Last nights public meeting received an update from Save Heaton Park Campaigners on progress and latest developments in the campaign.

It’s now expected to be likely that the application will go before Manchester City Councils Planning Committee in March.

The packed St.Margarets Church House, saw a video presentation featuring another  Goals soccer centre and more  details about the planns submitted were provided.

What is clear now both from the plans submitted and comments from some Manchester Labour Councillors is that this is not just about whether commercial sports ventures are appropriate in this or any other park, but whether it is right to develop our green open spaces at all - as a matter of principle.

If this proposal gets the go ahead then it could open the flood gates to commercial development of our parks like never before. It’s similar to the sale of school playing fields in the 70’s and 80’s which is now recognised as having a devastating affect on sports development in Britain - especially team sports.

This now is a line in the sand, I wonder how many other commercial organisations are watching and waiting for the Goals soccer application?

In 10 years time - how much more of Heaton park will have been developed as a result? How many other parks will have faced development?

It’s not about being a killjoy - it’s about acting responsibly for future generations, as guardians for our green legacy. Something Manchester City Council was supposed to be. Something I still hope they will be.

Prestwich Area Partnership met last night and in so doing we welcomed the new Partnership manager - Rose De’, who has replaced Carran O’Grady.

Some readers will recall that virtually everyone from all sides of the political spectrum and none were opposed to this move by Bury Council. But a couple of officers along with the Councils Tory leadership thought it was a good idea and the majority view was therefore ignored, leaving us with a shameful decision that has undoubtedly damaged the Area Partnerships in Bury.

After welcoming Rose I paid tribute to Carran’s work over the past 8 years and then proposed the following motion which was passed overwhelmingly:

“Prestwich Area Partnership deplores the recent unwarranted interference in the management of Prestwich Area Partnership and believe the unnecessary rotation of Area Partnership Managers at this time will undermine the effectiveness of the Partnership at a crucial time.We insist that any future changes be introduced only after full and proper consultation with the Area Partnership.”

I hope that this motion now draws a line under this shambolic mishandling of area partnership affairs. I have to confess though that I am now highly sceptical of this Tory administrations committments to the Local Area Partnerships innitiative.

That was followed by a statement on gritting services during the recent heavy snow fall and cold snap. This was delivered by Guy Berry, the Councils management board representative on the Prestwich Area Partnership. I had requested someone from Highways, preferably actually involved in the Gritting service - this request was denied by Bury Council. In any case the report was useful, confirming as it did the streets that are scheduled for gritting and outlining the policy and how it was compromised by the excessive snow, excessive cold and shortage of grit/salt.

Later in the meeting we received an enlightening report from Rev. Steven Williams, Priest in charge at St.Gabriels, Bishops Road about the work of Churches Together in Prestwich. We also had a crime update from Inspector Ryecroft who highlighted an incrfease in anti-social behaviour in the area.

Finally we approved grants to the Clough Centenary Committee, the Creative Living Centre and Polefield Tenants & Residents Association.

All in all an excellent meeting, albeit poorly attended by the public. Next meeting 6.30, March 18th, Church Lane Community Centre.

As the full scale of the horror that is the Haiti earthquake begins to hit home, I would urge everyone to spare whatever they can to back the Disasters Emergency Committee Haiti Appeal. Every little helps.

You can donate online by going to their web site here .

Due to the huge public outcry Goals Soccer Centres have failed to present their plans to Manchester City Council Planning Committee twice but have now submitted a 3rd set of plans and ethy don’t get any better (see below).

They are trying everything they can to get these plans approved. It’s up to us to stop them.
They have tried and failed in other parks. We must fight them every inch of the way.

Goals have been stopped before

Regents Park - REJECTED
Mordern Park -REJECTED

Lets stop them in Heaton Park and make it three nil for all those people who love open
parkland.

We urge you to object to this new planning application
The new planning application from Goals includes raising the level of the pitches by
80 centimeters which is almost a metre higher than they were originally planned. Making this blot on the landscape even more obvious.

Additionally security fencing is also planned. This physical and visual barrier will effectively cut off this area of parkland and thereby detract from the special character of this area of the park.

You need to send your objections to Manchester City Council by 3rd February 2010 If you have already sent in an objection during the last consultation period you will still need to send in another objection.

A - Sign the Online Petition HERE

If you’ve already signed - find TWO friends to sign! - Ask them to join the “Save Heaton Park” Facebook Group.

Here’s the link to the petition to send to a friend in an email.
http://www.saveheatonpark.org.uk/?page_id=2

B - Download and email / send in an objection letter.

Download the letter here - you can amend this letter to include your own words and objectsion.

Email your objection to r.griffin@manchester.gov.uk

C - Write your own Objection Letter

Quoting Application No: 090370/FO/2009/N1

and send to:

Peter Babb
Head of Planning
Manchester City Council
P.O. Box 463
Town Hall Extension
Manchester
M60 3NY

D - Attend the Save Heaton Park Meeting
Find out what has been happening with the campaign.

Monday 25 January 2010
7.00pm Church House (St Margaret’s Road, Opposite the Church), Prestwich.

Thank you for all your support so far!

The Liberal Democrats today set out plans to bring a quarter of a million empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 jobs.

There are over 760,000 empty properties across England which are no longer used as homes but can be brought back into use with some investment. People who own these homes will get a grant or a cheap loan to renovate them so they can be used: grants if the home is for social housing, loans for private use.

Across Bury there is a staggering 1840 empty properties laying idle which could be used to meet local housing needs.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South commented,

“I welcome this pledge. Empty property is an issue that this Labour Government has clearly failed to address in any adequate manner at all. In one street of Holyrood Ward of Prestwich alone I know of 2 properties that have been left empty, to rot for years.

“This situation cannot be allowed to continue and I am positive this election pledge would have a dramatic in dealing with empty properties across the country.” 

The plans form part of the economic stimulus package outlined as a core principle of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto. In the first year of the new Parliament, the party would redirect over £3.6bn of spending to create jobs and build up Britain’s infrastructure. In the following years this money will be redirected to other Lib Dem spending priorities and reducing the structural deficit.

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Last night I attended Bury’s Environment, Economy & Transport Scrutiny Commission. Unsurprisingly the recent weather and Bury’s handling of the gritting of our roads (or not) dominated much of the meeting.

I raised concerns that the Council appeared to have difficulties trying to cope with bad weather when it was affecting the whole Borough simultaneously and that their gritting strategy seemed to reflect this, this was denied by officers.

I mentioned that we had been informed that due to the weather being so bad in Ramsbottom and surounding area that extra attention had to be given to that area in order to maintain main roads open. I suggested that this seemed to lead to less gritting in certain areas of Prestwich and Whitefield which received unusually large snowfalls. 

I also asked why the Longfield Precinct hadn’t been properly gritted, and officers appeared puzzled and said that it should have been, I have asked for this to be investigated.

Finally following another councillors concerns about keeping schools open, I suggested that Schools in difficult (non-gritting) locations should perhaps be supplied with their own gritting bin to help them keep their areas and frontage clear and safe. This seemed to be taken on board by officers.

With Government instructions to reduce gritting by 40% to conserve salt stocks , we better hope we don’t have any more bad weather for a while - preferably next winter!

Meanwhile Bury Council have recently produced a Gritting policy which explains the hows and why’s of where Bury Grits where it does. It’s currently a draft policy only as it is being consulted on, so if you have any comments to make please let the Council know asap.

You can read the draft policy here: burymbc-draft-gritting-policy.pdf

If you have Prestwich specific issues you want to raise, by all means let your local councillors know, or attend next weeks Prestwich Area Partnership meeting at Sedgley Park School at 6.30pm - the item will be on the agenda. 

I know we are obsessed about the weather in this country but really after dominating every news bulletin for the whole week I really don’t think it’s news anymore.

I am sick to the back teeth of turning on the TV to find out what’s happening in the world only to find news anchors telling us how cold it’s been and what chaos it’s causing today. As if that is not bad enough we are then shunted off to a variety of locations around the country which now all include a visit to the salt mines of cheshire, a field somewhere in the home counties and an assortment of stranded/kids having fun/schools closed/stiff upper lip reports. Aaaaaarggh!

Combined with the nightly concerns over whether the grit/salt will last out and (now) whether the gas will last it is starting to get a bit (news) desperate.

To make matters worse the news editors are clearly desperately searching for a new angle or development resulting from the “big freeze” as it has been dubbed. Last night ITV news decided to go with the “As cold as the North Pole” angle with a list of current temperatures in “traditional” cold spots thrown in as proof. The news reader was almost starting to sound proud of our great temperatures as much as to say finally we’re beating the foreigners at the weather! The quality of our weather is obviously something of national pride.

But where next? If we keep going down this route where do we go from here. Here are my top ten potential headlines for the week ahead.

1. Government to consider Igloos to solve housing crisis!
2. White-out Britain heralds new Ice Age. (The Ice age slogan has been much favoured in the past - overdue an outing this time - you heard it here first)
3. Cameron calls on Brown to explain dithering over weather
4. Brown says Cameron doesn’t even have policy on weather
5. Brown/Cameron/Clegg call for weather inquiry
6. Will the milk run out
7. We’ve run out of milk (pics of thirsty babies, pics of cows)
8. Russia holds Britain to ransom over gas supplies - new cold war!
9. Now for the Big Thaw
10. The Big Freeze cost me my job - Gordon Brown

David Cameron’s Christmas message has called on Lib Dems to back the Conservatives as there is between Lib Dems and Tories  ”now a lot less difference than there used to be on how to create a fairer Britain”.

He then goes on to give the game away by saying that a hung parliament would be bad for Britain - despite his apparent belief that there is not much between us and the Tories.

Mr Cameron, not for the first time, is talking double-speak and rather in bad spirit for the season og goodwill trying to put a rather distortive spin on the Lib Dems and the Tories and for that matter the next election. So let me translate this double-speak into plain english.

When Dave says there is “now a lot less difference than there used to be on how to create a fairer Britain”, what he actually means is the Conservative party can’t win the next election outright unless Lib Dem voters drop their principles and vote Tory.

When Dave says a hung parliament would be “bad for Britain”, what he means is that it would be bad for the Conservative Party.

There are many and varied policy differences between the Tories and the Lib Dems and for that matter Labour. The Tory interpretation of the word “fair” would seem pivotal in this argument.

When we talk of fair taxes, we mean for all not just millionaires, when we talk about fair green policies for a sustainable economy we mean polices that will commit to real changes to maximise our contribution to halting climate change - and it doesn’t involve pr visits to the north pole to pose with polar bears. And the Lib Dems want to see a fairer society that recognises the value that we can all contribute to society not just the privilaged few.

If David Cameron really does want a clean fight at the next elect he would do well to start applying a bit more honesty and a lot less spin.

Due to the atrocious weather conditions, the waste and recycling collections have had to be suspended for the remainder of today (Tuesday). A decision on collections for Wednesday and Thursday will be made in the morning.

Bury Council has informed local councillors that reluctantly, they have been forced to take this decision to protect the health and welfare of collection teams, who are finding it impossible to navigate through some of the borough’s streets.

The Statement from Bury Council goes on, “We understand any frustration that residents may have, but the weather has left us with no choice. We will endeavour to clear the backlog as soon as the conditions allow.Our gritting teams, however, will continue to grit the roads.”

In the meantime residents are asked to reduce and recycle their waste as much as they possibly can.  Plastic bottles, metal cans, glass bottles and jars can all go in the blue recycling bin. Paper, cardboard boxes and packaging can be recycled in the green recycling bag.  If cardboard won’t fit in the green bag, it should be flattened and left in a neat pile under the green bag.  Plastic carrier bags can be used instead of the green bag.  For details of household waste recycling centres and local recycling centres go to www.bury.gov.uk/recyclingcentres

Also, again due to the worsening weather conditions, Bury Council has decided to close adminstrative buildings with effect from 1pm today (Tuesday Dec 22). This includes Bury town hall, council offices, leisure centres, and libraries, which will re-open on Tuesday, December 29.

Staff supplying emergency services will be working as normal.

Local Councillors have received an update on the Gritting and Refuse collection service as they continue to battle against the snow and ice etc.

The Councils Head of Waste Management has confirmed that Gritters were out all weekend and 535 tonnes of salt were spread on Sat and Sun alone.

Today all Street Cleaning staff are employed on gritting duties including in town centres and refilling of grit bins. All 5 gritting vehicles are also out at the moment (as of 9.30am).

Refuse/recycling collections were severely disrupted on Friday in the Ramsbottom/Tottington area due to snow and ice. The Council have vehicles in the area today mopping up missed grey bins as best they can, but if anything conditions will be worse than they were on Friday.

Brown bin collections are effectively suspended today with contents of bins frozen solid in any case.

It was debatable as to whether the Refuse collection service should have been suspended or not on grounds of H&S.  A decision was taken not to suspend the service, however all collection crews went out late and combined with the road conditions it will inevitably mean that not all of today’s work will be completed.

Councillors have been assured by Bury Council that they are doing their very best to get all collections made before Christmas in very difficult circumstances.

I know colleagues have received a number of phone calls complaining about a lack of gritting in some areas or on some streets and I can assure residents that we will be seeking answers to these queries/complaints in due course.

Desperation amidst the arrival of Obama and other heads of state seemed to galvanise efforts in the final moments of the Copenhagen Climate Summit yesterday but do we have a deal?

Ok agreements were reached which were broadly in line with some hopes, but it is questionable as to whether any of it is legally binding. Targets also are a bit thin on the ground and there would appear to be so much dissagreement outside the US, China and India ie especially South America that you wonder whether this will hold up at all.

We should try and be positive in that reaching a deal of sorts does at least enable the commitment to fund developing countries and enable them to start adapting and making changes and meet their development targets. In addition if China and the US start taking the whole climate  and CO2 emissions thing seriously that will have an impact and will lead to further committments, of that I am sure.

The big question now is that even if countries are bound to these agreements, will they stick to them or will they eventually be watered down? And of course as the deal does not go far enough in any case, is it too little too late?

I am growing increasingly concerned that the semi-stalled climate talks in Copenhagen are going to fail to reach much needed major agreements.

Of course it is always difficult to get meaningful agreements out of these Governmental summits, and when they do they are almost always hard fought compromises that are often ignored or watered down further over time.

But I was hoping this time would be different. As the world fast approaches the point of no return regarding climate change and global warming, I had hoped that the growing climate crisis would start to break through national self interest and political posturing.

I had hoped that the rich developed world would recognise their responsibiities to the poor world and future generations and future life itself.

Failure to reach a milestone agreement will be a frankly damnable result that will consign the Copenhagen summit to the history books as the time that the world stood on the brink, looked around, talked about saving life on earth then stepped off the precipice.

For the sake of the planet lets hope there is a breakthrough.

In response to the latest consultation with Bury Council about the proposed Goals Games Zone in Heaton Park, Bury Council has maintained their committment to a 10pm curfew on floodlights.

I had attended last nights Planning Committee to see what Bury’s response would be and to press for concerns to be raised about inadequate parking provision in the proposals.

I asked the Committee to maintain its previous position that floodlights should be turned off at 10pm and that extra car parking should be provided. The present provision appears to presume that Five-a-side teams will either arrive on foot or all in the same car, with no other visitors and will all leave just as the next customers arrive!

Although I regret that Bury Planning Committee has not taken a tougher stance in recognition of the noise and light pollution residents will face and additional traffic problems. They are at least maintaining  a consistent approach.

It is understood that Manchester City Council may not consider the application until February and that further public consultation may be required.

SAY NO TO GOALS, SAY YES TO PROTECTING HEATON PARK

 KEEP IT GREEN

Sadly with 3 meeting all scheduled between 5 and 7pm last night I probably didn’t contribute as much as I would like last night, arriving late and leaving early from the first two!

ALLOTMENTS

It has been a grwoing for some time that the Council could with encouraging more “grow your own” veg etc and as part of this there is the feeling that we could do with more allotments in the area. Despite there being 559 at present there is a waiting list of up to 400, some of whome have probably been waiting years.

The big problem is that they generate very little money for the Council, but costs a great deal more and need significant improvements yet. And the Council don’t have the spare resources at present - hardly a priority compared to front line life enhancing services.

Nevertheless with the right political will I am sure more could be done to try and identify further resources internally or externally. After all they improve health, save money and essentially provide for a more sustainable local environment.

The Climate Change Working Group who received a report about the current situation with allotments in the Borough will be looking further at this issue.

PARK & PLAY AREAS

At the latest meeting of Polefield Tenants and Residents Association I was delighted to hear about progress towards creating a park/natural play area on St.Josephs fields near Sandgate Road.

We were presented with draft plans that were pretty exciting and involved altering the layout of the land and re-landscaping to create a more attractive area with shubery and trees and undulating ground, interspersed with wooden play equipment and play area.

These plans followed a consultation exercise with students at Parrenthorn and other local schools. A full public consultation exercise is set to follow in February. However I am convinced that these improvements would provide a nuch better local nature and play facility.

Manchester City Council have announced that the application from Goals
Soccer Centres to build a commercial soccer centre in Heaton Park will
now NOT be considered at the Planning Committee on 17 December 2009. 

This is the second time that the proposals have failed to make it to Planning
Committee - earlier concerns meant the application was not considered in
September.
 
Local campaigners, whilst welcoming the delay, say the “fight must go on” to
stop this part of the park being ruined. The application is still expected to come
before Committee in the new year. 
 
Vic D’Albert, Parliamentary candidate for Bury South and local councillor said,
“I welcome this further delay and urge Manchester City Council even at this late
stage to reflect on the negative impact that this development would have on 
Heaton Park and the surrounding community. The legacy to future generations
should be trees and open parkland not concrete and cages.”
 
“Don’t sell Greater Manchester short, abandon these proposals and start a real
dialogue on how best to ensure Heaton Park is sustainable and preserved for
the benefit of all, this generation and those that follow.”

Bury Conservatives conceded defeat again this week in their latest attempt at “cut first consult later”. They agreed not to cut the Councils Youth Services and instead merge it with the connexions service which provides help and support for 13-19 year olds.

OK admittedly not so much defeat as an ignominious retreat, but leaving many unswered questions that could still adversely affect the service.

For those not in the know at the last Council budget the Conservatives voted through a massive cut in finances for the service, then agreed that the issue should be consulted on following protests.

Then recently the Council scrutinised the decision and options and decided that keeping the service was the best option, leaving something like a £200,000 hole in the Council budget hence the merger proposal. Not so much a U-turn as a handbrake spin.

But this isn’t the first time this has happened. Three times this year the Conservatives have made decisions first and wondered about the implications later.

Read the rest of this entry.

I was delighted to have been able to attend the Groundwork Environment Awards last night in Bolton.

I was there mainly as Chair of Prestwich Area Partnership, we were a finalist for a community award because of the success of the Love Prestwich campaign and The Big Clean.

Sadly we didn’t win- so my oscar style gushing acceptance speech remains unused for another year, however it was a tremendous evening. It was fascinating to see so many wonderful projects across the public, private and voluntary sectors highlighted and showing what can be done to improve our environment and work towards a more sustainable future.

It was also great to see Prestwich so well represented. The community category that the Area Partnership was a finalist in had no less than two other Prestwich finalists - the Rainsough Charitable Trust, who were commended for their tremendous work of improvements at Rainsough cemetery and Rooden Court Action group for their community garden and landscaping work.

It goes to show what a vibrant community we have in Prestwich. 

So congratulations to those groups and all the other finalists last night and especially the winners.

Last night The Save Heaton Park campaign held a public meeting to launch the final push to stop Goals Soccer centres building pay-to-use sports pitches on open grass in a corner of the park near to houses.

Following an update on progress so far to the packed St.Margarets Church Hall in Prestwich, a short video was shown of a Goals centre somewhere else so residents could see what they can expect if these plans get the go-ahead.

GET YOUR OBJECTION IN NOW

The plans are set to go before Manchester City Councils Planning Committee on December 17th. If you objected previously you will need to object again. But please in any case if you value the openness and natural beauty of Heaton Park please please get your objections in now.

COMPETITION

Also a competition has been launched for people to take photos of this corner of the park, draw, paint or write poetry with great prizes worth £200 open to all ages.

Details of the competition, letters and suggested actions are all available on the Save Heaton park web site at www.saveheatonpark.org.uk  

ACT NOW TO STOP THEM BUILDING ON HEATON PARK - DON’T LEAVE THE FUTURE OF HEATON PARK TO SOMEONE ELSE 

SEVERE FLOODING is expected for the River Irwell at Strongstry and Chatterton. There is extreme danger to life and property.  Act Now!

