Crime Still at All Time Low

Living in Tameside has never been safer - it's official!

In the past year alone crime has fallen by 10 per cent with just under two thousand fewer crimes being committed. And in the longer term, things are even better. Comparing how we're doing now with three years ago, crime has fallen by a massive 16.6 per cent, which equates to over 2,500 fewer victims of crime.

And these achievements have even been recognised by the government.

Every local authority area in the county has been set targets to reduce crime by the government between April 2003 and March 2008. Each month this is reviewed by the Home Office and local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) are given a rating of how likely they are to achieve their targets. Tameside has been given the best possible rating of 'Very Good'.

To put this into perspective, only one other authority in Greater Manchester has been rated as 'Very Good' and only seven others in the north west.

Executive member for crime and disorder, Cllr Margaret Oldham said: "Tackling crime and what causes people to commit crimes remains a key priority for this borough. Working closely with the police, fire service, Drug Treatment Services and other agencies, Tameside Council is continuing to invest in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. We have no intention of taking our eye off the ball."

Through joint working with partner agencies, Tameside continues to fight crime with:

• state of the art CCTV in our town centres and local neighbourhoods helping detect retail crime, anti-social behaviour and alcohol fuelled night time disorder
• grant supported Alleygating schemes now protecting over 3,800 Tameside residents. This has helped us reduce burglary by over 50 per cent in three years (over 1,400 fewer crimes)
• joint work with local licensees to help reduce and prevent alcohol related disorder in our town centres. This alone has contributed to a fall woundings in the borough by 12 per cent over the past three years (300 fewer victims of assault)
• continued support for Tameside patroller service which now means, with the new investment in Police Community Support Tameside enjoys a uniformed presence of over 100 officers who's job it is to tackle lower level anti-social behaviour and reassure members of the public

For more information in crime fighting initiatives contact the Tameside Community Safety Unit on 0161 342 8355.

Beat Sweeps into Action

A multi-agency campaign charged with targeting and tackling anti-social behaviour has recorded some impressive results, it was revealed.

The Beatsweep campaign, which was organised by fire chiefs with the help of police and several council departments was hailed a resounding success after its pilot in Ashton just before Christmas.

It is now planned to roll the campaign out to other area of the borough to replicate its success this time around.

The campaign, which ran from December 4-22 resulted in:

• Over 200 home fire risk assessments
• 101 enforcement visits carried out by fire safety officers which led to further more serious action against seven premises
• 28 untaxed, unlicensed or uninsured vehicles taken off the streets
• 11 council tax fraud cases uncovered
• anti-social behaviour in Oxford Park targeted
• bus fair evaders targeted
  outstanding warrants were served resulting in sentences and fines
• graffiti removed (in particular the underground near Asda)
• litter clearances by community payback people
• insecure properties made safe
• local primary schools were given talks by the fire brigade and the patrollers
• flytipping sites cleared.

Executive member for crime and disorder Cllr Margaret Oldham said: "All this just goes to show what can be achieved when all the frontline services pull together in a co-ordinated fashion with the one aim - to root out and deal with anti-social behaviour.

"I want to applaud all the hard work both emergency services plus, of course, our own staff have put into this project and I look forward to it being rolled out across the borough where I'm sure it will attract equally impressive results."

Stretched Limo Crackdown

Strict new regulations proposed by Tameside Council's scrutiny members to improve the safety of stretched limousines are to be adopted across Greater Manchester.

A recent rapid growth in demand for hiring stretched limos for special occasions has led to concerns that the industry was operating unregulated as it fell outside normal licensing conditions.

But licensing bosses from across the region have come together to draw up new regulations - developed from recommendations made by Tameside Council's scrutiny members - to promote safety and flush out rogue operators.

Tameside's Technical, Economic and Environment Services Scrutiny Panel published a report last May highlighting concerns that limousine drivers and operators should be subject to the same rigorous checks as taxi drivers and operators.

Their recommendations included a number of key guidelines which the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has proposed to adopt in its procedure and conditions for the licensing of limousines.

