A leading local Lib Dem has slammed the Post Office’s consultation on Post Office closures as a “sham” . Accusing the Post Office in collusion with the Government of an exercise in the “politics of deception”.

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South said, “It is clear that the current consultation exercise is nothing more than a sham. The Post Office are insisting that they will close 2500 Post Offices and are basically taking the view , “If you want to keep a Post Office open – tell us which one to close”. That’s not consultation. The Post Office have made it clear they will only listen to suggestions for Post Office closures and are effectively just asking “Which 2500 Post Offices shall we close”.

Under the proposals 5 Post Offices are to close in Bury – in Radcliffe, Greenmount, Elton, Rochdale Road and Walmersley Road. The consultation period closes on July 26th.

Vic D’Albert added, “These Post Offices are vital community assets and residents have made it clear that they don’t want to see any close in this area. But the Post Office are not listening. In collusion with this Labour Government they are practicing the politics of deception. With talk of investment and “network change”, which when translated really means cuts – cuts to public services to improve their business profits.

Local Lib Dems have collected about 500 signatures to their petition opposing Post Office closures – which has been sent to the Post Office.

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 

The Liberal Democrats have outlined radical plans to tackle youth crime.
The dual approach aims to stop young people committing crimes in the first place by enabling them to play a full role in society through increased training and volunteering, as well as stopping criminal behaviour early by making young offenders face up to their crimes.

The main proposals :

· The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life
· Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action
· Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending
· 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme
· Intelligence-led stop and search and ‘hot spot policing’ targeted at gun and knife crime
· Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

“This Government has spent 10 years trying to sound tough while failing to cut youth crime.
“In fact, ministers have embarked on the mass criminalisation of a generation of young people. By dragging more and more young people through the criminal justice system, they have reduced the fear of a criminal record and contributed to the problem.
Instead of shock tactics to grab headlines, we need practical measures that are proven to work.
“Only the Liberal Democrats propose a dual approach to stop kids from getting involved in crime in the first place, and measures to make them face up to the consequences of their actions if they do.”

Bury South Parliamentary spokesperson,Vic D’Albert commented, “I think we all recognise that this problem bears all the hallmarks of getting out of hand. Partially due to the fashion amongst some young people to be seen carrying knives. But gimmicks and off-the-cuff policy announcements will not help. We need a considered response that aims to send the right signals to anyone that thinks its cool to carry knives and at the same time seeks to address the underlying long term issues associated with (especially) youth problems in our communities. These proposals are balanced and tough and would at least start to tackle the issue on both fronts.

“In addition I reiterate previous comments about kitchen knives. Most stabbings are committed with kitchen knives. Knives that don’t actually need a shart pointed end! If the design of kitchen knives was addressed then that would reduce the availability of some of our most dangerous knives and perhaps make it easier to regulate or even ban many of the others.”

Yesterday some hanging baskets put around the Longfield precinct water feature were dragged down and destroyed by mindless vandals. People who may well live in Prestwich, certainly visit Prestwich, use Prestwich facilities but patently don’t give a damn about Prestwich.

These hanging baskets were requested by Prestwich Area Partnership following consultation with residents who wanted to see the area brightened up, made more attractive to visit and rest near the fountain. It took months to get then ordered and installed and in a few minutes some idiot destroys them.

This follows a spate of graffiti breaking out across Prestwich. But one thing is sure those that love Prestwich must not allow these mindless vandals to win. We must replace the baskets, we must remove the graffiti and we must pursue these vandals and they must be made to pay. Justic must be done.

Someone knows who did this, someone must have seen something - it was in broad daylight! I appeal to you to please come forward and contact the Police. Do it because you care about Prestwich.  

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

Prestwich Local Area Partnership, which brings together your local Liberal Democrat Councillors together with local partners and community reps, have agreed a number of grants for local projects and groups:

Agreed so far are:
£2,000 - Anti-Graffiti Kits to tackle the current spate of graffiti.
£2,143 - A Clean up and hanging basket project for the “Bent Hill” estate area
£2,000 - to fund the Prestwich Anti-Litter Campaign for one year
£3, 642 - to fund the “Health Kick” programme of health awareness programme for men in the Rainsough Area
£2,400 - to fund the summer scheme of activities for Young People in the Carr Clough area

We’ve also provisionally agreed to fund:
£1,000 towards the family health, skateboard and BMX summer festival in St Mary’s Park organised by Prestwich and Whitefield Methodists

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!!!

Young people are being encouraged to sign up to a two week action packed calendar of sports, dance, arts, street wise or wild card events as part of the Bury and Rochdale Active Generation Scheme (BRAG).

The program, which is now in it’s eighth year, is aimed at young people aged between 11 and 15 years old, takes place between 28 July and 8 August at several venues across Bury. The two week programme costs just £9 and five sign up sessions are taking place across the borough to encourage young people to take part. Participants will receive a BRAG pass, details of the activities taking place and a free bus pass. Youngsters will receive a sticker after completing each different activity and this will allow them to compete for a Golden Ticket for the bonus week events taking place between 11 and 15 August.

The program is designed to encourage young people to be organised and plan their own schedule to ensure they get to the different activities on time. For further information about BRAG you can contact Adam Greenhalgh on 0161 253 6660 or information is available on the Bury Council Website.

The sign up session for our local area will take place at the following times and venues:
22 July, 4pm - 6pm; Shuttle Centre, Albert Road, Whitefield, M45 6NH
23 July, 12pm - 2pm; Pheonix Centre, St Mary’s Park, St Mary’s Road, Prestwich, M25 1GG

Today polling stations are open in the referendum to decide whether Bury should have an elected Mayor.
People should vote at their normal polling stations (that we used for the elections in May). The polling stations are open from 7.00am - 10.00pm. You do not need your polling card to vote.
If you have a postal vote which hasn’t yet been returned, you can fill this in in the normal way and take it round to your local polling station.

The local Liberal Democrats are urging everyone to vote NO in the election because we believe this to be an undemocratic waste of public money. Lots of people have questions about this important issue, the local Lib Dems have produced this factsheet
to answer some of your questions.

There is a special offer at our local Parenthorn Sports Centre (at Parenthorn School).

All throughout July and August you can book an Astro-Turf Football Pitch for just £15 per hour. (The usual price is £25) Monday - Thursday 6-10 and Friday 6-9pm.
FOR MORE INFOMATION PLEASE RING 0161 253 5434 (AFTER 5:30PM)
EMAIL: parrenthorn.sports@bury.gov.uk

On July 3rd, the people of Bury will be asked to vote in a referendum. You should have already received your polling cards and people who have a postal vote should have received their ballot papers in the last few days. Everyone will have their chance to say whether or not you want the way the Council is run to change, so that it is led by an elected Mayor.

