SPEECH TO FULL MEETING OF BURY COUNCIL TONIGHT

Mr Mayor,The Liberal Democrat Group put this motion before Council tonight in an attempt to raise an issue in the borough that could ultimately have serious consequences for safety and crime detection in the area and therefore ultimately undermine the Bury Safe partnership. Greater Manchester Police are either heading for or in a crisis depending on your stand point. 

They are currently heading towards a £5m overspend on their current £560m budget and are in the middle of a radical shake up.Just before Christmas Chief Constable Peter Fahy and his deputy Simon Byrne imposed a 90 day action plan to improve performance. This includes:

• Getting more officers on the beat
• Cutting beaurocracy
• Targeting the worst performing divisions

Failure to succeed in improving GMP performance could lead to Home Office intervention.The affects of the budget overspend could lead to 450 jobs going, potentially 300 officers, although this is hoped to be mitigated by investment in new improved IT systems which is hoped will free up 200 officers from paperwork for frontline services.In addition 2 police stations (neither in Bury) are scheduled to be closed. On top of that there is real fear that GMP could even face a grant reduction which if not compensated by s significantly improved precept, and I doubt it would be, could lead to a £30m plus shortfall – the real disaster scenario. 

So what it will mean if these cuts are implemented is that in absolute terms there will be 100 less police officers and about 150 other positions in addition to two stations closing. Part of the problem faced by GMP is that have struggled to control spending on devolved division budgets. In addition they are now operating under a 3 year precept agreement which whilst it does carry significant benefits for financial management and accountability aligned to targets and performance management, significantly the big big downside is the difficulty in absorbing the financial implications of responding to high profile investigations and unforcasted events. 

Now before you think I’m knocking GMP let me be absolutely clear –  I am not. What I am outlining here is a situation identified and being responded to by Peter Fahy and GMP themselves.  

But whilst GMP are addressing these issues as best they can and with a determination to not only bring their spending under control but to use the opportunity to introduce improvements, they are being hampered, I believe unfairly, by the financial funding formula applied by the Home office.  Read the rest of this entry.

You may recall that the Conservatives had pledged massive cuts in their first 50 days of Government. For this they were roundly attacked because of the damage such mid-year cut backs would have on the finances of many public sector and voluntary organisations. 

Now they say they are not going to be nearly so brutal after all. But most worrying of all, they have decided that they are not going to tell us anything about the cuts. Yesterday George Osborne was repeatedly asked about the cuts - where, when, how much. Repeatedly he refused to answer.

It is frankly not credible to stand up and make vague and veiled promises about how they would handle the economy and budget deficit and then refuse to go into any detail. He might as well of stood up and said “Just trust me, I’m a Conservative politician”. It would be as detailed as the spinned double-talk of a speech yesterday and would have saved him and the media a lot of time.

The Tories are now in turmoil over the economy. They wanted to act tough with cuts and appear strong in their handling of the economy, prepared to take the tough decisions etc, But for whatever reason they are now recoiling from that position. There policy seems to vary depending on which Tory is speaking!

Only the Liberal Democrats have a coherent economic policy that is both credible from a treasury/economy point of view and importantly is designed to protect key public services.

The Liberal Democrats want to split up the banks so that taxpayers no longer have to underwrite reckless risk taking.

We will create a fairer tax system with an income tax cut which will make work pay for those on low incomes.

Through targeted cuts in spending we will be honest about how to reduce the deficit. And by setting up an infrastructure bank we will ensure that public infrastructure projects get the private funding they need to revolutionise our economy.  Now that is how you usher in an economy that is fit for the challenges ahead.

1st - Bury Liberal Democrats Meeting - 7.30pm Prestwich Liberal Club, all members welcome. 

2nd - Save the Longfield Suite Campaign Meeting, 6.30pm Church Inn.

3rd - Full Council, Meeting of all 51 Bury Councillors, 7.00pm Town Hall Bury.

8th - Heaton Park Primary School Governors Meeting, 6pm

10th - Bury Looked After Children Awards, 5pm Bury FC

11th - Standards Committee, 6pm Town Hall, Bury

17th - Polefield Fun day and community clean up, from 12 noon.

