VIC DALBERT

public-meeting-poster.pdf

I have organised a Public Meeting to provide an opportunity for local people to find out a bit more about what the Transport investment bid will mean to Bury and why Congestion charging is being proposed.

The meeting will feature a presentation from a representative of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive  and will be followed by a question and answer session.

It will a great opportunity to ask those burning questions and get any issues you have off your chest, and hopefully get some answers and some straight facts.

The meeting will be held at Elms Methodist Church, Elms Street, Whitefield (opp.Cafe Roma, off Bury New Rd) on monday September 1st from 7.00pm.

For a poster of the event click the link at the top of this page.

I look forward to seeing you there.  

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have given their strong backing to ambitious calls by Nick Clegg MP for Britain to become self-sufficient in energy.

The Liberal Democrat Leader has called for a major programme to build up Britain’s own energy supplies through wind, tidal, wave and biomass technologies. Mr Clegg said, “We have an enormous opportunity to create real energy independence for the UK, freeing ourselves from the shackles of foreign oil, coal and gas. This will require the kind of ambition and political will that succeeded in putting man on the moon.” 

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South said, “I am delighted that Nick Clegg is calling for a green revolution in the way we produce power.  “The recent Russian invasion of Georgia and the ongoing troubles in Iraq and Iran show just how dangerously reliant Britain is on energy from unstable parts of the world.

“We have to build up our own energy supplies and as an island nation, we have an abundance of natural and clean energy sources that both Labour and Conservative governments have failed to develop.  “Whilst Labour and the Conservatives joined together earlier this year to agree Britain should have a new generation of nuclear power stations, Liberal Democrats believe this will leave a legacy of radioactive waste for future generations. It will also leave us dependent on foreign supplies of uranium.

“Liberal Democrats in Bury welcome Nick Clegg’s call for Britain to develop clean energy supplies and become self-sufficient in them by 2050. This is an industry in which we as a nation should aim to be world beaters“.

I am pleased to see that the Council has responded to concerns about the graffiti problems and their heavy handed approach to the problem. I detail part of a letter sent below to original recipients of the “nasty” letter.  

“Dear Resident 

I understand that you have recently received letters from the Council requesting that you remove graffiti from your property.  I want to stress that it was never the intention to force residents to clean up other irresponsible people’s graffiti and apologise for any stress the correspondence has caused.  What we failed to do was provide all residents with a series of options that could assist them to get rid of this graffiti quickly and economically.  I would like to reassure you that the Council and its partners are doing everything possible to address this issue both as it affects your property and the local area in general.Graffiti is a problem and one the Council takes very seriously as, if left unchecked, residents tell us it is a sign of the lowering of the quality of life in their communities and we want to ensure that Bury’s proud record of having the lowest levels of crime in Greater Manchester is maintained.To address this problem we are currently in the process of streamlining the way that graffiti is reported and dealt with across the borough and circulating the details of graffiti sites to enable the Police to identify and take appropriate action against offenders. The Police in Prestwich have recently interviewed four individuals who have admitted to a substantial amount of the graffiti ‘tagging’ that has blighted Prestwich over recent months.  Offenders are offered the opportunity to clean up some of the areas they have defaced as part of their punishment and some of these individuals have already expressed a willingness to do this.  This follows on from the successful action taken against the individual responsible for defacing a number sites across Whitefield and Prestwich who, together with his parents, removed a substantial amount of his own graffiti.

The Council and our partners are keen to work with the community to address graffiti and other environmental crime which makes our communities look unsightly.  To this end, the Prestwich Local Area Partnership has acquired graffiti removal kits to assist any residents who want to remove graffiti from their properties free of charge.  If you would like further information, this can be obtained from Carran O’Grady your Local Area Partnership Manager for Prestwich on 0161-253-7245.  We are also currently compiling a list of areas to be cleaned up under an Offenders Reparations Scheme and your area  has been added to this list.”

I congratulate the Council on ultimately responding in this common sense way and just wish that this approach had been taken in the first instance.

What is now needed is a strategy for dealing with such issues. That is fair and applies reasonable resources to such problems and seeks to work with residents and communities to address such problems speedily and effectively.

I am just recovering from the Marathon - that is the little known ”Individual 48 hour endurance TV watching” that was this weekends Olympic TV viewing. I decided I was going to stay up and watch Paula Radcliffe compete in the marathon on sunday morning from 12.30am. That was then followed by my numerous (TV) red button visits to the velodrome and the rowing lake with some athletics thrown in. Unfortunately this all clashed with the big Premier league kick off. I got thinking how some people, people with more spare time than me could have immersed themselves fully into the Olympic TV schedule gradually becoming oblivious to other event and the passage of time.  Despite being all TV’d out by the disruption to sleep patterns and intense viewing, it was a tremendous weekend of first class sport. The 8 golds are an incredible achievement in themselves but  I also felt quite emotional for Paula Radcliffe who recovering from a stress fracture was effectively fighting her own personal olympic battle just to complete the marathon course. If ever there was an example to be set for many of our sporting heroes about determination, courage and sheer bloody mindedness. Well done Paula - you’re pure gold in my book

Will Gordon get a bounce?

You new I wouldn’t be able to forget about politics for too long!  I wonder if Gordon Brown will get an “olympic bounce” to his poll ratings as a result.

It has often been suggested that Governments benefit from the success of our football teams in the world cup. With the best medal haul for generations in the Olympics I wonder if his failing Government will see an upward blip in the polls. One thing is for sure it is increasingly looking like an olympian task for Labour to win the next general election.

LIBERAL Democrats in Bury have described a call by a Conservative-leaning think tank for people from towns and cities of the North to pack their bags and move to the South as appalling. 

Policy Exchange, described as David Cameron’s favourite think tank in the media, claimed many towns and cities in the North were failing and regeneration would not save them. They suggested people should move to the South East instead. Policy Exchange was set up by Michael Gove, now a senior Conservative MP. 

“The idea that people should abandon the North and move to the already crowded South East, where house prices and living costs are sky high, is an insult to people living here,” said Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Bury South.

“I am staggered that a think tank so close to the Conservatives is making such a call. I am appalled that they are saying that large swathes of the North can simply be abandoned. “It looks like the Conservatives are starting to show their true colours. So the battle at the next election in Bury South will be between the Liberal Democrats with a record of standing up for local people, the Conservatives who want you to move to Berkshire and a discredited Labour Government.  

“What the Policy Exchange has done is to highlight the lack of understanding many Conservatives have of the North and to show that they are out of touch and can’t be taken seriously.”

I was pleased to be able to attend a meeting of Prestwich Skatepark committee last night at the Phoenix Centre in St.Mary’s Park.

Local skateboarders have got together and formed this committee to lobby for a skate park in the area. For last nights meeting they gave a presentation on their progress so far.

The excellent presentation outlined the issues and concerns from both sides of the fence and possible sites in the area. They also showed that they had carried out extensive research and had visited other sites up and down the country - so we were able to see what other authorities have done.

Following the presentation they took questions and officers,Police officers and local councillors offered some advice on how best to help them take the issue forward. A very interesting meeting and an excellent presentation.