Lots of people have questions about this important issue, the local Lib Dems have produced this factsheet
to answer some of your questions.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR POST OFFICES - SAY NO TO CLOSURE

Under proposals submitted by The Post Office and supported by the Labour Government, a further 5 Post Offices are being proposed for closure in the Bury area.

They are at Limefield on Walmersley Road, Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, Elton, Greenmount and Rochdale Road.

We believe these are much valued community facilities that are depended upon by many in our communities, especially the elderly.The Post Office is now consulting on their proposals. Please sign and encourage friends to sign. The more support we can get the more likely we can make The Post Office listen to local people.

Sign the petition here

As the Post Office announced the Government backed Post Office closure proposals for Greater Manchester I joined MP’s fellow Parliamentary candidates and Councillors to  launch the Greater Manchester Lib Dem Save our post Offices petition. Bury faces 5 closures (despite local Labour claims of scare-mongering), 1 in Radcliffe, 1 in Greenmount and 3 in Bury.
The Liberal Democrats have a viable plan to prevent further closures and help to sustain the network; a plan that wouldn’t cost the earth that would invest in our local Post Office network not chop it up. Post Offices should be local and should be supporting our communities and we will continue to fight with our local community to save them.

Commenting on the news that nearly 1m people have lost their NHS dentist since the Government introduced a new contract for NHS dentists in March 2006, local Lib Dems accused the Government of “ignoring the plight of the low paid and building a dental health time-bomb.” 

According to figures from the NHS Information Centre a total of 338,000 people lost their NHS dentistry in the last three months of 2007 - 3,674 people a day.In the North West the number of people treated plummeted by 61,000 in the 24 months to December 2007 , compared to the period up to March 2007.  4 out of 10 North West residents were not treated in the last 24 months.

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

“If evidence were needed that the new dental contract is failing then this surely is it.” “This Government is overseeing a crisis in NHS dentistry and as a result more and more people either don’t have a dentist, can’t find an NHS dentist or can’t afford the exorbitant cost of treatment. With dentists and hospitals treating more and more serious dental problems it’s now clear that the long term legacy of this Governments mishandling of NHS dentistry is a dental disease time-bomb.

” We need an urgent review into why reforms undertaken just two years ago have completely failed to improve access and action to get NHS dentistry back on track.”

A leading local Liberal Democrat has called on the Government to start tackling knife crime head on, by first dealing with knives in the home. 

In response to health service research that has identified that most knives used as weapons are kitchen knives, Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Bury South is calling on the Government to press for changes to kitchen knife design. 

Vic D’Albert said, “Most kitchen knives have a sharp pointed end which is rarely if ever needed. Most kitchen knives are needed for chopping and cutting and we just don’t need a pointed end for stabbing! Even my bread knife has a pointed end – god only knows what that is needed for. “Health research has proven that many of these knives end up being used as weapons. If the Government is serious about reducing knife crime then every avenue has to be investigated.  

“Clearly it is a traditional that knives have a pointed end, even when not required. In my mind it is blindingly obvious that at a stroke we could make the home safer and cut the number of dangerous knives in the public domain by designing out the problem. Its time manufacturers responded and the Government needs to make sure that they do”. 

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

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. 

I am pleased to be able to confirm that following the Bury Liberal Democrat Group Annual General Meeting I have been appointed to the following Council committees for this year.

• Prestwich Area Partnership (Chair)
• Healthier Communities Scrutiny Commission
• Standards Committee
• Area Partnership Chairs Group

 I am also pleased to confirm that my ward colleague, Cllr Tim Pickstone was re-elected unopposed as the Bury Lib Dem Group leader and Cllr Andrew Garner (Sedgley) was re-elected as Deputy Group leader. In addition I am delighted to announce that Cllr Wilf Davison has been nominated by the Group as Chair of the Council’s Childrens Services Scrutiny.

For information I can confirm that Lib Dem representatives on the Council’s Planning committee are:

Cllr Donal O’Hanlon (lead spokesperson) and Cllr Mary D’Albert

Liberal Democrats have continued to move forward on Bury Council making another gain from Labour and holding off a challenges from the Conservatives. This is the fifth election in a row in Bury where we have made gains.

Full results to follow, but in our key wards in Prestwich the results were as follows:

Holyrood
Vic D’Albert (Lib Dem) 1632
Labour 669
Conservative 852

St Mary’s
Mary D’Albert (Lib Dem) 1308
Labour 1013
Conservatives 692

Sedgley
Ann Garner (Lib Dem) 1488
Labour 906
Conservatives 1238

Across Prestwich the share of the vote was:
Liberal Democrats - 45%
Labour 26%
Conservatives 28%

The Liberal Democrats now have ALL NINE councillors in Prestwich. We’ll be doing our best all year round to stand up for the local community.

Across the motorway Lib Dem candidate Julie Baum put in a stunning performance to move into second place with a 50% increase in the Lib Dem vote.
Besses
Julie Baum (Lib Dem) 614
Labour 1084
Conservatives 584
Others 354

Well done to all our candidates, but particularly to re-elected Councillors Vic D’Albert and Ann Garner, and to new Councillor Mary D’Albert.
A huge thank you to the whole Lib Dem campaign team for a stunning result. Full results to follow.

Please don’t forget to vote in the important local elections on Thursday 1 May 2008. These elections will decide who will represent you at the Council for the next four years.

Vic D’Albert, our hard working local councillor for the last 17 years is the Liberal Democrat Focus Team candidate on Thursday.

Important Information
- Polling Stations are open from 7.00am - 10.00pm
- You don’t need your polling card to vote
- If you have a postal ballot, but have not yet sent it in, you can complete it as normal and take the completed envelope to your local polling station on the day.

Polling Stations in Holyrood
Baguley Crescent and Bow Lea - Mobile Van at Baguley Crescent
Simister - Lady Wilton Hall
Polefield, Parenthorn and St Margarets areas - St Margarets CE Centre on St Margarets Road
Heaton Park Area - Heaton Park Social Club, Bury Old Road
Northern area - Nursery Road, Glebelands Road, Langley etc - Prestwich Arts College, Heys Road
“Kirkhams” area (M45 postcodes) - Heaton Park School on Cuckoo Lane

If you need any more information, or need a lift to the polling station call our helpline on 0161 798 0117

Thank you!

Election statement to readers of the Bury Times:

Liberal Democrats across Bury have had a brilliant response from local residents. People are telling us that they are fed up of Labour closing post offices, taxing poorer people and watching the economy slide. People are uncertain what the Conservatives stand for, and haven’t noticed any improvement since they took over last year.

Liberal Democrats in Bury have three clear priorities:

We want safe, thriving communities across Bury. People must feel safe in their own streets and communities. This isn’t just about tackling crime, it’s about stronger, united communities. That’s why we’re opposing Post Office closures and why we secured massively increased funding for children in the Council budget. It’s also why we have always opposed the unfair and divisive congestion charge.

