Riddle of the little black box is solved

Reporter: Ken Bennett
Date published: 14 August 2015


PUZZLED locals in Denshaw have been reassured they’re not being spied on.

Residents raised concerns around the appearance of a pole at the corner of the Denshaw crossroads between roads leading to Oldham and Newhey., on which a black, solar-powered box was installed last week

Alan Roughley, a former Saddleworth and Oldham councillor and chairman of Denshaw Community Association, said:” There is no label on the pole, no camera lens you can see and no indication as to what it is doing there — but clearly it is sensing something. Oldham Council Highways deny all knowledge, but it is a hazard, being in the middle of the pavement. Does anybody have a clue what is going on?”

Almost a year ago a similar box was isntalled on a pole on the verge at Oldham Road, near Grains Bar.

But an answer came from Transport for Greater Manchester. The boxes are part of a region-wide network and are solar powered Bluetooth units.

“Most of our sensors are on traffic signals but in places where there are no signals, we have to install a pole.”

The sensors record bus journey times by picking up transmissions from individual buses. Bluetooth receivers operate only over very short distances.