My Good friends,
Thank you all for your attendance of last Wednesday's inaugural Meeting of Bolton And Dearne - Habitants Against Re-cycling at Manvers (BAD-HARM) and especially for making the meeting the success it was. We couldn't have wished to have had a better launch and it was all down to your good selves (and also to those who didn't manage to leave me an e-mail contact address to whom we are all also grateful). The Campaign is very much indebted to you all. Keep up the good work and spread the word. I was informed by some of those in attendance, who'd experience of launching similar campaigns, that we have made an excellent start. Let's keep the momentum going. This is just the start.
Please pass on this message to members of your family, neighbours and friends - and please apologise, on my behalf, that I was unable to contact them directly at the moment because I have only their postal addresses.
I must apologise for the cramped conditions at The Angel. We weren't sure what reception we would receive on the Friday prior to the meeting when we contacted the manager of The Angel to book the room.
After spending Sunday morning (and afternoon) leafleting the Adwick, Golden Smithies, Lowfield Road and Coniston Road communities (500 leaflets), our good friends Allan and Sue Clark, my wife, Maureen, and I waited for Wednesday to arrive having very little idea that +200 residents representing Bolton, Thurnscoe, Wath, Swinton, Harlington, Adwick,Mexborough, High Melton, Barnburgh, and Sprotborough would attend the hastily arranged meeting. What a surprise! From the gloom and despondency that descended on this household after Maureen's, Sue and Allan's attendance of Cllr. Ken Sanderson's Forum Meeting on the Friday prior to the meeting, the sun well and truly shone through on Wednesday night. What hope and inspiration to fight on that gave everyone who attended. It was just the fillip we all needed!
The Meeting received an excellent Press. The Barnsley Chronicle managed to print a report and add a photograph on the front page of their Dearne Edition last Friday. Also, last Friday's edition of the Rotherham Advertiser carried a two page spread along with photographs of those assembled. This morning whilst tuning into Dearne FM radio station I had only just mentioned to Maureen (my wife) that perhaps we should consider advertising our campaign on local radio when we listened to a very positive news item broadcast about our Campaign Launch last Wednesday. So there you have it. The Campaign is well and truly launched!
You might want to respond to what Cllr Richard Russell,Chairman of the BDR Waste Partnership was quoted as saying in the Rotherham Advertiser - as published in last Friday's news article-
"The scheme will also be subject to the normal planning permission process before it could go go ahead, which would include public consultation and a traffic impact study. All the issues raised by local residents would be carefully considered as part of the planning process.
"There will be a number of benefits to local residents. Between 200 and 300 jobs will be created during the construction phase, with between 30 and 80 permanent jobs, many of them filled by local people.
"The facility will have a visitor centre which could be available for community use by local people.
"We are making big efforts to keep people informed what is happening. We've launched a website www.bdronline.co.uk which is regularly updated with developments and we have a dedicated postal and email address for anyone with concerns to get in touch with us."
I have a few points (listed below) that I would like clarification of.
You may wish to respond to these comments by either writing to the Rotherham Advertiser, or to Cllr Russell (contact details below).
Post: Editor's Postbag, Rotherham Advertiser, Brooksfield Way, Manvers, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, S63 5DL
Telephone: 01709 768000
Please note: Letters, should be no more than 300 words long (!!!), and are subject to editing. Only letters with name and full address of the writer AND daytime telephone number will be considered for publication. Preference will be given to letters where the name and address are published.
If you wish to seek further clarification on Cllr Russell's views, his contact details (as posted on Rotherham MBC's website) are:
Councillor Richard S Russell, (Labour), 20 OakLea Avenue, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, S63 6LU
Councillor Richard Russell has been a member of the Council since 1992 and is currently Cabinet Member for Streetpride and a member of the Planning Board
You might care to question Cllr Russell (Rotherham MBC), as Chair of the BDR Partnership, about his "making big efforts to keep people informed what is happening".
- For instance, why weren't all his Wath constituents kept informed about what the Partnership (he chairs) has been planning for Manvers over the past year and, particularly, recently? His constituents over in Golden Smithies (along with a number of Wath residents) have told me that they have NOT received any information as to what he and the Partnership have proposed for the Bolton Road site at Manvers.
According to Barnsley MBC Cllr May Noble in her letter to me dated 19 August 2009 ...
"It might be useful for you to know that more than 1,300 letters of invitation to the consultation event in Wath (15 July, 2009) were sent out by three local authorities. It was also published in the local media and community groups were contacted."
Did you receive notification by post? Did you see the publication this consultation was advertised in? Do you receive/take the local Press? Did the Community Group you belong to, receive information? Are you a member of a community group? Were you informed? Were your neighbours informed?
1,300 letters? Sent by the three Authorities? I've just checked Rotherham MBC website and, according to their "Key Statistics for Wath", I noted the following key statistics:
Wath - Neighbourhood Statistics: Housing - All Properties (2005)
- Residential Properties = 858
- Residential Properties Vacant = 19
- Council Stock = 404
Total Residencies for Wath = 1265
If there are 1265 residencies in Wath, how many other residencies are there in neighbouring Bolton, Thurnscoe, Wath, Swinton, Harlington, Adwick,Mexborough, High Melton, Barnburgh, and Sprotborough? How many residencies did these Local Authority letters reach? If there are 1265 residencies in Wath, how many of them were informed by letter about the Manvers Re-cycling Plan? Perhaps the 1300 letters were distributed to residents in all three authorities in a lottery-style? Perhaps only certain communities will be affected by the plan for Bolton Road, Manvers? If so, what criteria are each of the three Authorities applying? A "scatter gun" approach?
A "smoke and mirrors" approach?
- To what degree will "All the issues raised by local residents would be carefully considered as part of the planning process" and WHEN, WHERE and HOW MANY local residents BE INFORMED?
- "The scheme will also be subject to the normal planning permission process before it could go go ahead, which would include public consultation and a traffic impact study. All the issues raised by local residents would be carefully considered as part of the planning process." Do I understand correctly that BDR are arranging for plans (for what BDR is proposing for the Mnvers site) to be taken down to London within the next fortnight for submission to the Minister before the formal planning permission process has been formally carried out?
If you manage to find out, I'd be only too happy to hear. I'm sure the Editors of our local Press would also like to hear. You can now copy and paste all the e-mail addresses of your felow campaigners from the address window of this e-mail and share any any news you receive from now on.
On this last note, it may interest you to know that our felow campaigner, Mick Reilly of Adwick has taken out valuable time out from decorating to design our very own website.I am sure that you'll join me in saluting Mick for his superb effort and for this very kind gesture. More on the website very soon.
Remember, the next full meeting will be held on Wednesday 30 September, The Angel, Bolton-upon-Dearne @ 19:30.
The Committee will be meeting on Wednesday 2 September so, if you have any issues, or points for the Committee members' discussion, please forward them on. We'll be hoping to elect Committee Members into specific roles at the next meeting.
Keep up the campaigning - enlist your family, friends and neighbours. Complete the Comment Forms - its not too late for their submission.
By the way, a family member informs me that someone was taking a census of people entering and leaving the Country Park (Dearne Road) last Sunday. Could it be that Rotherham MBC are gathering eveidence of the Public's usage of the Park to present at Ministerial level along with their Planning submission? Just a thought!
All for now.
Yours fraternally,
Mick Marsden
www.notinmanvers.co.uk
www.notinmanvers.co.uk