We want Bury to be the greenest Metropolitan Borough in Britain. Last year Lib Dems secured blue recycling bins for every house, and this year more money for parks and cleaning. We cherish Bury’s beautiful environment. We will work hard to protect it.

We believe in giving power to local people, not keeping it at the Town Hall. This means that decisions should be made locally in the six towns that make up Bury. It means local people making decisions at the most local level about the services that effect communities.

On May 1st we have a choice - A return to the 21 years of neglect under Labour’s rule in Bury, uncertainty under the Tories, or a clear vision for a better Bury from your local Liberal Democrats.

Vic D’Albert - Liberal Democrat Focus Team
A record of ACTION
Vic stands up for our local area all year round at the Town Hall. Vic and the team succesfully campaigned to save our local High School, and are now campainging to save our post offices.

Putting our area FIRST

Local Lib Dems are working hard to turn back years of Labour neglect of Prestwich - new play facilities, new children’s centres, traffic calming measures and more.
Vic and local Lib Dems have secured money for a top-level review of Prestwich “Village Centre” giving local people the chance to have our say on its future.

Safe and GREEN 
Lib Dems secured Blue Bins for every household and have now secured more money for parks and clearing litter. We’ve succesfully stopped cuts in youth service provision.

Gordon Brown’s Labour Candidate
Going Going GONE

Labour tried to close our local School Prestwich Arts College. Labour are now pushing ahead with plans to close 2,500 post offices - that’s NINE in Bury - but they won’t tell us which ones till after the election!

Crunch and SQUEEZE
Labour have abolished the 10p income tax rate and from this month poorer local people will be WORSE off than before. Homeowners and families are worried about how Gordon Brown is running the economy and the ‘credit crunch’.

£5 a DAY 
Labour councillors across Greater Manchester seem intent to press ahead with the Congestion Charge scheme which will mean we have to pay to drive over the Motorway, It’s the only place outside London where Labour want to charge!

Your Vote Counts

 • Polling stations are open 7.00am to 10.00pm

• You don’t need your polling card to vote

• If you have a POSTAL VOTE, but haven’t sent it in yet, you can still take your envelope down to your local polling station on the day.

• If you need a lift to the polling station, if you want to help Vic win, or need any other information - call Vic on 0161 773 9905 - email vic@burylibdems.net

Two Horse Race!

Remember the Conservatives came a poor third in Holyrood ward last time. The Conservatives have NO COUNCILLORS anywhere in Prestwich. A vote for the Conservatives only risks letting Labour back in by the back door.

It is extremely saddening not to mention incredible that I find myself reporting the death of former Councillor, Warren Flood yesterday.
Ex-Councillor Warren Flood, served on Bury Council in two stints - firstly representing the residents of Pilkington Park and latterly Moorside.
He was staunch socialist and I respected that he had strong beliefs even though it meant we often differed on issues. With the rise of new Labour I remember joking to him that he was now in the wrong party. Irrespective of party I think we shared a mutual respect for each others position.
Warren Flood was only 41 years young, hard working and talented arguably most of his life before him. I can’t help but contrast the sudden death and life of Warren with that of Gordon Sharkey who also passed away recently. Gordon had lived a full life, a life to celebrate, whereas we can only mourn the loss of a life relatively unfulfilled.
These recent deaths, coming as they do in the local election campaigns certainly put things into perspective.
My deepest condolences go to his wife and family, comrades and colleagues.

I was saddened today to learn that after fighting a long illness former Unsworth Councillor, Gordon Sharkey passed away at the weekend.
Gordon was one of those councillors that has seemed to have been on the Council forever. He was there when I was first elected in 1991 and although politics and other differences made it difficult to become friends I nevertheless had the greatest respect for Gordon as a dedicated committed local politician with strong beliefs.
I know that when age and infirmity caught up with Gordon he was heartbroken to have to finally accept that he was unable to continue in his role as a councillor.

Many things are written about politics and politicians national and local and standards in politics. On that score Gordon Sharkey was top draw material and gave everything to his community, his council and his party. I am sure his family and friends are proud of his achievements and will mourn long and hard his passing.
My condolences to all his family and friends.

Liberal Democrats have announced a full team of candidates to contest the elections for Bury Council on Thursday 1 May 2008. One third of the seats on the Council are up for election, with one councillor to be elected in each of the 17 wards.

Two Councillors are seeking re-election - Vic D’Albert in Holyrood and Ann Garner in Sedgley.

Liberal Democrat candidates are:
Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor
Ramsbottom - Janet Turner
Tottington - David Foss
North Manor - Ewan Arthur
Bury West
Elton - Robert Sloss
Church - Tamsin Thomson
Bury East
Moorside - Nissa Finney
East - Emma Davison
Redvales - Paul Jenkins
Radcliffe
Radcliffe North - Lynne Molloy
Radcliffe West - Joanne O’Hanlon
Radcliffe East - Mike Halsall
Whitefield and Unsworth
Unsworth - Theo Tzymcyca
Besses - Julie Baum
Pilkington Park - Wayne Burrows
Prestwich
Holyrood - Vic D’Albert
St Mary’s - Mary D’Albert
Sedgley - Ann Garner

I have just read about the National Union of Teachers ban on the Armed Forces coming into schools to promote the forces.
Apparently the resolution was passed at their annual conference because they beleive they are not being totally straight about the risks and dangers faced by recruits and as such are glamourising the the forces.
I have never heard such nonsense in all my life. Iraq and Afghanistan are feautured on our TV screens everynight, in newspapers and all over the net. Deaths are announced on news programmes. This is a highly disrespectful move by the NUT, sends the wrong message and may damage recruitment. Yes the dangers have to be outlined and I am sure that Forces recruitment officers make sure applicants know what they are getting into. I just hope the NUT changes its mind on this daft proposal and decides to work with the forces rather than slapping them in the face.

I attended the Area Partnership Chairs meeting on tuesday. The main item on the agenda was the review of Area Partnerships. Area Partnerships replaced the Area Boards and whilst there has been some clear improvements to how they operate and their effectiveness there has remained concerns about some issues hence the review.

I was dissapointed with the report that we received. By the time we got the report the biggest proposal was to change the name to Team Prestwich etc. The current Area Partnership Chairs generally disliked the name change so that stays the same for now.

The main reason for dissapointment was the fact that an opportunty has been missed to delegate more powers, resources and responsibilities to the Partnerships for services provided in their townships.  In addition there was precious little in the report to improve the links with community members who represent voluntary groups etc. I would like to see them exert more influence and feed there issues through to the Partnerships.

