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.