The future of public transport

Bid submission gets all party support in Tameside

The Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid, which will, if successful release £3 billion of investment for public transport has now been submitted to government.

Eight out of 10 Greater Manchester authorities agreed at an Executive meeting of all 10 on July 27, that the bid needed to be submitted if the North West and in particular Greater Manchester was to secure the money it desperately needs to improve the public transport infrastructure.

Should the bid be successful then a further 210,000 new jobs will be created over the next 10-15 years. This alone will significantly change the demand for transport, not only to and from Manchester city centre, but also throughout the region.

Executive Council Leader, Cllr Roy Oldham said: "What this means for Tameside is a significant improvement in bus and rail infrastructure, better and more reliable services and the delivery of Metrolink to Ashton. This will result in substantial business growth and large numbers of new jobs. Capacity on public transport has to be increased if we are to absorb the inevitable increase in demand. Burying our head in the sand and doing nothing is not an option, traffic on the highway is already causing congestion and difficulties for the travelling public and business. That is why submission of the bid received full party support in Tameside. This opportunity is the only realistic way of unlocking substantial investment from government. The introduction of a limited congestion charging scheme is a requirement of government if money is to be released and charging measures will only be implemented once the investment in the public transport system is delivered on the ground, potentially 2012."

Tameside Council's Chief Executive, Janet Callender added: "This bid provides us with an opportunity to secure unprecedented investment that will completely transform Greater Manchester's public transport system. If our bid is successful, and we should know by December if it is, then we will enter into detailed negotiations with government to finalise our proposals. Greater Manchester however stands firm on a number of key commitments we expect from government and on these we will not waiver. Securing £3 billion in investment, the largest ever outside of London, is only worth winning if the terms are acceptable to us and this is the agreement that has been reached by the Greater Manchester Councils. Tameside will gain substantial benefit from the proposed investment package, not only in terms of enhanced public transport but also the significant economic benefits which are gained by having a modern, fit for purpose public transport system"
Transport improvements planned under the TIF bid include:

• More than 30km of new Metrolink track , extending to Ashton, East Didsbury, Wythenshawe, and Manchester Airport, Oldham and Rochdale Town Centres and the Trafford Centre.
• 25 enhanced bus priority corridors along all major routes. These will offer time savings of up to 15 per cent.
• Increased bus frequencies and new services , including new through services to provide better connectivity across the regional centre, reducing the need for changing buses.
• New bus stations for Bolton, Rochdale, Stockport, Altrincham and Wigan.
• A doubling of the number of secure park

and ride areas including new strategic sites located adjacent to the M60, so shoppers can park outside the zone and use public transport to avoid the charge.

Tameside, together with the rest of the Greater Manchester Councils, agreed at the AGMA executive meeting that the bid did in fact meet the following four driving principles:

• That significant investment in public transport would be in place prior to the introduction of any charging scheme.
• That the bid was acceptable to both the public and business community.
• That any charging scheme was not a blanket scheme (as in London) and was relevant to where congestion exists in Greater Manchester.
• That the proposals did not disadvantage communities.

Tameside Council will continue supporting the bid, only if government accepts that these four principles are met and that any associated terms are to our satisfaction.

The congestion charging scheme proposed to government includes two charging rings that circle the city centre. The idea of introducing congestion charging into town centres in Tameside is not a proposal contained in the TIF bid. Any congestion in town centres, in the future, would be looked at separately. Tameside Council is decades away from such considerations and clearly any solution would be dictated by the relevant pressures at that time.

Cllr Oldham said: "Congestion charging into Ashton or any other of our towns is not an option, as far as I'm concerned. I also need to emphasis that the proposals are at a very early stage. If the bid is accepted by government then there is a lot of hard work ahead of us if we are to turn our public transport system into the envy of the country."

Tameside sees a record drop in crime

Tameside has seen a record drop in crime according to recently released national home office figures.

The figures, which compared 2006/07 results with the same period the year before, have shown impressive improvements for all types of recorded crime. While the rest of Greater Manchester (GM) saw a one per cent increase in all police recorded crime, Tameside enjoyed a seven per cent reduction.

A comparable breakdown of the figures also showed the Tameside's crime statistics dropping at a faster rate than the Greater Manchester averages.

• BSC crimes (i.e. British Crime Survey Comparator which are crimes people say they are most worried about, e.g. burglary, violence and theft) have seen a two per cent rise across Greater Manchester, while Tameside has enjoyed a nine per cent reduction.
• And it's a similar story in other areas of crime. While GM enjoyed a one per cent reduction in burglary and a 13 per cent drop in theft from vehicles, Tameside saw a seven per cent and 15 per cent fall in the same areas.
• For violent offences and vandalism Tameside enjoyed reductions of nine and seven per cent respectively, while the GM average increased by five and three per cent.

In actual numbers these new figures mean:

1868 few victims of overall crime
1468 fewer victims of BCS crime
117 fewer burglary victims
198 fewer vehicle theft victims
317 fewer victims of violent crime
440 fewer victims of vandalism when compared to the same period the year before.