22nd - Lib Dem Council Group meeting

24th - Special 2010/11 Council Budget Setting meeting

Bury Council has finally launched their formal consultation on the future of the Longfield Suite, Radcliffe Civic Suite and other threatened Bury Community centres.

Now is the time to act, whether you have signed the petition or not, if you care about the future of our local community centres then it is crucial that you complete a consultation form.

Forms are being circulated and are available in Council buildings and the Civic suites themselves. The consultation can also be completed online here .

Don’t forget to let Bury Council know what you think, don’t forget to tell all you contacts about the consultation.

Don’t leave the future of our community centres to someone else, act now!   

When our Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith was opposed to the Iraq war or at least felt it was illegal, he went or was he pushed over the atlantic to visit Condoleeza Rice et al. Incredibly he then returns to the UK suitably reassured that the war would indeed be legal.

Now forgive me for pointing out the startlingly obvious but as the US were a tad keen on invading Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein, were they likely to say anything other than the war would be legal? I think not. It was hardly a neutral second opinion.

What it amounted to was ”we’ve got a problem with our top legal guy who isn’t so sure the war would be legal, you need to work on him”. They did, he advised that he’d changed his mind, we invaded.Incredible and appalling.

In a separate development the Enquiry has voiced concerns over the Governments reluctance to declassify certain information. We need this information in the public domain, the Chilcott enquiry needs it to be able to properly question witnesses ie Blair tomorrow.

A failure to do so will leave too many questions unanswered, we need transparency and openness if the enquiry is to succeed and satisfy the publics demands.

Tonight I attended Bury Councils Holocaust Memorial Service at Radcliffe Civic Suite. 65 years to the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.

As ever it was a moving service, a wonderfully poignant, moving and thought provoking collection of readings, music and dance, including the words of holocaust victims. My congratulations to the organisers.

This years event was titled “A legacy of hope” with much of the words and music aimed at learning from the horrors of the past and in ensuring we do not forget the atrocities of the Nazis and others, we can leave a legacy of hope that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.

As ever the event was attended by representatives of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, and all 3 political parties on Bury Council, led by the Mayor of Bury. Due to Cllr Pickstone recovering from a minor operation I was delighted to have been able to represent the Liberal Democrats at the event.

A report by the National Equality Panel published today has stated that the gap between rich and poor in Britain is now wider than 40 years ago.

The Panel found that “Deep-seated and systemic differences” remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment.

This is despite this Labour Government throwing millions of pounds of taxpayers money at the issue and numerous initiatives.

The trouble is they have done just that - thrown millions of pounds at the problem, almost scatter cushion like, without going to the fundamental issues that drive poverty and curse many born into poverty. And coupled with new labours conservative approach to personal taxation, especially in their first Blair Parliament from ‘97, they have undermined their own ambitions to deal with poverty.

It’s probably their biggest failure and worst legacy to many over the course of a generation, who despite promises now bear the brutal scars of poverty and all that flows from it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lets be clear here for the sake of clarity, transparency and a bit of honesty - The Lib Dem group held the balance of power in 2007 and on no occasion did we hold up any plans for improving the lot of our civic suites, on no occasion did we block any plans for improving the civic suites.

Once again we find that when the leader of the council is caught out, found out or simply wrong, he finds someone else to blame and decides to go for distorting the facts rather than a straight answer.

Of course the real reason that proposals from the Best Value Review of Civic Suites in Bury were not carried out is because we now know that they had alternative ideas. It is likely that those alternative ideas were formulated out of that review. When the review didn’t say what they wanted to hear they merely shelved it.

Once again what is patently clear is that you really can’t trust the Conservatives, and certainly not with our public services and certainly not our valuable community centres!

Perhaps Cllr Bibby will have the common decency to admit that nobody but his Conservative Group blocked the implementation of proposals for the civic suites, I won’t hold my breath.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In addition it carries the latest news on any local criminal activities such as the location of the 11 thefts from vehicles in the last week! Plus some very useful contact information.

Don’t forget there are Police surgeries held on the 2nd and 4th tuesday of each month at the Childrens centre at Sedgley Park School, Bishops Road between 4pm and 6pm.

Meanwhile you can view or download the newsletter here: homewatchnewsletter20jan2020.pdf

As is usually the case the business was upbeat with plenty of positive developments.