These include:

• Limousines should pass additional roadworthiness tests and be maintained and inspected by the local authority in the same way as taxis and private-hire vehicles and carry the appropriate insurance.
• Owners should display licence plates and identification badges inside and outside the vehicle to allow the public to identify bona fide vehicles.
• Drivers will be required to receive training on various issues including disability awareness.
• Seating capacity must be reduced where necessary to a maximum of eight passengers.

Cllr Peter Robinson, chair of Tameside Council's Technical, Economic and Environment Services Scrutiny Panel said: "As this business continues to thrive, the panel has been keen to ensure that safety is paramount, particularly as these vehicles are hired extensively for private functions, including children's parties.

"We are delighted our recommendations have been taken into consideration in the drawing up of a uniform licensing regime for the Greater Manchester authorities, which we hope will enable the industry to operate in a more reputable and accountable way."

Tameside Council's executive member for environmental services Cllr Catherine Piddington said: "Reputable limo operators have nothing to fear by these proposals. Our reccomendations have been drawn up following extensive consultation with limo operators across Greater Manchester and will only lead to an improvement in public safety.

"These proposals, when adopted by all the authorities across Greater Manchester, will however give us the opportunity to drive unscrupulous operators off the road."

Improvements on Track

The first phase of a £1.5 million redevelopment of Stalybridge Railway Station is almost complete and further improvements are on track to be delivered soon.

Transport bosses welcomed the news at a meeting of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority's Transport Network Committee.

The latest work sees the platforms at the station being raised to help make it easier for people to get on and off trains after TransPennine Express introduced a £250 million fleet of new 100mph diesel trains on the line.

Chair of the Committee and Tameside spokesperson for the Authority Cllr Alan Whitehead, said: "The work to raise the platforms will make it much easier for passengers to board and get off trains at the station. This will make a great difference for people with pushchairs and wheelchairs and it will be easier and safer for everyone else to board their trains too.

"Stalybridge is a very well used and important station and passengers deserve much more modern facilities. This is one of a series of improvements scheduled for the station which will really make a difference to the look and feel of it. I look forward to seeing these major improvements complete by the end of the year."

A Taste of Greater Manchester

Tameside is one of the ten authorities in Greater Manchester working in association with Marketing Manchester on a tasty, new food and drink project.

The Food and Drink Clusters Project aims to offer support to existing food and drink businesses within the sub region helping to develop and expand the sector and make it more efficient.

Food and drink businesses in Tameside that want to include great tasting regional produce on their menu but don't know where to source it are invited to sample a free meet the producer workshop.

Working with North West Fine Foods the workshops will look at how to raise the profile and knowledge of some of the regions most popular culinary delights within Greater Manchester including Bury's famous black pudding, Morecombe Bay potted shrimps and rich pork Cumberland sausage to name but a few.

The Tameside workshop will take place on Tuesday March 20 at Edit Catering in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside between 2 - 5.30pm.

Taste buds will be left tingling after sampling a great selection of regional produce that will be on offer at the workshop from some of the finest producers around.

Informative notes from North West Fine Foods will be dished out accompanied by lists of regional suppliers. Bags of gourmet goods used by the chef on the day will also be handed out so culinary delights can be whipped up once the workshop has finished; this really is an event not to be missed.

For more information on the producer workshops email sarah.walker@marketing-manchester.co.uk

Culprits Caught in Litter Campaign

Flytipping enforcement officers have just completed the first 12 months of their campaign to target those who drop litter from their vehicle.

Up until the end of December 88 fixed penalty notices had been served with 63 of them paying up - the rest are now under consideration for prosecution and could face a £2,500 fine.

The Citizen highlighted the campaign in a front-page article in September 2005 alerting residents to the pending launch of the new undercover policy. Under the plan non-uniformed council officers driving unmarked cars were empowered to serve litter notices if they spot an offence while carrying out their day-to-day job.

National statistics reveal that 91 per cent of litter on Britain 's streets is dropped by pedestrians and people in vehicles who believe they won't be noticed and certainly won't get caught.