Areas at risk are those adjacent to the River Irwell through Strongstry and Chatterton. Including North St, Strongstry Bridge, Chatterton Rd. Other areas at risk include Areas in the vicinity of, Bolton Rd North, and Cuba industrial estate.

Flooding of low-lying land and roads is expected for the Upper River Irwell Catchment.

The Upper Irwell catchment includes the Rivers Beal, Roch and Croal, Limey Water and their tributaries. Other locations which may be affected are around Farnworth, Whitefield, Little Lever, Radcliffe, Bury, Heywood, Whitworth and Bacup area.

For up to date flooding information phone the Floodline on 0845 988 1188 .

Be aware.  Be prepared.  Watch out!

Yesterdays announcement by the Government for proposals that will fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations is nothing short of a “cop out” according to Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Bury South, Vic D’Albert.

“This Labour Government have gone grey on sustainable energy and renewable power and are now on the verge of a devastating mistake if they plough ahead with plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.It’s nothing short of a cop out” 

“There is a massive cost to the taxpayer involved in building Nuclear plants and they are seemingly determined to build these plants without addressing the issue of lethal toxic waste that will be inherited by future generations.

“And, so determined are they to ride roughshod over local public opinion on this issue that they are even prepared to change Planning Law to make it easier to avoid public opposition.That is a disgraceful way to treat people near these sites, people that may well be worried sick about these proposals.

“By putting all our eggs into this toxic radioactive basket the Government is putting at risk any strategy to develop sustainable energy in the UK . The fact remains nuclear energy even with these new sites would only contribute a fraction of the energy demand when it is available - which won’t be for many years.

“The best way for Britain to reduce emissions and secure its energy supply is through the rapid development of renewable power which is clean, safe, effective and would create huge numbers of jobs.

“With one reckless stroke this Labour Government has endangered the development of renewable energy strategies, undermined energy demands, failed to respond to much needed energy consumption cuts and put at risk future generations who will face the legacy of toxic waste.”

Goals Soccer Centres have re-submitted an amended planning application to Bury Council for consultation following formal submission to Manchester City Council last week. It is expected to be a supplementary item on Bury Councils Planning Committee of NOVEMBER 17th where it will be presented for consultation only.

As reported last week, this application will be decided by Manchester City Council on December 17th.

The details are
Application number: 51957         Type of application: Consultation From Neighbouring Authority         Date Registered: 03/11/2009

Applicant: Goal Soccer Centres plc
Location: AREA ADJACENT TO EXISTING BOWLING PAVILION, HEATON PARK, PRESTWICH, M25 2SW
Proposal: PROPOSED SPORTS DEVELOPMENT COMPRISING OF DETACHED BUILDING TO FORM CHANGING ROOMS WITH ANCILLARY STORE, MULTI USE ROOMS AND CAFE BAR TOGETHER WITH THE FORMATION OF 13 SMALL-SIDED FOOTBALL PITCHES, 6 TENNIS AND NETBALL COURTS, SKATEPARK AND CLIMBING WALL WITH ASSOCIATED PARKING, LANDSCAPING, BOUNDARY TREATMENTS AND ASSOCIATED FLOODLIGHTING (AMENDED PLANS)

Plans will be available to view on the Council’s website within 2 working days from the date of this email. Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Mark Kilby on: 0161 253 7639 or reply by email. For further clarification please don’t hesitate to contact your local councillors.

Goals Soccer Centres have re-submitted their plans for a commercial soccer centre in the St Margaret’s Road area of Heaton Park this week.

These plans will now be subject to public consultation, and expected to go before Manchester Council’s Planning Committee on 17 December 2009.

The plans have been resubmitted despite significant opposition from local residents, heritage watchdogs and many users of the park.

The new plans see a slightly reduced scheme of THIRTEEN soccer pitches, SIX tennis courts and a climbing wall area. There are 40 car parking spaces and Club House.

Over the next week we’ll be giving you more information on how to campaign against the proposals - this will be our last chance to SAVE HEATON PARK!

More information on the planning application here (Manchester City Council). (Search under Higher Blackley Ward.)

Download the plans here and here.

Despite massive opposition and a wide range of concerns that our Heaton Park heritage will be damaged for ever Goals Soccer Centres have only made minor alterations. The key fact remains that if these proposals will go ahead they will be devastating for the St.Margarets area of Prestwich, damaging to the park and do virtually nothing in providing free access to sports facilities for young people in Prestwich.

The LovePrestwich Big Clean will officially end next week – but the campaign to clean up the town still goes on.

The Community Payback team will hit the town centre on November 3 and 4 for a final go, then head to the Holyrood Road/Heys Road/Bury Old Road Area to tackle graffiti on shops, businesses, backs of shops, and the side of houses.

Vic D’Albert, chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership, said: “If this Community Payback team were playing in the Premiership or Champions League, they’d be champions. Their team work is fantastic, their commitment without doubt and the difference they have made to Prestwich is phenomenal.

“The work doesn’t stop here - we hope to continue to work with Community Payback, subject to funding, for three days a month to clean off graffiti and much more.

“We certainly want to expand the idea, and arrange community clean-up weekends of action whereby, if people volunteer, we will provide skips and litter picks to tidy the streets. This team is a winning team and I hope it is here to stay.”

Graffiti and No Graffiti outside M&S earlier this month.

Last night  at a full meeting of Bury Council,  the main business was a motion calling for Bury Council to join with over 50 other Councils, and millions of people and join the 10:10 campaign to pledge to cut CO2 emission in Bury by 10% in 2010.

I had the honour of proposing the Lib Dem motion, my colleague, Cllr Richard Baum seconded. We accepted an appropriate amendment from the Labour Group and for a moment things actually looked positive.

Then the Conservative leader and others spoke against and my heart sank at the utter lack of understanding of the peril many of us may face in our lifetime and the perils our children and grand children will certainly face.

They talked of putting together a strategy, of putting it back until 2011, some even questioned the accepted scientific wisdom that the earth is warming and climate change affect.

Totally missing the point they talked about bringing others on board such as the business community - as it’s difficult in the recession etc.

I pointed out to deaf Conservative ears that action to cut CO2 emissions can save money as well as the planet. That the cost of ignoring climate change would have a devastating affect on businesses, our homes and quality of life. But all to no avail.

Clearly their slogan “vote Conservative, get green - is a non-starter, if not an insult to those that take the future of life on this planet seriously. Bury Conservatives are clueless on the environmental threat faced by the people of Bury , this country, the planet.

It seriously makes you question whether a Conservative Government would be prepared to take the necessary action or would they put it off ’till tomorrow. 

It was depressing, frustrating and in my book a dereliction of duty to those we serve.

You can read my speech to the Council here: climate-change-speech-281009.pdf

If you are concerned about tackling climate change I would urge you to visit the 10:10 website here and like me, join the 10:10 campaign, and encourage others to join. Bury Council may be fiddling while Rome burns but you can still play your part.

Commenting after the defeat of a Liberal Democrat Opposition day motion calling for Government, Parliament, and all public sector bodies to cut their carbon pollution by 10% by the end of 2010, Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Bury South said: “This is a bad day not just for Parliament, but our country and the planet.

“The Government has failed to understand the level of public support for the 10:10 campaign or to get the message that people want real political action now to tackle dangerous climate change.

The 10:10 campaign calls on people/organisations and Governments to pledge to take decisive action to cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.

“Britain needs a Government which sets an example and delivers immediate and ambitious carbon reductions in the UK. Today the Government has failed to show leadership and send a clear message to the rest of the world that Britain will take action on climate change now.

Last year Liberal Democrats successfully added an 80% emission reduction target to the Climate Change Act and continue to press for Green taxes both to drive down emissions and to gradually replace traditional tax mechanisms.

“The Liberal Democrats will continue to show political leadership in dealing with the climate crisis and we will continue to give the strongest backing to the 10:10 campaign.”On Wednesday October 28th, Bury Councillors will be debating a motion to commit Bury Council  to the 10:10 campaign. “I hope for the sake of our town and it’s future citizens that the whole Council will rally behind the 10:10 banner and start to seriously examine ways and means to cutting carbon emissions in Bury.”

If you would like to join with me in taking the pledge to cut carbon emissions by joining the 10:10 campaign go to www.1010uk.org

Last night I attended the  first Street Lighting Working Group meeting at the Town Hall.

The working group arose out of the Tories “turn them off - no turn them back on again” U-turn on a budgeted 1 in 3 street light turn off. I was one of those that opposed the original proposal because I believe the issue needs addressing properly both from a financial perspective but also to address environment issues. Our Street lights emit about 13% of the Council’s Co2 emissions.

Last nights first meeting was a briefing on the issues, the state of our street lights, the technology available in replacement lights and options available for improving street lights in the borough.

We were told we had about 18,500 street lamps and that 1 in 5 of our street lamps (that’s 4000) was over 40 years old - when they have a life expectancy of 25-30 years!  We also learned that we are currently spending the whole of the available street light maintenance budget on replacing unsafe, broken or fallen down street lamps.

In effect we are replacing about 150 lamps a year when we currently have over 4000 that need replacing now. When you add to that the urgency required to get our CO2 emissions down, you will see why the working group were supportive of looking into various options to find the capital to replace street lamps and bring others up to standards now required.

Earlier this month we discovered that it would take to 2084 to repair all of our roads last night we learned that it would take to 2035 to replace our decrepit (over 40 years old) street lamps.

It really does bring home to you how much of our infrastructure has been neglected under successive Conservative and Labour Governments. 

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats has launched this message for anyone who’s ever voted for the Green Party, or is thinking about doing so at the next general election. He’s asking you to lend your vote to the Liberal Democrats in 2010, to stop climate change.

Nick says: “This election is our best chance – it’s probably our last chance – to get a government that acts to cut carbon emissions and protect our planet for our children. This is not a time for people who care about the environment to quarrel between ourselves. This is a time for unity.

I understand completely why people are drawn to the Green Party. Lots of people tell me they know the Greens can’t win, but they want to send a message that the environment matters. I understand that.

But the time for sending messages is over. Climate scientists tell us the next government will be the last one that can stop dangerous climate change. So it’s time for action. Only a party that has real power and influence at the heart of government will be able to make it happen.

There has been too much hot air from Labour and the Conservatives. If either of them is given a free rein in the next Parliament, they will fall short of what’s needed. They will kow-tow to business interests and political pressure. We cannot afford to let that happen.

That’s where the Liberal Democrats come in. We can make the difference.

Already, there are 150 Liberal Democrats MPs and peers in Parliament. Our votes in Parliament got a “feed in tariff” put into law to encourage renewable energy. Our votes forced the government to commit to smart meters in every household. Our votes forced companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions. We are a force for real green change, not just green words.

Just imagine what we could achieve in the next Parliament, with your help. We will demand 10% cuts in emissions in 2010, like the brilliant 10-10 campaign is fighting for. We will demand a real commitment to renewable energy. We will demand Britain be set on course to a zero carbon future. And if – with your help – our voice is strong enough, we will succeed.

Many people vote for the Green Party for good reasons. But time is running out, and a vote for a party that probably won’t win a single MP is a wasted vote. The best bet for all environmentalists is to unite under the banner of the only green party that’s actually got power in Parliament. With your support, the Liberal Democrats will be bigger and stronger than ever, and we will force through the change you want - the change our planet needs.

The clock is ticking. Climate change is worsening. We have one planet, and no second chances. So let us have one voice, too. Lend your vote to the Liberal Democrats, and stop climate change before it is too late.”

Nick Clegg
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

How & Why We Can Do This

Last nights EET meeting thankfully improved after the “coffee machine” disaster.

PARKING IN BURY

A annual report was presented about Parking services which outlined the number of penalty notices issued and other parking issues.

The report highlighted that the number of people parking in the town centre had reduced over the past year, that revenue from meters and notices will be less than budgeted and 6703 penalty notices were issued. My collegaue,Cllr Donal O’Hanlon raised a very interesting point that 24% or nearly 1 in 4 notices issued were eventually cancelled. In other words we (the Council) were paying people to cancel notices rather than being less heavy handed, reasonable or accurate in the first instance.

I requested that a wide ranging visitor survey be undertaken to focus on parking issues and identify any further issues. This was in response to a limited survey of 1000 motorists that appealed against notices.

STREET LIGHTING

Some avid readers of local current affairs will remember that the Conservative authority , first announced that they wanted to turn off street lights, then had an executive panic attack and decided to change their minds. This angered member of the Environment scrutiny commission who were aware of the need to improve street lighting both in terms of efficiency bu reducing CO2 emissions. Lighting accounts for 13% of the Borough total.

Last night we agreed to set up a working group to look at street lighting issues with a view to applying for a public finance initiative to improve our street lights.

HOUSING GRANTS

A paper was presented to the commission proposing changes to the grants available for residents to carry out housing improvements or adaptations. Much of these changes were non contentious - for instance amending the Minor repairs and Improvements Grants to take account of sustainability issues and decent homes standards.

However what bothered me intensely was changes to the Disabled Facilities Grants. Currently it is mandatory that the council finance up to £30,000 of adaptations, how they now propose that any further “top-ups” required will be only available in exceptional circumstances. Officers admitted that this was due to budgetary pressures - The council has a budget of around £1.2m which included £617,000 from the Government.

I am concerned that this is a start on squeezing local authority grants and support generally - and it greatly concerns me that this is once again financially driven - officers admitted that it is likely residents would have to wait longer or may be turned down for additional essential work.

I attended an excellent meeting of Heaton Park Action Group last night. Members of the group have clearly been very busy contacting organisations, lobbying and pushing the word out.

The big news last night was that we learned that the Environmental Law Foundation that they are supporting our campaign and are providing legal advice and support. This is clearly a major boost to the campaign.

The other key point to emerge was that Manchester City Council seem to have conveniently misplaced the deeds to the park. In particular the deeds relating to the sale from the Ear of Wilton estate. The deeds will detail any covenants as to the use of or development of the park and so are a key aspect of the campaign.

This is either clumsy/ negligent or something more sinister. Clearly if Manchester City Council are adamant that the deeds do not prohibit a Goals Soccer centre in Heaton Park then all they have to do is show them - end of!

Watch this space for news of forthcoming campaign activity and don’t forget the campaign site www.saveheatonpark.org.uk and the Facebook site: Save Heaton Park

A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward of Prestwich as detailed below:-

Application number: 51757         Type of application: Full         Date Registered: 15/09/2009

Applicant: Mr Naseem Dost
Location: 33 GLEBELANDS ROAD, PRESTWICH, M25 1WE
Proposal: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT - 10 APARTMENTS WITH 12 CAR PARKING SPACES AND LANDSCAPING

Plans will be available to view on the Council’s website within 2 working days from today (see link on the left). Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Helen Longworth on: 0161 253 5322.

A similar application came up for this site some time ago which I opposed along with many other local people and organisations. Once the plans are available I will be scrutinising them once more and will comment more fully at that time.

The long awaited regeneration of Prestwich village moved a step closer tonight when Bury Councils Planning Control Committee approved an outline planning application.

The initial outline application basically designates areas for use and provides a general overview of the proposals. This application will now be followed in the coming months with detailed applications relating to specific site developments.

I am pleased that the application was unanimously approved. St.Mary’s Ward Councillor Mary D’Albert sought clarification on the size of the proposed supermarket and assurances that the Longfield Suite will be unaffected and the new libary will be at least as big as the existing one.

St.Mary’s Lib Dem Councillor Donal O’Hanlon could not vote because he has a vested interest in the development as Chair of the Town Centre Regeneration Working Group that has monitored and pressed forward these proposals on behalf of the Area Partnership. He did however suggest a number of conditions of which one regarding contractors and subcontractors parking was adopted.

So onwards and upwards. Developers will hopefully be working on key aspects/detailed applications now and there may well be detailed consultation with Town planners on the details.

It is also hoped that these detailed applications remain true to the Love Prestwich Strategy document which has been so well received and the the Area Partnership and Town Centre Regeneration Working Group remain an active consultee of the developers.

Watch this space - or to be more specific the Longfield Precinct space!

Last night was a case of one extreme to another. I started off in the Councils Economy and Environment Scrutiny sub group looking at the Local Development framework for Bury and ended up in a pub in Prestwich in a Tenants and Residents meeting.

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

This important sub group is responsible for monitoring the progress of the production of the Local Development Framework and associated documents. The LDF looks at the allocation and use of all land throughout Bury and for instance identifies land for business use, housing and of course the green belt. Perhaps the most controversial aspects include the need to identify new sites for gypsy’s and travellers as well as identifying land for about 11500 new homes.

As if that wasn’t enough they have to deal with the impact of climate change which will dramatically affect areas prone to flooding which we were told will have an impact on Radcliffe and Ramsbottom proposals.

LDF documents are still work in progress at this stage and there is much consultation and examination before they become adopted as policy by the council, but clearly there will be significant challenges with wide ranging impact on most of Bury.

POLEFIELD TENANTS & RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

Following the LDF meeting at the town hall I had to rush to a meeting of Polefield TRA at the Parkside Hotel in Prestwich.

The meeting included tenants, police, Six Town Housing officers and myself. We received reports that suggested that things were pretty quite on the estate - limited anti-social behaviour.

Plans are progressing for a Halloween night disco for under 11’s at Heaton Park School and a public meeting in November.

Tenants raised concerns about speeding on the estate, the use of (often illegal) bikes and quad bikes etc and potentially dangerous junction of Cuckoo Grove, Polefield Hall Rd and Polefield Circle. I promised to request the Council to investigate possible improvements to this junction along with the provision of some improved street lighting and road repairs.

Along with fellow councillors Donal O’Hanlon and Mary D’Albert I visited St.Mary’s Church on their open day yesterday. I must confess the main draw for me on this occasion was the fact that the Church Tower was open.

With expert guidance from a Scout leader we were led up the tower first to the bell ringers chamber and then upwards to the tower roof.

I can tell you now this is no trip for the claustrophobic or for that matter tall or “wide”. A very narrow winding staircase with a low ceiling leads you up in semi-darkness in places. Clearly people in the middle ages were both short and anorexic! At times I was feeling ahead with my hands on the steps ahead of me.

However it was well worth the effort for the views from the top are amazing. On a fine sunny, clear day you could see scout moor wind farm in one direction, the chill factor ski slope near the Trafford centre, and the Manchester Hilton Hotel. Sadly you could also see the Radius apartments rising like a monster from the centre of Prestwich village. With excellent views of St.Mary’s park and the clough it also served to remind me how green Prestwich is.

If you ever get the chance to go up the tower go for it, it’s worth it. After we finally got down (which is at least as awkward), we decided we to buy tea and cake in church - purely to aid recovery of course.

Tory Councillor and MP hopeful Michelle Wiseman says she is confused.

She is confused ,she says, because whilst the Lib Dems are opposed to a sports zone being built on open parkland in Heaton Park, we were proposing (at last nights council meeting), to press for more sporting activities and initiatives in Bury in the run up to the Olympic Games in 2012.

I would urge Mrs Wiseman to get out more (and meet real members of the public) as things aren’t always as black and white as Conservative Central Office makes out.

The Lib Dems are opposed to the specific proposals because, put simply, they are:

a) in the wrong place

b) Not freely available for public use - charges may be as much as £45 for pitch hire and,

c) Will mean the end for yet another piece of Heaton Park .

They are primary reasons and when you throw in the damage to the environment and extra congestion and nuisance to neighbouring residents we feel that makes a compelling case.

That should not however mean we are opposed to sports facilities - for the record we did not oppose the building of the Commonwealth Bowling greens and pavilion etc. But why should we be building on historic open parkland when there are derelict brown field sites across North Manchester and Bury?

But what was most dissapointing from Mrs Wiseman was that her desperate attempt to sit on the Heaton Park fence was exposed last night after telling Heaton Park Action Group that they had her 100% support we now know that was a shallow empty committment.

As for our motion we believe the Olympic Games provides a great opportunity to encourage young and old alike to get involved in sports and improve fitness and health etc by tapping into that enthusiasm that will be growing over the next few years. So it was particularly dissapointing that Michelle and her Tory colleagues voted down our proposals which included the development of a Greater Manchester Leisure Card enabling all residents across greater manchester to get better more affordable access to facilities across the area.

Confused, Shallow, Fence sitting - Bury Conservatives, one change we don’t need.

As if the current recession isn’t bad enough, I came away from last nights Council Climate Change meeting with the realisation that things are going to be very difficult for local authorities and for that matter central government if we are to meet internationally agreed targets for Carbon emissions.

