Information bulletin - Legal and Property Services Department April 2006

There follows some items from the Department’s workload which may be of interest to Members:-

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Conveyancing

A lease of the site of the new Platt Bridge Health Centre at Liverpool Road has been completed with the Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT enabling that development to proceed.

A disposal of land at Plane Avenue has been completed for a sum of over £1m.

Properties in Walthew Lane Platt Bridge have been acquired and will now be demolished.

The business of Positive Futures Ltd. In providing the Connexions service and other education and advice services was transferred to the Council with effect from 1 st April.

During March/April – 41 Right to Buy properties have been sold.

Common Law

Prosecutions

A number of successful Benefit Fraud, Overloading and School Attendance prosecutions have been completed.

There have been several successful prosecutions for street trading without a consent to trade. The majority of these prosecutions have been against individuals selling vehicles on the street. The sale of motor vehicles on the street has become a major problem within the last 12 months. Vehicles are often left parked and unattended in areas adjacent to main roads, often on grass verges, causing damage to the verge and nuisance to nearby residents. Legal Services are working with Community Protection in their efforts to reduce such incidences.

There have also been a number of successful prosecutions for fly-tipping which is another increasing problem in the Borough. Again Legal Services are working with Community Protection in their efforts to reduce fly-tipping and improve amenity.

A shopkeeper in Hindley was recently fined £5,000 with £580 costs for selling out of date food.

Travellers

Possession Orders have been secured in respect of a number of unauthorised encampments on Council-owned land in Platt Bridge, Goose Green, Ince, Poolstock and Pennington Country Park. In the case of travellers at Poolstock a warrant for their eviction also had to be secured. The travellers were on Westwood Park Drive and caused some disruption to works to construct the new road.

An unauthorised encampment on the highway at South Lancashire Industrial Estate was moved on by Greater Manchester Police.

There have been three unauthorised encampments on privately owned land in Platt Bridge which have caused considerable problems for residents. In each case the landowners were contacted and advised of the procedure necessary to remove the travellers. Legal Services together with Planning Enforcement worked with the landowners, local Councillors, the local MP and the Police to secure the removal of the travellers and the clean-up of the sites.

Traffic Orders

Work is progressing on a number of permanent traffic orders throughout the Borough.

A number of temporary orders to enable sewer works, carriageway resurfacing, bridge works and work to the Grand Arcade Scheme and Westwood Link Road, have been made.

A recent application to the Magistrates Court to stop up parts of Shrewsbury Close Hindley was successful. This will enable the footway to be moved away from sheltered accommodation.

Trees

Orders protecting trees at various sites throughout the Borough have been made including:-

Contracts

Work is progressing on a number of schemes including:-

Ombudsman

6 complaints are currently being investigated by the Ombudsman. 6 are being dealt with under the Council’s own Complaints Procedure. The Ombudsman has notified us of 7 complaints which she does not intend to pursue because they (a) fall outside her jurisdiction (b) local settlements have been reached or (c) the Ombudsman is satisfied with the Council’s response and decided that no further investigation is necessary.

ASSET MANAGEMENT SERVICE

Energy Management

The Council's annual energy bill is circa £3M per annum, and as such effective energy management plays an important role in the prudent management of the Councils budget.

The Asset Management Division of the department has long had an established Energy Management Unit who have promoted good management practices and the use of the latest technology in order to drive down costs.

To add to this a campaign to increase the awareness of energy costs and savings through good housekeeping is being developed with a view to it being launched across the Council by various methods over the next few weeks.

Water Street Multi Storey Car Park

Since the closure of the adjoining Co-Operative store a number of years ago the car park has not had the benefit of a passenger lift. Work is about to commence to install a lift that will be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and that will vastly improve the accessibility of the car park for all sectors of the community. It is anticipated that the new lift will be completed and in operation in early June.

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