Rush declares war on off road bikers!

Heywood Councillor Peter Rush is calling for the Council to "tighten up" on those who cause havoc by riding off road bikes. Councillor Rush is working with his Liberal Democrat colleagues on formulating a "Notice of Motion" aimed at getting tough on those who 'use our open spaces as racetracks.'

Councillor Rush said, "Enough is enough - one the main complaints that I receive from local residents is about people who recklessly ride off road bikes in our open spaces and on the streets of Heywood. It's high time that the Council prioritised taking action against those who use our open spaces as a racetrack. Areas like The Gort and Crimble suffer from these foolish people. I would also question what parent in their right mind would let their child, unsupervised on these bikes. We hope to put a motion to the next meeting of the Borough Council to send a clear message that we will not just watch and let these people wreak havoc on our open spaces. This motion would ask the Council work more with the police and use existing legislation like Anti-Social Behaviour Orders to dramatically reduce the problems in Heywood."

I recently held a surgery at All Soul's Church, residents from Harefield Drive attended - complaining about the problem not just on their road but on St Annes Gardens, Chadwick Lane, Bedford Street and Green Lane. These are people who cannot even sit in their gardens because of the noise of these anti-social vehicles. I ask anyone who sees these illegal bikers to call the police on 0161 872 5050 - please don't just ignore the problem. The problems at Caseys is getting worse and I am calling on them to take some responsibility and fence their land off so that these bikers cannot access the site."

Figures from Greater Manchester Police reveal that they received nearly 26,000 complaints in the last year alone, there have also been 5 deaths across Greater Manchester. Peter continued, "I don't want to be killjoy but we do need to tackle this escalating problem seriously - we need to educate children and raise the awareness of the crimes and consequences relating to the anti-social use of off-road bikes. Parents also need to be aware that persistent offenders in Heywood may receive ASBO's (Anti-social behaviour orders) if their children misuse off-road bikes. We also need to look at parents exercising more responsibility and not buying their children these bikes. The police have the power to seize and destroy off-road bikes being used illegally, I am calling for the people of Heywood to help me by identifying hotspots. The Council needs to look at a registration scheme so that offenders can be identified more easily - I am determined to stamp out this growing menace. I have raised this issue with the Police and the Council and it is vital that there is more joint working - that is the only way the people of Heywood can reclaim our streets and open spaces back."