Effectively from 2011 a set of increasing financial pressures/penalties will be applied vice-like by Government in order to force councils to reduce carbon emissions. 

At the centre of the proposals is a scheme of carbon trading which would involve councils with emissions over a certain level having to “buy” carbon allowances and possibly trade them in etc.

What was clear from last nights meeting was that there isn’t really any alternative to these proposals and in Bury’s case perhaps as much as £300,000 in allowances may need to be purchased to start with (from where will the money come from I hear you ask?) and this may well rise if we struggle to reduce emmissions. It could all be a nightmare for councils and in turn council services that will require investment to meet the reduction targets.

The biggest challenge is likely to be with our schools. Currently it has been identified that 72% of Bury’s carbon emissions come from our schools.

I suppose what hit me last night was the fact that a) there is virtually no room for manouvre on this, b) Its another financial problem for public services and c) there is no choice!

After all if we fail on climate change we fail future generations and the clock is already ticking.

I have just signed up to the 10:10 pledge.10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.

I increasingly believe that if we are to tackle carbon emissions in the UK we need to tackle it as individuals as well as applying pressure to our Government. Green policies are stalling with a Labour Government faced with recession and financial instability, but what about climate instability?

We need to show the Government that as individuals we want action to cut emissions and we are prepared to do our bit.  So go on take the pledge to cut your carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.

To sign up just visit the 10:10 web site at www.1010uk.org

At long last it finally seems the Council are set to approve a policy for gating back alleys. A mere three years after I first pressed for a policy to be adopted.

It has been a frustrating three years to, with many schemes unable to proceed despite residents pleas, police support and councillors support - but because Bury Council didn’t have a policy we were stuffed!

The fact is it has been proven elsewhere that closing back alleys cuts crime and anti-social behaviour dramatically and as such I will be pressing for a number of alleys to be closed as soon as possible.  In some ways it’s a shame but if it cuts crime and improves the lot of affected residents then it has to be a good thing.

The news that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has come out in opposition to the proposed development of a Goals soccer centre at Heaton Park is surely another serious blow to Manchester City Council’s ambitions in that direction.

HLF have confirmed that they support the sentiments of English Heritage that essentially the plans amount to over development and are not in keeping with the historical nature of the park and it’s open parkland.

Meanwhile Manchester City Council refuse to allow residents to see the deeds to the park.

In response to a Freedom of Information request MCC said they wouldn’t supply a copy of the deeds as they were available elsewhere (not quite true). The question has to be asked what is Manchester  CC frightened of , why are they hiding the deeds, what are they trying to stop local people seeing.

For years it has been suggested that the deeds contain covenants stating that the park can not be developed. So perhaps its time for Manchester to come clean. If they have nothing to hide show us the deeds, it’s as simple as that.

As Green energy and other initiatives take hold and become more embedded in out enterprise culture isn’t it time the Government had a strategy for green energy and a sustainable economy?

We just seem to be drifting from initiative to initiative in a desperate attempt to appear “green” , when what is needed is a costed, properly worked out national policy.

The trouble is the Government wants it all ways - firstly it wants to appear green, secondly it worries about the green sceptics an doubters especially in a time of recession and thirdly this Labour Government isn;t really that green conscious anyway.

So while the climate change/sustainable energy closk keeps ticking our policies are drifting with lots of fine rhetoric and initiatives here and there that never quite add up.

Last night I chaired the Council’s Local Development Framework Sub group (of the Economy, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission). Believe me it’s more interesting than it sounds!

Ostensibly the group has been set up to oversee the progress of the Council’s production of a Local Development Framework (LDF) and to scrutinise the consultation process and ensure all bases are covered etc.

The LDF is a votal planning document that will inform future development and conservation across the whole of Bury for the period up to 2026. For instance it will highlight where development will be permitted, whether that development can be for employment purposes or housing for instance. It will identify green belt and green “facilities”.

So all in all its a crucial piece of work that will have a far reaching affect on he future of Bury. Last night was only our second meeting so some way to go yet. But good progress is being made.

The meetings are open to the public - next meeting September 14th, 6pm Bury Town Hall.

Last night I was at two meetings.

The first was a Standards Hearing to hear a complaint made against a fellow councillor. I won’t go into the nitty gritty here, suffice to say you’ll read all about it soon enough in the press. However I would just say its one of the most unpleasant meetings I ever have to attend. Inevitably there are often some sympathies with the plight of the accused councillor but thankfully I was but one of a three man Hearing panel, I just hope ultimately the decision taken can be seen as fair. But these things are never easy.

SAVE HEATON PARK

Thankfully my second meeting was far more pleasant as it was meeting with the local residents opposed to the development of a games zone in Heaton Park. Its getting quite exciting now and the evidence being accumulated by the group is both substantial and damning of Manchester City Council and their approach to the great green parkland legacy that is Heaton Park and local residents.

This one will go all the way to the wire, and there is much more to come on this , but again you’ll read more in the press no doubt.

Local residents campaigning against the proposed commerical soccer centre at the St Margaret’s corner of Heaton Park are hoping that the parks hertigate could save the day for this beautiful area of open parkland.

Consultation on the Goals Soccer Centre application closed in July, but campaigners have been informed that English Heritage - the Government’s formal heritage “watchdog” have raised several serious concerns about the development. Heaton Park is a Grade II parkland, and Heaton Hall itself is a Grade I listed building. Campaigners understnad that English Heritage have raised concerns about the size of the development (the number of football pitches and tennis courts), the car park (that there shoudn’t be one) and the amount of fencing in the scheme which detracts from the open nature of the park.

At the same time campaigners have found out that the Heritage Lottery Fund, who have funded millions of pounds of improvements in Heaton Park in recent years were not consulted on the proposed development, and only found out after the consultation deadline after a resident tipped them off!

Requests for a copy of the English Heritage objection have been denied by Manchester Council.

Its brilliant that these important heritage agencies have been brought into the discussion on the Soccer Centre. Heaton Park is a historic piece of parkland thats been used as a park for over 100 years. The proposed development is only metres away from a beatiful historic house.

These heritage concerns raise serious questions about the proposed development. “Bury Council has already raised concerns that there is not enough parking in the scheme. If English Heritage say there shouldn’t be a car park where does this leave the local residents?

Manchester Council must see sense now?

A few people in favour of the proposed development of a sports zone in Heaton Park keep challenging the “anti” development campaign, including myself and colleagues, accusing us of spoiling things for the kids that want sports facilities.

I am frankly amazed at what little regard some people seem to have for parkland, and especially for something as widely cherished as Heaton Park.

They don’t see a problem with building on parkland, they don’t see the loss - only the gain, almost blinded by the potential gain. And perversely they fail to see that sports can be played on grass parkland as well. In fact unless things have changed isn’t football supposed to be played on grass? Grass parkland is the ultimate in flexible sporting facilities!

Would the same people like to see Bury Council build sports facilities on St.Mary’s park, Barnfield Park or the Clough?

Our parkland has to be protected because once developed it will be lost forever and that would be an apalling legacy to leave future generations.

 ”on this site once stood open grassland - a habitat to wildlife and mature trees, shrubs and wild flowers. A haven and place of tranquility and sport to be enjoyed by the many and available to all absolutely free”

The Prestwich Big Clean is being launched on August 3rd, to try and deal with the numerous grot spots and graffiti in Prestwich.

The Big clean is being supported by Community Payback which sees offenders being used in the community as part of a restorative justice programme. Offenders are supervised at all times.

A large number of sites have already been identified but if you know of any please let us know by completing this form graffiti-grot-spot-log.pdf and emailing to c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk

A dissapointing and ultimately frustrating Planning Committee meeting last night saw Bury Council respond with little more than a whimper over Manchester Councils plans for a sports zone at the St.Margarets end of Heaton Park.

The proposal for 12 soccer pitches and 6 tennis courts to be developed on open park land has dismayed local residents already subjected to intolerable levels of traffic and street parking. Now they fear noise and light pollution up to 11pm at night and even worse traffic and parking.

At last nights meeting the plans were before Bury for comment as part of required consultation with neighbouring authorities.

I addressed the committee calling for the council to recommend increased parking provision, floodlights to be switched off at 9pm in summer and 8pm in winter, an independant traffic and noise impact study and guaranteed use of the facilities for Prestwich/Whitefield clubs, associations and schools.

Officers had already recommended a floodlight turn off at 10pm rather than 11pm and a recommendation that Manchester ensure adequate parking ie provision meets demand.

A colleague of mine challenged the assertion that St.Margarets Road could cope with the increased traffic and another councillor called on Manchester to arrange a public consultation meeting in Prestwich. My requests were not taken on board.

Overall residents (and I) left dissapointed because firstly they were not allowed to speak. (3 minutes is all they wanted, Why not!!!) And secondly because yet again Bury reacts with all the venom of a rotting lettuce when faced with recognising and backing the concerns of their citizens over big brother Manchester.

What a let down. But the real fight continues too Manchester Town Hall where the full application is to be decided on September 10th.

As an update from my previous post, a council officer has now come back to me and apparently Environmental Health will pay a visit and try and find evidence to prosecute someone. Progress at last!

The answer so far is 25 days and counting.

Baguley Crescent, Rhodes , Middleton - One block of flats has a mountain of household refuse including rotting foods and dumped mattress at the rear with over flowing drains covered in grease. I reported it to the Council initially about 6 weeks ago - no response. I re-reported it on June 22nd! I’ve just re-re-reported it an hour ago. I was told the supervisor is looking into it and will come back to me.

On another part of the same estate there is a stack opf asbestos roofing leaning against a wall. I reported that also on June 22nd - it is still there.

It really isn’t good enough that residents complaints - especially on an evironmental health issue (rats have been seen), should be so appallingly handled.

Lets see what happens next.

Bury Council have developed a Highways safety scheme to cut speed and improve pedestrian safety in the vicinity of Prestwich Arts College.

The initiative follows an accident about a year ago and pressure from local residents and local Councillors for action.

There will now be a short period of consultation with residents and interested parties about these proposals followed by a report to the Prestwich Area Partnership meeting of October 1st.

Please contact either myself or Cllrs Tim Pickstone or Wilf Davison if you require further information, meanwhile I attach proposal details and consultation form here heys-road-safety-scheme.pdf

Last nights meeting of Bury Councils’ Economy, Environment and Transport Scrutiny commission was most notable for one of the worst examples of a council trying to do a policy u-turn and save face that I have ever witnessed.

It all came about because in this years council budget the Conservatives decided that in oirder to save £250,000 they would switch off perhaps a third of street lights for a period each night.

Was this policy proposed as a grand environmental initiative - NO, Was this planned after extensive consultation - NO, Was this done as a blatant attempt to cut costs irrespective of the consequences - YES.

This was further ratified at a recent meeting of the Councils Executive that then requested the EET to scrutinise the issue.

Fast forward to last night and out of the blue the Conservative Chair, proposes a motion to go to Executive telling them to forget about it as it’s a bad idea.

Ok, even if we can put aside the fact that the Council Executive asked us to scrutinise the issue and we would be effectively be saying NO! And we could leave aside the potential environmental merits of reviewing the streetlights CO2 and power costs and requirements etc. At least we could if it was done for the right reason.

What was clear last night was that the Conservative Group, desperate to get out of a mess on this issue, with Council officers opposed, residents opposed and Police opposed, were desperate to be bailed out by the EET scrutiny commission. So now they can say they were prepared to go ahead but have bowed to pressure from the scrutiny commission.

I told the meeting that I didn’t think it was the job of this commission to find a way for the Executive to save face and get them out of this mess.

In the end due to something of an impasse (this item lasted nearly 40 minutes) and the opposition at least were opposed the switch off anyway, we agreed to tell the Executive to forget about turning off the street lamps (for now), so long as we can examine a long term strategy for reducing the environmental and financial impact of the boroughs streetlamps.

Phew, but what a joke!

No time to wait to object to Goals Soccer Centre’s planning applicaiton to Manchester Council. Send in your responses by 20 July 2009. See this guide or download our leaflet now.

That’s the story of last nights busy Prestwich Area Partnership meeting at Sedgley Park School.

PRESTWICH FESTIVAL

The meeting was opened with a rolling slide show of photos from the 55 events held throughout Prestwich Festival. I took the opportunity to highlight how the festival came about and to thank all those that played a part in ensuring its success. I also requested feedback from residents who attended any of the events also with suggestions about to improve the festival next time.

OASIS CONCERTS

Graham Atkinson, Bury’s Director of Leisure services, reported back on the issues faced by Bury Council and the cross council  coordination of the Oasis concerts. He highlighted all aspects of the operation and identified areas to improved on next time. Which included aspects of parking and toilet provision, crowd dispersal at the end of concerts. Public transport issues  and nuisance/anti-social behaviour. A report is currently being compiled.

HIGHWAYS

We received a report with the delegated budget for local unclassified road repairs for the year. Prestwich is being offered just over £62,000 to spend. the report highlighted that the 13 worst streets in Prestwich needed repairs totaling £700,000. Its fair to say the Area Partnership was not amused. A resolution was passed highlihting our dissatisfaction and calling on the Council to review the situation as a matter of urgency and to get to grips with this issue that is now approaching crisis point.

HEATON PARK GAME ZONE

Residents from St.Margarets area attended open forum to raise the issue about Manchester’s plans for a private game zone in Heaton Park. In response the Area Partnership passed a resolution in support of residents and to inform Bury and Manchester Planning of our deep concerns about their proposals.

NEXT MEETING

October 1st, Butterstile Primary School arrive from 6.15 for 6.30 start.

I have just returned from Bury Councils Executive meeting at which the Councils Executive passed the Love Prestwich Regeneration strategy unaminously.

My colleague Cllr Tim Pickstone who attends the Executive on behalf of the Lib Dem Group, welcomed the strategy.

The strategy document sees the redevelopment of the Longfield Centre precinct with anew retail store, revamped library and Longfield suite coupled with more offices, shops a hotel and wider high street paving, larger open square area in the middle and much more.

Approval followed critical questioning from a representative of Tesco’s and supportive questioning from local residents and the Precinct owners, Hollins Murray Group.

The strategy will now become a material planning document. This means that any planning applications that come forward from developers (including Tesco’s) will be matched to the requirements , criteria and strategy outlined in this document.

Whatever happens next I am delighted that the biggest ever public consultation carried out in this area has finally been accepted by Bury Council. We must now await Hollins Murray Planning Applications and with the expectation that they are acceptable in light of the adoption of this strategy.

Stage 1 - mission accomplished, onto the next stage!

I would finish by thanking everyone who had an input into the strategy and have effectively helped create a truly acceptable blueprint for the future of Prestwich Village.

Attended my first meeting as Bury Lib Dems nominated member of Bury Council’s Climate Change committee last night.

This Committee is actually a sub-committee to the Councils Economy, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Commission.

Last nights meeting was generally about deciding what particular aspects of climate change the committee would like to concentrate its efforts on over the coming year.

It was agreed that we would like to compare the relevant performance indicators set by the Government with actual results and compare to targets We will be receiving regular reports on these indicators throughout the year.

We will also be examining various aspects of the Councils carbon emissions to see how best that can be reduced.

It was also decided that examining the impact of climate change locally and possible mitigation measures should also be considered along with further examination of Bury’s recycling policy and allotment provision.

This meeting is open for the public to attend and ask questions, let me know if you would like details of the next meeting.

Many thanks to local resident Guy Dickinson for this information

Lodging a planning application objection will take you 2 minutes.

You must lodge an objection by 20th July - go and do it right now!

1) Go to this page (it redirects to the Mancs Council planning site) - http://tinyurl.com/leuakn

2) Fill in your details and then carefully select the various options:

3) COMMENTATOR TYPE: Neighbour (obviously if you live near the park, you’re a neighbour)

4) REASONS:

(hold down the ctrl key to select multiple reasons.) I chose:
Ecology
Light
Loss of trees
Noise or Disturbance
Parking
Traffic
Visual Amenity

5) MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE OPTION “Inform the Authority that you object to the Planning Application.”

6) COMMENTS:

As I understand it, planning decisions apply more weight to objections/concerns over traffic and pollution, parking and environmental concerns. Your objection is likely to carry less weight if you simply object on grounds of aesthetic or tradition.

As an example of what can be written see this site, which you may wish to use as a template.

Hundreds of local residents gathered in the threatened area of Heaton Park today to protest at Manchester City Council plans for a giant game zone area tobe developed there.

I was delighted to join protesters to help make the point that this area is valued by local people and to send the message loud and clear to Manchester that Heaton Park isn’t for sale!

My colleague Cllr Tim Pickstone reminded residents that parks don’t get “built” these days so when this is developed on it will be lost forever.

I have attached the Councils proposed highways refurbishment programme for Prestwich the schedule lists the worst streets in Prestwich - in need of repair and you will see that the worst is Fairway with estimated repair costs of £165,000.

The trouble is Prestwich Area Partnership has been allocated £63,000 to carry out all necessary repairs.

The gap between budget and repairs needed is growing and growing and as reported last week the number of claims meanwhile is growing as well with £2,000,000 paid out between May 07 and June 09.

This Highways budget is set to be presented to Prestwich Area Partnerships meeting on thursday July 9th at Sedgley Park School. It has become an almost apologetic item on the agenda that only serves to cause irritation. Bury Conservatives have to take action to deal with our crumbling roads, or the claims will carry on growing.

The schedule and estimated costs can be found here: prestwich-with-footway-costs-split.pdf

A leading member of the ruling Conservative Group conceded that our roads are a disgrace at the recent full meeting of Bury Council.

The admission from Cllr Gunther was in response to a question from Lib Dem councillor, Mary D’Albert (St.Mary’s ward).

But most astonishing was the reply that for the period May 07 to June 09 Bury Council has paid out on 333 highways claims with the total amounting to a shocking £2.1 Million. The average claim was just under £6500.

This is further evidence if needed that Bury’s roads are in a terrible state and in need of massive investment. At he full council meeting we called on the Council to consider drastic action, if need be obtaining one off loans to bring inject much needed funds into the highways maintenance programme.

The Conservative leader of the council conceded that the amount needed to bring our roads up to speed is more likely to be in the region of £40 million.

One thing is sure we need action now, because our roads are getting worse, claims are going through the roof and accidents are likely to happen.

It’s started with a storm at Prestwich Clough and should end in glorious sunshine at Prestwich Carnival. After 35 days, 55 events, 1,000’s of visitors to events, money raised for charity Prestwich Festival puts its feet up and says goodbye for 2009 with a final weekend of fun.

The final push starts tonight with a Friday Night Social - Shangri La at 8pm at, Carlton Club, Bury Old Road featuring live music and a stand up comedian. And of course this will be followed by the customary bumper weekend of family entertainment at the Prestwich Carnival.

On Saturday 20 June a Football Tournament organized by FC United of Manchester will take place from 9am until 4pm at St. Mary’s Park.

In addition the Friends of Butterstile School will be holding their traditional fund day from 12.00 noon at Butterstile Primary School. As part of the fun all the children from the school will have the chance to enter a series of competitions to celebrate Prestwich, the four categories are photographs, poems, paintings or portraits. I understand Cllr Donal O’Hanlon is in the stocks for the wet sponge throwing. Now that’s an attraction not to be missed!

And finally on Sunday 21 June Prestwich Carnival Grand Parade kicks off at 1pm. The Parade arrives in the park at 2.30pm with six arenas showcasing local talent.

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

I don’t mind being criticised for not staning up for local residents, but when myself or local Lib Dems are attacked for supporting residents, well, that frankly takes the biscuit.

Local Conservatives have attacked local Lib Dems in the local free paper for supporting the campaign against development of a game zone in Heaton Park. Apparently we shouldn’t be campaigning on the issue because Manchester will make the ultimate decision. And????

Perhaps he would turn round and tell residents that he couldn’t help them. All I can say is that thank goodness Sedgley had Lib Dem councillors a few years ago when residents were so incensed at Manchester plans to build a school in Heaton Park. We now know local Conservatives would have sat back and allowed it to go ahead. However local Lib Dem councillors Ann Garner and Andrew Garner responded to residents concerns and campaigned against the proposals and guess what, they won. Now remind me where the local Conservatives were, oh yes, they were sitting on their hands happy to let Heaton Park get built on.

The Save Heaton Park campaign is one of those issues we should all be supporting irrespective of political party. It transcends party politics it is people politics. I still hope local Conservatives will see that it is wrong to develop Heaton Park and join the campaign.  

Local Lib Dem Councillors have praised clean-up staff following recent Oasis concerts in Heaton Park, but voiced concerns that not enough was done to protect local people during the recent events.

