155th meeting held Tuesday 20th March 2018
Littleborough Canalside Development Group
Minutes of the 155th meeting held Tuesday 20th March 2018 at Hare Hill House Starting at 7.30pm
Present: Ian Jackson; Julian Farnell, Brian Holden, John F Kay, Bob Weatherley and Simon Askew (for part)
Apologies Barry Horner, Keith Hallam, Cllr Ann Stott
Minutes of the meeting on 20th February 2018 had been circulated and were approved
Akzo Nobel Site
Homes England have obtained the extension of the planning consent by constructing an access road as a meaningful start to the development
Homes England have not yet arranged a consultation meeting to which Littleborough Civic Trust will be invited.
Ian Jackson has alerted C & RT and through them the Environment Agency who will now be involved in the consultation process as this will affect the area of Special Scientific Interest.
Littleborough Civic Trust
John Kay as treasurer of Littleborough Civic Trust confirmed that after payment of the fee on the planning application the sum of £1,317.82 was held in the account on behalf of LCDG.
Canal & River Trust
Anyone wishing to join the Tow Path Task Force should contact Ian Jackson on wackojacko@talk21.com.
C&RT have agreed to inspect the tow path between Locks 46 & 47 to see whether additional mooring rings or bollards can be installed to accommodate boats from the Historic Boat festival which will start in Manchester on 15th July 2018.
Littleborough is a suitable overnight stopping point. Although the Rushbearing Festival organised by “LEAF” is not until the next weekend there will be a Classic Car Show organised by the Rotary Club of Rochdale on Sunday 15th July 2018
Café Boat Scheme
- Planning Application
The mooring application to C&RT which received approval “in principle” had extended the date for a response to 1st June 2018 in the light of the difficulties in gaining access to the Schofield Street building and submitting the planning application
Notice of the planning application under article 11 has been served on Tammy Plant of C&RT and passed by her to the appropriate department
The planning application was validated by the Council on 8th March 2018 and they will make every effort to determine the application within 8 weeks
- Council Building on Schofield Street
We are still waiting for a meeting to be arranged attended by Local Councillors, Council officials, our members and the occupiers including Mr Canavan.
Members expressed the view that with better use of the space it should be possible to accommodate our Boat while it is fitted out.
The boat can be pulled outside the building whenever the work might cause dust which could affect the other occupiers.
It has been claimed that we were trying to commandeer council properties. This is a ridiculous suggestion as we have no power to do so. We are just seeking information as to how the Schofield site has been organised during the last 14 years. The council should be transparent about the arrangements.
We are also seeking council support for our community project. We have put forward suggestions but are awaiting any better ideas.
- The Lady Alice
There seems to be considerable support for the repair of the Lady Alice Boat which was in use on Hollingworth Lake for many years.
Simon Askew attended part of this meeting by mistake as he was looking for the
However he was able to confirm that he was employed to operate the Lady Alice for a period before the council removed it from service and stored it in the building at Schofield Street.
He confirmed that the boat in our photograph was the Lady Alice. Members agreed that we should seek to form a group of volunteers who would sponsor and support the renovation and relaunch of the Lady Alice
We believe that the council must have a report on its condition which could be made available to a suitable boat yard to quote for the renovation
This will be considered further at our next meeting
- Littleborough Marina Community Interest Company
John Kay confirmed that all necessary returns for this company have been filed at Companies House. The Community Interest Company will be used for the Boat Scheme with volunteers becoming members
Date of Next Meetings Tuesday 17th April 2018, Tuesday 15th May 2018, Tuesday 19th June 2018