There were some good things - such as proposals to develop community members, encouraging greater support from our partners and improving the effectiveness of the Partnerships - the rest will have to wait at least until the further review promised for the autumn.

Liberal  Democrats in Bury have accused Ivan Lewis MP and David Chaytor MP of failing to support local services after they voted to support the Government’s massive post office closure programme.

The Government has ordered that one in five branches be closed. Opposition MPs tried to stop the closure programme on 19th March when a motion was proposed in the House of Commons demanding the Government halt their plans to make 2500 branches shut up shop.

But enough Labour MPs rallied around the Government’s closure plans to reject the motion and ensure the closure programme can continue unhindered. Two of those voting to close post offices were Bury’s MP.

Disappointed local Liberal Democrat campaigners are calling on Ivan Lewis and David Chaytor to explain why s/he voted to close post offices.
“Our MPs have let down people in Bury by voting to allow the closures to continue,” said Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Vic D’Albert. “In May the announcement will be made as to which branches here will be put forward for closure. This was an opportunity for Ivan Lewis and David Chayor to make a stand on behalf of residents. I am disappointed they have backed the Government rather than local people.

“The loss of post offices will hit communities hard in Bury. They are vital assets for many local people and closing them will cause many difficulties for older people and others with mobility problems, in particular.
“Despite the decision of our MPs to help the Government press ahead with closure, Liberal Democrats are continuing to fight the demolition of the post office network.”

Nick Cleggs speech to the Lib Dem Spring Conference was not just memorable for its delivery without notes. In my view it signalled a very clear change in emphasis if not direction for the party. Highlighting a number of examples where vulnerable people have suffered in 21st century Britain under Labour, he made it clear that the time has come to stand up for those that need support in society and to fight for what’s right and for justice in modern Britain. It’s time to get angry and to put up no more.
He also ruled out joining Conservative or Labour Governments after the next election - but ruled in working with Governments to fix our broken system of government and democracy.
All in all an inspiring speech, an excellent first speech to conference and motivating for the coming local election campaign.

4TH - PRESTWICH AREA PARTNERSHIP - with a presentation from Prestwich regeneration consultants URBED and the OPEN FORUM for residents to raise issues. 6.30pm start (Open Forum from 7.30pm), Sedgley Park School, Bishops Road.

7th-9th LIB DEM SPRING CONFERENCE, Liverpool

12th - ST.MARY’S CE PRIMARY SCHOOL GOVERNORS

12th - FRIEND OF PRESTWICH FOREST PARK - Church Inn, Prestwich 7.00pm    

13th - PRESTWICH REGENERATION - URBED Workshop, Longfield Suite, Prestwich

17th - BURY LIB DEMS LOCAL PARTY , 7.00pm Elton Liberal Club, New George St, Bury. All members welcome.

18th - AREA PARTNERSHIP CHAIRS, Town Hall

26th - FULL COUNCIL MEETING, 7.00pm. Town Hall. Members of the public welcome - with public question time

Sir, 

The past 10 months have really exposed Labour for what they really are. The bitterness and venom that has poured forth from some of their more senior Councillors since they lost control of the Council after 21 years has been something to behold. Rarely in the field of political conflict has so much bitterness been directed at so few people.Cllr Tim Chamberlain, writing in last weeks paper is a prime exponent of Labours bitter and twisted view of Bury’s municipal world. Once again he ranted on about the so called Tory/Lib Dem Alliance, when everyone knows that there is no such alliance and the Council is run by a Conservative minority administration, much as it was previously run by a Labour minority administration.Such bitterness is of course self destructive and serves no good to a once great party that having first ditched its idealogy now proceeds to abandon all sense of purpose. It really is time to move on – There is a valid positive contribution to be made to Bury politics but the Lib Dems are the only opposition party making that contribution at present. 

What is almost more worrying than the failure by Labour to move on is their utter failure to confront the issues that lost them power at the last local elections. The appalling mishandling of the High School Review, the failure to engage with voters, inflation busting Council Tax to fund their latest pet schemes and an incredibly arrogant we know best attitude.  

At the last elections Labour lost 2 seats to the Lib Dems and 1 to the Conservatives, leading to the Tories becoming the largest party. Yet the arrogance of Cllr Chamberlain and others displayed in expecting the Lib Dems to then keep the second largest party in power irrespective of the Bury electorate frankly beggars belief.   

But then again – Post Office closures, lost personal data, dangerous criminals going undetected, and crumbling confidence in the economy with rising repossessions  - perhaps focusing on the real issues is more difficult for Labour to handle. After the High school closures fiasco local people lost trust in Labour – now the rest of the country is catching up. 

Vic D’Albert

Lib Dem’s Secure More Money for Children and Young People, and more money for Parks and Cleaner Streets 

Liberal Democrat Councillors saved services for young people and vulnerable children and secured extra expenditure on much needed environmental services such as parks, cleaner streets and environmental enforcement in Bury Council’s budget for next year.

The Lib Dem proposals, which were agreed and have become part of the budget:

- saved advice services for children and money for youth services across Bury

- saved services for disabled children, the “young carers” service and provision for children who are at risk

- secured new money for our parks and environmental services

- secured new money for a cleaner environment such as street cleaning and enforcement such as dog fouling and fly-tipping

 Cllr Tim Pickstone, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group said:

 “This is a difficult budget again for Bury. We all need to be clear on why these difficult savings once again have to be made. The blame is quite clearly with the Labour Government who, despite many years of pressure, continue to effectively give Bury a “poor deal”.

“Services to young people are already stretched  -  A vibrant youth support service is essential to ensure educational staying on rates and engagement in training or employment, with the subsequent positive impact on reducing anti-social behaviour”

“We are not prepared to put up with an unsafe reduction in support for vulnerable children, and to not see advances in supporting the environment in this borough.”

Cllr Richard Baum, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Resources said

“The people of this Borough want cleaner streets, green space and safe places for their families. And the Liberal Democrat group will ensure that as much as possible is done to give them what they want. Our proposals tonight are to invest in parks in this Borough to ensure that every community has a well-managed place of peace and greenery to enjoy.

Attacking the Labour Party Proposal to cut vital services for a zero Council Tax rise Cllr Pickstone said:

“This proposal is madness. We would all like to have a zero council tax rise, but the Labour Party are proposing to scrap £700,000 on much needed services for disabled people, are proposing to scrap services for young people and vulnerable children, and proposing to run Bury Council into the ground by running reserves down to a dangerous level. This is a disgrace - I am shocked that that Labour Party will stoop so low in a pathetic attempt to gain votes.

“There are two opposition parties in Bury. One, the Lib Dems, have achieved over £1/3 million of expenditure on young people, children and the environment, while Labour have achieved nothing but a cheap gimmick at the expense of vulnerable people.” 

