 1LQ.