2025-08-31-accounts

Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum (RMNF) Legal & Administrative Information

Status

Our organisation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Charity Commission Registered Number 1165601

Structure

David Olusoga - Honorary President

Andy Meek – Trustee & Chair

John Newcombe – Trustee & Treasurer Alan Rawsterne - Trustee & Secretary Frances Healey – Trustee Nigel Morrell – Trustee Reverend Morley Morgan - Trustee Stuart Davies – Trustee

Councillor Peter Winkler – Trustee

Registered Office

Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum CIO

C/O Norden Old Library 782 Edenfield Road

ROCHDALE

Greater Manchester OL12 7RB

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank

P.O. Box 250

Delf House Southway

Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

Independent Examiner

This year we will not seek independent examination due to the low number of transactions. Please note, our accounts are open to anyone who has a legitimate reason to review them.

2025 - RMNF Annual General Meeting - Trustees' Annual Report

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Reports from Trustees and Officers of the Forum

Structure, Governance and Management

Trustees manage the affairs of the CIO and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the CIO. In exercising their powers and duties, charity Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charities Commission.

It is the duty of each Trustee:

• a) To exercise his or her powers and to perform his or her functions as a Trustee of the CIO in the way he or she decides in good faith would be most likely to further the purposes of the CIO; and

• b) To exercise, in the performance of those functions, such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstances having regard in particular to:

• i. any special knowledge or experience that he or she has or holds himself or herself out as having; and

• ii. if he or she acts as a charity Trustee of the CIO in the course of a business or profession, to any special knowledge or experience that it is reasonable to expect of a person acting in the course of that kind of business or profession.

Members of the CIO have no liability to contribute to its assets and no personal responsibility for settling its debts and liabilities.

There are no paid employees of the CIO and the value of services provided by volunteers is not incorporated into financial reporting.

Including Trustees and Officers there are currently 42 members of the CIO with voting rights. This is one more than last year, and it is worth noting we have seen membership of the forum Facebook page grow to 1,100 members. We have also seen an increased number of people registering on the Forum website, which currently stands at 63, the majority of whom have no voting rights.

Recruitment & Appointment of Trustees

At every Annual General Meeting of the members of the CIO, one-third of the charity Trustees retire from office. If the number of charity Trustees is not three, or a multiple of three, then the number nearest to one-third shall retire from office, but if there is only one charity Trustee, he or she shall retire. The charity trustees to retire by rotation shall be those who have been longest in office since their last appointment or reappointment.

Any vacancies so arising may be filled by the decision of the members at the Annual General Meeting and the members or the charity Trustees may at any time decide to appoint a new charity Trustee, whether in place of a charity Trustee who has retired or been removed, or as an additional charity Trustee, provided that the limit of 12 charity Trustees is not exceeded.

In February this year Cecile Biant resigned as RMNF Honorary Vice President, so that she able concentrate on her other priorities. This year Andy Meek, Nigel Morrell and Alan Rawsterne will resign as Trustees at the 2025 Annual General Meeting, and they all wish to be considered for re-election.

2025 - RMNF Annual General Meeting - Trustees' Annual Report

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Forum Objects

The CIO is established for the public benefit without distinction of ability, sex, sexual orientation, race or political, religious or other opinions for the following purposes in the Area of Benefit known as Rooley Moor, which shall hereinafter be referred to as the Neighbourhood.

The objects of the CIO are:

1. To promote high standards of planning and architecture in or affecting the Area of Benefit.

2. To educate the public in the geography, history, natural history, culture and architecture of the Area of Benefit.

3. To secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features or areas of historic or public interest in the Area of Benefit.

In furtherance of the above objects but not otherwise the Trustees shall have the power to establish a Neighbourhood Forum for the Area of Benefit to promote and or improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of the area.

Accounting Policy, Income & Funds Structure

Income arises from restricted funds (grants), unrestricted donations and recovered Gift Aid.

Expenditure is recognised when an invoice is received, or payment made.

There are no tangible fixed assets.

The Reserves Policy of Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum CIO is to hold reserves from unrestricted funds to cover our known annual liabilities (such as insurance, hire of meeting rooms, website costs, etc.). £400 has been proposed to cover these costs. The reserves policy will be reviewed at each Annual General Meeting.

Achievements & Performance

This year’s financial transactions are not significant, but we’ve not been dormant, and we continue to explore opportunities to help us deliver our charitable objectives.

Off road vehicles - Operation Dragster continues as a combined initiative between Greater Manchester Police, Lancashire Police, West Yorkshire Police, United Utilities, and many local volunteers. The objective of Operation Dragster to reduce the growing volume of illegal offroad activity in and around our area that is so badly damaging the moorland, attracting fly tipping and other types of antisocial behaviour, has been severely undermined by the insistence of Cubico Sustainable Investments to use Catley Lane Head and the Mary Towneley Loop National Trail Bridleway as an access route to erect a meteorological mast at Top of Leach - more of that later. Following the repair of the barrier and gate on the bridleway at the Rooley Moor Road / Knacks Lane junction, it was vandalised again a few weeks after its reinstatement and is now beyond economical repair. Unfortunately, legitimate users of the moorland remain at risk through reckless behaviour and / or threats of violence from illegal off roaders. We are grateful to all involved in Operation Dragster, although it’s disappointing to note that the number of illegal motorised vehicles being reported accessing the moor seems to be increasing.

The “Norden, Bamford and Heywood Bridleways Association” (NBHBA) Section 38 application to the Secretary of State went to inquiry to seek permission and the Endenfield Road fence was approved with conditions. We believe those conditions have been implemented and the Section 38 case is completed and closed.

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Moorland Restoration - Our commitment to preserving our upland moorlands from onerous development and aggressive misuse is constant, ongoing, and worthwhile. The forum trustees are disappointed to note a recent application from Cubico Sustainable Investments for the development of a wind farm that includes Rooley Moor.