Commenting on the nationally collated Home Office figures, executive member for community safety Cllr Margaret Oldham, said: "Through the Crime and Disorder Partnership local agencies have worked together to identify issues, then act jointly to tackle them. It's about education as well as enforcement.

"What this means for people on the street is not just extra police officers on the beat, but joint high visibility initiatives involving both the police, PCSOs, the fire service and the council's own Patrollers."

Key activities include;

• working with residents to help improve home safety through targeted messages and additional security
• enhanced enforcement in local town centres to tackle night time disorder
• support for victims and witnesses of crime and anti-social behaviour
• actions against those people that persistently cause problems in our local neighbourhoods through a range of measures including ASBOs and ABCs
• additional support for those people more vulnerable to crime, e.g. door-step crime initiatives for older residents.
• proactive approaches to getting offenders into drug treatment to reduce repeat offending.

Don't lose your vote

If you live in Tameside, don't lose your vote - that's the message from the Elections Office as 99,000 annual electoral registration forms are being delivered by Royal Mail to each household in Tameside.

And with the Council making it easier than ever before for people to confirm their details, residents are being urged to act quickly to secure their right to vote, particularly with a potential General Election on the horizon.

Importantly not only will a failure to ensure you are registered affect your right to vote, it may also impact on your ability to obtain credit. All major credit reference agencies, mobile phone companies, banks and other financial lending organisations now check the electoral register before granting credit.

Residents can make sure that they are on the electoral register by using the Council's freephone telephone and internet registration service.

Cllr Gerald Cooney, Chair of the Democratic Processes Working Group said: "Whilst the Council achieves one of the highest rates of registration across Manchester at 93%, many people forget that it's a criminal offence not to complete the form and register. A householder could face a fine up to a £1,000 if they don't comply".

"That might sound harsh - but unless people respond by the 1st October 2007, where possible by freephone or internet, the Council are required by law, to knock on their doors until they do complete them and failing that consider criminal prosecution. So I'd really encourage residents to act quickly to ensure their details are on the register. Residents are required, by law, to respond in all cases even where the information held by the Council about you is correct. You are obliged to register even if you do not intend to vote. Under recent changes to the law you have to register every year otherwise you will be removed from the register. You are not automatically registered, even if you are paying council tax or receive benefits as the systems are by law entirely separate.

"Anyone who receives a further reminder form needs to return it immediately because either your first form was incorrectly filled in or the Council did not receive it."

Using the automated registration service means that all of a household's details (where correct) can be confirmed in a matter of minutes, saving time and postage costs for the Council and the taxpayer. Under new laws a representative from the Council will be required, by law, to visit every household that fails to respond. Clearly, sending reminders and visiting properties increase the cost and residents can help the Council save money by responding promptly.

For more details visit www.tameside.gov.uk/elections/canvass or contact the Elections team on 0161 342 3036.

Borough blooms at Southport

It won't be until October that the results of this year's North West in Bloom competition are announced, but green fingers are always busy and Tameside gardeners have won a new award in the meantime.

The council has shown it can bloom anywhere after its debut entry at this year's Southport Flower Show won the first prize in its category.

The Local Authority Bedding Display is a new category at the show and the council was invited to compete. Southport Flower Show is widely recognised as the country's largest independent flower show and this year's theme was music. Tameside's entry was called "Best of Brass - A celebration of Tameside's brass band heritage".

Tameside is home to the oldest brass band in the world (Stalybridge Old Band est. 1807). Elements of the bedding display included the colours of the nine senior bands operating in Tameside today and a representation of the regeneration of local bandstands.

The council's entry won Best in Show in its category and was awarded the highest accolade of "Large Gold". The first prize of £1000 was presented to Peter Hadfield of Tameside Council by Ray Roukin, chair of the Southport Flower Show.

The entry was sponsored by S&G Flowers who also provided the seeds and seedlings. The plants were grown at Denton Nursery and the display was planted by Malcolm Hartley and his team. The miniature bandstand which formed the centre piece of the display was built by John Hilton, an employee of Tameside Council and local engineer Jim Walton of FSB Supplies Ltd.

Champion gardeners

Tameside's green fingered enthusiasts have come out in force for the first borough wide garden competition.
Hundreds of entries were received for the Tameside's Champion of Champions Garden competition. It's recognising the efforts that individuals and groups make, which put together, creates an attractive place to live and work.

The competition is being run by Tameside Council and the borough's eight largest registered social landlords. Each of the partners, including the district assemblies ran their own individual competitions, acting as the first round of the larger borough wide competition.Winners then went forward into the next round and were judged during August and September.

Judges were delighted at the standard of entries and were particularly heartened by the number of entries submitted by neighbourhood groups.

Prize winners will be invited to The Champion of Champions presentation evening at Dukinfield Town Hall in October, which will also be attended by the council's partners and sponsors of the event.

The categories are

• Best garden
• Best commercial premises
• Best communal / neighborhood team entry
• Best school
• Best patio / yard/ balcony
• Special award categories
  Best individual planter / hanging basket / window box
  Most environmentally aware entry
  Best garden with best specific