The concerts, which saw 210,000 people enjoy music in the park over three nights, generated controversy over noise, but passed largely without major trouble.

Commenting on the concerts, Cllr Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat member for Holyrood and Parliamentary candidate for Bury South said “What’s clear is that over 200,000 people came to Prestwich and had a great time. But there were lots of problems for the people that live here, and we need to get the balance right. Before Manchester City Council think about having more concerts here, they need to think about Prestwich residents.”

Residents complained about excessive noise, particularly on the first night when a power failure caused a delay to the end of the concert. Cllr D’Albert said “Of course there was going to be noise, but I think continuing until 11.25 was too late, and I will be demanding that this never happens again. I want to know why the stage was set up facing the houses of Prestwich rather than the open space of the park, and why revellers weren’t moved on quicker at the end. This was particularly unpleasant for older residents and people with young children.”

Parking arrangements were only partially successful. Vic D’Albert said “We were given assurances that public transport would work and parking wouldn’t be a problem. Whilst streets in St Margaret’s and Sheepfoot Lane were well protected, those in Sedgley and Rhodes were not, and this wasn’t good enough. Buses and taxis were dropping off people in the wrong place, and queues for trams were very long. We need improvements to help residents.”

Cllr D’Albert did praise some aspects of the organisation. “I thought the street cleaning service was excellent, and lots of local people enjoyed a concert, either as paying spectators or for free in their gardens. A lot of local people enjoyed themselves, and local businesses received a welcome boost in trade. The gigs have raised the profile of Prestwich, and that’s great. In addition, some of the profits will be spent improving local parks, so people will see long term benefits as a result of short term disruption.”

“Prestwich Local Area Partnership will receive a report into all aspects of the concerts, and make this available to local people so that we can represent their views. I look forward to working with everyone - local people, and Bury and Manchester Councils - to make sure that if these things are to happen again, we in Bury make Manchester City Council learn from what happened.

There’s certainly room for improvement, but perhaps not for 200,000 people across three nights in quick succession. We need to deal with the noise better, reduce the numbers and restrict activity to sensible times and durations. We need to strike a balance between Prestwich people and money for Manchester.”

Following last nights first of 3 Oasis concerts at Heaton Park there are already massive questions looming.

From the perspective of local residents there has to be questions about the fact that the agreed end time was breached by at least 20 minutes. This was due to a generator and sound problems. Sorry but their technical difficulties encountered aren’t our problem.

And there has to be a question mark over the sheer volume of noise. I live perhaps half a mile from the venue and still could make out every word really felt for those living literally over the road and as such I do wonder whether a venue such as this so close to residential accomodation, in a fairly mature residential area is suitable for this kind of event as opposed to a football stadium.

Surely there could be other events staged that could generate income and be less intrusive or disturbing for local residents.

As I write a special debriefing meeting of last nights event is being held , with council officers, emergency services etc present.

As Area Partnership Chair, following these events I will be requesting a special report from the Council detailing the operation, any cost to the authority and highlighting problems etc. As local councillors I know myself and colleagues will hope to feed residents comments into such a report.

The fact is there are massive questions now being posed as a result of this event - do the authorities have satisfactory answers?

Councillors are calling on local people to join them for a community cleanup of  Drinkwater Park in Prestwich on Saturday 13th June as part of Prestwich Festival, with tickets to a gig by chart-topping act Lady Gaga on offer for volunteers. 

The clean-up is in partnership with Orange RockCorps, a national campaign to encourage local people to get involved helping their local community. In return for giving four hours of their time to clean up the park, participants get a ticket to an exclusive gig at Manchester Apollo on 13 July featuring Lady Gaga and N-DUbz. 

Liberal Democrat Councillor Vic D’Albert, the chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership who are organising the Prestwich Festival, said “This is a great project, and hopefully the opportunity to see Lady Gaga will help lots of people get involved.”

Volunteers on the day will have a chance to be involved in lots of park improvement work. Cllr D’Albert said “Volunteers can help with painting, fencing & barriers works, litter picking, and working on trees, bushes and shrubs. There’s something for everyone.”

The event is open to all, but young people are particularly encouraged to get involved. If you are aged 16 - 25 and interested in volunteering at this event or any others contact Bury vinvolved on 0161 274 3299. 

Cllr D’Albert concluded by saying: “Drinkwater Park is a hidden gem in Prestwich.
This gives local people the chance to make it better and pick up some free tickets to see an international star in concert, all as part of Prestwich Festival. It’ll be an exciting day.”

For more information log on to www.orangerockcorps.co.uk.

I was delighted to attend the latest meeting of the Save Heaton Park campaign tonight.

Tonights meeting focused on updating residents with work done so far and then identifying what needed to happen next and how we should take the campaign forward.

It was interesting to hear from residents on various aspects of “evidence gathering” and lobbying for support from varied organisations and individuals and it was agreed that we  now need to start feeding that information into a central point.

In addition residents highlighted a number of key areas that needed to be looked into further and information that needed to be accessed and it was therefore agreed that an action committee is now established. 6 volunteers have agreed to join that committee and coordinate future action on behalf of local residents.

I pledged my continuing support to the campaign to save Heaton Park from development and I told the meeting that now is the time to stop talking about the issues and start taking action.

And so it was agreed that a number of innitiatives would be developed over the next few weeks to spread the word and to take the campaign to Manchester City Council, Bury Council and local media.

If you would like to offer your assistance to the campaign please don’t hesitate to contact me and don’t forget to visit the excellent web site set up by my colleague, Cllr Tim Pickstone at www.saveheatonpark.org.uk where you can also sign the petition and let everyone know about the site and the campaign - spread the word!

Please find attached a pdf copy of a letter being distributed to residents providing information for residents about the forthcoming Oasis concerts on 4th, 6th and 7th June.

I also attach a list of frequently asked questions that is on the back of the letter.

oasis_hp_letter_front.pdf

oasis_hp_letter_back.pdf

This was the week that…

·         Allegations into the misuse of MPs’ expenses continued – one MP claimed for his ‘servants’ quarters’ [more]

·         Labour and Tory MPs decided to stand down over their expenses claims [more]

·         Former Labour Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley called for ministers who avoided paying tax to be sacked [more]

·         Nick Clegg, writing for the Guardian, set out his proposals for electoral and constitutional reform [more]

·         A number of Cabinet ministers and former ministers called for electoral reform [more]; [more]

·         The Treasury’s economic forecasts were doubted by a survey that it commissioned [more]

·         The BNP faced the prospect of an inquiry into their funding [more]

·         David Cameron was criticised for failing to wear a seatbelt in his latest party political broadcast [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         The government’s mortgage rescue scheme has only helped two households in four months [more]

·         Despite government attempts, social mobility in the UK is still falling under Labour [more]

·         Mortgage lending has hit a new low [more]

·         The taxpayer has funded a former Tory spin doctor to the tune of £66,000 through Tory MPs’ expenses [more]

·         Conservative proposals could force a British exit from the EU, claims a group of senior lawyers [more]

·         Tory and UKIP MEPs are the worst UK MEPs for voting for EU transparency and reform [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Launched the campaign for fundamental political reform [more] and http://www.takebackpower.org/

·         Challenged UKIP MEPs to publish their expenses claims as Lib Dem MEPs have [more]

·         Renewed calls for extra police officers to tackle the credit crunch crime wave [more]

·         Highlighted concerns arising from the nationalising of banks [more]

·         Cast doubt on train punctuality figures [more]

·         Demanded the publication of MI5 agents’ guidelines [more]

·         Called for the FSA to launch an allegation into financial irregularities at HBOS [more]

The most notable item on the agenda of this weeks Economy, Environment and Transport Scrutiny Committee at the Town Hall was an item highlighting future pressure for the Council to provide more permanent sites for gypsies and travellers.

The Government say that Gypsies and Travellers want permanent sites in order that illegal encampments can be minimised. As a result the North West (unelected) Regional Assembly has worked out the amount it feels all Greater Manchester Authorities should provide over the next few years.

Currently Bury provides 17 pitches on one site, however North West Region believes that Bury should provide and additional 70 pitches by 2016 and an additional 117 by 2026.

The demand justifying these figures is currently disputed by Bury officers and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities that have carried out their own study of the demand for sites.

In addition to the difficulty and likely local opposition to finding this many sites, the other barrier at present is the cost. It is estimated that it would cost of £5m to provide these sites. While Bury would receive a grant incentive from Government, it would not nearly cover the cost.

At present this whole issue is going through preliminary stages and as mentioned even the amount of required provision is disputed. It set for further consultation of firmer proposals in 2010 so watch this space.  

This was the week that…

·         The Speaker of the House of Commons bowed to pressure and stood down [more]

·         The government finally backed down and granted Gurkhas and their families the right to settle in the UK [more]

·         Two Labour Lords became the first peers to be suspended from the House of Lords since 1642 [more]

·         The government’s car scrappage scheme got off to a chaotic start [more]

·         A Tory MP blamed the outcry over MPs expenses on public ‘jealousy’ [more]

·         The UK’s reputation suffered on credit markets as the outlook for government debt was downgraded [more]

·         A business leader attacked the government’s ‘economic vandalism’ [more]

·         Labour sunk to an all-time-low in opinion polls [more]

·         A group of Lib Dem MPs were named ‘heroes of the week’ [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         Car production fell 55% in April [more]

·         Household spending has fallen at the fastest rate since 1980 this year [more]

·         Mortgage lending fell again in April, this time by 9% [more]

·         The government has paid out £15bn too much in tax credits since 2003 [more]

·         Spending on NHS management consultants has trebled in the last two years [more]

·         The UK economy has slid further into deflation [more]

·         Prison violence is increasing [more]

·         Government buildings, including the Department for Energy and Climate Change are not meeting green standards [more]

·         Jo Swinson, Lib Dem MP, has made the most parliamentary contributions of any Scottish MP [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Challenged the government to make the difficult decisions needed to cut the budget deficit [more]

·         Called for a complete transformation in the way politics is conducted [more]

·         Revealed that 24,000 people die prematurely every year in Britain due to air pollution [more]

·         Showed how the government managed to block the creation of 10,000 new jobs [more]

·         Held the government to account for failing to tackle Britain’s alcohol problems [more]

·         Uncovered a huge rise in sexually transmitted diseases among under 16s [more]

·         Warned that the UK is facing a junior doctors crisis [more]

·         Federal Executive published its response to the revelations of misuse of MPs expenses [more]

·         Lord Rennard announced he would be stepping down in September for health and family reasons after six years as Chief Executive of the party [more]

Congratulations to the Clough Centenary Committee and all those involved in Prestwich Clough Day 2009 at St.Mary’s Flower park, Prestwich.

As is often the case a war of nerves was played out with the weather, which on more than one occasion threatened to ruin the event, but as always everyone battled through and with typical British stiff upper lip stubbornness, people stuck it out.

Once again this event was well attended and hopefully aided by the extra publicity across Prestwich as the opening event in the Prestwich Festival.

Once again I failed miserably to get my hands on a fetish-for-food burger! (despite two attempts).

It was particularly enjoyable to see the enjoyment of the young children getting excited and carried away watching the punch and judy show. It just shows that entertainment doesn’t actually have to be “plugged in” to have fun and traditional entertainments can still be just as much fun  - if not more so.

Congratulations - on to the next event!

This was the week that…

·         Parliament was rocked by revelations about the misuse of MPs expenses [more]

·         One of David Cameron’s closest aides was forced to quit over his ‘unacceptable’ expenses claims [more]

·         Labour suspended a former minister from the parliamentary party [more] and accepted the resignation of the Justice Minister over the expenses scandal [more]

·         Two Labour peers faced suspension from the House of Lords after being found guilty of intending to accept money to amend legislation [more]

·         An opinion poll showed that Labour support has fallen to a record low [more]

·         A poll of Euro-election voting intentions showed a three-way tie for second place, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP all on 19% [more]

·         European leaders criticised Cameron’s decision to move his party to the fringes of European politics [more]

·         Nick Clegg’s public approval rating continued to rise [more]

·         An expert on crime reduction said Labour had failed in its pledge to be ‘tough on the causes of crime’ [more]

·         On Burnley Council, Labour and Tory councillors teamed up with 4 BNP councillors to try to unseat the Lib Dem council leader [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         The number of unemployed jumped 244,000 in the first three months of the year [more]

·         BT announced that it is to cut 15,000 jobs, mostly in the UK [more]

·         100 primary schools are closing every year as demand for places looks set to grow [more]

·         Alistair Darling’s economic forecasts are over-optimistic, according to the Bank of England [more]

·         Teenage crime has soared 60% under New Labour [more]

·         The government has cut funding by 25% for five key environmental initiatives [more]

·         Only 13% of terrorism arrests lead to convictions [more]

·         Gordon Brown is “brutal” and has “anything but” a moral compass according to a former aide [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Launched their European Election campaign under the slogan ‘Stronger Together Poorer Apart’ [more]

·         Wrote to party leaders urging them to fully accept the recommendations of the investigation into MPs’ expenses [more]

·         Called for intercept evidence to be made admissible in court in terrorism cases [more]

·         Welcomed proposals for a mandatory code on alcohol sales [more]

·         Revealed the environmental impact of the government’s major road schemes [more]

·         Uncovered the fact that over 15,000 farmers earn less than the minimum wage [more]

·         Argued for a shift in focus in crime policy - from punishment to crime prevention [more]

·         Pushed for an investigation into allegations against the police at the G20 protests [more]

All combined for a typically broad ranging Prestwich Area Partnership meeting at Heaton Park School last night.

FESTIVAL

Area Partnership manager Carran O’Grady and Festival Organiser David Curtis gave a joint presentation on arrangements for the 1st Prestwich Festival which kicks off on sunday with the Clough Day in St.Mary’s Flower Park. From an initial hope that we may have about 10 events this inaugural festival has grown to a whopping 50 events. Much credit must go to the efforts of David and Carran amongst others.

OASIS

The Area partnership had requested an update on arrangements for the June Oasis concerts in Heaton Park.  Questioners asked about toilet provision, parking arrangements and security. There were also concerns raised about access to homes and polling stations. A 700 car parking facility will be available at Bowlee ticket holders are being advised that there is no local parking available. In addition there will be a massive security operation, including wheel clamping and monitoring of public drinking etc.

YOUNG PEOPLE

The partnership received a presentation from a representative of the Youth Inclusion Support Panel (YISP). YISP tries to intervene to help young people avoid the slippery slope to crime by intervening through referalls when young people get involved in anti-social behaviour. They help and support young people in meeting acceptable standards, adhering to ascceptable behaviour contracts etc and advising and offering help on youth issues.

HEALTHY EATING 

As opposed to tackling the the obese the NHS has instead launched a massive £75m campaign to encourage healthy eating. I’m sure most will have seen the nationwide TV advertising campaign. Basically it places greater emphasis on encouraging better, healthier eating habits and more exercise. It encourages parents to review what food they provide, portion control etc and develop more exercising for their children and themselves.

POLICE REPORT

PC Andy Ferguson gave a brief report at the end of the meeting informing the partnership that following a sustained campaign on Polefield the gang of young people that had caused much nuisance had been broken up and the estate is now much quieter.

There is to be a further campaign against the illegal use of quad bikes and scooters shortly. The campaign over last bank holiday weekend was a big success with several bikes confiscated. 

This was the week that…

·         Cabinet members came under fire as details of their expenses claims were revealed [more]. Outrageous expense claims included claiming for mock Tudor beams [more]; storm windows [more]; hanging baskets [more]; and plumbing to fix water that was ‘too hot’ [more]

·         A Labour peer was accused of abusing the expenses system by claiming expenses for an unoccupied flat [more]

·         A senior Cabinet minister attacked the “lamentable failure” of her own government [more]

·         The pressure was kept up on the government over the poor treatment of Gurkha veterans [more]

·         A Tory MEP received a standing ovation from the European parliament for criticising David Cameron [more], while another Tory MEP described Cameron’s European policy as “dotty” [more]

·         Senior figures in the Foreign Office called into question Tory foreign policy [more]

·         Labour braced themselves to lose their four remaining county councils at the local elections [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         The gap between the rich and the poor has widened significantly under Labour [more]

·         A think tank believes this will be the worst recession since the 1930s [more]

·         House prices are set to fall 28% on average overall [more]

·         Over 20,000 civil servants think the government is run badly [more]

·         Only one in four voters back Brown and Darling to manage the economy properly [more]

·         The gender pay gap is higher in the public sector than in the private sector [more]

·         The government has spent £28,000 on ‘media training’ [more]

·         A Tory MP claimed swine flu is “nothing worse than a cold” [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Revealed the significant increases in train and bus fares under Labour [more]

·         Wrote to the FSA to encourage them to release details of bank ‘stress tests’ [more]

·         Continued to press the government for the fair treatment of Gurkhas [more]

·         Called upon the government to go further after the abandonment of Science SATs [more]

·         Pressed the government for further action on the removal of innocent people’s DNA from databases [more]

·         Uncovered the fact that two million social tenants have missed out on a government rent promise [more]

·         Demanded an urgent review of the out-of-hours care system [more]

·         Rubbished the government’s proposals to ‘fix’ the social services system [more]

The information below has been copied from the Heaton Park Web Site

Dear Local Resident,

EVENTS IN HEATON PARK - 2009

I am writing to give you some information about events taking place in Heaton Park in 2009, and to reassure you that every effort will be made to minimise any inconvenience that may arise from the increase in traffic and noise resulting from the events.

Events that we have confirmed so far, including Race for Life and a  large music concert over 3 days that will feature the band Oasis.  As you live close to the park you will know that these events attract a large number of people and that a significant amount of traffic will be generated.  Heaton Park staff work closely with the event organisers, the Greater Manchester Police and Health & Safety Officers to make sure that all large events are well managed, safe and enjoyable, and that they cause the least disruption possible to local residents.

We also have several drama productions taking place and sponsored walks/runs. Tickets are now on sale for The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare’s Globe Touring from 23^rd to 28^th June.

So far no other large events like Oasis concert or the Race for Life are taking place.  However, Heaton Park is an attractive event location because of its size and position, and we are regularly approached by organisers wanting to use the park for events. 

Oasis Concert - 4^th, 6^th & 7^th June

The major headline artists include Oasis, Kasabian and The Enemy, this ticketed event will take place on the papal field and will attract a higher than usual number of visitors to the park over this period.

The impact on the local community of staging these concerts has been at the forefront of the planning process to date and that control measures far in excess of anything put into place for previous events at Heaton Park will be implemented.

An Event Management Plan that focuses on all aspects of the event incorporating strategies for the management of the access and exiting of visitors to the park venue and measures to reduce any level of anti-social behaviour will be in place.

Alongside this, robust noise control mechanisms will be put in place and monitored by both the organisers and Environmental Health officials so the noise from music and associated sources (such as amplified voices) will not be audible to such an extent that it constitues a nuisance at any noise sensitive properties - specifically residential properties. A curfew of 23:00 will be set for the concerts - with the anticipated end of the live event programmed to be earlier than this.

The plan will incorporate a park and ride scheme with a shuttle bus service to accommodate in the region of 8,000 cars away from the park area, an increased bus and metrolink service offer to encourage people to utilise public transport, as well as traffic and parking control measures to be implemented and co-ordinated between the Councils of Manchester, Rochdale and Bury, to maintain as far as possible normal transport provision in the area and to reduce the impact on residents.

The event organisers - with the support and input of all key agencies including Manchester City Council, Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the North West Ambulance Service and GMPTE - will put in place measures within the Event Management Plan to address issues outside of the event arena. 

We will be holding the following surgeries at Heaton Park, which I invite you to attend, to answer any specific questions that you may have:

•·        Tuesday, 5^th May from15:00-19:00hrs at Heaton Park Bowls Complex (St Margaret’s Rd entrance)

•·        Wednesday, 6^th May from 15:00-19:00hrs at Parkside Training Centre (Sheepfoot Lane)

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.

Yours faithfully,

Graham Wightman  (General Manager, Heaton Park)

A successful wind farm close to the Lake District national park is one of the sites recently approved by the Government for a new generation of nuclear power plants.

The site at Kirksanton in Cumbria - home to the Haverigg turbines – was one of Britain’s first wind farms and is also one of the most efficient.

The site’s owners, local environmental groups and the British Wind Energy Association have spoken out at the lack of early consultation and the speed at which nuclear plants are moving through the planning process.

You can read the full story in the Guardian: http://tr.im/jUbp

NO TO NUCLEAR POWER!