Last night was “Budget Council” for Bury MBC. It is at this meeting that the Councils budget for the year to 31/3/09 was agreed by all councillors. As such it is probably the most important meeting of the council each year.
The headlines from last nights agreed budget are:

COUNCIL TAX UP 3.4%
This is the lowest increase for some time and the first time for a while that it is below the inflation rate of 4.1%.

OVER 65’S COUNCIL TAX DISCOUNT
In a repeat of last years “Age of Opportunities” initiative

12 INSTALLMENTS OPTION
Recognising the difficult times faced by many Council Tax payers will have the option of paying over 12 installments as opposed to the current 10 payments option.

MORE FUNDS FOR DISABLED SERVICES (LIB DEM PROPOSAL)
To pay for pressures on services for disabled people

MORE FUNDS FOR STREET CLEANING (LIB DEM PROPOSAL)

MORE FUNDS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT CONCERNS (LIB DEM PROPOSAL)
Including Parks maintenance and environmental enforcement.

COMMITMENT TO BUILD RADCLIFFE RIVERSIDE SCHOOL

COMMITMENT TO REFURBISH AND DEVELOP PHILIPS PARK
With support from the National Lottery

THE BACKGROUND
Once again it was a very difficult year (again) for Bury thanks to yet another poor grant settlement from Bury Council. The amount of money that the Government gives us was yet again less than our neighbours in the rest of Greater Manchester. Its been calculated that since Labour came into Government Bury is 15% worse off than before - and that was from a low starting point. This means that a number of “savings” (cuts) have had to be made - totalling around £5 million.

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT BUDGET PROPOSALS
The Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment to the Budget which proposed to reallocate just over £1/3 million of different expenditure than what was being proposed by the Conservative Party administration that runs Bury.

£250,000 TO MAINTAIN KEY SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN
This included saving proposed cuts to the youth service and schools advice services. We believe that services for young people are essential, not just for their own sake, but also because they help tackle issues like anti-social behaviour.
Our proposal also saved proposed cuts to services to vulnerable children including: disabled children, the whole young carers service, the whole service to support parents with mental health needs, and vulnerable children at risk.

£100,000 OF NEW EXPENDITURE FOR PARKS PARKS, CLEANER STREETS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
£50,000 on environmental issues to help deal with issues such as Street Cleaning and maintaining the “Green Flag” status of our parks. We’ve been promised a Saturday clean of town centre areas which believe will help tackle the filthy state of our town centre.
£50,000 on environmental enforcement which will tackle issues such as fly-tipping, dog fouling and stray dogs (dog warden service).

The Liberal Democrat Group amendment was accepted with Conservative support (but without the support of Labour) and became part of the agreed budget.

LABOUR EXPOSED
Last night we finally saw how desperate Labour have become. After 10 months out of power and with an increasingly unpopular Government ,they are now so desperate that they are prepared to put the vulnerable at risk in order to offer the Bury people a gimmick bribe at the next local elections.
Labour proposed to:
- ignore the needs of disabled people in Bury by removing £700,000 of much needed expenditure for people with learning and physical disabilities. This is a disgrace. They should be ashamed of suggesting that disabled people don’t need services from the Council.
- ignore the needs of children and young people by cutting £350,000 of services for young people and vulnerable children. If you wanted to know what the difference is between Labour and the Lib Dems this is where that difference was most evident. Whilst the Lib Dem proposals were saving these services Labour were axing them. Labour proposed to cut youth services, cut ALL services to young carers, cut services for disabled children and, most worryingly, cut services for vulnerable children at risk. This is how desperate Labour have become and it was shameful and a disgraceful proposal.
- put the future finances of the council at risk by spending all the “reserves” down to the bare minimum (reserves are needed to cope for emergencies such as spending on flooding, unexpected demand etc). Fundamentally Labour were happy to ignore the long standing “equal pay” issue to address women employees who have been paid less than men doing the same job. So much for equality under Labour. Another principle ditched.
In this final act of a desperate Bury Labour party, desperate to hang on to their remaining seats. These savage damaging cuts were proposed in an era of 4% inflation in order to bribe Bury’s electorate with a 0% Council Tax increase. New Labour has finally ditched all its founding principles and any remnants of social concience. An ultra-conservative budget from a desperate Labour Party.

AND THE CONSERVATIVES ?
In the end it was the proposals of the Conservative Party, with the addition of the new expenditure proposed by the Liberal Democrats that won the day as outlined above.
We didn’t feel able to support all the proposals of the Conservatives - particularly some of the savings around the environment and social services, so abstained on the final vote.
The papers for the Budget are available on the Council’s website.

If you have any questions, or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Too many families in Bury are losing their homes because of difficulties over mortgage payments, claims Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Bury South. 

New figures show that 668 orders for home repossession were issued by Bury county court in 2007. This is a rise of 12% since 2006. 

“668 home repossession orders means 668 families being turfed out of the house they have lived in, often for many years,” said Vic D’Albert. 

“Many people remember the boom and bust policies of the last Conservative government that saw tens of thousands of people lose their home because they could not keep up with mortgage payments. Now it looks as though the current Labour Government has blundered into a similar mess. 

“The Government has failed to ensure there are enough homes to meet people’s needs. For every ten families on the waiting list in

The recent announcement that there is to be a referendum to have an elected Mayor of Bury is nothing but bad news for Bury and Bury Council Tax payers

This is all thanks to the narrow minded one sided views of a small group of campaigners who are prepared to interfere with our democracy in order to get there own way on congestion charging.

I and my fellow Lib Dem councillors on Bury Council have opposed the proposed congestion charging scheme because we feel it is wrong for Bury people. Its an extra tax to pay for transport we are already paying taxes for! In addition the charging proposals would divide communities and penalise some and benefit others.

As a result Bury Lib Dems have been instrumental in forcing Bury Council to oppose the current schemes charging proposals - not the transport investment proposals - the charging aspects. That is now Council policy.

That however isn’t good enough for those that have raised the petition for an elected Mayor. They see an elected mayor being installed to oppose the congestion scheme.  They want to impose an extra tier of local government in Bury - an elected mayor as well as 51 councillors. An elected Mayor being on a salary perhaps as much as £100,000 plus additional costs of his office and administrative support.

And what for ? To oppose a charge that is already council policy to oppose. To oppose this unpopular charge they plan to sweep away the current system of Government in Bury and replace it with one individual who will decide what currently 51 councillors representing all corners and all communities in Bury do week in week out.

It’s bad , it’s a waste of money and it should be stopped. 

Concerns are being raised by local Liberal Democrat, Vic D’Albert about the state of the Councils housing policy following revelations about a young Prestwich mother desperate to find a new home.

Young mother of 2, Sonya Hardy of Heaton Street, Prestwich has been on the Council’s housing list for 2 and ½ years and is now approaching her twelfth month facing eviction.

