The Citizen 40 - Page 5
Audenshaw Denton Droylsden Dukinfield Hyde Longdendale Mossley Stalybridge
Response to Rubber Band Nuisance
In last June's edition of the Citizen we told our readers how the team were seeing red after the unique elastic band initiative bounced back to haunt the postal service. And we followed it up in last December's edition when Citizen reader, Tony McMahon, contacted us to say the bands were on the floor everywhere and he was worried his pet dog may choke on them.  Around two years ago all posties were given the specially designed red elastic bands to put around their bundles of post so they could be easily identified and then picked up if dropped. But in an ironic twist the unique colour has been their downfall with more and more people starting to complain that they seem to be everywhere. "Where they've failed is making sure their own staff are onside wit the initiative and understand why litter dropping, and make no mistake that's what this is, is anti-social behaviour and will not be tolerated." Now though, to their credit Mail bosses are introducing a number of measures to tackle the problem.
Executive member for the environment Cllr Catherine Piddington said: "The first thing I want to do is thank Royal Mail for coming into to see us to discuss, what we see as a serious littering problem for the streets of Tameside. "As one of my officers has rightly said, they should be applauded for taking ownership of their litter in this way but now we need to make the next step. "This meeting hopefully addressed that and by the sounds of things Royal Mail are making a real attempt to address the problem once and for all, but obviously time will tell if this is the case." Pat Says Big Thank You to Neighboursby Christine Hallows Mrs Patricia Stirland of 23 Wordsworth Avenue, Droylsden wants to say a big thank to her kind hearted neighbours Joe and Linda who live at number 21 and new neighbours Rob and Sandra who live at number 25. Patricia's husband sadly passed away last October after a long illness. Because he suffered from a mental illness, Joe and Linda who live next door were disturbed on a number of occasions. Patricia always apologised on behalf of her husband but they were always understanding and carried on helping out doing the shopping, putting the bins out etc. New neighbours Rob and Sandra and their children Dale and Luke have been in Patricia's words "fantastic". Despite the fact they have moved to the area only recently and have not known Patricia and her husband very long, they have demonstrated true community spirit. Rob attends to the garden and during the recent bad weather put the fence back up and made sure everything was secure. Patricia does not know how she would have coped without their kindness Unveiling of the Mossley Mill Girl Statue
Sixty-five years after leaving Mossley Mill, a former mill girl unveiled a bronze statue in recognition of the part the girls played in the town's industrial past. Gina Smith, 83, pictured in front of Cllr Lane , worked at Albion Mill until it closed in 1941. The mill was on the site of the George Lawton Hall, where the statue was unveiled by Gina and Tameside Council's Head of Heritage Cllr Jacqueline Lane. The life-sized statue was picked by the council, because, at its peak, Mossley was one of the region's textile powerhouses with up to 50 mills running and between them employed a vast majority of those living in the town. Many of the old buildings can be still be seen as an illustration of just how productive the area was in this field. Often under extremely harsh conditions with little pay, the mill girls formed the backbone of the town's industry which will make the unveiling all the more poignant for Mossley's older residents. Head of Heritage Cllr Jacqueline Lane said: "I think this is a fitting tribute to the memory of all those who worked so hard, sometimes under appalling conditions, to make Mossley the strategically important textile town it grew to be. "Like the rest of the bronze statues we have already unveiled, or plan to do so in the near future, the mill girl is a piece of beautiful street art that I hope everyone will be proud of." Another former mill girl is Jean Mills. She started working when she was 17 and worked along with the rest of her family. They worked five days a week plus Saturday morning and with few holidays. She said: "At Christmas we would decorate the window sills to brighten up the place but there was never any presents or treats from the mill owner." To mark the occasion, a woman dressed in traditional costume showed females involved in the town's cotton and wool industries would have looked in their heyday during the late 1700s and 1800s. Minister Gives Agreement Praise Minister for local government Phil Woolas has praised Tameside's approach to implementing its Local Area Agreements. At a packed conference in February Mr Woolas MP (pictured) said the council's strategy to community regeneration was inspiring local authorities up and down the country. The Local Area Agreement provides an opportunity to develop new solutions to local issues. Tameside Strategic Partnership (TSP), has brought together the council and partners from the public, voluntary and community sectors, to develop the agreement which sets out the priorities for Tameside. Organisations involved in the development of the LAA include; Tameside Council, police, fire, Tameside & Glossop PCT, Government Office NW, Manchester Enterprises, Tameside 3rd Sector Coalition, Volunteer Centre Tameside, Learning & Skills Council, Connexions and Job Centre Plus. The aim of the LAA is to achieve genuinely sustainable communities, creating a better quality of life for Tameside residents. The agreement is broken down into four blocks: Children and Young People; Safer and Stronger Communities; Healthier Communities and Older People; and Economic Development. So what are the issues that have been included in the LAA? Some of these are summarised below. You can see full details in the draft agreement on the TSP website. Safer and Stronger Communities