PS Remember: you can help our campaign against nuclear power by encouraging people you know to sign the petition at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/no2nuclear

Local residents packed into St.Margarets Church House in Prestwich tonight to let local councillors know their views on the proposed development by Manchester City Council of a commercially operated sports zone at the St.Margarets corner of the park.

Over 80 residents attended the meeting chaired by Cllr Tim Pickstone and assisted by Cllr Vic D’Albert. Sedgley Lib Dem councillors Andrew Garner and Ann Garner were also present as was the Vicar of St.Margarets, The Reverend Debbie Plummer.

Cllr Pickstone outlined the proposals that have led to the meeting and that as councillors we needed to know the views of constituents.

The vast majority of residents were opposed to the proposals although there were some strong supporters in favour of the proposals.

The main reasons for opposition cited by residents were:

• The impact on local traffic - especially on St.Margarets Road
• The impact on parking in the area - with the fear that many visitors will try and park in side streets.
• Increased traffic late into the evening
• Noise and light pollution (floodlights) in the evening from the sports zone activities
• Loss of historic public open parkland

Cllr Vic D’Albert told the meeting, “What I struggle with on this issue is that when the park was first being proposed for refurbishment and regeneration years ago the Councils consultants told us that he aim was to restore the park to its original splendour, to restore the “vistas” of the original park. I fail to see how a sports zone fits in with those plans. Its a difficult issue, on the one hand we desperately need 21st century sports facilities in this area, but we also want to retain our park. On the balance I think its wrong - it boils  down to location, location, location.”

Voluteers were sought at the close of the meeting to collect signatures for the campaign against the plans and also to form a small action group to lead the campaign.

Remember you can sign the petition online at www.campaigns.libdems.org.uk/saveheatonpark or via the community web site www.myprestwich.org.uk

This was the week that…

·         The Budget was unveiled to severe criticism, revealing the dire state of the nation’s finances [more]

·         Labour broke their election manifesto promise by raising the top rate of income tax to 50% [more]

·         The Education Minister and the General Secretary of the Labour Party were drawn into the email smears scandal [more]; [more]

·         The Education Minister faced further criticism for allegedly ‘sexing up’ evidence given to an inquiry [more]

·         Francis Maude became the latest Conservative politician to become embroiled in an expenses scandal [more]

·         A former Labour MP resigned from the party, citing the culture of spin as her reason [more]

·         The Lib Dems new tax proposals were well received by influential political figures [more]

·         Unison, a Labour supporting union, attacked the government over their “childish venom” [more]

·         Allegations of ballot-box tampering threw the selection of a Labour parliamentary candidate into further controversy [more]

·         A leading think-tank said that the government’s income tax rises could lose the Treasury money [more] 

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         Unemployment has hit a new high of 2.1m [more]

·         The national debt has crept over 50% of GDP [more]

·         Deflation has arrived in Britain for the first time in 50 years [more]

·         The IMF are far less optimistic about the economy than Alistair Darling [more]

·         1 in 10 households are struggling to pay their council tax this year [more]

·         The care system is “catastrophic” for vulnerable children a report concludes [more]

·         The number of burglaries has risen for the second quarter in a row [more]

·         UK youth are some of the unhappiest in Europe [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Launched tax proposals including a pledge to cut income tax £700 for low and middle income earners [more]

·         Attacked the Budget as “a political supermarket sweep of random promises” [more]

·         Reacted to the Budget’s proposals for housing [more], broadband networks [more], car scrappage [more], energy [more] pensions [more], child poverty [more] and college funding [more]

·         Gained council seats from Labour, the Conservatives and an Independent in a spectacular week of council by-election results north and south of the border [more]; [more]

·         Nick Clegg rejected Gordon Brown’s proposals for reforming the system of MPs expenses [more]

·         Warned that the UK was facing a “credit crunch crime wave” [more]

·         Demanded that David Miliband corrects the Parliamentary record over torture allegations [more]

·         Led a debate calling on the government to provide greater support to armed forces veterans [more]

·         Criticised banks for charging exorbitant credit card interest rates [more]

·         Called for greater support for the children of nuclear test veterans [more]

Responding to Alistair Darling’s Budget, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:  
 
“Today we got a pick and mix Budget of recycled announcements from a government skilled in raising people’s hopes but incompetent at actually delivering help. 

“This Budget is a political supermarket sweep of random promises, without even a hint of a plan or any likelihood the promises will be put into practice. 

“The biggest disappointment in this Budget is its failure to sort out Britain’s unfair tax system. To put money into people’s pockets to help them make it through this recession. 

“Britain’s taxes are too heavy on those who can least afford it. And too easy to avoid for those who know how.  

“The 50p rate will further encourage the very wealthy to avoid tax unless we tackle the unfair loopholes they exploit.  

“The Liberal Democrats would get practical help to people who are struggling and cut the vast majority of people’s Income Tax bills by £700, paid for by taking aggressive action to clamp down on all the loopholes and exemptions that benefit the richest people and biggest businesses. 

“We would take big choices about what government should and shouldn’t do. 

“With a shocking deficit this year of £175bn we need a national debate about what the state can and cannot afford in the future. 

“That is the responsible way - the honest way - to reduce spending in the years ahead and avoid painful higher taxes. 

“But Labour is out of ideas and out of steam. 

“Today they have condemned us to years of unemployment and a decade of debt. 

“The country deserves something different.” 

Read a summary of the party’s Economic Recovery Plan at www.LibDems.org.uk/RecoveryPlan

You should be able to read Nick Clegg’s Budget response in the House of Commons at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmdebate/home.htm from around 5pm today

---

Key points of 2009 Budget

TAX
• Income tax for those earning more than £150,000 to rise to 50% from April 2010• Tax relief on pensions to be reduced for people on more than £150,000 a year from April 2011

UK ECONOMY
• Economy forecast to shrink 3.5% in 2009

• Growth expected to pick up in 2010, expanding by 1.25%.

• Economy to grow by 3.5% annually from 2011

• Public borrowing to increase to £175bn this year

• Borrowing levels to rise by £173bn, £140bn, £118bn and £97bn in years after

• Consumer price inflation to fall to 1% by end of year.

• Capital investment to continue at historically high levels until 2012

JOBS AND TRAINING
• Government support for economy to protect 500,000 jobs

• All long-term unemployed under 25s to be offered job or training

• £1.7bn additional resources for Job Centre network

• £250m funding to help people get work experience in growth industries

• Funding to create 54,000 new places in sixth form education
HOUSING
• Scheme to guarantee mortgage backed securities to boost lending

• Stamp duty holiday for homes up to £175,000 to be extended to end of year

• Extra £80m for shared equity mortgage scheme

• £500m to kickstart stalled housing projects - including £100m for local authorities to build energy efficient homes

• £50m to upgrade housing for the armed forces

ENVIRONMENT
• Britain commits to cut carbon emissions by 34% by 2020

• An extra £1bn to help combat climate change by supporting low-carbon industries

• £525m for offshore wind projects over the next two years

• £435m support for energy efficiency schemes for homes, firms and public buildings

• £405m to encourage low-carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing

CAR SCRAPPAGE SCHEME
• From next month until March 2010 motorists to get £2,000 discount on new cars if they trade in cars older than 10 years
GOVERNMENT SAVINGS
• Tax loopholes and schemes identified which could provide £1bn of extra revenue over the next three years if closed

• An extra £9bn in efficiency savings is planned

• Public spending to be cut from 1.1% next year to 0.7% in 2011-2012
BENEFITS
• Child tax credit to rise by £20 by 2010

• Child trust funds for disabled children to rise by £100 a year, £200 a year for severely disabled children
SAVINGS
• Annual limit for tax-free ISAs to rise to more than £10,000 for over-50s this year and for everyone else next year

PENSIONERS
• Grandparents of working age who care for their grandchildren will see that work count towards their entitlement for the basic state pension

• Winter fuel allowance to be maintained at higher level - £250 for over 60s and £400 for over-80s - for another year

• The basic state pension will be increased by at least 2.5%, regardless of inflation

CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL AND FUEL
• Alcohol taxes to go up 2% from midnight - one estimate is that it would put 5p on the average pint of beer

• Tax on tobacco to go up by 2% from 6pm

• Fuel duty to rise by 2p per litre from September, then by 1p a litre above indexation each April for the next four years

HELP FOR BUSINESS
• Help for loss-making companies extended - they will be able to reclaim more taxes paid in the last three years until November 2010

• Businesses’ main capital allowance rate doubled to 40%

• New £750m strategic investment fund to help emerging technologies and regionally important sectors

(source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8011882.stm)

So today we finally saw the death of dear old prudence, once held so dear as a treasury principle by Gordon Brown. The chancellor weighed in and with his second budget gambled the future prosperity and economic fortunes on a roll of the dice and a spin of the wheel.

The big big gamble is that he tells us the economy will start to improve (grow) by the end of the year and much of what he is putting in place is designed to reap the rewards of growth from 2010/11 - so precious little support for those struggling in the hear and now.

The second gamble is that he is trying to maintain spending at reasonable levels through massive record level borrowing, both in the hope of a speedy turn round in the economy but also in the hope of turning round Labours fortunes especially at the next General election.

Well I suppose now we own most of the banks we should be able to borrow plenty, but the sums just don’t add up. He has tried to please environmentalists - perhaps successfuly re:wind farms, not so with car scrappage scheme, and no Green tax switch. No easing of the tax burden with personal taxation and precious little else.

He has spun the wheel, but he can’t tell where it will stop. However it will cost us dearly when it does. It became clear today that this Labour Government is as bankrupt on ideas to get out of this mess as they are financially. But they are prepared to gamble everything on getting re-elected . Whoever gets elected next May/June - the first budget in a new parliament would be very interesting indeed.

In response to anger, shock and dismay from many local residents your Holyrood Councillors (myself, Cllr Tim Pickstone and Cllr Wilf Davison) have organised a Public Meeting.

The meeting will be on monday, April 27th from 7.00pm at Church House on St.Margarets Church opposite the Church.

We want to take the opportunity to hear your views, update you on what we’ve done so far , what we’re planning and to share any further information we have.

We will have posters, leaflets and petitions available. See you there. 

This was the fortnight that…

·         Gordon Brown’s key aide’s plans to smear senior Tories and their families were exposed [more]

·         And Gordon Brown eventually accepted responsibility [more]

·         The Home Secretary came under pressure following the collapse of the case against Damian Green MP [more]

·         A DNA pioneer attacked the government for storing the DNA of innocent people [more]

·         The Chancellor admitted that his previous economic forecasts were wildly optimistic [more]

·         The CBI attacked the government’s environmental policy [more]

·         Two organisations criticised the government’s ‘knee jerk’ crime and prison policies [more]; [more]

·         A teachers’ union called for a boycott of SATs [more] and adopted a Lib Dem policy [more]

·         A high profile Tory MEP branded the NHS a “mistake” [more]

·         A former Tory councillor was jailed for a year for abusing his expenses privileges [more]

·         Vince Cable published a “lucid and eloquent” book on the recession to positive reviews [more]

 

Over the last fortnight we learnt that…

·         The UK economy will not recover from the recession until 2012 [more]

·         A bailed-out bank will cut a further 4,500 UK jobs [more]

·         Unemployment will reach 3.2m by 2010 [more]

·         UK industrial production is falling at the fastest rate in four decades [more]

·         Car sales have fallen 30.5% in the last year [more]

·         The government have overpaid the Irish health service – possibly by €750m in the last five years [more]

·         Cost-cutting in the NHS is responsible for 4,000 blunders a year and putting up to 1m patients at risk [more]

·         The Treasury will be left with a £39bn public sector spending gap by 2015 [more]

·         Two thirds of small businesses feel they are not getting enough government support [more]

·         Three ministers have claimed their second home allowances while living in grace-and-favour apartments [more]; [more]; [more]

·         The leader of the Green Party thinks flying to Spain is as bad as stabbing someone in the street [more]

 

Over the last fortnight the Liberal Democrats…

·         Criticised the governments plans for a new generation of nuclear power plants [more]

·         Rejected government proposals to dock alcoholics’ benefits as ‘inhumane’ [more]

·         Dismissed the government’s new electric car policy as a ‘gimmick’ [more]

·         Uncovered the fact that the NHS is paying the government £81m at a rate of up to 5.6% [more]

·         Published research showing that 4 patients a day die in mental health trusts [more]

·         Revealed that the number of anaphylactic shock cases has doubled in ten years [more]

·         Found that the government’s VAT cut is principally benefiting the rich [more] 

·         Discovered that the dole is worth less now than in the previous two recessions [more]

·         Condemned a proposed 30% price hike by water companies [more]

In order to take forward the “Love Prestwich” Village Centre strategy, a further retail capacity study has been undertaken to ensure that the key recommendations of the Love Prestwich Village Strategy are based on the most up-to-date possible assessment of the capacity and need for new retail development within Prestwich.

This new evidence, the Prestwich Town Centre Retail Capacity Assessment, has now been prepared by Drivers Jonas and can be viewed by following the link below:

Download Prestwich Town Centre Retail Capacity Assessment document (1mb 127 page pdf)
Visit the Prestwich Regeneration page (see menu left) for a summary and more information.

A new planning application has been received which is within Holyrood Ward (Prestwich) as detailed below:-

Application number: 51209     Type of application: Full     

Date Registered: 15/04/2009

Applicant: Governors of Prestwich High School Arts College
Location: PRESTWICH HIGH SCHOOL, HEYS ROAD, PRESTWICH, M25 1JZ
Proposal: AUDITORIUM EXTENSION WITH LINK TO EXISTING BUILDING

Plans will be available to view on the Council’s website within 2 working days from today. Should you require further details please contact the case officer: Tom Beirne on: 0161 253 5361 or any of your local councillors.

We will be happy to receive your comments and advise on how you can formally comment.

A report from the National Housing Federation today warned that 2.65m people could be living in overcrowded accomodation by 2011 if the Government don’t provide a major house building stimulus as soon as possible.

Whilst they make some valid points and I confess I haven’t read the report in detail, I am concerned that such reports from organisations with a clear vested interest only address part of he problem and with simplistic solutions at that.

There is already a major problem developing. homelessness is now grwoing sharply again, the hidden homeless (those sleeping temporarily under someone elses roof) is been growing for some time and yes, overcrowing is a growing problem too.

But the answer is just about more houses. Yes we do need more homes to be built, but we need to seriously tackle the amount of empty and derelict properties and empty and derelict commercial buildings. We need more funds at local level for compulsory purchase of such properties, for refurbishment, conversion etc.

We need joined up thinking and some imaginative working to provide real solutions. On the same day as another report highlighted the decline in marriage, that 1/3rd of 20-34 year olds still live with their parents and the growth in living alone, we need modern solutions that address the changes we face in society reconciled with housing demand and disused properties. And the NHF are right - we need these solutions and action now.

Prestwich Lib Dems have launched a petition opposed to Manchester City Councils plans for a commercial sports development of the St.Margarets end of the park.

The petition is as follows:

We the undersigned are opposed to the proposal to create a private use “Sports Zone” at the St Margaret’s entrance to Heaton Park. We welcome new sports and leasure facilities, but not taking up public parkland!

 

If you want to sign the petition online you can do so at: http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/saveheatonpark or go to www.myprestwich.org.uk  and look for the Heaton Park petition article.

We plan to circulate paper copies in the near future.

Furthermore anyone interested in joining the campaign is invited to a public meeting at St.Margarets Church House (opposite the church) on St.Margarets Road, Prestwich on monday April 27th at 7pm.

Goals Soccer Centres information office have kindly supplied my colleague, Cllr Pickstone with plans of the proposed Sports Zone at the St Margaret’s corner of Heaton Park.

They stress that these plans are subject to change. The location of the proposed skate park has already been moved and there are already proposals to move the skate park, and to swap tennis courts with football pitches to reduce noise levels.

Despite recent assurances, notably at the recent Prestwich Area Partnership, I am growing increasingly concerned about aspects of preparation for the Oasis concerts in June.

I understand that despite initial suggestions to the contrary it is now expected that half the numbers attending these gigs will be travelling from out of the area by car or coach etc - that’s an influx of 35,000 using private transport on our local roads.

In addition I am concerned that the provision of portable toilets is likely to be wholly inadequate.

It also surely makes sense that we introduce some form of Residents permit for key blocks of residential areas adjacent to the park. If these events are to be a success then that means local residents won’t suffer unecessarily as well.

I will be seeking assurances over the coming week that these aspects will be re-examined. We need a committment from the organisers that the safety of local people and the Prestwich environment will be protected.

This was the week that…

·         World leaders met in London and agreed to pump $1 trillion into the world economy [more]

·         A report showed that only 0.6% of the Government’s fiscal stimulus will be spent on green measures [more]

·         At least 4,000 jobs were lost in the UK across a range of sectors [more]

·         The UN named and shamed the UK over its response to the Somali refugee crisis [more]

·         The Home Secretary was criticised for charging the taxpayer for her husband’s adult films [more]

·         An inquiry began into a millionaire’s donations to the Tory party [more]

·         21 NHS trusts failed to meet new hygiene standards [more]

·         Lord Myners came under pressure to resign after he was accused of misleading Parliament [more]

·         A Select Committee called for the National Curriculum to be slimmed down – a Lib Dem policy [more]

·         The scandal into MPs expenses showed no sign of disappearing [more]; [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         Unemployment will hit 3 million within two years [more]

·         The national DNA database has grown 40% in two years and now has more than 5 million people on it [more]

·         There are 10% fewer hospital beds today than there were three years ago [more]

·         The Government’s adult literacy drive is failing and wasting billions according to a government adviser [more]

·         According to most measures, house prices continued to fall in March [more]; [more]

·         Boris Johnson proposes to cut his environmental team in half [more]

·         160,000 kids left primary school without basic English and Maths competency [more]

·         Older people do not have fair access to mental health services in most mental health trusts [more]

·         The Europe Minister hasn’t read the Lisbon Treaty [more]

·         Conservative run Bournemouth Council are employing a transport manager who lives in Edinburgh – and paying £200,000 a year for his travel expenses [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Challenged Gordon Brown to turn the G20 agreement into real help for British people [more]

·         Led a debate challenging the Government in the House of Lords over tax havens [more]

·         Unveiled research showing that 80% of hospitals do not pass on knife crime information to the police [more]

·         Led a debate calling for a step up in nuclear non-proliferation action in the House of Lords [more]

·         Proposed a bill to end discrimination in the line of succession to the throne [more]

·         Highlighted shocking figures showing that prison assaults took place every half an hour in 2008 [more]

·         Called for the same guarantees of access for mental health care as for other health services [more]

Creation of a new Sports Zone, St Margaret’s Gate Entrance

Local Lib Dems are growing increasingly concerned at Plans for a Sports Zone in Heaton Park.

Plans are likely to come to Manchester Council’s Planning Committee before the summer for a “Sports Zone” near to the St Margaret’s Entrance of the Park. This would build on the existing Bowling Greens (created for the Commonwealth Games).

The proposed Sports Zone would include:
· 5-a-side pitches
· 7-a-side pitch
- Tennis Courts
· Spectator area
· Climbing wall
· Single storey pavilion comprising changing rooms, meeting rooms and bar
· Car parking

It would be run by a private company (ie there would be a charge for using the facilities normally, however it is proposed that it is made available for community use at non-peak times with free access for under 16 year olds. We’re also assured that there will be no activity after 9.00pm at night.

Vic D’Albert commented, “While in many ways this is a very positive development with the creation of much needed additional sporting facilities there are major worries too.” 

• Will the Prestwich Public and local schools and community groups receive free or discounted access or will that only be for Manchester City Council residents?
• This development would mean much more traffic along St.Margarets Road
• Should an historic public park have a large chunk hived off for the use of a private profit making business. Is this the start of further developments. MCC have already tried to build a school there!

“I am deeply concerned that local Prestwich residents  will once again get the short end of the stick with this development. We would urge all local residents to respond to the consultation and as your local councillors, myself Wilf and Tim will be responding formally to Bury Council and Manchester City Council on this issue. ”

The project is still at the planning stage and a public consultation exercise will take place in the Farm Centre, Heaton Park within the next 2 months following which the Planning Application will be submitted. (I will let people know when I have a date for this.)

What do you think?
Please let me know your views on this issue, which is likely to have a big impact on the St.Margarets area of Prestwich.

