Minutes of 139th Meeting on 20th September 2016
Littleborough Canalside Development Group
Minutes of the 139th Meeting held the 20th September 2016 at Hare Hill House Littleborough at 7.30pm
Present:-
John F Kay, Julian Farnell, Bob Furnell, Keith Hallam, Brian Holden, Barry Horner, Bob Weatherley.
Apologies. Cllr Ann Stott JP, Ian Jackson, Nicky Clark,
- The Minutes of the meeting on 16th August 2016 were approved
- John Kay updated the meeting on work being done by Littleborough Civic Trust
- John Kay reminded the meeting that the LCDG was the action group within Littleborough Neighbourhood Forum for matters relating to the Rochdale Canal.
- A Public Meeting to consider the future of the Neighbourhood Forum will take place on Saturday 5th November 2016 at 1.00pm in Hare Hill House
- LCDG continues to press for the creation of a Marina at Durn Littleborough. Nothing further has been heard from Nigel MacDonald of the Council
- Mike Foy, who is involved with the development of the former scrap yard adjoining the canal at Durn Littleborough is arranging a meeting with a possible developer of the council’s land on the opposite side of the canal and has invited John Kay to attend to discuss a possible marina as planning gain
- Nothing further has been heard from Jon Stopp concerning opportunities for volunteers and the “OWLS” Scheme, Adopt a Canal scheme and other volunteer opportunities which are ongoing. In particular he has not yet come back to us about the Licence requirements if we convert the boat into a catering facility.
- Bob Furnell reported that he was in touch with James Whine at C & R T as the Volunteers on the Adopt a Canal Scheme were now prevented from carrying out work due to the lack of materials and tools.
- It was reported that the number of members of the “friends of C & R T” who pay a monthly subscription had dropped and it was thought that this may relate to the fact that boaters who pay a licence fee thought it was unreasonable to have to pay a membership subscription as well
- Bob Furnell update us on the Canalside Café Project.
- He had now received a number of licences from the council authorising street collections. Beverley Wilkinson of the council’s licencing department was to monitor his accounts.
- He continues to be in touch with the site owners concerning a lease. He appreciates that unless he has planning permission he should seek an agreement for lease only
- There are other people interested in the site. They would also need planning consent.
- Bob has papers ready to apply for planning consent but there is a £375 fee which is payable on submitting the application
- He now has a copy of the Project Business Plan prepared by Andrea Scott but this needs further financial information.
- Robert Hudson is no longer involved and the anticipated grant has not materialised
- There is some information on the website which needs to be corrected
- Bob confirmed that the burning of material on the site will now cease as directed by the council
- This project is Bob Furnell’s not LCDG
- There was further discussion about the Canal Boat.
- Julian Farnell has inspected the boat and pumped out the water. It was agreed that he could make suitable access in the wooden flooring so that the remaining water could be removed from the bottom and the inside treated.
- Julian Farnell now has John Kay’s key to the gate so he can get access to the site.
- Julian has also read the report on the Hull prepared in 2014 and is optimistic that the boat will meet our requirements
- Julian Farnell with the help of Bob Weatherly and Bob Furnell will put the cover over the boat to stop it filling with water again
- It was reported that there is a boat known as “the butty boat” which is operating on the canal near Lymm.
- It was agreed that Julian Farnell, Bob Weatherly, Bob Furnell and John Kay will visit the “Butty Boat” on Thursday 29th September 2016 to see what they were doing and to feed back any good ideas
- John kay will contact the C & RT Licencing department at Leeds to find out about the cost of licencing a trading boat.
- There has been no progress on the Akzo Nobel Site
- The dates of the next meetings are
Tuesday 18th October 2016
Tuesday 15th November 2016
No Meeting in December 2016
Tuesday 17th January 2017
Note John Kay will be away for the October and November meetings and Bob Weatherley has agreed to chair those meetings
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