Key business was the planning of the estates next fun day for the young people on the estate. This has now been arranged for the week of half term on wednesday, February 17th from 12 noon and will cover activities on the patch of land at the junction of Polefield Circle/Polefield Hall Rd and also on St.Josephs fields at the rear of Prestwich Heys.

On the morning of the 17th skips a couple of skips are to be delivered to the estate and volunteers are needed to help clean up the estate.

But it’s not just about young people.The Association has learned that an application for some funds to provide some “winter warmer” kits to elderly on the estate has been successful. As a result elderly residents will be receiving a bag of goodies to help them keep safe and warm this winter. These should be distributed in early February.

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

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

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

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

Goals have been stopped before

Regents Park - REJECTED
Mordern Park -REJECTED

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

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

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

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

A - Sign the Online Petition HERE

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

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

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

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

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

C - Write your own Objection Letter

Quoting Application No: 090370/FO/2009/N1

and send to:

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

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

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

Thank you for all your support so far!

The event runs from 9.30 to 3.30 - but be warned stalls have sold out previously so get there early.

As ever there is something for all the family with a free raffle, Childrens ride, Squeaky the clown and a Town crier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thieves will be on the look out for people with new mobile phones/Ipods etc so make sure you keep them safe and try not to flash them about too much!

The newsletter is packed with other useful information and recent crime statistics you can read it here: homewath-newsletter-january.pdf

Nick Clegg has today written to Gordon Brown urging him to go before the Iraq enquiry before the General Election. Earlier he had raised the issue during Prime Ministers Question Time in the House of Commons.

It is clear from comments made by Alistair Campbell and from questioning by the enquiry itself that it would be more than useful for Gordon Brown to make himself available to answer questions as to his role in the Iraq affair.

In fact it is clear to me that if we are to draw a line under the Iraq war controversy at the next election it is essential that he deals with his now. A failure to do so would lead to speculation that there is indeed something to hide and that the Iraq Enquiry has been politically influenced by showing alleged favouritism to the PM.

The British people need and deserve answers from our PM now, to enable a proper judgement to be made at the next election. They need to know his views and the part he played before a General Election.

So how about it Gordon, transparency and openness or brush it under the carpet till later?

The text of the letter to Gordon Brown from Nick Clegg is below:

Dear Gordon,

I am writing to urge you to indicate immediately to Sir John Chilcot that it is your strong preference to go before the Iraq Inquiry ahead of the General Election.

Following developments yesterday at Alastair Campbell’s hearing, your personal role in the decisions that led to the war in

As I said to you across the floor of the Commons today, people have a right to know the truth about the part you played in this war before they cast their verdict on your Government’s record. I urge you to confirm publicly that should Sir John Chilcot invite you to give evidence to the Inquiry ahead of the election you will agree to do so.

Nick Clegg

The event will outline the budget position facing the Council , to be finalised by a full meeting of Bury Council on February 24th (7pm).

As part of the exercise officers will outline the options facing the council and provide an opportunity for residents to comment on possible council tax rises, spending priorities and savings options.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall the party has identified that up to 1.7m pensioners could be missing out on the payments that are triggered by 7 days of sub-zero temperatures, according to analysis of Government figures by the Liberal Democrats.Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit, which goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South, Vic D’Albert said: 
“It is a scandal that in the 21^st century pensioners on the breadline in this country are missing out on these crucial payments, worth an estimated £42.5m.

“The very possibility that over 5000 vulnerable pensioners across Radcliffe, Prestwich and Whitefield could be missing out is nothing short of a disgrace.
 
“With Fuel prices at all time highs, Cold Weather Payments have never been more important for people already struggling on a poverty pension.

“This is yet another example of how Labour has failed pensioners. By creating a complicated system that makes it difficult for them to get the help they desperately need they have let down some of the most vulnerable in society.

“The Government should be making every effort to identify pensioners who are missing out to ensure that they get them this extra cash to help keep them warm and healthy this winter.”

You listen to Cameron and Brown and all you seem to get is a bidding war as to how much they would cut public services in order to deal with the budget deficit. They both pledge to “protect” the NHS. Although it would seem the Tories now don’t mean all the NHS, just certain bits.

It’s as if they are trying to prove they are tougher than each other and in the mad scramble to chop services they are forgetting that we need radical change to improve many of our public services and crucially the great British Public need to know where those cuts will fall. What services will they be left with after the great cull!