This was the week that…

·         HSBC became the latest company to make cuts – 1,200 jobs are to go [more]

·         Business leaders queued up to warn that Britain cannot afford another fiscal stimulus [more]; [more]

·         The government confirmed there will be an Iraq War inquiry, but suggested it will be held in private [more]

·         A UK bond auction failed to find enough buyers for the first time since 2002 [more]

·         The split between the Prime Minister and the Treasury began to widen [more]

·         The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner launched an inquiry into a minister’s expenses [more]

·         A Sunday newspaper revealed the affair of a Labour MP and close friend of Gordon Brown [more]

·         The Conservative Party Chairman came unstuck justifying his expense claims [more]

·         Ken Clarke admitted he wasn’t sure if controversial Conservative tax reforms could be afforded [more]

·         Vince Cable was the only politician named in a ‘fantasy boardroom’ [more] 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         GDP suffered its biggest quarterly fall since 1980 in the last quarter of 2008 [more]

·         The government will borrow £351bn in the next two years – more than in the 306 years up to Labour’s election victory in 1997 [more]

·         Retail sales almost stalled in February, coming in well below expectations [more]

·         15% of shops will be vacant by the end of 2009 [more]

·         Poor leadership at the Foreign Office has created a culture where “mediocrity flourishes” [more]

·         £3bn of overpaid tax credits have been written off as unrecoverable [more]

·         As many as one quarter of government databases may be illegal [more]

·         The Department of Transport misled environmental groups over Heathrow expansion [more]

·         Unemployment is good for your health – according to one government minister [more]

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Launched their G20 development plan [more]

·         Successfully amended the Coroners and Justice Bill after forcing a government u-turn [more]

·         Tabled an Early Day Motion calling for the second home allowance to be abolished for London MPs [more]

·         Called on the Government to replace the VAT cut with investment into public transport and home insulation to create new jobs [more]

·         Revealed that anti-terror legislation is routinely used by local councils against minor offenders [more]

·         Wrote to the Chancellor over Sir Fred Goodwin’s pension payments [more]

·         Highlighted shocking statistics about Britain’s knife crime culture [more]

Last nights Area Partnership meeting at Sedgley Park School was billed as “the one not to miss”, and I think it lived up to expectations.

The meeting was well attended - although most members of the public were there to here further about proposals for the development of Prestwich Village or arrangements for the Oasis concerts in Heaton Park. Key highlights included:

Prestwich Festival

Panel and residents received an update on progress for this years inaugural Prestwich Festival which will run from May 17th to June 21st.

David Curtis who leads the carnival organising committee and is coordinating the Festival on behalf of the AP gave an update and confirmed that at present there are 25 events scheduled to take place. Starting with the Clough day on May 17th and climaxing with the Carnival on June 21st.

More events are being finalised and added all the time so its a case of wait and see. The Prestwich Festival programme will be printed in the next month and will schedule out all the events.  

Oasis concerts

3 concerts are too take place in Heaton Park on 4th, 6th and 7th June with Oasis headlining. Many residents have expressed concern at these proposed concerts. Especially with regard to home security, traffic, anti-social behaviour  etc.

The event promoters attended alongside the Manchester City Council project manager and a representative of the Event traffic and & transport management company. They addressed concerns raised and informed residents that a information leaflet is to be delivered shortly and a hotline number is to be established. Inspector Ryecroft confirmed that there will be a massive police operation to maintain security. In addition a private security firm are to be deployed.

Its fair to say that concerns still remain about traffic and parking issues and the impact across Prestwich, although they will be directing traffic through Middleton Road. and from Bowker vale Tram station.

Prestwich Centre Regeneration

Representatives of Hollins Murray Group the owners of the precinct - gave a presentation on their plans for the precinct following the proposals formulated by Urbed and subject to extensive consultation. Plans were also made available to view. Essentially at present they are not significantly dissimilar from the Urbed love-prestwich vision plans and that can only be good. Obviously it is relatively early in the process still and HMG informed the meeting that an Outline Planning Application would be submitted shortly. It would be fair to say that the presentation and proposals were well received from those that asked questions or made comment.

Police Report

Inspector Ryecroft reported on the last crime and security situation. he outlined that there has been a spate of burglaries across the area  and a drop in anti-social behaviour generally - although Holyrood ward remains the worst affected.

Graffiti was raised by a number of residents and Inspector Ryecroft was delighted to report that a main culprit has been caught who has confessed to 65 graffiti offences.

Next meeting: May 14th, Heaton Park School, Cuckoo Lane. 

A letter is shortly to be delivered to residents bordering Heaton Park advising of two surgeries which will take place to enable residents to get advice and raise concerns about the Oasis concerts planned in June. The proposed advice surgeries are as follows:

Tuesday, 5th May from15:00-19:00hrs at Heaton Park Bowls Complex (St Margaret’s Rd entrance)

Wednesday, 6th May from 15:00-19:00hrs at Parkside Training Centre (Sheepfoot Lane)

For further information or to register comments and concerns you may also wish to contact the Park General manager, Graham Wightman on 0161 773 1085 X209 or Email: g.wightman@manchester.gov.uk

Residents are urged to attend the next meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership when three massive issues will be on the agenda.

Prestwich Festival, the summer’s Oasis concerts, and the latest plans to regenerate the town centre will be discussed.

The LAP meeting is on Thursday March 26 at Sedgley Park Primary School in Prestwich, starting at 6.30pm.  There is a chance to meet and great local councillors, the police, housing officers from 6.15pm onwards.

• Love Prestwich co-ordinator David Curtis will outline plans for the five-week festival, which runs from May 17 to June 21, and how local people can take part and help out.

• Rock legends Oasis are playing Heaton Park on June 4, 6 and 7. Concert officials and promoters will be at the LAP to detail arrangements for the shows and plans to minimise disruption to residents. 
• Topping the bill are developers Hollins Murray Group, who will unveil their proposals to redevelop the Longfield shopping centre. These have been drawn up in direct response to residents’ comments on their original vision. The plans will be on display in Prestwich Library on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (March 24 to 26).

Councillor Vic D’Albert, chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership, said: “What can I say – these are three massive issues for Prestwich residents.“Prestwich Festival is about bringing our community together and celebrating the best we have to offer, so please come along and listen to what’s planned. 

“The Oasis concert is a massive operation and this is a great opportunity for residents to seek reassurances about safety, security and traffic.

“Finally, the Longfield redevelopment plans are long-awaited and much needed and I hope that local residents feel that their views are listened to and have been responded to. All I can say is, be at this meeting!”

LOVEPRESTWICH FESTIVAL

Starts at Prestwich Clough Sunday 17 May till Sunday 21 June at Prestwich Carnival. To Keep up to date with LOVEPRESTWICH visit www.iloveprestwich.com 

Bury Liberal Democrats are calling for a commitment from Bury Council to clamp down on graffiti across the borough. 

The Lib Dems have launched a “6 to fix graffiti” campaign and are challenging the Conservative-run Council to take a zero-tolerance approach to the problem. 

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Bury South commented, “Bury Council has failed to tackle the problem of graffiti. We have to show our support for local people who are the victims of this crime, and our commitment to our community which shouldn’t have to put up with vandalism like this.” 

“Despite graffiti being an issue for several months now, all the Tories at the Town Hall have done so far is issue Area Partnerships a few graffiti cleaning kits. While that’s a start it’s a wholly inadequate response to the problem. They are telling us we should clean the mess ourselves, but it’s the Council that should be tackling the problem. The Conservatives running Bury Council talk about writing a policy, but it’s taking months and it’s not getting rid of any graffiti.”  

“It’s time Bury Conservatives showed some leadership on this issue and worked alongside local police, residents groups and others to tackle the problem head on. It’s spoiling our town”

Local Lib Dems have identified 6 points they would like to see developed to fix the problem of graffiti.

1. Local people – encouraged to challenge graffiti, report graffiti 
2. Bury Council – to commit  to clean up graffiti quickly
3. Local Businesses – pledge to clean up graffiti on their property 
4. Police – to catch the offenders and punish them including getting them to clean their own mess up
5. Schools & Youth Service– to educate and challenge pupil perceptions and opinions
6. Utitility Companies – to work with Bury Council and commit to cleaning sites swiftly. 

“We believe we have been patient with Bury Council, but now we need action not more warm words from Bury Conservatives. Let’s see some commitment to our communities, A coordinated effort and zero tolerance.” 

This was the week that…

·         Unemployment passed the 2m mark for the first time in 12 years [more]

·         The IMF predicted that the recession in Britain will be the worst in the developed world [more]

·         Evidence grew of the Government’s complicity in torture [more]

·         NHS target culture was blamed for up to 1,200 people dying unnecessarily at a Staffordshire hospital [more]

·         The NHS was criticised for spending millions on unproven schemes [more]

·         The Immigration minister announced plans for a detention centre outside Calais – although no one in France had heard of the plan [more]

·         After Lib Dem pressure, the government backed down on plans to share data between departments [more]

·         Senior Labour figures lined up to criticise the PM and make him accept blame [more] ; [more]

·         The Government Chief Whip accused his own backbenchers of “idleness” [more]

 

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         Car production fell by almost 60% in January [more]

·         Each adult in Britain is an average of £40,000 worse off because of the recession [more]

·         Gordon Brown was warned over Britain’s weak regulatory regime in 2004 – and did nothing [more]

·         2m people will be on the waiting list for social housing by 2011 [more]

·         The UK will borrow more money than any other major economy next year [more]

·         Britain is giving less help to the country’s poor in the recession than other G8 nations [more]

·         Youth crime has soared over the last 10 years under Labour [more]

·         The Government’s new Department for Energy and Climate Change is in chaos [more]

·         Housing prisoners in police stations has proved more expensive than the Ritz per night [more]

·         The Government has spent £780,000 on flowers in four years [more]

 

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Condemned the Government over their management of the Northern Rock crisis [more]

·         Exposed a £2bn black hole in the government’s unemployment benefits estimates

·         Challenged the Prime Minister over the Government’s “frenzied” target culture [more]

·         Attended the launch of a cross-party campaign for a ‘Post Bank’ (a long-standing Lib Dem policy) [more]

·         Revealed shocking statistics about alcohol related youth hospital admissions [more]

·         Heaped pressure onto the Government to open a public inquiry into the invasion of Iraq [more]

·         Called for a green road out of recession and criticised the Government’s neglect of the environment [more]

Manchester City Council are considering plans to cut two holes in the Heaton Park Wall opposite St Monica’s RC High School on Bury Old Road.

We’re assuming that the two new double gates that are proposed would be in place in time for the Oasis Concert, but the application seems to imply that the gates would be permanent.

I know that my colleagues who are Councillors for the Sedgley Ward of Prestwich (Ann Garner, Andrew Garner and Steve Wright) have already been asking Bury Council about its views on the issue and suggesting that the Council should be raising serious concerns with Manchester about the impact the proposals have on Prestwich, the School and on traffic.

You can view the full Planning Application on Manchester Council’s Website here.

THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT…

·         House sales fell to their lowest level in at least 31 years [more]

·         The recession in the UK continued to gather pace [more]

·         A United Nations report declared that the UK had breached human rights [more]

·         Government divisions over the need to apologise for the economic crisis continued to grow [more]

·         A former cabinet minister publicly attacked Gordon Brown on Labour’s lack of ‘narrative’ [more]

·         Labour MPs rounded on the PM at Prime Minister’s Questions [more]

·         A business leader said that the government was focusing on ‘red herrings’ [more]

·         Government ministers failed to comprehensively reveal their financial interests [more]

·         A Tory MEP described climate change as a ‘media driven frenzy’ [more]

·         A Labour mayor resigned after his arrest over corruption charges [more]

 

OVER THE LAST WEEK WE LEARNT THAT….

·         Continued systematic failings in the social services are leaving vulnerable children at risk [more]

·         Almost one playing field a day was sold in 2008 despite government commitments to reverse this trend [more]

·         Many elderly people are looked after by untrained staff in unclean care homes [more]

·         One in six children did not get into their first choice secondary school [more]

·         New Royal Navy destroyers will be delivered £1.5bn over budget and two years late [more]

·         The private sector pension deficit is at a record £219bn – and is still growing [more]

·         One in four of the world’s CCTV cameras are in Britain [more]

·         Gordon Brown is the country’s most boring public speaker! [more]

 

OVER THE LAST WEEK THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS…

·         Revealed that over 1000 serving police officers have criminal convictions [more]

·         Said government economic proposals were “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted” [more]

·         Visited Google to discuss internet privacy issues [more]

·         Called for dirty care homes to be closed down [more]

·         Demanded a public inquiry following revelations of heavy-handed policing at a protest last year [more]

·         Called for a tougher government response to reduce knife crime [more]

·         Exposed a huge decrease in the amount of domestically produced food consumed in the UK [more]

·         Attacked the government’s insubstantial approach to tackling domestic violence [more]

·         Accused the Home Office of being “illegal, immoral, and ineffective” for keeping the DNA of a baby on record [more]

Local people are rightly growing in frustration over the lack of action from Bury Council on the problem of graffitti.

Last year the current spate of graffiti flared up and was met with the incredible sight of local residents , some elderly and retired, being threatened with court action and fines if they (the victims) didn’t clear up the mess.

Since then the Police have done tremendous work trying to catch culprits and through restorative justice have managed to get some of the perpetrators to clean up the mess.

As for the Area Partnership, due to a lack of resources, we have only been able to offer the gesture of free clean up kits for those that want. Nevertheless people have been community minded to take up the offer.

What we are crying out for now is a) A council policy for dealing with this issue, b) People within the authority with the responsibility to clean up the mess and c) Action.

The council have been supposedly working on a policy for months, meanwhile seemingly every day there is another example of graffiti to put up with.

Bury Conservatives have got to get their act together and respond faster to local problems.

Its taken nearly 2 years for an alley-gating policy (and we’re still waiting), We’re approaching the 1st anniversary of the graffiti policy ( and still waiting). It’s hardly surprising Radcliffe Riverside school has taken so long to get built!

Its just not good enough.

This was the week that…

·         UK and world markets sank to new lows [more]

·         Repossessions and losses soared at the nationalised bank Northern Rock [more]

·         The Bank of England created £75bn to boost the economy in an unprecedented step [more]

·         Gordon Brown’s speech to Congress received a mixed reception [more]

·         20% of pupils failed to get into their first choice schools [more]

·         Government ministers finally admitted to mistakes over the economy [more]

·         A double Victoria Cross holder condemned the government’s treatment of veterans [more]

·         The government made a u-turn and adopted Lib Dem policy on voter registration [more]

·         Discontent over Brown’s leadership continued to grow [more] but his deputy did herself no favours [more]

Over the last week we learnt that…

·         Labour has spent £7bn on an army of consultants [more]

·         The government misled the public over opposition to Heathrow’s third runway [more]

·         A top Tory became the latest opposition MP to break parliamentary rules [more]

·         Government incompetence and waste has put UK soldiers at risk [more]

·         David Miliband spent £7,000 on ‘presentation’ lessons [more]

·         A breakthrough depression treatment launched two years ago is still not available in most of the country [more]

·         A Labour-dominated committee of MPs launched a stinging attack on the DCLG’s competence [more]

·         It could take a decade for the country to fully recover from the economic crisis [more]

·         12,000 kids could be left without primary school places in London alone [more]

·         One third of young people have carried a weapon in the last year [more]

Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…

·         Boycotted the government’s new unrepresentative Regional Select Committees [more]

·         Warned the government that it had run out of options to tackle the economic crisis [more]

·         Fought to cap individual party donations to £50,000 [more]

·         Voted against the continuation of control orders legislation [more]

·         Revealed that 45,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes to pay for care homes [more]

·         Called on the Chancellor to stop propping up Labour’s failed PFI projects [more]

·         Pointed out that less than 3% of the government’s fiscal stimulus is going on green measures [more]

The Liberal Democrat leader tells his party conference that it will be a long, slow climb out of recession but his party offers hope for the future.

Click here to read the full text of Nick Clegg’s speech

Nick Clegg laid the blame for Britain’s economic crisis and political malaise squarely at the door of both Labour and the Conservatives, in his keynote speech to the party spring conference in Harrogate:

“A never-ending cycle of red-blue, blue-red government has got us into this mess - it is never going to get us out.”He said now was the time to try something new:“Now is the time to think big.If you want better, choose different.Choose the Liberal Democrats.”

Nick made a stinging attack on the Labour Government for having let people down: 

“Labour is like a spent match. There’s nothing left. You remember how hopeful people felt in 1997? Remember the promise of a better future?  Don’t you feel the disappointment?“An economy in tatters. A country more unequal than before. An illegal war, our government implicated in torture and rendition. Our environment poisoned. Our privacy invaded, our freedom curtailed. If you believe, like I do, in progress.If you feel let down by Labour, and see that the Conservatives will never be a party of change. Turn to the Liberal Democrats. We carry the torch of progress now.”

Much of the speech was devoted to the state of the economy and what the Liberal Democrats would do to turn things round:

“At least 3 million unemployed by the end of the year. That’s devastating. Let me be clear. We will do everything possible to help. Everything to protect jobs, keeping viable businesses going. Everything to make sure being made redundant does not mean you lose everything. And everything to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, to get people back out to work as soon as possible.”

Nick told conference that the government has borrowed twelve and a half billion pounds to finance this year’s VAT giveaway:

“That money alone could have created nearly 100,000 new jobs. And laid the foundations, quite literally, for a new green economy.”

Nick said the party should be proud of their progressive policies and enduring liberal values:

“Let us say it loud and clear. We are the only party who will put money into people’s pockets with fair tax cuts. The only party to offer universal childcare and smaller classes in our primary schools. The only party who would use Gordon Brown’s wasted billions to create thousands of jobs today by investing in homes, hospitals, schools and public transport to build the green economy of tomorrow. The only party that will rebuild the jobs, homes and hopes this recession has destroyed.” 

So, following a 3 month litter enforcement pilot scheme - where those caught by NCP contracted wardens would be issued with fixed penalty notices, guess how many were issued in Prestwich?

10? 20? 100? With the amount of litter around the centre of Prestwich you would be forgiven for thinking that fixed penalties would be everywhere. But no, in actual fact not one fixed penalty notice was issued.

The irony here of course is that this pilot used the same people who will issue a notice if you happened to park three inches out of your parking bay! The same people that in the past have issued FPN’s to sick, disabled old men who parked for 10 seconds to post a letter, but didn’t display the right side of their blue badge.

Yes, that’s right, NCP who never fail to stick rigidly to the fine print of their traffic/parking enforcement contract couldn’t find one litter lout in Prestwich, not near the pubs, not near the bookies, not near the many take-aways.

So why is Prestwich village centre covered in litter? I think the people of Prestwich deserve some answers.

By the way NCP managed to issue 39 FPN’s in other areas of Bury. Obviously we have a better class of litter lout, operating under a cloak of secrecy and clearly out of sight of NCP.  

Soaring energy bills have left an estimated 13,244 households in Bury in fuel poverty¹ this winter, according to new figures highlighted by the Liberal Democrats. 

Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South, Vic D’Albert, is demanding the Government act urgently to help people struggling to pay their fuel bills and is calling on MPs of all parties to back the Fuel Poverty Bill being introduced by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath. 

He said: “These new estimates from Consumer Focus are truly shocking. Nearly one in six households here in Bury are in fuel poverty this winter, including four out of five single pensioner households. This is even worse than the situation nationally. ² 

“It’s not hard to see the culprit. Over the last five years average gas and electricity bills have more than doubled. The prices being paid by energy companies for fuel on the wholesale markets are coming down, but the companies aren’t passing on the cuts to their customers. And meanwhile they are making big profits. This is totally unacceptable.

“As a result growing numbers of people are struggling to heat their homes. As recession bites, here in Bury and across the country an increasing number of people are being faced with the dreadful choice between heating and eating. 

“I am calling on the Government to take urgent action to help people struggling with high fuel bills.“The Fuel Poverty Bill currently in Parliament, proposed by Liberal Democrat MP David Heath, would deliver a massive home insulation programme which would halve the energy needed to heat the average home. And it would end the scandal of those who use pre-pay meters – generally the least well-off – paying higher rates for their gas and electricity. “The Government must give it their support. And energy companies, who have made billions in windfall profits from the European Emissions Trading Scheme, must be made to pay for the programme, as well as being told to cut bills faster for their customers.” 

¹ A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime (usually 21 degrees for the main living area, and 18 degrees for other occupied rooms).

² Full national figures can be viewed on Consumer Focus’s website at http://tinyurl.com/fuelpov. Find out more about the Fuel Poverty Bill at http://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk.

Bury Conservatives have ignored the recession and forced through an inflation busting 4.79% Council Tax increase amidst cuts to public services at the special Budget setting Council meeting last night.