Cllr D’Albert said, “This is an appalling situation. This young lady and her family are facing an increasingly intolerable situation with endless uncertainty and stress. I was approached last September by the family and immediately took up what appeared to be a basic problem initially caused by staff shortages. I have become increasingly frustrated by this situation but that pales into insignificance compared to the frustration faced by Sonya. The situation is now looking increasingly more like maladministration and a failing service rather than more mundane staffing issues and I am beginning to wonder how many other people find themselves in this situation. One thing is for sure this is no way to treat vulnerable local residents.”

Sonya’s family have provided crucial support over the last 2 and ½ years for Sonya who suffers from depression, and her two young children. Mother Christine, commented, “If Bury Council cannot care for it’s own community and especially those who have lived here all their lives (my daughter is 25 and has never lived anywhere else), how on earth are they going to care for all the Asylum Seekers and Refugees that they say they will take. They are failing local people.”

Since a possession notice was served by her landlord, Sonya has applied for a string of local council properties to no avail – there appears to be too few houses or too many applicants.

Vic D’Albert added, “I am now convinced that something is going wrong with Bury’s Housing strategy when they clearly fail to provide a satisfactory, efficient service for young people like Sonya who are eligible for re-housing and meet all relevant criteria, Sonya and others like her are being failed and we need to know why. I have as a result of this issue written to Bury Councils Chief Executive calling for an enquiry into this whole issue and will be demanding a speedy response by the Council‘s housing department.

I am on holiday now until January 2nd. However if you feel I can assist with an emergency during this period please don’t hesitate to contact me.

The emergency out of hours Council phone no is 0161 253 6606

Christmas Careline - Christmas and New Year is a difficult time for many people, if you need help or advice or someone to talk to during this period don’t hesitate to call the ITV/BBC Supported Careline service .Telephone 0845 606 5678

Children and young people with problems they would like to talk about in confidence can call CHILDLINE on 0800 1111

Best Wishes and well done to Nick Clegg the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

I have the utmost confidence that Nick along with his talented team in parliament will take the Liberal Democrats to the next level. I look forward to working with Nick to fight for a better Bury and a greater Britain - where our freedoms and liberties are protected and our values are preserved in a land that cherishes all its people.

Nick Clegg has set out his priorities in a message to Bury residents:

“I am greatly honoured to have been chosen by my fellow party members to be the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats. Throughout Bury, Liberal Democrats are already working hard to reach out to local people and listen to their concerns. In my leadership I will be taking that  spirit nationwide, moving beyond Party Politics and making liberalism connect with the millions of people who share our values.

Labour and the Conservatives have failed Britain’s families. I will lead my party to change politics, and change Britain, for the better. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to giving the people of Bury a greater say in the decisions that affect our lives, by shifting power away from Westminster and back to local communities. I will fight for a fair deal for Britain’s families, campaign tirelessly to cut crime and improve our NHS so it delivers the care people need.”

Under Nick Clegg the Liberal Democrats will have a distinctive voice to champion the many issues that this country faces. With Labour and the Conservatives ditching all remnants of political philosophy and scrapping over the same tired policies day in day out, the time has come for someone prepared to speak out for our people and our communities. Nick Clegg is that man.

It has recently been announced that following an Ofsted inspection St.Mary’s CE School on Rectory Lane is no longer in Special Measures.

Following a recent inpsection by Ofsted, the inspectors have deemed the school to be making required progress and attaining good standards and so longer needs special measures. 

It has to be said that the inspection that led to the school being in special measures was impeccably poor timing for staff that were trying their best to get to grips with the departure of the previous head teacher. Nevertheless the staff, led by new head teacher, Jonathan Fish and supported by the Governers have responded with tremendous professionalism and turned things round in double quick time.

Congratulations to all - I trust all the staff will now enjoy a well earned christmas break!

A Liberal Democrat amendment at last nights Council meeting finally exposed Bury Labour’s position on congestion Charging when they failed to oppose the proposed congestion charging scheme.

The Lib Dem amendment called for the bid to the Governments Transport Investment Fund (TIF) to be supported but made it clear that Bury was opposed to congestion Charging – in particular the scheme proposed, and called for the people of Greater Manchester to be consulted through a referendum vote on the issue.

It is true that we need massive investment in our public transport to encourage people out of their cars – but why are we being asked to pay extra taxes to pay for our Labour  Governments neglect of out transport  systems? On top of that the charging proposals are seriously flawed, over expensive and would divide communities.

Bury Lib Dems have been clear from the start that we need transport investment and improvements up front. We can then better assess the impact improvements will have on congestion and can properly consider what further incentives would be required.

Bury Labour are clearly being leaned on by neighbouring Labour Councils and possibly Labour MP’s – for much of the debate last night they resembled Humpty Dumpty trying to sit on the wall – but fell to earth with a crash at the end when the Lib Dem amendment was supported by the Conservative Group and became Bury Council policy.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…    

Prestwich Area Tasking Team meets 6 weekly to deal with tackling Anti-Social problems throughout Prestwich. If your community or business is affected by anti-social problems then you may wish to report the problem/s to your local councillors or Carran O’Grady (Area Partnership Manager - Tel:0161 253 7245 c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk).

In most cases complainants are asked to complete diary sheets of incidents to build up a picture and pattern of events.  Following on from that the ATT will contact you and either invite you to an ATT to go through the issues, in more detail and/or sign post the issue to the right agency.Please feel free to contact me, fellow councillors or Carran O’Grady if you wish to draw our attention to any relevant issues.  

PRESTWICH ATT MEETINGS

DATE    TIME    GROUP   VENUE  
12 December 2007        2.00pm  Prestwich ATT   Prestwich Library      
23 January 2008             2.00pm  Prestwich ATT   Prestwich Library      
5 March 2008                  2.00pm  Prestwich ATT   Prestwich Library      

prestwich-lights-2007.pdf

Don’t miss the Prestwich Christmas lights switch on and celebrations on monday December 10th from 4.30pm. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever.

Click on the link above for a flier of the event in pdf format.

I hope to see you there!

The Government’s data disaster over child benefit records shows why plans for Identity Cards must be scrapped, say Bury South Liberal Democrats. 

Following the revelation that the personal details of 25 million parents and children have been lost by the Government’s Revenue and Customs department (HMRC), and may have fallen into the hands of identity fraudsters, Bury South Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Vic D’Albert has written to Ivan Lewis MP urging him to withdraw his support for the ID cards scheme and a National Identity Register in which the Government want to store the personal information of everyone in the country. 

“The fiasco at HMRC has shown the dangers of the Government holding huge amounts of information about each one of us whilst being slipshod in the way that same information is kept,” said Vic D’Albert. 