The cost of such anti-social behaviour is not only financial (nationally £450M spent cleaning up the streets) but also damaging to the appearance of our towns.

Litter can be anything from cans, cigarette packets and chip papers right down to the piles of cigarette ends frequently seen deposited from vehicle ashtrays onto the borough's roads and car parks.

Executive member for the environment Cllr Catherine Piddington said: "Our message is clear - it is not acceptable to throw any litter from a vehicle; even if it is biodegradable, such as apple cores or banana skins.

"Such items can last in the environment for up to two years. People often mistakenly believe this to be a less serious offence but this is not the case and we are keen to take formal action against anyone caught behaving in this way."

It is hoped that once people realise the person in the car behind may be an enforcement officer and likely to issue a fixed penalty notice they will think twice.

Cllr Piddington added: "The aim of our campaign is to encourage drivers and passengers to take their litter home with them and not throw it out of their vehicle.

"The overall objective is to reduce the amount of litter on our roads and highways and to further improve the image and appearance of Tameside."

Survey Satisfaction

Borough residents pole returns positive results

A recent government survey carried out by Ipsos Mori North across all of Greater Manchester showed that more Tameside residents are satisfied with their council than ever before!

Which means the council has bucked the national trend for falling satisfaction with local authorities.

Tameside came top within Greater Manchester for resident satisfaction with:

• waste disposal - local tips (87%)
• libraries (79%)
• waste recycling facilities (76% satisfied)

We're also third in Greater Manchester for satisfaction with street cleanliness and with sport & leisure facilities. Satisfaction with street cleanliness leaped by 11 per cent since 2003 and satisfaction with sport & leisure facilities jumped by eight per cent.

These results put us amongst the top ranking metropolitan councils across the country. The survey results feed into the council's Comprehensive Performance Assessment rating, and helped Tameside to achieve the judgement of '4 Stars - Improving Strongly' from the Audit Commission.

Council Executive Leader, Cllr Roy Oldham said: "It doesn't surprise me when I see, what I believe to be excellent results, because I know the amount of work this council does in the areas our residents feel most passionately about.

"But we are also realistic enough to know that we can't stand still resting on our laurels when there is still so much more we can do. There is always room for improvement and that for this council means continuing to listen to what our residents say they want and then finding the ways ands means to deliver it for them."

Minister Visits Greenside

Greenside Primary School and Children's Centre in Droylsden hosted a visit by Government minister the Rt. Hon. Beverley Hughes.

The Minister for Children, Young People and Families joined pupils, staff and guests for an assembly - 'What is special about our school'. Pupils then gave her a guided tour of the school and centre.

Guests included Tameside Council Chief Executive Janet Callender, Civic Mayor Cllr Margaret Sidebottom, and Tameside and Glossop PCT Chief Executive Tim Riley.
Cllr Ged Cooney, Executive Member for Lifelong Learning and Cllr Allison Gwynne, Executive Member for Children and Young People said: "Greenside is a fine example of the national move towards integrated children's services.

"The site combines a school and children's centre. Both work closely together to provide a range of services - including education, social and health - that meet the needs of local people."

Headteacher John Rogers said: "This was a very special occasion for Greenside. A year on from our official opening we wanted to celebrate our achievements, recognising that partnerships based upon Government policy, Tameside Council support and Greenside staff dedication have combined to make Greenside the special place it is.

"We thanked our special guests on behalf of our community, and pledged our commitment and dedication to further developing our child and family extended services. We want to continue to make a difference to the lives of children, families and the community."

Improvements to the toilets and waiting rooms have already begun and new customer information screens and CCTV are set to be installed in the next few weeks.

Mrs Houghton Hits the High Note

Congratulations goes to Mrs Houghton, from Rosehill Methodist Community Primary School , in Ashton for correctly identifying the full list of musical instruments in the competition in the last edition of the Citizen.

Altogether she found 45 instruments hidden in the wordsearch which was set, along with the prize, by The Music Corner, Melbourne Street, Stalybridge.

Mrs Houghton is pictured picking up her prize - a fabulous percussion hamper - from the firm's Mr Caton-Greasley.