Double Yellows In Dobcross Move Closer
Dobcross Square. Soon, those cars might not be allowed to park there.
The prospect of double yellow lines in Dobcross Square has moved a step closer. Parish councillors agreed at their meeting in Uppermill on Monday night to support the idea, which will now be considered by Oldham Council highways officials.
Under the proposals, the double yellows would be imposed on both sides of the Square, as well as a short distance down Woods Lane. The idea follows complaints from bus operators about parked cars making it difficult for their services to get through the square.
Cllr Royce Franklin told Monday’s meeting in Uppermill Civic Hall that First Manchester had threatened to stop running services through the centre of Dobcross if action wasn’t taken.
He added that Cllr Mike Buckley, who lives locally but wasn’t present at the meeting, had consulted informally with residents in the square and on Woods Lane. Cllr Franklin said: “The feeling he gets is that yellow lines should be imposed.”
Cllr Franklin conceded that there was “not overwhelming support” among residents for the idea, but added: “We feel we have a duty to preserve this bus service.”
Cllr Keith Begley, the current Chairman of the council, said he’d been driving through Dobcross Square recently because Platt Lane is closed. He said: “It’s very difficult because of double parking. I totally endorse the suggestion that cars should not park there.”
However, Cllr John Hudson expressed concern about the level of consultation carried out by Cllr Buckley. He said he believed there was “a lot of opposition” to the idea in Dobcross, adding: “More scrutiny needs to be given to these proposals.” Cllr Hudson also suggested that the complaints from First were nothing new: “It’s been on and off for 20 years, they’ve always grumbled that they can’t get through.”
Despite that intervention, councillors voted to back the idea, which will now be looked at in more detail by the Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership as well as Oldham Council highways officials.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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This sounds a bit odd (and familiar!), that despite the councillors having divided opinions and the fact there hasn’t been proper consultation with the Saddleworth people that were affected – that a vote from the Councillors would back the idea anyway.
Is there something missing from this report please, or is there some reason that things like this are being approved by the Parish Council?
For the record Cllrs Hudson, Atherton and myself did NOT support this. I agreed with Cllr Hudson that ‘more scrutiny be given to the proposals’.
I think that Oldham Council as well the Parish are falling down badly on consulting local people on a wide range of issues – not just traffic.
I agree with Nick, this looks like a proposal that hasn’t had the discussions with the residents of Dobcross, is this right ???
i live in dobcross and have to drive up and down the square sometimes twice a day, it is difficult with the parking on blind bends etc and often i see the bus stuggling so much and causing a log of jams, even got into a row with another vehicle when cars are double parked on who has to reverse etc etc. I agree it should be consulted on the local people who do park there, i understand it will be awkard for them to find another parking spot etc, but i also have to say that i look forward to the yellow lines.
I’ve just read in the Saddleworth Extra that Cllr Begley said,
“If residents haven’t got the good sense to park somewhere else and suffer, perhaps imposed yellow lines is a good idea for the greater good.”
If this is really what he said, I cannot think of a more patronising and offensive statement to come from an elected official.
99.9% of residents have got the sense to park sensibly. A very nice bus driver, who was stuck for some time the other week, told me that the car blocking her way was a repeat offender. I told her where the owner lived so that she could ask him to move. She said she wasn’t prepared to speak to him as in the past he had refused to move his car out of the way saying, “I pay my car tax, I can park where I like.” The man is clearly selfish and unreasonable.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to tackle the minority rather than legislate unnecessarily for the majority? I thought the political tide was turning away from being a nanny state.
It is already a contravention of the Highway Code to park on a blind bend or to cause an obstruction. Why not enforce the existing rules, rather than ‘imposing’ yellow lines which do not seem to be what the residents want?
Double deckers are not suitable for the narrow lanes though Dobcross and other Saddleworth villages. A smaller bus would be more appropriate, especially as the bus usually empty.
On the point in the report above regarding Cllr Buckley saying he had consulted the residents informally, this is true in as much on Sunday (the day before the Parish Council meeting), he mentioned over the garden fence that leaflets were going to be coming round asking for our views. Surely this wasn’t enough of a consultation for him to represent the views of the village to the Parish Council.
I would have more respect for the Parish Council if they canvassed the opinions of residents themselves, as well as listening to a fellow councillor’s anecdotes about using the village centre as a rat run.
I’m afraid that is a fair report from Richard (as always), Cllr Begley did indeed utter those words and Cllr Bagley was really asleep for almost all the meeting.
With only 13 out of 20 Parish Councillors bothering to turn up !!
Saddleworth Parish Council is in a dire state and desperately needs new blood, energy , ideas and a commitment to the local community.
Please Please if you are interested in standing as an Independent do contact me or if you want to stand for a political party I will put you in contact the relevant party officers.