Healthier Communities and Older People
Economic Development
Children and Young People
You can view a copy of the agreement on the TSP website using this link to the LAA area of the TSP website www.tameside-strategic-partnership.org.uk/strategy/LAA-home.htm School Trio Get Top MarksThree Tameside schools, a pre-school provider of three nurseries and a childminder have been highly praised in the Chief Inspector of Schools' annual report. The schools included are those judged outstanding for overall effectiveness at inspections between September 1, 2005 and July 31, 2006. The childminders and day-care providers on the list were inspected between April 1, 2005 and August 31, 2006 and judged to give outstanding care. Where a provider also offered early education, this also had to be judged outstanding. Quality SchoolA Stalybridge school has been awarded a Quality Mark in Basic Skills. Samuel Laycock School was given the accolade by the Basic Skills Agency, a national body, and is the only secondary school in Tameside currently holding this award. The school has around 120 pupils aged 11-16 with moderate learning difficulties. To gain the award, which can be gained by all secondary schools, Samuel Laycock had to ensure good access to the curriculum for pupils, let them know how they are doing and how they can progress, and give them communication skills which will help them in the outside world |
The Talking Book ClubBook Talk is a Tameside group, whose members all have some form of visual impairment, but this doesn't stop their love of books. The group, which started up five years ago was organised by social care and health, Vision First Resources Centre and Tameside libraries. The group meet once a month at the Vision First Resources Centre in Ashton. They decide which books they would like to discuss and Calibre Audio Library supply the tapes. There is no charge to come along to the meetings. All Tameside Libraries have collections of books on tape, CD, large print books, computers with magnifying facilities and other facilities for visually impaired customers. For further information phone Rachel Gee on 0161 342 2232 To find out what Vision First can offer visually impaired people and their carers, call 330 7028. If you would like more information about Book Talk, call Chris Smith on 342 414 or Denise on 330 7028. Next Stage in Schools Plan Pupils and education bosses have showcased their £164m vision for the future of Tameside schools. Six secondary schools are to be built and three further schools remodelled as part of the first phase of the borough's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The Project was subject to formal approval by the Governments Treasury Project Review Group on 20th February 2007 and has given us the green light to move ahead with the BSF phase 1 programme. On 1st March 2007 potential consortium members attended a bidders' day at Dukinfield Town Hall . The event gave delegates the chance to hear from key stakeholders discussing not only the educational vision and scope of the project but how it fits in with the overall vision for the future regeneration and development of Tameside. Speakers included Cllr Roy Oldham C.B.E, Executive Leader, Cllr Gerald Cooney, Cabinet Deputy for Lifelong Learning, Janet Callender, Chief Executive, and Ian Smith, Executive Director for Services for Children and Young People. Karen Beech and Jessica Leavy, pupils from Astley Sports College and Community High School gave a presentation about how they had been involved in the development of the programme as well as their expectations for Schools of the Future project. The event also included opportunities for the Potential Bidders to attend a marketplace where they were able to meet staff, governors and pupils from the schools involved in Wave 3 of the programme, including key partners. The formal process to create a Local Education Partnership to deliver the schools programme has now started and interested consortia have been invited to bid for the project. We expect that a shortlist of three bidders will be decided by mid June 2007. These bidders will be then invited to return bids for the project. Cllr Cooney said: "Tameside is committed to a programme of change to achieve better outcomes for all. The bidders' day was an opportunity for key-stakeholders including school pupils to set out their vision for how to take this forward." Students Have Their SayStudents have a lot to say about the futures of their schools - and two Tameside teenagers are making sure their voices are heard right across the country. Astley Sports College and Community High School pupils Karen Beech and Jessica Leavy (pictured) were invited to speak at the national Building Schools Education Conference in Harrogate on 20th February 2007. The pair discussed how to engage students in the development of new schools as well as sitting on a question and answer panel. Karen and Jessica, who are both in Year 11, (along with over 600 Tameside students) have been actively involved for over a year in consultation for Tameside's Building Schools for the Future programme. They participated and gave feedback to other schools and chaired a children's design festival where pupils gave their ideas and visions for their new schools. Tameside Council's Cabinet Deputy for lifelong learning Cllr Gerald Cooney said: "It is really important to us to hear what our young people have to say about the future of their schools and we are very proud that Karen and Jessica have been chosen to fly the flag for student voice nationally." If you are a student who would like to be involved in the development of our new schools and represent student voice across Tameside then please call 0161 342 4261 to register your interest. Help Keep the Brakes on Auto CrimeHelp keep the brakes on vehicle crime is the call from Tameside Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership as the borough experiences bigger decreases than the Greater Manchester average. Like many other crimes, vehicle crime is opportunistic and as such is easily prevented. So how can you help prevent yourself becoming a victim of car crime? Make it tough - remove your stuff! Take all your belongings with you when you leave your car. If you are unable to do this lock the items in your boot or glove compartment out of sight. Keep items of value out of sight when driving Park safely. If you have a garage use it! It keeps your vehicle out of sight and provides a second layer of protection to deter thieves. If you don't have a garage always try to park in a well lit, open location. Lock all doors, close all windows and shut the sunroof every time you leave your vehicle unattended, however briefly that might be. Keep your car secure Security devices. Using locks and other security devices is a good way of securing your vehicle against crime. Steering wheel or gear stick locks are easy to fit and are not expensive. Electronic immobilisers prevent the car from being driven away. (They should be fitted by main dealers or installers accredited by the Vehicle Security Installation Board). Locking wheel nuts may deter thieves targeted car wheels. A professionally installed vehicle alarm, property marking of windows and stereos and tamper proof tax disks are also effective deterrents to the potential thief. For more advice about about minimising the risk of becoming a victim of car crime or any other crime, please call the Community Safety Unit on 0161 342 8355. Ofsted Praise for 'Polite and Friendly' PupilsPupils at a Dukinfield school have been praised by Ofsted inspectors for being polite and friendly, and for their good attendance. The pupils at Globe Lane Primary School were also praised for making children from Clarendon Fields Primary welcome while they share the Globe Lane site. The inspection team, led by Robert Robinson and David Halford, commented: "Attendance is good because pupils enjoy coming to school. Most pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning." They found that the school provides a safe working enviornment for pupils, and a broad and balanced curriculum meets the needs of all pupils satisfactorily. They praised the leadership team at the school who, supported by staff, governors and the local authority, are working well with their counterparts at Clarendon Field. Globe Lane is due to close next summer and pupils from both schools will go to a new school on the Clarendon Field site from September 2007 New Look SchoolPROUD pupils at St Johns CE Primary School showed off their new look school - which now boasts a 43-place foundation unit - to Tameside Mayor Cllr Margaret Sidebottom. The refurbishment included a completely revamped frontage as well as a new community room, which is available for use by local people. Tameside Council's executive member for lifelong learning, Cllr Ged Cooney, said: "The school has been brought bang up to date providing pupils with state-of-the-art facilities and - with its new foundation unit and community room - the school is bound to prove a valuable resource to local people." Station Steams off with TitleAshton pub The Station has been named the winner in the national Responsible Drinks Retailing Awards held in London recently. The awards are organised nationally by one of the hospitality Industry and licensed trades biggest publications and revolve around 5 main areas of responsibility:
The Station has been lovingly restored so as to retain many of the original Victorian features and to create a cosy, old-fashioned local packed with charm. It's now 'a little oasis in the centre of town' New BeginningTameside Civic Mayor Cllr Margaret Sidebottom officially opened the new foundation unit at Bradley Green Primary School in Hyde. The provision of a 26-place nursery was part of the Hyde Review of primary and nursery places which took place in 2005. The foundation unit - which caters for nursery and reception children - opened in September 2006. I.T's a Big SuccessThe 24th February was a day to remember for the people and organisations whose achievements were recognised at the 2006 eTameside Awards. Now in their 7th year, the event recognises and showcases examples of excellence in a broad range of I.T related projects and initiatives from across Tameside. At the prestigious ceremony held in the Civic Hall, Ashton, 12 winners from 12 different categories covering local business, community and voluntary sector, and lifelong learning received their awards. Speaking at the event, Cllr Margaret Oldham said; "Tameside has an excellent national reputation in the field of I.T. This is thanks in many ways to the hard work of the eTameside Partnership. I am delighted at the number and standard of entries we have had for this year's event. Every year it gets more and more difficult for the judges to pick out clear winners". She also thanked the sponsors, without whose help the evening would not be possible. |
Royal Mail are introducing measures to combat the problem of littered red rubber bands after the council's flytipping team called them in for a meeting.