That’s why we need the real change only the Lib Dems can offer not the fake change Tories or No change Labour. There has been much damage to many of our services with countless tinkering, interfering and gimmicks over the past 13 years and blatantly we can’t afford a Conservative Government when Labour have left Britain with wider poverty gaps than ever. The Economy is in a delicate position and we need sustainable economic policies not soundbites for the city.

Real change for Britain has never been more needed, Only the Lib Dems can offer the changes we need at a cost that we can afford. It’s about creating a fairer Britain for all.

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

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

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

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

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

The fact of the matter is that as confirmed by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt, the Labour party is very much divided and has lost direction. After nearly 13 years in power it’s time to go.  What is uncertain is the motivation for the letter. The authors are not stupid or naive, they will have realised the damage it would do so close to an election and they would surely have known Gordon Brown well enough to know he wasn’t likely to  accept a leadership election any time soon.

Perhaps these old blairite loyalists were in some way keen to exact some kind of revenge for their loss of position under Brown, perhaps they succumbed to the notion that it would somehow benefit the party to.

All it has achieved is once more publicly confirming that the Labour party is divided, that many Labour members do not support Brown and that crucially they feel they will lose the election with Brown at the helm.

Brown may have survived his “storm in a tea cup”, but he is now irrevocably damaged and holed beneath the waterline - taking on water, drifting like a stricken vessel towards the General election. If he survives now and manages to win the election, it won’t be thanks to his leadership or the Labour party, more the effectiveness and trustworthiness of the main opposition parties.

Whilst I am not sure arbitrary caps are necessary what we do need is stronger control and policing of illegal immigration combined with a greater recognition of the impact that large scale immigration can have on an area and the stresses and anxieties that it can cause the local indigenous community. The days of politicians avoiding the issue of immigration like the plague are long gone and with a a forthcoming general election the main parties have to find rational, coherent manifesto points that acknowledge concerns and offer practical solutions.

My own party already supports a strong border police force and believes migrants should be directed to areas of the country where they are most needed and where the communities would have adequate resources to accomodate their arrival. Sensible though this approach is, it doesn’t go quite far enough for me and I would like to see a tougher policy towards trafficking and illegal immigration and across the board the main parties need to start addressing the perceived negative impacts of large scale immigration into areas and start focusing on how communities can be better supported and how large scale immigration into areas can be limited.

Its a difficult issue, especially for liberal thinkers, but its a crucial issue. Why? Because the people are telling us it is, failure to listen now would be further fuel and amunition to the BNP and would lead to further civic unrest in the future. It’s time to listen and to act.

However away from the enchanting garden of white I now have I know there is travel bedlam and I would urge everyone who can possibly stay at home to do so.

I would also urge people to call on any frail elderly or vulnerable neighbours you may have, just to check they are Ok for basic provisions and have heating and are generally looking after themselves. Many will be worrying about the cost of the their heating with temperatures set to plummet further tonight, plenty of warm drinks and warm clothes will also ensure they do not run the risk of succumbing to the cold.

Bury Council was forced once more to close non-emergency services early again today due to the weather conditions, meanwhile the NHS are urging people to only contact them in life threatening emergencies. If advice is needed please call NHS direct on 0845 46 47.

Bury Councils emergency out of hours service is also available for emergencies regarding council services on 0161 253 6606.

If at all possible don’t go out. If you have to please check the travel situation and weather forecast before hand.

Whilst I am concious that there have been many deaths amongst muslim insurgents it is important that this nation can show respect and honour our fallen. And the now familiar parade through Wootton Bassett of the repatriated fallen servicemen has become a focal point of that need as a nation.

So I sincerely hope that the leaders of the Islamic group in question re-think these plans and consider other ways of raising awareness of the numbers killed in this conflict. In a war situation many are killed, many are injured and disfigured, including many innocents, most people are very aware of this.

If they go ahead with this planned parade they will be insulting the repatriation of those that gave everything in the service of this nation. Whilst they will undoubtedly get media coverage, I doubt it would be the kind of coverage that would make a positive contribution and it could further damage relations with muslims in Britain.

Make your protests elsewhere and in the meantime join the people of Wootton Bassett in honouring the fallen the next time there is a repatriation procession through the town.