“This whole saga of incompetence has been shocking and families across the Bury area are now rightly asking whether their personal details are safe. 

“The National Identity Register, which the Government are setting up as part of the Identity Card scheme, will hold vastly more information on each and every one of us than Customs and Revenue managed to lose.  

“The possibilities for the loss of that information, either accidentally or through illegitimate means must make the Government stop and think again very seriously about their plan to store all the data they can on us on a central register. 

“This is a clear illustration of the real dangers of a big brother centralised state.  State control of personal identity details is a real threat to our civil liberties. The Government should respond to the anger and now abandon its ID card scheme. It is clear that the Government cannot be trusted to manage effectively mass databases of personal information. 

“Labour MP, Ivan Lewis voted for Identity Cards when the scheme went through Parliament despite some Labour MPs taking a principled stand and joining the Liberal Democrats in voting against the Government’s big brother plans.  

“But a debacle on this scale must surely give him cause to think again. I have written to him calling on him to press the Government to end the Identity Card scheme for good and to ensure that we do not risk a personal data disaster on an even more catastrophic scale.”

 Bury Council’s Planning Control Committee last night approved controversial plans to re-develope the Sandgate Road Football Ground. The plans for new buildings, fencing, extended car park and floodlighting were passed by 6 votes to 3 and followed a visit to the site by the Committee earlier in the day. Ward Councillor Vic D’Albert commenting on the decision said, “I am pleased for the club but very dissapointed for residents, some of whom are very distressed about this result. I think the club has to learn lessons about working with their neighbours and would reiterate my belief that this successful club is fast out growing their Sandgate Road home and in considering future developments start to look at a more suitable location.

Earlier Vic addressed the committee and said:

 “First of all I would like to say that I am not opposed to Prestwich Heys and I hope that they continue to thrive and prosper both on and off the pitch.However just I am not opposed to The Heys, I also feel that the applications before the Committee tonight should be divorced from any emotions about enabling the club to develop and ultimately to compete in higher leagues.Just as the committee would approach the request for development of a residential property would not take into consideration the growth of the family living there the committee I feel should not be looking to accommodate the growth of Prestwich Heys. That issue should not be a contributing factor.The key issue generating most opposition to this application is with regard to the proposal for a set of 6 floodlights on 15 meter stanchions….15 meters is about 50 feet. When I tell you that an ordinary residential property is about 30 feet – I think it puts this issue into perspective.  Those affected have a right to live their own lives free from pollution of whatever kind. Without having their homes and gardens illuminated at inappropriate times and disturbing their lifestyles. I believe these proposals are a step too far. When Heys relocated to Sandgate road in 1991 this was a football pitch and St.Josephs Avenue was already built and occupied – they have developed into a reasonably successful club and now have a football ground. I would argue that the plans before you tonight for fencing extended car park provision and floodlighting take the club a step nearer having a football stadium and therefore these plans amount to an over-development of the site.I think its time the club were more open in sharing its visions with the local community and also considered its long term future.I feel the time is fast approaching when Heys should consider as part of those ambitions finding a more suitable location to enable them to grow and achieve at a greater level.One thing is sure and that its not for the local community to accept Heys development at cost to their own quality of life. Its not for St.Josephs Avenueto accomadate the ambitions of Prestwich Heys – especially as they were there firstIt could be argued tonight that rejection of these plans would make Prestwich Heys a victim of their own success. That may or may not be the case. In any event what is clear to me is that the residents living adjacent to this ground should not be the victims of their success. I therefore, with much regret , but as a matter of fairness, request that these applications are rejected.”

Last night was the prize giving ceremony for those that had entered the Bury Friends of the Earth poster competition to highlight climate change. Which was also run with the support of Bury Environmental Services.

It was great to see an array of posters designed by all age ranges of local school children. What was most interesting besides the quality of the winning entries was the stark message emanating from these posters - that climate change affects us all and has to be dealt with now.

And, when you look at those young people and their visions of climate devastation you realise more than ever that for their futures we must tackle this issue now.

I know my colleague Cllr Ann Garner was very much involved in supporting FOE in this competition to raise awareness on this vital subject and helped bring the Council on board, and I congratulate her on her efforts. Certainly the winners went away with the biggest goody bags I have ever seen!

I popped into St.Margarets earlier today to say hello to old friends and support the event. It was immediately clear that from the rows of virtually empty stands and tables that the event had been its usual tremendous success.

Nevertheless there was still time to be sold a “unique, limited edition” two sided jigsaw (my better half has the patience, not me). I also bought a “unique, limited edition, two sided” tie (you can never have enough ties!) and indulged in a tea cake.

I did of course witness the arrival of Father Christmas - I suspect his busy schedule was the key factor in deciding to hold the Christmas Fair in November!

Good to meet everyone, well done to the organisers and your obvious success. A Merry Christmas to you all! 

For the first time that I can ever recall in my time as a councillor I have attended a public meeting that NO members of the public bothered to attend.

This meeting , which I understand was widely advertised was called to discuss alleged issues of anti-social behaviour on Polefield Estate. No one turned up and so we can only assume there ain’t any at the moment - which is good news.

I did take the opportunity to discuss local issues with Police officers, Tenants and Residents Association staff and Council Officers which was useful.

This years Christmas Lights switch-on will be on December 10th on the precinct as usual.
As always there will be guest entertainment and Christmas Carols and a special appearance by you-know-who!!!
When I have more details I’ll post them up on this web site.
The show starts from 4.00pm. Great family fun for one and all.

It is with deep sadness that we have just learned that Bella Ansell passed away last week.

Bella was a founder member of Prestwich Area Board as well as a member of Prestwich Local Area Partnership. She was a valued volunteer for North Manchester Jewish Council and worked so hard to better the lives of others.
“Bella was committed to improving the lives of others. She represented the needs of Jewish families on the partnership and attended many events around creating a better Prestwich, supporting the needs of the disabled and elderly and looking at inequalities. Bella recently attended a Community Conference and contributed so much to issues around diversity. Her passion, commitment and presence will be sadly missed by all of us who have had the pleasure of working with her”.

“My deepest condolences go to her family and friends.”

Today I had the privilage of leading Prestwich in rembrance of all those past Prestwich sons and daughters who gave their lives for our futures and for peace and hope in the world.

As the longest serving Prestwich Councillor I represent the Mayor on these occasions, and therefore get to lay a wreath first, followed by the MP, fellow councillors, representatives of the Police, scouts, brownies etc etc.

I am always moved by this annual event, which sees a coming together of seemingly all Prestwich - faiths, civic and voluntary/community organisations and others to remember those that have given their lives for this country. In addition the whole event seems to be resonating more and more with people who are increasingly aware of the sacrifices being made in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was particularly delighted to meet an Iraq veteran today and would dearly love to see more post 2nd world war vets joining us on remembrance day in the future, especially in the parade.

