Survey 2016 results

Survey 2016 results + analysis

The top ten local issues for the people of Longdendale

1st Building on green belt threat 82 %

2nd Traffic-overloaded roads + pollution 81 %

3rd Mottram M67 industrial estate 76 %

4th Poor state of road repairs 71 %

5th Dictatorial Council (community concerns over-ruled) 61 %

6th Tameside poor health (league bottom) 57 %

7th Community facilities loss/threat 54 %

8th Rising crime + lack of police 53 %

9th Weight restriction on lorries needed 43 %

10th Bus problems: Evening/weekend buses to Broadbottom axed; no buses from Hollingworth to Hyde/Hattersley/Tameside hospital 35 %

To date 118 people have responded to our survey form, mainly delivered to 550 residents sampled from 43 streets throughout Longdendale (ie Broadbottom, Hattersley, Hollingworth and Mottram). Forms were also available for shoppers at Wood’s ironmongers. The above 9th and 10th-ranked issues are probably under-reported. They were flagged up so often by respondents that we redesigned a second form to include them. If this is taken into account, the “Weight restriction on lorries needed” issue rises to 5th place. We also asked if, among the issues people raised, there were any that they felt especially strongly about (see below). For other issues raised, see our website.

Issues residents felt strongly about – the most common one was the traffic/pollution issue, but in second place was the dictatorial Council! The third-most common strongly-felt issues were (jointly) the green-belt threat and the Mottram M67 industrial estate.

Other issues

From 10 to 33 % of residents flagged up each of the following: lack of choice of secondary schools; Tameside schools poor record; swimming pool issues; bin collections – bins too small etc; lack of local shops; litter/litter bins not emptied/ dog-fouling/fly tipping; Over 5 % of respondents flagged up speeding; lack of parking; inconsiderate/obstructive parking; frustration with lack of a by-pass. There were numerous less common responses, too many to feature here, but a selection include lack of facilities for young people/care for the aged/mental health support in the community; poor timing of traffic lights at non-peak times; lack of community organised events; lack of public toilets; bin-men not collecting bins from houses of elderly.

Comments

The green belt threat is the issue most residents are concerned about. Interestingly, this is so even for residents not directly affected (who live in 35 of the 43 streets surveyed) whose outlook is not on to or near the fields under threat. This shows that people value their green spaces, wherever they live. The traffic/pollution problem is a very close second, and the Mottram M67 industrial estate at third place is commonly perceived as a threat. Indeed these issues are all interlinked- with the loss of green belt to yet further development, the traffic and pollution from it will worsen, whether or not we get the by-pass.

There were locally-specific issues such as poor roads/pot-holes – high in incidence in Broadbottom; lack of parking (central Mottram) and obstructive parking (e.g. Ashworth Lane, Rushycroft); axing of bus services (Broadbottom) and lack of bus service (from Hollingworth to Hattersley/Hyde and Tameside hospital).

But the last word should go to Tameside Council – second-placed behind the above issues, the issue most people felt strongly about was perceiving the Council to be dictatorial, over-ruling community concerns. The community has not forgotten that Council planning decisions have been made against the wishes of a large number of community objections, relentlessly for several years.

We conclude

– see how the local election candidates are handling these issues. Are they genuinely representing the community voice, or are they fabricating what they want you to believe the issues are? Or confusing them with national issues over which they have no clout? Or, worse still, are they actually doing nothing for the community?