Standfirst: LAST year investigative journalist KEN BENNETT spent weeks on the frontline of an unrelenting siege at one of Oldham’s favourite beauty spots. Now, at the dawn of a new year: Could it all happen again?

WHEN bespectacled, quietly spoken Dr Andrew Taylor speaks, people listen.

He has impressive credentials: A respected, life long local GP, a staunch member of the redoubtable Oldham Mountain Rescue Team for more than 40 years and chair of the influential Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents Association (GGRA).

OMRT’s dedicated team of volunteers spent an extraordinary 1,698 hours combating wild fires, most centred on moors above Dovestone reservoir last year.

Farmers tried desperately to protect livestock from visitors who ignored warnings, unleashed their dogs, set illegal barbecues and dumped rubbish.

The unprecedented increase in visitors, wooed by fine weather, left locals marooned in their homes by illegal parking.

Resourceful local police spearheaded a Dovestone Marshals scheme with the RSPB and UU, supporting a “successful partnership approach” with Oldham Council and the Peak District National Park.

And marshals will be on duty again this year from spring bank holiday weekend. But there are still major concerns.

“Dovestone and Chew Valley are the jewel in the crown of Saddleworth,” Dr Taylor explains.

“But they have been raped, pillaged, burned and devastated by milling hoards of unsympathetic visitors by car and developers, the threats from both of which will be greater in 2019.

“GGRA and the locals are very grateful for the marshals, but - as is ever the case where public need is high and administrative funds are low - there will be more unmet need here than met.

“Visitors are not restricted to weekends, high season or even to good weather. Many days and evenings over autumn and winter have seen residents of Hey Top unable to leave or access homes because of heavy traffic congestion.

“Locals and emergency vehicles were delayed by up to 40 minutes to proceed less than half a mile, often with a casualty on board.”

Residents have been asked to keep a calendar of incidents and of parking overload underlining the severity of the problems.

“Great attention will be placed on the signage - both traffic and fire/BBQ prohibition - leading up to the fire and BBQ season. Too many signs are a visual travesty but the need for them to give a clear message is paramount and obvious.”

And he says 2019 brings the renewed threat of “inappropriate development” at Fletchers Mill site with existing holiday lodges at already home of late night rowdiness.

But could the problems that cast a bitter shadow over the moors last year happen again?

Dr Taylor predicts: “The grass will be dry after only a week of good weather and young arsonists and barbecuers will return as days get warmer. Small fires will happen as a virtual certainty.

“A wildfire scenario is less likely but far from impossible, especially after a heatwave.

“No preventative measures have been taken, and it is unlikely that there has been any significant change in the emergency services preparations other than perhaps a readiness for a speedier and larger early response.

“All it takes is some dry grass and a source of ignition. The first dry week in spring will provide enough of last year’s grass in a dry enough state to support combustion.

“Nothing has changed in the prevention field with grazing, controlled burning and fire breaks still not permitted. Barbecues are still carried into the area; arsonist tendencies are very hard to suppress.

“It’s to be hoped the response to a similar wildfire situation in the future will be much improved in terms of speed of reaction, size of response and an improved grasp of the situation and its likely development.

“Even better would be to have training, tactics, better vehicles and equipment in place which are more appropriate to the wildfire scenario than were available in 2018.

“Given the financial constraints on emergency services, my guess is the speed and size of early response may be improved as a lesson learnt, but rural and wildfire training and new vehicles and dedicated equipment are most unlikely to be in place.”

Last year, I met Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s Mayor and Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, who promised to visit the beauty spot and see the issues first hand.

That invitation is still open ... but the clock is ticking.