But if you care about Saddleworth please think seriously about standing in May – things can’t go on like this !
You can contact me via my website – via the Saddleworth News directory.
I have lived in Dobcross for 11 years and the issue of parking has got considerably worse over the last couple of years. This is partly down to, as Michael said, a minority of inconsiderate drivers who insist on regularly parking on blind bends (at the narrowest part of Woods Lane close to the Square), and also the re-introduction of double decker buses.
These selfish drivers should be targeted as it’s always the same people, but I also think that First buses also have to take some responsibility too. When they used to use the single decker buses there weren’t these problems. Given the fact that there are rarely ANY passengers on the bus, and that it rarely even gets half full on its journey to Oldham, then changing to a single decker is an obvious solution.
As we would be directly affected by the possible introduction of yellow lines it would have been nice for Cllr Buckley to consult with us and other residents, but this was not done. Therefore before this decision is passed by people who have no interest in our village, ALL residents should be properly consulted – as it is us and our beautiful village that will suffer.
It is obvious that some residents wont like the proposals and as usual it is the selfish arrogant ones spoiling it for everyone else. I dont think this should be a shock about the double yellow lines proposals, the people who cause these parking proplems have known about this for several years. Surely COMMON SENSE should tell these people that double parking and on bends might just cause problems to other drivers especially buses. I think the time for talking has passed and action is needed.
It’s all a bit pointless, really – the bus service is going to go whether there are double yellows or not. Not enough traffic to sustain it.
As for the repeat parking offender, I hope a fire engine has to get past him one day.
Ken Hulme..Let us leave aside the parking issue for a moment and look at you. Your snide, unkind and unwarranted remarks about Cllr Phil Bagley (a man who has given many years of service to the people of Saddleworth without thought of self, having been close to death on at least two occasions and still tries to serve those who elected him) once again highlights the mean spirit within.
Yet again all you have to offer is abuse and criticism, with no viable alternatives proposed. The reason for the yellow lines is simple, a selfish minority endangering lives purely in order to park that 50 yards closer to their front door.
To comment on Michael’s point above
“It is already a contravention of the Highway Code”, correct, it is, but these people pay no attention to this and so hopefully the double yellow lines, with the possible enforcement action of fines, will help curb their selfish tendencies.
To those residents of the area who are dead set against the proposed yellow lines, I wonder if your attitude would be the same if your house was on fire and the lack of consideration of certain people meant the fire service could not get through…or if you had a heart attack and needed an ambulance…
As a bus user, all I can say to those who obviously never use the bus is that you want to try getting a seat when the bus is taking people (including many local children) to and from school and work.
Long time resident I’m afraid Saddleworth News was right to report that Cllr Bagley was asleep for much of the last Parish Council meeting. I just don’t see how Richard or I can be accused of ‘snide, unkind or unwarranted’ remarks – just reporting a simple fact.
As for the Yellow lines issue I simply supported Cllr Hudson’s call for ‘proper’ consultation with local residents.
Why is it that calls for greater transparency and public consultation in decision making – particularly on traffic issues – be it in Dobcross, Uppermill or Delph is met with this sort of hysterical and abusive response from our local Lib Dems ?
Steady on Long Time Resident!
I’m sure that Cllr Bagley is a good man has indeed done great things for Saddleworth, and those are not in question.
I’m not so sure Cllr Hulme has been particularly snide or unkind in this case about Cllr Phil Bagley to point out the fact that he was asleep for part of the meeting – I’ve heard separate reports confirming this.
To be fair, I think that there are probably many of us who may have dropped off an inopportune moments (myself included!), but it does raise the question about whether Parish Council Meetings are the kind of place where this kind of thing should happen?
It does seem to me that the Parish Council could do with a bit of a shake up (in one way or another!) and perhaps making better use of something like the Internet in order to better communicate and consult with the good people of Saddleworth.
By the way, good on them for their great new web site – www.saddleworthparishcouncil.org.uk/ although I think it has the potential to do so much more to interact with the community.
Just to clarify something. The reference to Cllr Bagley nodding off during the council meeting was actually at the end of this article – www.saddleworthnews.com/?p=5661 – about the decision to stop the tourist bus service to Dove Stone.
I didn’t want to appear cruel by mentioning it, especially as he is elderly and has suffered poor health. However, Cllr Bagley was asleep during two crucial votes on the future of the scheme, which were both tied at 6-6. Clearly, had he been awake, he could have decided the issue one way or the other. Therefore, a decision on whether to spend thousands of pounds of our money on a project was directly impacted by the fact one of our elected officials was asleep (and several others were not even there). I’m afraid I felt that was too important to leave out of the article.
Good fair and honest reporting.
can i ask the residents of dobx to pay mywages the next time i am late for work cos the bus was stuck in your village