Tim Pickstone

Bury MBC has been announced as the ‘winners’ of a £1.8 million of National Lottery funding from Sport England as a trial area to test what works in changing the sporting habits of women and girls.

Despite a big increase in the number of women playing sport regularly over the past year, women are still much less likely to be active than men. As the pilot progresses, Sport England will work with partners across community sport to make sure lessons coming out of Bury are put into practice across the country.

Bury soap star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Lisa Riley said: “It’s brilliant that Bury is taking centre stage in this campaign to get women more active. There’ll be something on offer to tempt everyone so I really do encourage all women to give it a go. My experiences on Strictly showed me how much fun you can have getting moving so I’ll definitely be looking to join in some of the activities over the next 12 months.”

Jennie Price from Sport England said: “We are determined to make it easier and more appealing for women and girls in Bury to take up sport. This campaign is about making Bury a place where playing sport comes naturally – because your friends do it, the women you work with do it and, most of all, because you enjoy it.”

The campaign in Bury will be led by Bury Council, working closely with partners across the private, public and voluntary sectors. “We will be offering an exciting range of activities to thousands of women and girls, there will be lots to try out and get involved in. There will be every opportunity for women and girls to get moving, so, come on, let’s play sport, get fit and have fun!”

Local women and girls who want to get involved should visit www.bury.gov.uk/gogirls or call 0161 253 5893.

The following information has been provided by the Heaton Park management to local residents who live near to Heaton Park concerning the Parklife event on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June 2013. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if there are issues that you wish me to raise with the park management.

There are details of an information event on the advert below.

Thanks, Tim.

PARKLIFE – INFORMATION FOR LOCAL RESIDETNS

The capacity for each day will be 45,000. Access to the event will be between 11:00 and 17:00 on Saturday and between 12:00 and 17:00 on the Sunday. The event will end at 23:00 each day.
Parklife is a multi stage event, comprising of a main stage and multiple supporting stages which will be housed in tented structures. This event has been run for the past three years at Platt Fields Park, but it has now outgrown that venue.

We are working closely with Event Organisers – Warehouse Project and Ear To The Ground, Bury Council and other partners to ensure that any potential negative impact on the neighbourhood, particularly local residents, is kept to a minimum. Lessons learnt and feedback from local stakeholders from previous large scale events at Heaton Park is being taken in to account as we move forward in planning for Parklife.

Access to Heaton Park – We know that Heaton Park is a well used local resource and we aim to minimise disruption, however, as with any major event we need to ensure the safety of park users, spectators and contractors alike. The area of the Papal Field and surrounds will be fenced off to allow for construction works starting on Friday, 24th May and being clear of the park by Monday, 17th June. We ask all users to respect that this area is a working site and not to deviate from the designated routes around the park. Maps will be displayed at all Park gates informing park users of these routes.

We will be working closely with the Event Organisers to ensure that the Park grounds are protected throughout the duration of the event and that any damage caused is rectified as soon as possible.

Noise Control - Vanguardia Acoustic Consultants have been appointed by the Event Organisers to develop a noise management plan, which is designed to minimise noise nuisance to local residents. Vanguardia will be working with Manchester City Council’s Environmental Health team to monitor noise levels throughout the event, both within the site and at agreed points adjacent to residential properties, adjusting the sound systems accordingly.

The summary below shows times of amplified sound:
Friday 7th June Saturday 8th June Sunday 9th June
16:00 – 20:00 – Sound Checks 11:00-23:00 – Event 12:00-23:00 – Event

We are aware that this is exam time for St Monica’s High School and are liaising with the school to ensure that this important time for students is not disturbed, hence sound checks on the Friday will only commence once exams have finished.

There will be no firework display at the end of the event.

Traffic and Transport Management - A detailed traffic management plan has been prepared and agreed in conjunction with the Event Organisers, Manchester City Council and Bury Council’s Highways, Transport for Greater Manchester, Metrolink, bus operators and taxi operators. The overall strategy involves minimising on-street parking by encouraging greater use of public transport.

A shuttle bus service will be in operation running from the University area in Fallowfield and the City Centre – which will drop off and pick up within the park

Historic information from the previous three years shows a very low level of car use for this festival – event parking will be provided in the Park .

