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.

One of the things I do apart from being a Councillor is serve on the Board of our local hospital Trust Pennine Acute, one of my roles there is to serve on the charitable (”endowment”) funds committee.

Pennine Acute’s Charity has today launched a “60 for 60 campaign” to raise money and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS. Business leaders, community organisations and schools from across the north east of Greater Manchester are being invited to put on their thinking hats to raise 60p, £6 or £60 for four local hospitals as part of the NHS 60th anniversary celebrations.

A ‘60 for 60’ fundraising campaign is being launched by the Pennine Acute Hospitals Charity, which raises funds for North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and the acute services at Birch Hill Hospital.

Jan Bolton, fundraising manager, said: “We’d like people – or the organisations which they are part of – to raise either 60p, £6 (which is 10p a total of 60 times over) or £60 for our charity. Those funds can be earmarked for specific hospitals in the Trust, and we promise that all donations will all help make a difference whatever the total is! If any big company has 60 employees who want to raise £60 each then obviously that’s very welcome too! And anyone working for a big business should remember to ask if their employers do match-funding, as it is now part of many corporate and social responsibility policies.

“The NHS anniversary is on 5 July, but people shouldn’t feel tied to that date in any way. Fundraising donations for the campaign are welcome either before or after that – we’ll be marking the anniversary with our “60 for 60” campaign all through the year until December 2008.

Donations to The Pennine Acute Hospitals Charity and other related charities can also be received at any of the hospitals’ cashiers’ office or online at www.pat.nhs.uk and click on the fundraising icon. More information on 60 for 60 or fundraising/donations in general is available from Jan Bolton, Charitable Fundraising Manager on 0161 908 4497 or email jan.bolton@pat.nhs.uk

Pennine Acute Hospitals charity raises money for a variety of charitable causes in the four hospitals including better patient and staff facilities and medical research.

Tim

The Annual General Meeting of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority has elected Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Shannon of Manchester City Council, as the new leader of the Authority.

The Fire Authority has been controlled by Labour since 1974. Councillor Shannon will be joined two Conservative Vice and Deputy chairs, including Bury’s own Cllr Jack Walton.

Authority Chairman Councillor Shannon said: “I look forward to working with all elected members on the Authority to make further improvements to our Fire and Rescue Service. The tragic events in Bolton earlier this week bring home to Councillors on the Authority the dangers faced by our firefighters every day. We will continue to ensure that our Fire and Rescue Service remains at the forefront of protecting our community.”

Last night was the Full Council meeting of Bury Council, this is one of the six meetings in the year where all 51 councillors meet to consider important business.

Two issues dominated the meeting:

Questions at Council Meetings
The Conservative Group took control of Bury Council at the elections in May. They proposed a number of changes to the way questions can be allowed at Council meetings. We agreed with some of the things that they have been suggesting - in particular the fact that ordinary councillors will now be able to ask questions and address the Executive Committee on issues that affect their local ward.

However there was one issue that we fundamentally disagreed with what the Conservatives were proposing, the right of members of the public to ask questions at Full Council meetings. Bury has for many years one of the most forward thinking councils in the county on this issue, and any member of the public can come along to a meeting and ask a question for the first half an hour. The Conservatives wanted to do away with this, so that the public could only ask a question in writing submitted “4 clear days” before (that is almost a week before) the meeting, and then not be allowed to ask a follow on question.

I proposed an amendment on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group to keep the current situation. For me, local councils are here to serve local people, and we should not be afraid of giving people the right to address our meetings. The amendment was defeated by the Conservative Group - Labour supported our amendment. A very sad day for democracy in Bury.

Post Office Closures
The second major issue was that of Post Office Closures. Currently the Government is proposing to close five post offices in Bury and the Liberal Democrat Group proposed a motion condemning the move and calling on our two Labour MPs to stand up for the local area. My colleagues Richard Baum and Wilf Davison spoke well in the debate (you can read Richard’s splendid speech http://richardbaum.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/06/26/save-bury-post-offices-speech/!). Impressively Wilf had been to visit all five of the post offices in question in preparing his speech - but in a number couldn’t get to speak to the postmistresses there because of the long lines of customers waiting to be served! The motion was carried unanimously.

Questions
We also get the chance to ask questions to the Council Leadership.

I asked two:
- I asked about the “outer ring” for congestion charging, currently planned to be the M60. Although I’m opposed to the scheme as it stands, I am concerned that Bury needs to make very strong representations about the outer ring as it affects our local area. I particularly raised the issue of Simister village in our ward (as there is only one way in and out of Simister it would seem ridiculous to have to pay to leave your own house!), and whether a solution could be found to not charge local journeys between Whitefield and Prestwich which go nowhere near Manchester city center.

- I also asked what the Council’s policy was on cleaning up graffiti, in particular following the recent spates there have been in parts of Prestwich. I was told that there is a review of the policy (at present only offensive (e.g racist) graffiti on council property is removed immediately. It clearly needs reforming - as we know all to well in Prestwich the current policy isn’t working.

Most of my Lib Dem colleagues also asked questions. In a response to Mary D’Albert’s question on the condition of roads we were told that 18 miles of minor roads in the Borough are deemed in need of repair (despite the fact that the budget for road repairs in Prestwich this year only pays for one road!). Andrew Garner sought assurances that the poor state of finish at the Sheepfoot Lane/Bury Old Road junction would be rectified (apparently it will in the next four weeks). Other colleagues asked a range of questions which I’m sure they will report on themselves.

The papers for the meeting are available on the Council’s website here. Any questions please ask. Regrettably for the people of Bury that was the last time you’ll be allowed to come along and ask a question.

Tim

An exhibition of photography students’ work will be launched at Prestwich Library and Adult Learning Centre on 4 July at 6:30pm.