Congratulations should go to the organisers from Prestwich British Legion including, Sylvia Hampson who spends many cold hours at Tesco’s etc selling poppies prior to the 11th. Well done all.

8th Healthier Communities Scrutiny Committee

11th Remembrance Sunday: Service at Heaton Park Congregational Church followed by parade, wreath laying and last post at Prestwich cenotaph

12th Bury Liberal Democrats AGM

14th St.Mary’s CE Primary School Governors Meeting

15th Polefield Tenants & Residents Association: Anti-Social Behaviour meeting, Heaton Park School

19th Area Partnership Chairs meeting

20th Planning Committee: Including decision on Prestwich Heys planning application following earlier site visit that afternoon

27th Prestwich Area Partnership meeting, Sedgley Park School

If you would like further information about the above meetings/events or have an issue to raise, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

On saturday I was delighted to have been invited to attend a special service of dedication of the new Heaton Park Congregational Church on Bailey Street.

The new church and community meeting facility forms one corner of the plot of land occupied by the old church and demolished over 60’s club. The old church is being converted into apartments. The new church building has apartments above, and boasts an excellent meeting room, kitchen and all mod cons. 

Councillor Wilf Davison, representing the Mayor of Bury, had the honour of formerly “opening” the church and following the formalities all present experienced a marvellous service with solo performances.

I would add my congratulations to Ken Garbett for his vision in taking this project forward on behalf of his congregation and fellow church members and to the architects and developers for preserving an existing part of our heritage while developing an attractive community facility as well.

As part of the 2007 fireworks campaign, the Fire brigade website is hosting a fireworks special – which includes a competition to win an ipod video, as well as a list of organized bonfire/firework events in Greater Manchester, information about the campaign and firework/bonfire safety information.

The competition is only open to people aged 18 or UNDER so it is aimed at the target audience of the campaign. To enter, you just have to answer a simple fireworks-related question – see www.manchesterfire.gov.uk - it has a prominent link to it from the homepage.

Oh dear, I ‘ve just been told that I have been evicted from the “project “I’m a Councillor get me out of here” (see my earlier post). The schools project to engage young people with local councillors has seen evictions each night this week following a string of questions from young people last week.  Out of 6 starters my eviction leave my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Richard Baum and Cllr Berry in tomorrows final eviction. I would put on record my thanks to all the young people who voted for me and my congratulations to all involved in this project, it has been a very rewarding and interesting experience.

Sir Menzies Campbell has resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats with immediate effect.

Yesterday evening a letter of resignation was delivered to Party President Simon Hughes MP.

The resignation means that an election for Ming Campbells replacement will now be held. With nominations opening today, ballot papers to all members being sent out by the end of the month and the result expected on December 17th.

Cllr Vic D’Albert said, “The party is indebted to Ming Campbell for the way he stabilized the party following Charles Kennedy’s resignation and he has been instrumental in modernising the party and supporting the adoption of more female and ethnic minority candidates. Clearly Ming felt that as leader he could take the party no further himself and following the postponement of a general election felt now was the right time to stand down. No doubt his vast experience and knowledge will still be fully utilised by the party in the future.”

Here is the full text of Sir Menzies Campbell’s letter of resignation as Leader of the Liberal Democrats:

“When I was elected Leader of the Party in March 2006 I had three objectives.

First, to restore stability and purpose in the party following my predecessor’s resignation and the leadership campaign itself, second to make the internal operations of the party more professional, and third to prepare the party for a General Election.

With the help of others, I believe that I have fulfilled these objectives, although I am convinced that the internal structures of the party need radical revision if we are to compete effectively against Labour and the Conservatives.

But it has become clear that following the Prime Minister’s decision not to hold an election, questions about leadership are getting in the way of further progress by the party.

Accordingly I now submit my resignation as Leader with immediate effect.

I do not intend to hold a press conference or to make any further comment.”

Yours sincerely,

Menzies Campbell

Tonight I was delighted to attend the Carnival committees presentation evening at the Longfield Suite. This is when the Sunshine Committee (who organise the Carnival) hand out cheques to worthy local causes from the proceeds of Carnival day.

I was privilaged to have been asked to present cheques to 9 local organisations from local scouts and guides to local football teams and a Tenants and Residents Association and local charities.

The Sunshine Committee has been running the Carnival for 10 years now and has taken the carnival from strength to strength and supported many good causes in the process. Well done Sunshine Team and Congratulations to the groups that benefited. 

From this week - until I’m evicted, I will be taking party in “I’m a Councillor, get me out of here. This councillor/community awareness project organised by “The Big Vote” is designed to bring young people and councillors together (via the internet-www.bigvote.org.uk) to discuss the issues that affect them and their communities and to challenge councillors about what they do or for that matter how they do it! Young people from local high schools ask questions of local councillors and we have to answer them in a satisfactory way or when its time to vote we may get kicked out. One of the aims is to raise awareness about politics and local government and the issues we face.

I recently attended the funeral service of Gerald Leahiff, longstanding Simister resident and recently dubbed “Mr Simister” by local press. I attended in two capacities. Firstly as one of the ward councillors (Cllr Wilf Davison also attended), I wanted to pay respects to a man who had for many years served his community with distinction. Helping neighbours, looking after them and basically doing his bit for the community.

Secondly I have known Gerald’s Wife , Beryl for many years. She was a key activist in the Liberal Party when I first started campaigning and she in no small part did her bit to help me get elected. Fortunately Gerald supported her in her political activities and in fact use to deliver Focus leaflets in Simister for a few years, or when Beryl was unable.

Gerald was one of those people that you always tend to bump into-he always seemed to be around doing something for someone. I know Gerald will be sadly missed by all who  knew him, Simister will not be quite the same without him.

Visitors to this year’s annual public meeting of the Pennine Acute Trust will be able to find out more about a range of initiatives underway in its hospitals.
 

The Trust runs Bury’s Fairfield General Hospital, North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and also has services at Birch Hill
Hospital. The annual public meeting takes place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 25 September at North Manchester General Hospital Postgraduate Centre, Delaunays Road, Crumpsall,
M8 5RB. Doors will be open from 5.30pm, and it is expected that the meeting will have concluded by 8pm.The meeting is open to members of the general public, with many local patients, organisations and patients groups expected to attend.

A short formal meeting will be followed by a series of informal workshops, hosted by Trust Board members and clinical staff, who will be on hand to listen to participants’ views and suggestions.

Among the workshops are:
*       waiting list reduction work
*       infection prevention
*       good health during pregnancy and beyond
*       the results of the Healthy Futures/Making It Better consultations

For more details about the event, or if you wish to attend and have e