Transpennine Route Upgrade were all on the agenda for Saddleworth Parish Council’s general meeting this week.
The council’s June meeting (held on Monday 22) saw all but a small handful of councillors gather to discuss the latest issues affecting the borough, including newly-elected Mayor of Oldham Pam Byrne.
Last month’s parish meeting continued talks on a number of local developments in Saddleworth, including a six-month delay to the Saddleworth Neighbourhood Plan; repairs to the Civic Hall’s lift; and developing plans for a new health centre and pedestrian crossing in Uppermill.
The highlights of this week’s meeting are as follows:
Transpennine Route Upgrade enquiry continues
Proceedings around a new Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) are “biased towards Network Rail”, according to Mayor Pam Byrne.
It follows a public inquiry launched earlier this year, as plans for a new electrified route between Manchester and York forewarn major disruption across Saddleworth.
This includes the closure of Uppermill’s Moorgate Halt level crossing and Footpath 209, a remodel of Greenfield Station, and road closures for bridge work on Oldham Road.
“While we think the inspector is neutral, the way the proceedings proceed is definitely biased towards Network Rail,” said Mayor Byrne.
“The best part of two weeks has been their expert witnesses, and unless you’ve read all of the words they’re going to say in advance, you have to put your questions in before that witness comes – and we don’t think that’s right.
“Helen [Bishop] and I have done submissions, and so has Roger [Blackmore], but listening to some of the evidence they’ve given means that quite a bit of what I’ve written, I’d change, because it doesn’t fit what’s being said.”
The Independent previously reported that replacing Moorgate Halt with a footbridge would cost millions.
Diverting its neighbouring Footpath 209 to Footpath 244 was said to be equally eyebrow-raising, as no footbridge is set to be provided despite it being the most popular route over the tracks.
The Moorgate Footbridge Campaign Group have instead called for a higher footbridge to be built so construction can take place underneath. This would involve 18 steps.
Meanwhile, the diversion to Footpath 244 proposes an additional 67 steps to be added to the route – which Mayor Bryne said would be 0.7 metres too wide, and which don’t account for a cluster of trees under a Tree Protection Order.
In this week’s meeting, Mayor Byrne said the plans submitted by Network Rail were inaccurate: “They’ve drawn the map wrongly. They’ve got Footpath 244 going around the big red house onto the towpath, and not coming out into Odham Road where it actually does.”
Cllr. Helen Bishop added: “They also had this CGI video, which went all the way down [the route] and then stopped just by after the Wicken’s Underline Bridge – but didn’t do the bit where it enters on a 30 mile an hour stretch of road with no pavement.”
Regarding road closures, Cllr. Lynne Thompson raised concerns that Diggle in particular had been underrepresented in discussions.
Major construction would mean drivers would be forced to drive up Boat Lane – a dirt track – and cross a grass field, risking cutting off parts of the area from reliable transport.
This will be raised during the ongoing public enquiry, which is set to continue until 30 June. Saddleworth Parish Council will be next be making their case on Thursday (2 July) at the Civic Hall in Uppermill.
Calls for Saddleworth Banking Hub continue
Two years since its first announcement, Saddleworth Parish Council are continuing calls for a local Banking Hub to be established in Uppermill.
It comes as Saddleworth MP Debbie Abraham wrote to the council to about furthering the issue with ATM service LINK, and determined that the new hub should be reviewed for all of Saddleworth.
Since 2015, more Oldham East and Saddleworth have lost over 75% of their banking facilities, and Saddleworth now has no dedicated banks at all.
“Saddleworth has, as we all know, a similar population to Stalybridge, which does have a banking hub,” said Cllr. Jeff Garner. “But the journey times for Saddleworth people to obtain banking advice are much greater than in Stalybridge.
“I propose that we write back to [Debbie Abrahams MP] to emphasise the point that Saddleworth needs face-to-face banking advice, and that Saddleworth Parish Council have offered the Civic Hall as a base for weekly sessions.”
The council also raised the issue of the lack of cash machines in the borough, and called the lack of access to free 24 hour machines “ridiculous”.
“The cash machine at Lees is still out of action, but there aren’t many areas where you can access cash 24 hours a day,” said Cllr. Bishop.
“For anyone in Grotton or Springhead or that end of Saddleworth, Lees would be their nearest one – there’s only one cash machine where they can get their cash outside of a shop being open, which is quite ridiculous.
“I don’t know if it’s actually been said that that machine is going to stop being used,” she continued, “however it’s been out for such a long time. If it’s going to stop being used, they should carry out an Access to Cash Review at that point.”
The council are now writing back to Debbie Abrahams ahead of her next meeting with LINK for these points to be included in a fresh review for a Saddleworth banking hub.
A ‘slightly different’ Yorkshire Day
This year’s Yorkshire Day is set to take a “slightly different structure”, according to Cllr. Michael Powell.
Taking place the Sunday closest to August 1, Yorkshire Day aims to celebrate Saddleworth’s Yorkshire history, culture and identity.
There will no longer be a fair, dedicated market, or procession at Uppermill, as this year’s date – 2 August – is now shared with the Saddleworth Marina’s pop-up markets.
The pop up markets will, however, be “happening with a Yorkshire Day slant”, according to Cllr. Powell, and the traditional ceremony at the statue is still set to continue without change.
The council are now on the lookout for a band to provide music for the ceremony.
Cllr. Powell said: “There will still be a market, and there will still be a Yorkshire Day with the traditional celebrations, but it will look slightly different this year.
“We are working quite hard to try and secure the long-term future of the project, so hopefully next ear it will be possible that we’ll be able to get back onto the field with the usual fair.”
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