Much of the debate was focussed on the proposals to cut youth services in the second year of the 3 year budget approved. The Conservatives plan to cut £200,000 from the service by outsourcing aspects of this vital service.  A large number of young people attended to ask questions and lobby against the proposals.

The other controversial issue was the proposal to save money by turning  a number of street lights off at night. Full details of this proposal are yet to emerge, however it has to be made clear that this is a money saving measure from the Conservatives NOT an environmental energy saving measure. It clearly has not been thought through as yet and may well take some persuading before it happens. But that doesn’t bother the Conservatives.

Whilst there was a welcome cash injection for disabled adult services which has struggled with adequate funding, there were cuts across the service spectrum and further use of reserves.

Opposition parties proposed amendments which were both defeated by the Conservatives. The Lib Dems proposed an additional £300,000 for local street repairs and an additional £300,000 in support of a apackage of measures to support local businesses through the recession over the next 12 months. In addition we proposed a review of youth services - but significantly with a view to ploughing back any savings directly into providing better youth services across the borough.

The debate was marred by the constant “bating”, provocation and insulting behaviour by a number of senior members which in my opinion bordered on showing a lack of respect for their office and threatened to reduce the debate to a cross between a playground squabble and a circus.

I raised concerns in the debate that the Conservative group were using the budget to announce major policy initiatives involving significant resources, without any consideration by officers, scrutiny by councillors nor consultation with the public. This could lead to serious problems as the year progresses.

It is now clear to me that the Conservative strategy is to bump up Council Tax this year and cut services as there are no elections. Then prior to next years elections we will see more cuts in an attempt to set a council tax as close to 0% as possible. Politics of manipulation, deceit and cynicism.  

I have just been copied into this complaint to the Council. (I have removed names etc to protect privacy).  

“I am writing to you regarding an ongoing saga of the lamppost outside my house at xx Heys Road, Prestwich, The overview, for those not yet familiar, is that on 5 November 2008 the lamppost outside my house was knocked down. One of your engineers came out within a few hours, made safe the debris and marked out where a replacement lamppost would be placed. After a few days the debris was taken away.

From that point on I have been phoning every few weeks asking when a new lamppost will be fitted – there is a complaint in your system for you to see the exact chronology but it seems that from the 5 November to 5 December nothing was done as the report seems to have been lost in your system. A new lamppost was eventually erected but not connected to any power as this is the job of United Utilities. I have been informed by Mr xxxx that United Utilities have had some sort of teething trouble with their new job scheduling system and that the new lamppost would be connected on 20 February 2009. It is now 23 Feb and there is still no power to the lamppost.”

I will be pressing the council to ensure that this is issue is dealt with and that the street light is connected. In many ways though this highlights a common problem. Much time is wasted in “agency” working between the Council and others. In this case the Council acted promptly only for United Utilities to badly let down the Council and the long suffering resident. It’s a ridiculous situation and one that greater powers need to address perhaps with a legislative committment to deal with such issues within a certain time frame or face heavy penalties.

PLANS by the Liberal Democrats to massively increase the energy efficiency of all homes will lead to big savings in energy bills, say Bury Liberal Democrats. 

In a message to local residents, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South, Vic D’Albert has backed the plans to raise the standard of home energy efficiency. 

“The energy efficiency standards of 99 out of every 100 homes fall well below what they should be,” said Vic D’Albert. “Nearly every one of us is spending money on bills to heat the great outdoors as so much energy escapes from our homes. 

“We want to bring home energy efficiency up to the highest level possible. In the past year, fuel bills have gone through the roof. But too often, our heat is escaping through the roof as well. Our plans will put an end to that. 

”By cutting energy waste, we are also cutting the damage we do to the environment. It’s a win-win situation: lower fuel bills and fewer emissions that are leading to climate change that has given us extreme weather.” 

The Liberal Democrats’ plans include requiring energy companies to use some of the £9 billion profit they have made from emissions trading to insulate the homes of the poorest residents. 

They will also set up a National Green Loans scheme which will pay for a complete overhaul of the energy efficiency of people’s homes. Repayments will be added to energy bills with the loan paid off from the savings in energy use. Loan repayments will not be allowed to be more than the savings. 

“This is a great idea for helping people to cut their energy bills and help us save the planet,” said Vic D’Albert. 

Local Councillors have reacted with anger after another spate of graffiti in Prestwich, and are calling on the Council to take immediate action to clean up the mess.

Cllr Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward and Chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership said “I am disgusted that vandals continue to bring misery to local people by daubing our streets with graffiti. And I am equally angry with the Council’s woefully inadequate response. This has been going on for too long now, and it’s about time action was taken. The Local Area Partnership and the Police are already using very tight resources to try to manage this problem, but the Council need to take action now to help us and clean up the streets”

Liberal Democrats at Bury Town Hall have been campaigning for action for months. At a Council meeting in February they staged a demonstration displaying photographs of graffiti which has blighted Prestwich for months. The Council have offered graffiti kits for residents and businesses, but have so far directed no extra resource to clear up a problem which is getting worse.

Lib Dem spokesperson for Environmental Service Cllr Ann Garner said “The graffiti is on everything from streets signs to walls, and from utility buildings to business property. Graffiti kits are not a suitable solution except in limited circumstances. The Council have the power to insist that utility companies clean up graffiti on their property, and need to direct real efforts into cleaning it from their own property. I am proud of what Prestwich has to offer, and it is being ruined by graffiti which goes uncleaned for months.”

Cllr D’Albert concluded “We need to work together on this. Prestwich Councillors are doing their bit by leading the community fight. The Police did their bit by catching offenders, and we are supporting them to try to catch the latest offenders. But the Council are letting us down. They need to take action to clean up Prestwich now. “

Ends

Notes to Editor
Cllr Vic D’Albert is the Chair of Prestwich Area Partnership and is a Councillor for Holyrood Ward in Prestwich
Cllr Ann Garner is the Lib Dem Spokesperson on the Environment and is a Councillor for Sedgley Ward in Prestwich

They haven’t quite said that as yet, but surely its only a matter of time before the media, desperately trying to outdo each other in sensationalising the current cold weather “snap” brings the old ice age headline back into play.

Granted we have had more snow in parts of the country than in the past 20 years, probably due to global warming reducing the frequency of snowfall, but should we be reminding ourselves that we are in the middle of winter!!! And, so far as I can recall snow and ice are features of that particular season.

No doubt the media with herald the arrival of spring in similar hysterical terms. “Britain in “blooming epidemic” may well greet the daffodil bloom.

Its in danger of all getting very silly. On a slightly different note, why does everything have to close these days for a bit of snow. I for one remember going to school in the snow, not being kept at home for fear of slipping in the playground (health and safety gone mad no.3?). 

If the Russians ever decide to invade Britain clearly they just need to wait for some snow, perhaps coupled with a champions league game or the climax of big brother and they won’t have a problem.

Bury Council have updated Councillors as to the present situation with regards to gritting procedures during the ongoing adverse weather conditions.

Gritter’s were deployed at 21:00hrs on Sunday 1/2/09 and worked continuously until 06:25 this morning. 137 tonnes of rock salt was spread across the borough highways.

Two gritter’s were deployed again at 07:00hrs covering the North and the South of the borough and are still out at the moment.

Two drivers’ from the highways dept are to join up with existing drivers to cover as many side streets as possible so it aids refuse collection tomorrow.  Once achieved they will be continuing from South to North and fully operational tonight from 18:00hrs.

If I receive further updates I will update this site accordingly. In the meantime please be very careful if you have to go out. If at all possible avoid going out after sunset (about 5pm) as temperatures are set to drop again and partially melted snow is likely to freeze again making roads and pavements treacherous.

A resident has updated me on activity in Prestwich Clough and Forest Park, informing me that there is increased activity from illegal off road biking in the area.

This provides me with a timely opportunity to remind anyone considering off roading in Drinkwater park or the Clough that this is not allowed and that there are now warning signs posted throughout the area warning that anyone caught will have their bikes confiscated immediately.

I have passed on to the authorities details received from my constituent.

Last nights Prestwich Area Partnership was dominated by the latest twist in the regeneration proposals for Prestwich.

The much debated and consulted Prestwich regeneration plans were due to go before Bury Councils Executive Committee this evening for approval, however it was revealed last night that the item had been removed from the agenda and will not now be considered until a later meeting

It was confirmed that the item was “pulled” because of concerns that because it will become a material planning document and is crucial to the redevelopment of Prestwich it is essential that it is as “robust” as possible and would withstand detailed scrutiny. As such some additional consultancy work is being carried out which will be subject to a short public consultation and this inevitably means a slight delay. It is now expected that the Prestwich regeneration Strategy will be adopted in May.

I have voiced my dissapointment and will be monitoring developments very closely. On the plus side this also provides an opportunity for the documents references to car parking to be strengthened. Finally it was also confirmed that the Railway and Naturalist pub will now feature as one of the buildings to be preserved under the strategy.

There are of course numerous voices pointing towards Tesco’s as the reason for this delay. It is certainly the case that they have responded to the consultation by challenging retail capacity aspects of the strategy. However it is the Council that have rightly decided that to delay a little longer to ensure the plan is as sound and justified as possible can only benefit the regeneration and future development proposals.

For reference as a material planning document the Regeneration Strategy would have to be referred to by Bury Planning Officers when considering any planning applications that are submitted in future that affect the town centre. Planning applications would have to meet the requirements of the strategy. So its crucial we get it right now.

Liberal Democrats in Bury have given their backing to plans for investment in green schemes that will make homes warmer, cut energy bills and improve public transport.

The plans, called Green Road out of Recession, were announced on 18th December by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP. 

The plans will cost £12.5bn, which would be paid for by scrapping the recent VAT cut. The vast majority of that money will be spent immediately, making a real impact on the economy and people’s lives right away. 

Green Road out of the Recession proposals include:

• A five-year programme to insulate every school and hospital, with 20% completed in the first year

• Funding insulation and energy efficiency for a million homes, with a £1,000 subsidy for a million more

• Building 40,000 extra zero-carbon social houses

• Buying 700 new train carriages

• Installing energy and money saving smart meters in every home within five years

“The plans proposed by Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats will give an immediate boost to the economy here in Bury,” said Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South“. And by insulating people’s homes, it will help thousands of residents whose heating bills have gone through the roof in the past year.

 “I would particularly welcome the widespread introduction of smart meters in homes which would prove a massive boost to the increasing numbers of residents suffering from fuel poverty across the area.” 

Richard Baum, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury North also welcomed the proposals adding, “Whilst Labour and the Conservatives are quietly dropping serious interest in tackling climate change and damage to the environment, Liberal Democrats believe that moving forward with green action on homes and transport will create jobs, cut energy bills, put money back into people’s pockets and protect the environment. It’s right for Britain and it’s right for Bury”.

In a resounding thumbs down vote against Congestion Charging ALL 10 Greater Manchester Authorities voters have rejected proposals to introduce Congestion Charging as part of a massive Transport investment package.

The vote was a damning verdict on congestion charging in the proposed format to secure investment with nearly 80% of over a million voters voting NO to the scheme and only 20% in favour (only 218,860 of vote cast).

This is what you get when an out of touch government bullies local councils into a scheme without being prepared to listen to local concerns. Millions of pounds of public money has been wasted in holding a referendum on a fatally flawed ill-thought out scheme and millions more wasted on publicity to promote it. Its a disaster for the area that is still in need of massive public transport investment.

I hope the Government will now go back to the drawing board, listen to what local councils and local people are saying and develop a sustainable scheme with finance proposals that can be supported by local people.

And, I for one sincerely hope that any new scheme takes account of the currently very expensive cost of using public transport in this area. If we can make the transport system more affordable that will cut congestion at a stroke!

Latest figures from the Congestion Charge referendum returning officer show that already 27% or 38,394 Bury voters have returned their ballot papers for the referendum (Manchester is only at 13%).

Whilst clearly no one knows how people have actually voted it certainly indicates a strong desire from Bury voters to be heard on this issue.

Polls close on December 11th - so your ballot paper must be in the post well before that deadline. Don’t get caught up in the Christmas post!

Prestwich Anti-Litter Campaign is raising the stakes to tackle litter louts throughout Prestwich and now has Environmental Wardens employed to issue fixed penalty notices in our hotspots.

Prestwich Anti-Litter group has spent the past six months raising awareness of fixed penalties for fly tipping, promoting the work of Bury Council’s street care teams and improved it, installed more bins where needed, worked to encourage schools, residents and businesses to sign up to the Bury Street Care Pledge, leafleted all local businesses about their Duty of Care to legally dispose of their business waste.

Now it’s time to take action to those people who think throwing litter anywhere is ok.  Following requests Bury Council have engaged NCP Service Ltd  wardens to work throughout Prestwich. So it’s not only a parking fine that you can get.

Environmental Wardens will be patrolling reported hotspots in Prestwich to catch the culprits and are authorised to issues £50 Fixed Penalty Notice Fines at anyone age 10 and over.

If you know a litter hotspot in Prestwich and when it is littered please contact 0161 253 5353 and the matter will be investigated. 

Cllr Vic D’Albert said “We are particularly pleased that Prestwich Anti-Litter Campaign so far has made a positive difference to the area.  There are still a number of litter hotspots to tackle and the only way to do this is enforcement.  We hope that the patrol of Environmental Wardens make people take responsibility themselves to discards rubbish more responsibility themselves.

We are all responsible for keeping Prestwich clean”Prestwich Anti-Litter Group will make every effort to let residents, schools and business know about the Environmental Patrols.”

I am delighted to report that the proposed Planning Application to demolish the victorian building at 33 Glebelands Road has been withdrawn.

Along with about 40 other residents I had opposed this development on the grounds of overdevelopment. The plans had proposed biulding 14 apartments on the site and a car park which would have seen the removal of protected trees as well.

I understand the application was withdrawn following concerns raised by the Planning Department about the height and scale of the building, tree removal and Highways concerns about the proposed access to the development.

I just hope that the developers go back to the drawing board and try and come up with something that would see this marvellous building in a popular area being preserved instead of being demolished. Buildings like this need to be preserved but more importantly utilised, the worst thing that could happen now is for the biulding to remain empty for many more years.

Well done to all who opposed this plan, however we must remain vigilant against further innapropriate proposed developments. 

I attended a Planning Control Committee meeting on tuesday night. Specifically I attended to support residents of Glebelands Road who are opposed to a large scale extension being attached to the rear of a large victorian semi. So what? Why bother?

Well what really upset me was that this property is bang smack in the middle of a conservation area and this particular building is owned and occupied by a charity that support recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. Over the years residents have put up with considerable disruption and now they are rewarded by an expansion programme that also seeks to alter significantly this property. As With Prestwich Heys applications for floodlights last year, I do think organisations have to consider when they are outgrowing their existing site and should consider moving to pastures new.

But despite all this it’s the conservation aspect that does for me. Whilst further up the road a larger even more impressive building is being proposed for demolition to be replaced by dreaded flats, on this property developers seek to attach a massive extension. Ok the building survives but is clearly disfigured.

We have to start standing up for our heritage and important buildings. Once demolished or disfigured thats pretty final, the deed is done. I never see extensions being demolished. 

I requested a site visit at the Planning meeting which was supported by the committee so I hope residents will turn out on November 25th to support this building being kept as it is.

I’d like to extend a big “Thank you” to all those that turned up to last nights Special Area Partnership meeting at the Longfield Centre.

It was encouraging to hear such fervent views being made about the draft plans for the regeneration of the village centre and as always people were very clear about what they want and what they don’t want.

I can offer assurances that all the points raised were noted as part of the consultation exercise and in particular I think its fair to highlight that the impression I gained was that there was significant support for the retention of the Railway and Nat pub, for a minimum number of flats (and thus height of buildings), greater parking provision, and reduction of the Bury new Road carriageway with widened pavements and parking bays.

In addition it was gratifying to see the strength of feeling for retention of the Longfield Suite and especially the main hall with its popular sprung dance floor and for an enlarged central plaza/square around the water feature area for markets and events.

If you are yet to see the plans please make sure you at least view the summary documents and send in your comments - what you like and what you don’t before the consultation finishes on November 24.

This is your opportunity to shape the future of Prestwich Town centre. We need to make sure we get it right and develop an environmentally and economically  sustainable attractive town centre that meets the needs hopes and aspirations of most Prestwich people and local businesses. Please grasp the opportunity and take part in the consultation.

I am growing increasingly concerned about the response to the current crisis by the Government.

The bail-out of banks including part nationalisation was welcomed by all parties as he best if only way forward to deal with problems in the financial sector.

But following the massive leap in unemployment, which was lets face it expected, and the cost of energy etc there is still tremendous pressure on ordinary working people and their families.  Yet the Government is reacting significantly slower to these problems.

I think its time the Government showed as much urgency with the plight of working families and small business as it has done for big business, Banks and the City. That means tax cuts, lower interest rates and real help with fuel bills for this winter to protect the elderly, infirm and children.

But remember we have the most conservative Labour Government ever - so we will have to wait, but for how long?

Every day more jobs are lost, every day more people are in more debt and our pensioners are living in fear of the next heating bill.

I am dismayed by the planning application for demolition of the Victorian building at 33 Glebelands Road (the old doctor’s house) to be replaced by 4 storey’s of apartments.

I have today registered my objection to this development. Mature trees would be lost, properties on Orford Road would have the privacy of their gardens and bedrooms invaded by a property that would be taller than the existing property and neighbouring Highfield Court AND the site is on a sharp bend. The increased traffic generated would add to the danger to pedestrians and motorists alike many of whom are elderly.
I have also requested a site visit by the Planning Committee - so that they can see first hand what the impact would be on the area.

This building should have been part of the local conservation area from the start, then it could have been protected, I requested this as did other local councillors, but officers insisted that this was not possible in this case. It looks like that decision will have proven to be the death knell for 33 Glebelands Road. A crying shame.

public-meeting-poster.pdf

I have organised a Public Meeting to provide an opportunity for local people to find out a bit more about what the Transport investment bid will mean to Bury and why Congestion charging is being proposed.

The meeting will feature a presentation from a representative of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive  and will be followed by a question and answer session.

It will a great opportunity to ask those burning questions and get any issues you have off your chest, and hopefully get some answers and some straight facts.

The meeting will be held at Elms Methodist Church, Elms Street, Whitefield (opp.Cafe Roma, off Bury New Rd) on monday September 1st from 7.00pm.

For a poster of the event click the link at the top of this page.

I look forward to seeing you there.  

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have given their strong backing to ambitious calls by Nick Clegg MP for Britain to become self-sufficient in energy.

The Liberal Democrat Leader has called for a major programme to build up Britain’s own energy supplies through wind, tidal, wave and biomass technologies. Mr Clegg said, “We have an enormous opportunity to create real energy independence for the UK, freeing ourselves from the shackles of foreign oil, coal and gas. This will require the kind of ambition and political will that succeeded in putting man on the moon.” 

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South said, “I am delighted that Nick Clegg is calling for a green revolution in the way we produce power.  “The recent Russian invasion of Georgia and the ongoing troubles in Iraq and Iran show just how dangerously reliant Britain is on energy from unstable parts of the world.

“We have to build up our own energy supplies and as an island nation, we have an abundance of natural and clean energy sources that both Labour and Conservative governments have failed to develop.  “Whilst Labour and the Conservatives joined together earlier this year to agree Britain should have a new generation of nuclear power stations, Liberal Democrats believe this will leave a legacy of radioactive waste for future generations. It will also leave us dependent on foreign supplies of uranium.

“Liberal Democrats in Bury welcome Nick Clegg’s call for Britain to develop clean energy supplies and become self-sufficient in them by 2050. This is an industry in which we as a nation should aim to be world beaters“.

I am pleased to see that the Council has responded to concerns about the graffiti problems and their heavy handed approach to the problem. I detail part of a letter sent below to original recipients of the “nasty” letter.  