There will be event specific signage directing people to use event car parks on all routes to Heaton Park. “No waiting” cones will be in place along certain roads, along with signage to discourage on-street parking.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE CONES ARE TO DISCOURAGE EVENT ON-STREET PARKING TO ALLOW RESIDENTS TO PARK. DO NOT PARK ON THE CONED AREAS AT THE BEGINNING OF ROADS AS YOU WILL BE LIABLE FOR ENFORCEMENT. IF YOUR DRIVEWAY IS BLOCKED BY A VEHICLE, PHONE OUR HOTLINE NUMBER AND WE MAY BE ABLE TO ARRANGE REMOVAL OF THE OBSTRUCTING VEHICLE.

Refuse and Waste Management – an onsite dedicated cleansing team will be on site prior to, during and after the event. Their responsibility will be refuse collection and litter picking within the event site, the surrounding park area, as well as the roads and pavements in the local vicinity. We are also working in conjunction with neighbouring Local Authorities to ensure the cleanliness of the surrounding area is maintained.

Security and Policing – Greater Manchester Police have been involved in the event planning process and will have an event specific deployment over the weekend. They will be working with the event security companies – Showsec and Primary Security – to help manage the local environment during the periods of ingress and egress for the event.

There is a Designated Public Places Order in place on the roads surrounding Heaton Park which prohibits the drinking of alcohol from open vessels and GMP will take a targeted approach to the enforcement of this order where appropriate. People attending Parklife are being advised through pre-event information that any alcohol should be taken into Heaton Park, where drinking is permitted and this will be backed up by security staff.

Toilet Provision - As well as toilets within the Venue, toilets will be placed at locations external to the Venue itself, concentrating on key areas such as transport hubs and walking routes.

Community Information and Hotline - A Community Information Drop in session will be held on Tuesday, 21st May 2013 at the Farm Centre, Heaton Park, from 5pm – 8pm, with a presentation giving an overview of the event taking place at 5.00pm and again at 6.30pm. This will give residents an opportunity to understand the planning that has taken place and to ask any questions.

Should you have any queries or complaints please e-mail parklife@manchester.gov.uk or call:
?Pre-event (up to and including 7th June)
Event Days – Community Hotline Saturday, 8th June 10am – 1am Sunday, 9th June 10am – 1am

Event Management Team Manchester City Council
0161- 773 1085 0161-954 9003

From the Local in Prestwich group:
Residents of Prestwich have no doubt noticed that the area is lacking some sparkle in certain places at present, especially as the Spring sun begins to shine.

In light of this Local In Prestwich Business Group are spearheading The Big Spring Clean , working with local residents, community groups, schools and Councillors in a team effort to pretty up Prestwich.

The clean is designed to make the district a cleaner and safer place to live and work.

The group hope to attract many volunteers on Sunday 19th May to contribute to the effort which will include cleaning public areas, shop fronts and green spaces across the area.

Litter picking and general cleaning will be a prominent feature of the day and volunteers will also be asked to remove overgrown vegetation, weeds and graffiti in a comprehensive effort to clean up the village.

“Whether you can give one hour or all day, I would encourage everyone to do their bit.” said group Secretary, Siobhan Teader.

The Big Spring Clean is designed to encourage positive environmental behaviour as well as a sense of community spirit.

So grab your brooms and meet at the Longfield fountains on Sunday 19th May from 10am to 4pm.

To follow all the news on the Big Clean follow the group on Twitter @LIPrestwich, Facebook http://on.fb.me/Zzpmnz or call 07834630647

A Coalition Government announcement in the Queen’s Speech will help 2,600 businesses across Bury by cutting National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

The National Insurance Contributions Bill announced by the Queen will introduce a National Insurance employment allowance of £2,000, reducing the cost of employment and supporting small businesses aspiring to grow and want to hire their first employee or expand their workforce.

Building a stronger economy in a fairer society is my priority and the Liberal Democrats have ensured the Queen’s Speech has measures that will help deliver that.In these difficult times, it’s vital we help small businesses who want to hire more people. That’s why Liberal Democrats have ensured that they get some more help towards National Insurance Contributions.

This will help businesses in Bury to thrive and create jobs for local people. I will work with them to ensure we can the most of this excellent announcement.”

The National Insurance Contributions Bill will introduce a National Insurance employment allowance of £2,000, reducing the cost of employment. It will also extend the General Anti-Abuse Rule to National Insurance Contributions and prevent the use of offshore employment payroll companies to avoid employer National Insurance Contributions.

See below for some info on the regular monthly comedy night at the Longfield Suite in Prestwich which looks like its got some great acts on this week!