A FORMER senior United Utilities boss admits Dovestone Reservoir can’t cope with any future increase in visitor numbers to the Greenfield tourist trap.
Peter Gill is a consultant estates manager after 15 years similarly employed by the water company, one of the key stakeholders responsible for management of the beauty spot.
Addressing a recent meeting of the Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents’ Association, Mr Gill estimated between
50-100,000 visitors annually flock to Dovestone and neighbouring reservoirs, Yeoman Hey, Greenfield and Chew.
Such numbers have resulted in a plethora of high-profile problems including moorland fires, litter mountains, anti-social behaviour, dog fouling and inconsiderate parking.
UU, together with Oldham Council and the RSPB, launched an action plan last November aimed at bringing “much needed relief” to local residents.
“There is absolutely no desire on our part to increase the number of visitors to Dovestone because the infrastructure is not there,” said Mr Gill during his presentation to locals at the Satellite Centre.
“It can’t take anymore; it’s full for many days of the years.
“So, we are trying to make it lower down the pecking order of places to visit.
“Our experience is bringing more people to the site, and you increase the number of idiots who don’t know how to behave. That makes the problem worse.
“We want people to enjoy it but respect it and behave while they are there.
“It’s a tough nut to crack and I don’t have all the magic answers.
“I know we had issues at Dovestone before Covid but since then the public seems to have discovered the countryside and visitor numbers have gone up massively.
“That added to new groups of people coming to visit the area who don’t know how to behave in the countryside. You can’t fix stupid sometimes.”
Mr Gill admitted there isn’t at present a way to facilitate expanding the current car park site at Dovestone and at Binn Green.
And he agreed the toilet block is “grotty and horrible.”
A previous proposal to build a visitors’ centre at Dovestone ended in failure.
“After exhaustive negotiations, it never happened,” Mr Gill admitted.
“When you have an immovable object, it is difficult to bring change around. It wasn’t for a lack of trying by the RSPB or ourselves to make it happen.”
Among the initiatives planned to tackle issues are: renewal of Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), introduction of ANPR cameras for car number plate recognition, increased volume size litter bins, additional CCTV coverage – already installed in some locations – warning signs to deflect people away when the site is at capacity, and marshalls on a more regular basis.
“We are not going to fix the problem; it is about managing it the best we can,” said Mr Gill.
Suggestions to help combat the problems include: taking direct ownership of the toilet facilities, increase car parking charges and visitor permits for Saddleworth and or Oldham residents.
GGRA chair, Dr Andrew Taylor, also a doctor with Oldham Mountain Rescue Team, said: “I recently visited Edale and the car park charge is £6.
“But the toilets are excellent, they are electronically controlled, electronic doors, water and lighting.
“If we charge £6 for parking we might be able to afford something like that but local people might have a problem.
“However, if you own a property in any of the French ski resorts and you pay rates, you receive a free ski pass.
“Could OMBC rate payers not get a Dovestone parking badge for free?”
Mr Gill replied: “That is a possibility though we haven’t got very accurate numbers of how far people come.
“How do you prove people are ratepayers of Oldham and it could be open to abuse?
“So, would people who live within a certain number of miles from Dovestone perhaps be entitled to a reduced fee? The idea is laudable though to try and target the further visitor.
“Car parking charges are in Oldham Council’s fiefdom. We have had several conversations with them and there seems to be a resistance to doing more about the charging regime because they don’t want to be seen to be excluding people if they double or treble the charges.
“We would like to try and improve our signage and communication and also get into the schools as well as the Countryside Code doesn’t appear to be on the curriculum.”
Mr Gill had previously addressed members of Saddleworth Parish Council approved Cllr Kevin Dawson’s motion to progress the project of installing permanent electronic ‘car park full’ signage near the Clarence Roundabout and on Holmfirth Road.
“Once the car park is full, turning traffic back before it gets to the end of Banks Lane or the car park itself – both potential points of conflict – will make life easier for both the Dovestone Marshalls and the visitors to the area who come by car,” said Cllr Dawson.
The Independent asked Oldham Council for a response and extra data but hadn’t received anything prior to publication.
However, they said: “The PSPO does not expire until October 2022.
“We will be running a period of consultation to extend the Order for another three years in Summer next year.”
Around the world, national, state and provincial parks don’t seem to have a problem with charging entry fees and season passes that support proper management, with paid Rangers and infrastructure (offices; toilets; litter etc). They also limit entry to sustainable numbers. If the people who manage Dovestone can implement such measures then they should hand over to those who can. The status quo isn’t acceptable. The problem won’t go away by ignoring it. If some people can’t afford the extra charges then they can go to places that they can afford.
Well said Mike. The partnership of UU, the RSPB and Oldham Council has simply provided an opportunity for buck-passing, incompetence and inertia, when we need leadership capable of getting a grip of this problem.
To correct my sentence above –
“If the people who manage Dovestone CAN’T implement such measures then they should hand over to those who can.”
Saddleworth constantly likes to try and ignore the fact that it’s part of Oldham part of town with a population of about a quarter of a million other people for whom Dovestones, the other reservoirs and adjacent countryside has always been a valuable, much appreciated and well loved part of the towns environment.
I have walked those footpaths and the other rights of way man and boy for over 50 years and seldom if ever seen any of the problems or abuses cited in the article, but I am equally used to them, (the Saddleworth/Uppermill people ,) constantly complaining about things that seem almost trivial when compared to the stuff that goes on elsewhere in Oldham.
Basically many of them would like to throw a moat round the place and lock out everyone else; I’m obviously completely unsympathetic to this.
Dovestones and the surrounding countryside are part of Oldham, (population now nearly 250,000,) and not just the special and exclusive reserve of the people of Saddleworth and we all have a right of access and of use that dates back as far as anyone can remember.
I’ve walked those hills man and boy for 50 years without any real issues other than the occasional and too often unfounded complaints or the , “locals,” about, “the townies,” as though Uppermill wasn’t 5 minutes drive away..
But given the rate at which the green belt between Oldham and Delph for example is now being built, I wouldn’t be in the bit least surprised if United Utilities didn’t consider, (if not now then at some point in the future,) putting some of the land they own up for development.
You can thank the MEN for driving lockdown visitors into Dovestone. A colleague from Macclesfield was praising their recommendation after a visit.
Agree about the buck passing and the many examples in national parks/sites of how to deter antisocial behaviour and control visitor numbers but Oldham Council couldn’t organise a book club in a library.