Planning - The trustees resolutely support the forum's primary objective, to promote high standards of planning and architecture in or affecting the Neighbourhood Area. We remain committed to preserving the Conservation Area’s, Green Belt and Common Land in and around the Neighbourhood Area, which includes the habitations and surrounding landscapes.

The trustees have carefully considered the role of local planning and how Planning Officers work with and on behalf the local communities they are tasked to serve. The forum continues to try and be actively engaged in specific areas of direct concern and monitors weekly planning applications that are lodged with the Council.

The forum trustees have submitted a response to the Regulation 18 Notice of intention to update the Rochdale Local Plan and Call for Sites.

Scout Moor II Wind Farm - The proposed Scout Moor II Wind Farm has been a major area of focus for RMNF over the past year, particularly given its potential impact on the moorland landscape, heritage assets, and the wider setting of the Cotton Famine Road and Rooley Moor.

A new planning application for the scheme is now live and has been formally submitted to both Rossendale Borough Council and Rochdale Borough Council. RMNF is monitoring both applications closely and trying to engage with each Local Planning Authority to ensure that community concerns and heritage considerations are fully represented.

The Forum’s position remains opposed to any development on Scout Moor and that the applicant must robustly address:

• Noise and the unacceptable risks to health and of rendering homes uninhabitable due to Wind Turbine Acoustic Pollution (WTAP).

• The cumulative landscape and visual impact on the South Pennine uplands, including key viewpoints from Rooley Moor and the Mary Towneley Loop.

• The potential harm to the historic environment, particularly the Cotton Famine Road.

• The ecological sensitivity of the peatland habitats and the implications for carbon storage, water management, and biodiversity.

• The need for transparent and participatory decision ‑ making processes.

Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone - The Government has formally ruled out a charging Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester. Instead, the Greater Manchester Combined ‑ Authority will deliver an investment led Clean Air Plan focused on cleaner buses, taxi ‑ upgrades, and traffic flow improvements. Whilst we consider this matter to be closed, we will continue to monitor the process.

Catley Lane Head Conservation Area - We are pleased to report that a permanent CCTV installation has been provided to help reduce antisocial behaviour in the area. We continue to pursue the following initiatives:

• Reinstatement of a bus service to the village, and

• Traffic calming measures either side of the village.

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Social media - We are asking organisations and the public not to advertise on our sites. However, the forum trustees are happy to allow appropriate content from “not for profit” organisations that will help people.

We continue to work with other organisations and are pleased to be members of Macc , a charity whose purpose is quite simply the city of Manchester. They encourage, support, and help to develop voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations to allow local people to have a real influence over the places and communities in which they live.

We also continue with our membership of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Lancashire Local History Federation, the official co-ordinating body for local history in the County Palatine of Lancaster.

Lancashire and Greater Manchester Local Lists – Our nominations for the Cotton Famine Road and the Royal Ordinance Factory, Healey Hall have still not been processed for inclusion and we note as of December 2024 both websites are temporarily closed to the public.

We continue to make our heritage trail leaflets freely available throughout the borough so people can take exercise and enjoy the wide-open spaces of the surrounding moorland.

Cotton Famine Road Project - Our work with History in Action CIC and writer Mick Martin to commission a community arts project to meet our education object came to nothing. Unfortunately, our aim to create and undertake a community arts project was not considered a suitable application for National Lottery Heritage Funding.

Governance

Policies and Procedures – We have reviewed and maintained our Safeguarding policy and procedure.

Public Liability Insurance (PLI) - Has been renewed to allow forum meetings, activities, and events to continue.

Health & Safety - There are no issues to report.

Trustee training – There has been no training.

Grants & funding – There have been no grants, however we have collected donations on behalf of the Friends of the Moorland and the Say No to Scout Moor 2 group in support of their position to oppose the Scout Moor 2 Wind Farm planning application.

Can you help?

• Heritage Open Day’s (HOD) – The Trustees would like to explore how we can involve the area in future HOD events.

• Want to be a RMNF Trustee? - We are looking for new Trustees to join RMNF - Trustees are responsible for controlling the charity’s management and administration. They are responsible for ensuring our charity’s income and property is used only for the purposes set out in our governing document and for no other purpose. Trustees have a responsibility to act reasonably and prudently in all matters relating to the charity and they have a responsibility to act in the best interests of the charity.

Please contact the Forum Secretary (email: [e-mail]) if you have any ideas you would like to share or if you would like to get more involved.

2025 - RMNF Annual General Meeting - Trustees' Annual Report

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Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Accounts

Year End: 31-Aug-25

2024/25 2024/25 Restricted Restricted Adj DQAG £ £	2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 Restricted Restricted ORMM SN2 Unrestrict ed Total £ £ £ £
Opening Balance B/F from Summary 2023-24 -1 967 2,292 0 389 3,646 INCOME Gift Aid 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grants 0 0 0 0 0 0 Projects 0 0 0 0 0 0 Donations In 0 0 0 1,501 0 1,501
Total Income 0 0 0 1,501 0 1,501
EXPENDITURE Consultant Costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 Training 0 0 0 0 0 0 Room Hire 0 0 0 0 0 0 Website 0 -144 0 0 0 -144 Insurance 0 -96 0 0 0 -96 Donations Out 0 0 0 0 0 0 Printing & Stationery 0 0 0 -270 0 -270 Projects 0 0 -1,194 0 0 -1,194 In Bloom 0 0 0 0 0 0 Misc Expenses 0 0 0 0 -44 -44
Total Expenditure 0 -240 -1,194 -270 -44 -1,748
Closing Balance -1 727 1,098 1,231 345 3,399

CHECK:

TRUE