Conservative leader's column: fond memories of policing and the impact of the Castleton cycle lane

John Taylor is the leader of the local Conservative party in Rochdale and a councillor for Wardle and West Littleborough.

This month he dedicates his column to discussing memories of policing and the closure of one of the Smith's Bakers shops in Castleton as a result of the under construction cycle lane.

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This month I had the pleasure of visiting a local Probus meeting in Bamford as the guest speaker. The chosen topic was my experience of policing across Greater Manchester between 1985 and 2015.

In preparation I delved into and dusted off the old memory banks to recall some of the many incidents I was directly involved in over the years. The exercise certainly brought back an array of happy memories whilst reminding me of the great characters and colleagues I had the pleasure of working alongside too.

Policing is a unique experience, often very challenging, occasionally funny, always memorable and one that shapes the character of those involved, I enjoyed my career in the police and wouldn’t want to change it.

The forty-five minutes flew past (as did the thirty years for that matter) and it seemed to be well received.

I cannot let my column pass without offering my huge congratulations to the Lionesses, reaching the world cup final was a tremendous achievement and one to be rightly proud of.

To be crowned European champions and World Cup finalists has been incredible. Well done to all those involved and thank you for entertaining us throughout the tournament. You have been a role model to young women who aspire to follow in your footsteps.

Unfortunately, this month has seen some less than welcome developments too. I recently learnt of the closure of one of Smith's Bakers and Confectioners shops on Manchester Road after feeding the community for decades.

Those directly affected described the impact of the new cycle lane as “devastating” and I fully understand their frustrations and anger. I find it beyond belief how a local business that has served the community since 1928 can be effectively be forced to close in the name of progress.

This has a direct impact upon the owners, employees and their customers who have now lost a valuable and well supported resource. Surely, local businesses such as this are the ones who need the support of local decision makers, surely communities thrive best with local shops at their heart and surely it is those businesses that determine the strength of the community heartbeat in villages such as Castleton.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the principle of road safety whilst supporting and encouraging cycling, but if I was to identify those roads where schemes could be adopted without detriment to the local community, then Castleton wouldn’t be amongst them.

There is hardly a week goes by without someone speaking to me about the inherent dangers road users face on a daily basis where much needed road safety improvement could have been made.

We all see the acts of reckless and dangerous driving regularly up and down our borough and it is on those roads in particular where cyclists take their lives into their own hands the most and it is those roads that ought to have been prioritised.

I live less than a hundred metres from the A58, a road regularly littered with the debris from accidents, one that attracts many complaints of dangerous driving and unfortunately, one that isn’t dissimilar to many others across our borough.

If we all prioritised the places where cycle schemes would be welcomed, I would be surprised if many considered Castleton to be top of the list. I will keep my fingers crossed for the survival of the remaining businesses affected whilst at the same time can’t help feeling that is no way to manage the development of our villages or promote confidence across our communities.