As an original objector to the first set of plans and to these resubmitted plans I am delighted that this planning Application has been refused.

This is a character victorian house and should be restored if at all possible - even if that means converting the existing building into apartments. But demolition would be a tragedy and a further loss to our built heritage on the edge of a council conservation area.

I do hope the owners come back with plans to preserve and restore this building in a way that satisfies both developers and the local community. If they can’t I hope they sell this building to someone who can.

12th - Economy, Environment & Transport Scrutiny, Bury Town Hall, Public welcome

19th - Polefield Tenants & Residents Association

21st - Prestwich Area Partnership

25th - Lib Dem Council Group Meeting

WISHING YOU

PEACE, HEALTH

AND   HAPPINESS

IN 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy

Christmas

p.s. Don’t forget the Bury Council Emergency Out of Hours Phone number is:0161 253 6606

Last night I was privileged to have been able to attend the first Prestwich community carol service. The event was held at St.Mary’s Parish Church in Church Lane and we were delighted to been able to welcome the Mayor of Bury, Cllr Sheila Magnall. Over 300 braved treacherous ice and snow to attend the event, making it a great success.

What was particularly special was that it was a collaboration between local churches and St.Mary’s welcomed Father Allen from Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church, who read from the Gospels. In addition there were many from local community and voluntary organisations as well as many local residents, some of whom hadn’t visited St.Mary’s before.

A collection of carols, familiar and less familiar were sang with accompaniment from the Eccles Singers and Bury Music Service Wind Ensemble. The carols were interspersed with readings telling the story of the coming of Jesus.

Following the carol service refreshments and mince pies were served by local councillors in the newly refurbished Church Lane Community Centre.

All in all a magical festive evening. Special thanks should go to Cllr Mary D’Albert, David Curtis and Carran O’Grady and of course Bryan Hackett, Churches Together, the management and volunteers at Church Lane Community Centre and the Prestwich Area Partnership who sponsored the event.

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

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

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

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

Staff supplying emergency services will be working as normal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As Prestwich Town Centre regeneration plans are firmed up over the coming year Bury Council must not lose sight of the fact that one of the strengths of the local economy is the small local independent traders, some of whom have operated from the Longfield Precinct for many years.

I believe it is reasonable to expect Bury Council to place relocation and support packages high on the agenda in negotiations with the landlords/developers, Hollins Murray Group (HMG).

Successful businesses know only too well the benefits of planning ahead, and at present many of the small businesses in the centre of Prestwich feel that they are in a state of limbo, uncertain of when development will take place and what support they will get towards relocation. They need plenty of notice and we need to ensure as much as possible that they don’t suffer too much as a result.

It would be devastating to lose local businesses as a result of regenerating the town centre to make it more attractive for new businesses!

I have already raised this issue with the Council and I will be pursuing the matter in the new year. We’ve got to back our local businesses.

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

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

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

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

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

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

If the last full council was bad tempered, apallingly managed and abused by some councillors, last nights affair  was flat, passionless and sterile.

Following a slap-on-the-wrist letter from the Chief Executive to Councillors asking that they behave better and control themselves we ended up with a non-event that achieved little if anything.

We had (by Government dictat) to approve a “Strong” leadership model constitution, which places more power and discretion in the hands of the leader of the Council who is apppointed for a term of 4 years (from next May).

We had no choice to approve this so it was nodded through. How it is supposed to provide us with a strong leader heaven only knows. Perhaps Cllr Bibby will tear open his shirt to reveal his green hulk like body before charging round the Millgate arresting wrongdoers vigilante fashion!

For me the highlight was a speech by Cllr Roy Walker about the democratic deficit that we now have at local and national level. He cited numerous erosions to our democratic process in a speech that I agreed 100% with and was eloquently delivered.

The Advertiser newspaper was also reporting on last nights non event and by way of novelty they were reporting live via twitter. Our group leader Cllr Tim Pickstone alluded to this new novelty and himself got in on the twittering act.

That was about it. Last time the meeting was a farce, this time it was more like a funeral parlour. I suspect normal service will be resumed in 2010.

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

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

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

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

SAY NO TO GOALS, SAY YES TO PROTECTING HEATON PARK

 KEEP IT GREEN

ALLOTMENTS

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

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

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

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

PARK & PLAY AREAS

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

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

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