“Dear Resident 

I understand that you have recently received letters from the Council requesting that you remove graffiti from your property.  I want to stress that it was never the intention to force residents to clean up other irresponsible people’s graffiti and apologise for any stress the correspondence has caused.  What we failed to do was provide all residents with a series of options that could assist them to get rid of this graffiti quickly and economically.  I would like to reassure you that the Council and its partners are doing everything possible to address this issue both as it affects your property and the local area in general.Graffiti is a problem and one the Council takes very seriously as, if left unchecked, residents tell us it is a sign of the lowering of the quality of life in their communities and we want to ensure that Bury’s proud record of having the lowest levels of crime in Greater Manchester is maintained.To address this problem we are currently in the process of streamlining the way that graffiti is reported and dealt with across the borough and circulating the details of graffiti sites to enable the Police to identify and take appropriate action against offenders. The Police in Prestwich have recently interviewed four individuals who have admitted to a substantial amount of the graffiti ‘tagging’ that has blighted Prestwich over recent months.  Offenders are offered the opportunity to clean up some of the areas they have defaced as part of their punishment and some of these individuals have already expressed a willingness to do this.  This follows on from the successful action taken against the individual responsible for defacing a number sites across Whitefield and Prestwich who, together with his parents, removed a substantial amount of his own graffiti.

The Council and our partners are keen to work with the community to address graffiti and other environmental crime which makes our communities look unsightly.  To this end, the Prestwich Local Area Partnership has acquired graffiti removal kits to assist any residents who want to remove graffiti from their properties free of charge.  If you would like further information, this can be obtained from Carran O’Grady your Local Area Partnership Manager for Prestwich on 0161-253-7245.  We are also currently compiling a list of areas to be cleaned up under an Offenders Reparations Scheme and your area  has been added to this list.”

I congratulate the Council on ultimately responding in this common sense way and just wish that this approach had been taken in the first instance.

What is now needed is a strategy for dealing with such issues. That is fair and applies reasonable resources to such problems and seeks to work with residents and communities to address such problems speedily and effectively.

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have described a call by a Conservative-leaning think tank for people from towns and cities of the North to pack their bags and move to the South as appalling. 

Policy Exchange, described as David Cameron’s favourite think tank in the media, claimed many towns and cities in the North were failing and regeneration would not save them. They suggested people should move to the South East instead. Policy Exchange was set up by Michael Gove, now a senior Conservative MP. 

“The idea that people should abandon the North and move to the already crowded South East, where house prices and living costs are sky high, is an insult to people living here,” said Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South.

“I am staggered that a think tank so close to the Conservatives is making such a call. I am appalled that they are saying that large swathes of the North can simply be abandoned. “It looks like the Conservatives are starting to show their true colours. So the battle at the next election in Bury South will be between the Liberal Democrats with a record of standing up for local people, the Conservatives who want you to move to Berkshire and a discredited Labour Government.  

“What the Policy Exchange has done is to highlight the lack of understanding many Conservatives have of the North and to show that they are out of touch and can’t be taken seriously.”

Last nights meeting of Bury Lib Dems saw a lively debate on the merits or otherwise of congestion charging and the proposed Greater Manchester transport “TIF” bid.

One of the most facinating aspect of the whole congestion charging debate is that it crosses into other areas. For instance the issue of Central Government interference in regional/local Government, The green agenda and how far we should go to tackle pollution and then there is the impact on poverty that charges may have. Just three areas where the issue is complicated by other agendas - localism, the environment and poverty.

Of course one of the key arguments being used by those in favour is that failure to address congestion will greatly damage business as it is argued that traffic will grind to a halt across Greater Manchester at some point in the next decade.

My concern throughout has been the twin issues of environment and poverty. I am worried that these proposals will leave many in a transport poverty gap. Unable to afford to drive too their place of work and unable to pay increasing public transport costs.

Why does the bid not address the issue of public transport fares?

Yes, we need safe, efficient, clean  and reliable transport but I can see no greater incentive to get people off the road than it being cheap, very cheap. Could you imagine the impact on the takeup of public transport during the morning commute if for the same period as congestion charging operated you could travel on the buses for free? And that would also help the low paid. If you want to offer discounts. Instead of discounting the CCharge why not the bus or tram?

Yes we have got to tackle congestion as a genuine environmental (as well as economic) concern, but it helps if you can afford to be green! 

To find out more about the proposals for improving Greater Manchester Transport visit the special web site that has been created to highlight all the issues and detail all the plans and proposals including those for Bury area at www.gmfuturetransport.co.uk

First the good news. I understand the Police have caught someone responsible for a significant number of “tags” in the Heaton Park/Heywood rd area. I further understand that they have agreed to clean up the sites they are responsible for.

Sadly the bad news is it looks like it could get worse before it gets better - The Phoenix centre was attacked last night and badly graffitied with various obscenities and garages between the Heywood Road shops and Penrhyn Drive have also been attacked this week.

At least with the Phoenix centre the culprits were caught on the park CCTV and may be able to be identified.

Today Centrica, the parent company of British Gas have announced that their profits have dropped by 20%. This comes the day after British Gas announced that domestic gas charges would increase by 35% - no doubt the former had an affect on the latter.

That all sounds almost reasonable until you consider that Centrica’s reduced profits meant they ”only” made just under £1 billion in profits.

SICK JOKE

With 2.5 million people in or nearing fuel poverty (where 10% or more of your income goes out the door in energy bills), the British Gas increase amounts to nothing more than a sick joke.

Its time the Government took decisive action to protect those facing fuel povertybefore we get into the autumn and winter months. We need a series of initiatives that enable those struggling with energy bills to continue to use their energy supply. We need tarrifs that meet peoples needs and we need energy companies to look after their customers as well as their shareholders and a Government determined to ensure that they face up to their responsibilities.

Let’s pray it’s a mild winter!

Liberal Democrats in Bury have welcomed the launch of the Liberal Democrats’ vision for Britain by Party Leader Nick Clegg MP. Called ‘Make it Happen’, the paper will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September. In ‘Make it Happen’ the Liberal Democrats say: 

       ·         They will cut taxes for ordinary families

• If your local hospital can’t see you on time, they will pay for treatment elsewhere

• They will switch taxes from people to pollution - so it pays to go green

• To improve standards in education, they will fund extra help for those who need it most

• They will put Britain at the heart of Europe to make us a force for good in the world

• They will stop ID cards so we can keep control of our privacy

• They will change the voting system so everyone’s voice counts

• They will bring communities together with local people in charge

       ·         They will give communities a say in how offenders pay for their crimes 

Vic D’Albert, Bury South Parliamentary spokesperson said, “I am delighted to be able to back ‘Make it Happen’. It sets out how the Liberal Democrats will run Britain. “No resident of Bury has escaped the rising cost of food and fuel. The credit crunch is biting hard and local people are feeling the pinch. “Nick Clegg has set out how we can help ordinary people through cutting taxes on those on low and middle incomes. Thousands of people in Bury will benefit from this.  “We are taking the plans in ‘Make it Happen’ to the people of Bury during the summer to get their response.  And in September, we will be heading to the Liberal Democrats’ conference where we are looking forward to taking part in the debate.

” ‘Make it Happen’ is available at: http://www.libdems.org.uk/media/documents/policies/Make%20it%20Happen.pdf 

Last night was the regular meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership, this brings together your nine local Liberal Democrat Councillors together with representatives of partner agencies like the Police and NHS, and community group representatives.

The main issues that came up were:

Area Manager’s Report
Included in the report of the Area Manager was news of Prestwich’s bid to the £1 million that Bury has been awarded for play facilities. These are:
- Ballzone at St Josephs Playing Field
- Improvements to the Kersal Road playside
- Natural play area behind the existing childrens play area on Kings Road.

My colleague, Cllr Tim Pickstone asked about promised consultation on closing the cash office at Prestwich Library - apparently this will be coming back to a meeting in the Autumn.
There we also numerous mentions of graffitti in the area and I voiced my concern about an appalling letter council officers are sending out that threatens the victims with court action unless they clean up the mess! (see earlier story). It was requested that the numbers that people can ring are widely published, but that we monitor the effectiveness of some of these agencies in clearing up graffiti.

Youth Manager Update
We received an update from James Perkins - Prestwich’s Youth Manager on some of the excellent activities that are planned over the summer months for young people in Prestwich. The local Youth Action Group has also got off the ground again and I asked James to help make sure that there was a good “two-way” communication between young people and the area partnership.
We also heard about an excellent “Health Kick” scheme (part funded by the Area Partnership to raise health issues in the Rainsough Area. Its targetted at 16-25 and over 50 men, and involves football sessions leading into health awareness and promotion sessions.

Funding Bids
The Partnership agreed a number of funding bids for local projects -see seperate article.
Prestwich Heritage Society asked for some money to help with the heritage exhibition at Prestwich Library, we said we would consider in detail before the end of August.

Open Forum
Open Forum is the part of the agenda (45 minutes) set aside to hear issues and concerns from local residents in Prestwich. These included:
- concerns on fencing on Ludlow Avenue
- concerns about youth nuisance on Ogden Street
- concerns about the closing time noise of a local pub
- good news about the recently funded Simister Wetland site
- discussion about the opening times of Prestwich Police Station

Prestwich Community Plan
Richard Baum, who chairs the Developing Communities Group, presented the proposed Prestwich Community Plan for 2008-2011. The plan was agreed,(see seperate article).

The next meeting of the Area Partnership is on Thursday 4 September 2008. This will be a special meeting to discuss the URBED proposals for Prestiwich Village Centre. 6.30pm at the Longfield Centre and will be preceded by an exhibition of the proposals in August and a summary leaflet identifying key proposals to be circulated throughout Prestwich.

Any questions just drop me a line!

 

Prestwich Local Area Partnership, which brings together your nine Liberal Democrat Councillors, together with representatives of partner bodies and community groups, have agreed a “Prestwich Community Plan” for 2008-2011. The plan sets out what the Partnership aims to achieve over the next three years to make Prestwich a better place to live and work.

There are three overall themes, and within this ten priority areas:

GREEN PRESTWICH
1 - Improve Parks and Leisure Facilities (play areas, parks, green spaces - including the Phillips Park development)
2 - Achieve a reduction in car useage in Prestwich (walk to school, community bus routes, cycle routes etc)
3 - Reduce air pollution in Prestwich (particularly addressing the M60)
4 - Improve the Prestwich environment by reducing litter and graffiti

THRIVING PRESTWICH
5 - Vision for the Redevelopment of Prestwich Village Centre (the URBED study)
6 - Support local Prestwich businesses
7 - Create better facilities for the most deprived areas of Prestwich

STRONG PRESTWICH
8 - Make Prestwich Healthier (working with the local PCT and others)
9 - Make Prestwich Safe (working with the Police and others to reduce crime and the fear of crime)
10 - Create a Prestwich for people of all ages (focus on young people and older people, and a sense of community pride).

The plan sets out an exciting vision for how we want Prestwich to develop over the coming years, people’s views and ideas are much appreciated.

You can download the full plan here: Prestwich Community Plan 2008-2011

I have been contacted by a distressed local resident who has been sent a letter from the Council threatening her with legal action unless she removes graffiti from a wall bordering her property.

The letter from a Council Risk Management Coordinator at the Council’s Planning, Engineering and Transportation Services Division says:

“The external appearance of your property is a source of concern due to this graffiti. The Council is writing to you as the owner/occupier, its purpose being a request that works are completed to remove the graffiti.

Its goes on…

“I advise that if prompt action is not made in remedying the removal of the graffiti…..the council has the option to take enforcement action under section 215 of the Town and country Planning Act 1990.”

“I do ask that the graffiti is removed within 21 days from the date of this letter.”

Isn’t it time we stopped targeting the innocent victims of petty crimes and anti-social behaviour?

Isn’t it time we supported local people who are the innocent victims of such behaviour?

The resident in question is a woman pensioner living on her own - she was extremely distressed in case she should be fined or somehow forced to clean the mess up herself at great cost to herself.

Its no way to treat people, especially our senior citizens.

I have written to the council asking that the letter be withdrawn and that the council put more effort into finding ways of supporting local people who are victims rather than threatening to punish them further!

Lib Dem councillors are currently working hard to tackle Graffiti and push for more resources to deal with this problem. Instances such as this hardly encourage the support of local people!!!

Recently I have been vocal (at the recent Prestwich Area Partnership meeting and in the press) about the state of our local roads and the amount of money available to spend on them. Quite frankly I believe it is scandalous that we are expected to rubber stamp a paltry figure for road repairs that will barely scratch the surface of the work that is actually required to bring our roads and pavements up to scratch.

For information below I list the roads Local councillors and your Area Partnership have been asked to choose from to decide where the £105,000 available should be spent. The roads are listed in order of priority and I am sure you can think of roads near you that are worthy of inclusion. The top 6 are carried over from last year - we didn’t have enough then either! (Holyrood roads in capitals).

1. Fairway (cost of repairs) £152724

2. Sunny Drive £17862

3. Meade Hill Road £33926

4.OAKLANDS DRIVE £26575

5. West Meade £46084

6.Downham Crescent (part) £12243

7.CUCKOO LANE (part) £30961

8. MOUNT ROAD £76510

9. Barnhill Drive £28644

10. PENNANT DRIVE £10659

11.Mowbray Avenue £44938  

12.PARRENTHORN RD £115194

Is it me?

A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by Liberal Democrats in Bury. 

National Recycling Week is being held on 2^nd – 8^th June. This is the fifth year it has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way. 

Vic D’Albert, Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South said, “In Bury the recycling and composting rate is 23%. That means we still have a long way to go before we are dealing with our waste in a way that does not leave a lasting problem for generations to come. 

“Liberal Democrats in Bury are delighted to be able to back National Recycling Week. We are encouraging as many residents as possible to make small changes in their lifestyles which will make large strides to ensuring we do not wreck our environment. 

“We waste a huge amount of food each year – on average we throw away 112kg of food each, most of which is still usable. People can avoid this waste by doing simple things such as producing a shopping list of what food is needed, rather than wandering around the supermarket buying what takes your fancy! 

“Last year in the

UK, it was estimated that we spent £8 billion on food that was still fit to be used when it was thrown away. Being green can save money! But if you do produce food waste, why not get a compost bin if you have a garden? 

“People should also try to buy food and other goods which have less packaging. And full use should be made of recycling facilities to dispose of waste. It is better that waste is turned back into something that is useful rather than dumped in the ground. 

 “There is a limit to how much rubbish we can throw into holes in the ground. There comes a point when we have to say that we cannot go on getting rid of waste in this way. 

“I am therefore we could support National Recycling Week  and I hope by highlighting the issue nationally it will be a great success and will help residents of Bury to cut waste and live greener lifestyles.”

Having consulted with residents and stakeholders to ascertain views and ideas to utilise in developing a strategy to regenerate Prestwich village, Manchester based regeneration experts ‘URBED’ are now seeking the views of local people on their initial options for a regeneration strategy that will aim to reshape the face, and the fortunes of Prestwich.  The masterplanning options are now available to view in Prestwich Library and at the Longfield Centre for a three week period between 19th May and 6th June 2008. The library is open from 9am to 7.30 Mondays and Thursdays, 9am to 5pm Tuesdays and Fridays , 9am to 1pm Wednesdays and Saturdays and 10am to 2pm on Sundays. For those unable to attend the consultation, the documents are available to view online by visiting Urbed’s website. If you select the “Prestwich Regeneration” page link on the left it will take you to a page that details a number of links to Urbed and the plans. 

Last night the Council’s consultants for the Regeneration of Prestwich hosted a workshop to engage residents views on the issues regarding the development of Prestwich.
The event at the Longfield Suite was well attended with about 100 people - residents, Council officers , Councillors, local businesses and school representative present.

Amongst other things we were asked to highlight the best and worse features of the Town Centre, highlight towns that we would like to see at least attributes of introduced into plans for Prestwich and what we would like to see Prestwich be like in 15 years time - although personally I hope it doesn’t take that long - I’ll be 64!!!
We finished by highlighting areas that we would like to see developed across the town centre - with the reasons why.
All in all a very successful event that certainly got me thinking and focussed on the future of Prestwich - a Prestwich I hope we can all be proud of when the plans eventually come to fruition.
Well done Urbed - it’s over to you!

Last night I was delighted to add my signature to the approval/order for warning signs to be erected in Drinkwater Park. The signs are effectively warning signs to motor bikes not to use the park. They are essentially 1st warning signs, which mean that if they are subsequently caught in the park by Police they can receive a second warning which could lead to the bike being confiscated. Effectively the signs will speed up the process and will be a great aid to police activities in the park.
I am a great fan of the park and the Clough and beleive its one of Prestwich’s greatest assets. As an ex-biker I’ve nothing against bikes but the fact of the matter is not every area is compatible nor appropriate for bikes. Personally I see this area as a great area for walking, kids letting off steam, horse and pony riding, fishing and general fun and games and bringing people that bit closer to nature and I don’t think the roar of a 250cc engine spitting out petrol fumes and screaming through the park at speeds in excess of 30mph does anything to help that cause.

Frequent visitors to this site (if there are any?) may have noticed a new page listed on the left menu called Prestwich regeneration. As the Regeneration process unfolds , firstly with consultation etc then I propose to post details/important dates on this site/page for local residents to refer to and comment on.

If you visit the page now you will see that I have posted an initial link to the Prestwich Regeneration page on the Councils web site.

Watch out for further postings and news both here and in the local press.

At the request of residents of Taunton Grove I visited this area yesterday and was taken on a tour of the rear of shops between Ludlow Avenue and kenilworth Avenue. Taunton Grove is currently being blighted by inconsiderate parking from customers of nearby restaurants, fitness centre and hairdressers. In addition the appearance of the area is suffering from rubbish being dumped at the rear of shops and some inconsiderate use of the rear of shops by shop keepers and patrons.

Residents provided me with numerous issues and problems needing to be addressed. I have promised that (along with my fellow ward councillors) I will investigate how best to tackle these problems over the coming weeks. So watch this space!

I have to say many of the problems currently being raised are now of a common theme -many caused by people who basically don’t give a damn and worsened by council services seemingly not able to tackle the problems raised. Result an increasingly dirty, messy, shoddy area. I think the time’s come to say enough is enough - and take no more. The council have to start putting sufficient resources into dealing with dirty streets, litter strewn, fly tipping, graffitti and vandalism. 

Thanks to Mr G of St.Margarets Road for bringing to my attention the state of this area. Many leaves still remain, which are now rotting in an area with much footpath use between the park entrance, church, church hall and community centre and nursery.
In addition a partucular part of the road seems to have become a dogs toilet.

I have now reported the matter to the Council, requesting anti-dog fouling signs are erected and that the area is cleared of leaves - including in the park area fronting the church and Bury Old Road.

Following my Governors meeting I joined the FPFP meeting , which was conveniently being held in another room of the same pub!

Although because of my previous meeting I missed the first half of this meeting, I can report that a number of repairs and maintenance issues were raised regarding various aspects of the park.

In addition re-organisation of the Park Ranger service was discussed with concerns raised about possible implications for Prestwich Parks in general and the Forest Park specifically.

Progress was highlighted on preparatory work towards obtaining Heritage Lottery funding for the Church yard/cemetary conservation project. St.Mary’s church and churchyard really is a local treasure.  As an aside it was pointed out that St.Mary’s church is now attracting tourists from far and wide in its alter ego as “Wetherfield Parish Church”.

In a bid to crackdown on illegal quad bikes and scramblers new warning signs are to be erected at all access points. These will effectively serve as bikers’ first warning and then enable the police to confiscate bikes immediately. Currently the Police have to issue a first warning and then hope to catch them again. This new strategy has apparently been very effective elsewhere.

I have received complaints from residents of Taunton Grove about visitors to the adjacent shops blocking drives on Taunton Grove. In addition I have received complaints about “horrendous” parking problems in front of the shops, producing excessive litter and damage to the grass verge.

I am currently investigating this issue with Council officers to see what may be done to alleviate the situation.

Following further complaints from residents about the deteriorating condition of empty properties on Heys Road, Vic D’Albert has moved to urgently request that Bury Council respond with action and the full force of their powers to deal with this situation.

“I first reported this issue well over a year ago and was promised action then, a year later and the properties are in a terrible state and are now a local eyesore. The Council must act and act now using all appropriate powers to bring this issue to a satisfactory conclusion for local people.” 

In March 2007 the Liberal Democrat team on Bury Council successfully proposed a budgetary amendment which extended the “Blue Bin” recycling scheme to every house in the Borough.The success of the scheme was confirmed in a response to a question my Holyrood Ward colleague Cllr Tim Pickstone raised at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday. 1,020 Tonnes of recyclables were collected in July 2007 - the first month after the Blue-Bin roll-out up from 767 Tonnes in July 2006 - a massive 33% increase!

Its excellent to see such a great response from the public to the recycling initiative. The Lib Dem’s are already asking when the scheme can be made fortnightly for everyone. My colleague Cllr Richard Baum also asked for a report on the small number of households who’ve not yet received their bins (mostly farms, but a few areas with restricted lorry access). I’ll let you know this information when its received.