See the Green Light and Help Save Both Money and your Environment

View the State of the Area 2009 Booklet

View the Video of the State of the Area Address 2009

This year’s Area Address, delivered by Executive Council Leader, Cllr Roy Oldham at Tuesday’s Full Council meeting, was packed full of initiatives aimed at carbon reduction and value for money.

In the speech he invited the people of Tameside to join the council and participate in a campaign to save on two fronts: the environment and finance. 

The driving force is seen as the green light and participation in 10:10 which is a 10-point scheme all can join in to make savings in recycling, reduced energy use, sensible purchase of food, use of public transportation and reduction of food waste. Thus not only helping the environment but saving considerable amounts of money.

Each of our existing council priorities can be linked or aligned to finance and the environment:

• Safe Streets
• Clean Streets
• Prosperous Streets
• Attractive Streets
• Learning and Recreational streets

Cllr Oldham said: “We have taken on board 10:10 and the council has signed up, on behalf of businesses and the community, to cut our carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010: an exercise we can all take part in, a win/win exercise.

“In the current economic climate, as a council, we promise to maintain a strong financial position; plan a reasonable and affordable council tax level; generate efficiency savings in line with agreed targets and focus expenditure on council and community priorities.”

In the annual event the Executive Leader also gave the audience a taster of what the council would be concentrating on in the coming year.

He told the council chamber: “The overarching policy will be thread carbon reduction into every activity throughout the borough, a reduction in carbon emissions to save waste, pollution and finance. This will involve membership of various organisations and the embracing of the whole community.”

And Cllr Oldham added that, although it is by no means a definitive list, some of the carbon reduction highlights are:

• Reducing business mileage for council cars
• Tree planting
• Solar powered street bollards
• Controlled street lighting
• A householders’ energy loss survey carried out by a heat-seeking vehicle which will measure and advise individual residential properties on being energy-efficient at 50 per cent
• Aerial pollution survey
• Improved recycling
• Produce a Tameside Nature Conservation Strategy
• Significantly increase the number of properly insulated properties.

He added: “We also intend to establish a carbon action project to oversee the policy with each service area picking their own monitoring officer whose responsibility it will be to ensure that the process is adhered to.

“The borough of Tameside, its people and its council are now recognised by all institutions and government bodies as a leader in every part of community and business life.

“The MORI polls show residents’ feelings and find that a majority of residents are very satisfied with the area in which they live.

“Whether it be In Bloom, Green Flags for our parks, education attainment, low crime levels, public art, community activities - waste recycling, maintaining jobs, giving value for money and low council tax - we are simply at the top, the best, it’s good to live here.”

Some more highlights from this year’s Address:

Safe Streets

• All crime down by 10.1 per cent (955 fewer victims)
• Burglary down by 8.6 per cent (183 fewer victims)
• Vehicle theft down by 19.7 per cent (79 fewer victims)
• Robbery (property) down by 17.5 per cent (28 fewer victims)
• Violent crime down by 1.8 per cent (2 fewer victims)
• Serious sex offences down by 8.8 per cent (7 fewer victims)
• Criminal damage (including arson) down by 15.7 per cent (328 fewer victims)
• Anti-social behaviour reports to police down 20 per cent
• Total Acceptable Behaviour Contracts: 277
• Total number of Anti-social Behaviour Orders: 154

Clean Streets

• The 28,000 highway lighting columns are being fitted out with energy-saving ballast devices
• The council’s vehicular fleet is being ‘greened’ via the use of efficient fuels
• Schools have ‘green travel’ plans and parents need to consider how they and their children get to and from school
• The council has adopted 10:10 which is the reduction in 2010 of 10 per cent of its carbon emissions
• The council has reduced its business miles of travel
• Tameside has also driven an insulation programme for domestic dwellings, 10,000 homes in three years at a cost of £2.3M
• The council also has a partnership with British Gas which provides a council tax rebate for insulation
• The managed collection domestic waste operation is saving on landfill, nearly 40 per cent of our waste of now recycled
• New dog control orders banning dogs from fenced play areas and sports pitches have been introduced
• A vehicle carrying a heat seeking camera will patrol the streets, recording heart loss. This will them be followed up with help and advice on how best to reduce waste and save money
• A new residential design guidance has been produced which highlights all the building regulations changes with the aim for al new housing to be carbon neutral by 2016.

Prosperous Streets

• The Working Neighbourhood Fund is now up and running with £3M which will support 3,100 workless residents over 18 months
• The Fund is also helping with credit via Tameside Cash Box and Money Spinner
• The borough has been given £5m which will pay the wages of people from unemployed hotspots
• Tameside Works First has awarded £7.1M in contracts to date from a budget of £14M
• Large scale contractors working in Tameside and being encouraged to buy their goods and supplies or to sub-contract within the borough
• An apprentices company, established by the council, has attracted 500 young people through the door
• An impressive 100 traders are on the Buy With Confidence scheme
• Local people are now employed in construction work at: Metrolink (Manchester to Droylsden), Droylsden Marina and St Petersfield.

Attractive Streets

• Stamford Park is to have £4M spent on refurbishment
• This summer the council has gained 11 Green Flags for park quality and four Green Pennants for public open spaces and a Green Heritage Award for Denton Park
• New sporting facilities have either been built or are under way, these include:
• New gymnastics centre of excellence at Longdendale Recreation area
• A £8M refurbishment of Copley, Ashton and Hyde pools
• A £3M sports centre in Hattersley 
• Sports coaching is being provided at primary schools for 8,000 youngsters a week
• The refurbishment of Portland Basin Visitors Centre
• An Olympic Legacy action plan has been launched
• A £600,000 closed loop cycle track at Richmond Street, Ashton has been introduced

Learning Streets

• We will continue with our programme of new build for education. Over the last 10 years over £40M has been spent on 14 new primary schools
• The £80M programme to build new schools at Mossley Hollins, St Damian’s, New Charter Academy and Samuel Laycock should be finished by 2011
• Planning approval has been grants for a £70M project for Hyde Technology School, Dale Grove, Denton Community College and the Key Stage 3 and 4 learning centres
• The £28M Droylsden Academy will be the next project
• A bid for another £110M has been submitted for investment in the remaining seven Tameside schools

Supportive streets

• An impressive £5.8M of benefits have been secured for older people by the Welfare Rights Service
• New facilities such as a Dementia Day Service, an Extra Care Housing scheme and an Active Aging Centre have been introduced
• The council has launched a number of initiatives to help those with learning difficulties, eg. Bayley Hall Skills and Enterprise
• The Topaz Café is successfully promoting mental health and well being services
• Somerset House has opened offering individual tenancies for people with learning difficulties, giving them independence

What the future holds

• The council will defend the people’s services and priorities against government if need be
• Tameside Works First will be expanded in an attempt to engage 200 firms
• The new high schools under construction will be designed to reduce energy by generating 70 per cent of their need from renewable sources, rather than fossil fuels
• Anti-social behaviour will be further reduced through extra security in public places, intensified surveillance and special, innovative schemes 
• The council will honour the service people who have given their lives since 1945 by erecting a new memorial which will be ready by 2010 and continue with extra housing/council tax benefits for war widows