The exhibit includes work produced by adult learners who have completed the ‘Using Your Digital Camera Effectively’ course.This is a three term course run by Bury Adult Learning Centre and allows students to learn more about the art of digital photography. Photography on display includes landscapes, buildings, birds and flowers.

The exhibition will close at Prestwich Library at the end of July but can still be viewed at the Bury Adult Learning Centre after this date. There will be a preview for invited guests on the 3rd July where Diana Sorrigan, Head of Libraries & Adult Learning will open the exhibition at 6.30 pm.

Greater Manchester transport planners have announced the likely position of the “Inner Ring” for the proposed Greater Manchester Congestion Charge.

The basic site of the inner charging ring runs along Queens Road to the north and Alan Turing Way to the east, while the west boundary will run along Trafford Road and Fredrick Road. The southern boundary would run along either Wilbraham Road or Hathersage Road and Moss Lane. Alternative options for the final boundaries of the inner ring will be subject to a public consultation.

There are presently no suggestions to change the “outer ring”, which most affects our area. At present it is suggested that this follows the route of the M60. Many local residents, and your local Liberal Democrat Councillors have grave concerns as this would cut though the natural links that exist between Prestwich and Whitefield. Many local people cross the M60 to make local journeys to schools, shops, work and leisure facilities without going anywhere near Manchester city centre.

Well done to the Year 7 Rugby League Team from our local Parenthorn High School after their victory in the inaugural Bolton and Bury schools’ league. The final took place on Thursday 12 June and Parenthorn beat off oponents from Westhoughton High School, Bolton, along with semi-finalists Peters High School from Bury.

The climax to the tournament came after six weeks of group games and over 80 per cent of the schools from both boroughs participated. Pupils from Year 7 and 8 were given curriculum time coaching by Swinton, Salford, Wigan and Leigh clubs as well as amateur clubs from the local area.

Bury’s Library Service are encouraging local people to get on line at the library and try out some fantastic resources for free some “drop-in sessions”.

These free sessions are designed to allow anyone to pop in to their local library and access some fantastic information about their family history, famous faces in history and art work at a click of a button.

The two sessions local to us are:
. Prestwich Library and Adult Learning Centre on 22 July, 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
. Whitefield Library and Adult Learning Centre on 1 September, 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m

Resources include Ancestry.com, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Grove Art and Grove Music.

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

Bury’s Police division has just announced that it has been successful in securing eight extra police officers for what it calls “priority areas”.

One of those extra constables will be for our area and will focus on the areas around Polefield and Prestwich Arts College. Apparently it will take sometime for the extra officers to arrive, but still good news for our area.

Tim

As from Monday 23 June Bury council will be introducing charges for the collection of bulky household items.
The charges will be as follows.
. £10 for up to three items;
. £20 for four to six items;
. £30 for 7 to nine items.
However, an exemption can be requested by residents in receipt of Council Tax benefit for one free collection per year.
Payments will need to be made in full in advance of the arranged collection.

Residents that want to arrange a bulky items collection can do so by telephoning the Council’s Customer Contact Team on 0161 253 5353 or more information is available online at www.bury.gov.uk/bulkyitems.

Well done to everyone who contributed to yet another sucsessful Prestwich Carnival on Sunday. Another brilliant day!

Prestwich Carnival Parade 15 June 2008 (Rectory Lane)

The start of the Parade with the Mayor of Bury.

Prestwich Art’s College’s Float in the Parade

More photos here

Last night was the regular meeting of the Council’s Executive Committee. This is made up of nine members of the majority Conservative Group on the Council, myself and the Leader of the Labour Group attend as non-voting members.

The decisions reached were as follows:

Local Area Agreement
The final submission to Government on the targets for Bury’s “Local Area Agreement” were finally agreed. Bury will now be monitored on how well it achieves on these targets over the coming year. The final agreement includes the target to reduce CO2 emissions in Bury as a whole, something that was hotly debated at the end of the municipal year.

New Community Library Facilities
Money has been secured from the Big Lottery Fund to develop two new Community Library facilities in the Radcliffe area, and develop two existing sites in the Bury town area. Very welcome news for those areas - perhaps one day we can have them down in Prestwich and Whitefield too!

Review of Primary Schools
This was the most important item on the agenda. Bury has to submit its plan for primary education over the coming years to Government, and this will unlock many millions of investment money to improve primary school facilities.

Schools have been identified on the basis of very extensive criteria for either “Modernise/Rebuild” (15 Schols including Heaton Park Primary in Holyrood Ward, and also Butterstile and St Hildas elsewhere in Prestwich.) I asked about the timetable for deciding when and if this work takes place - an “options appraisal” will take place up to the Autumn Term this year when schools will be identified to go forward (roughly at the rate of one a year over many years). The special school at Millwood will be the priority in the first year.

17 schools have been identified for “refurbishment/targetted” which includes St Mary’s in Prestwich. Other factors that will be taken into account include the development of more Children’s Centres in a number of wards - including one in Holyrood Ward - so things may change there.

I also asked about the surplus places that apparently exist in the system, particularly in the northern and western areas of the Borough (Prestwich has roughly the right amount of places for its children). Again these discussions will be looked at through the options appraisal later on this year.

Other Items
The Executive Committee agreed to write off a number of “bad debts” that are now deemed un-collectable under accountancy rules, and received the annual Risk Management Report of the Council. A number of detailed questions that my Lib Dem colleage Cllr Donal O’Hanlon has raised will receive written responses.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Tim

Monday night was a meeting of the Democratic Arrangements Forum, this is the group that brings together representatives of the three parties on the Council, together with the independent Chair of the Standards Committee. As the majority ruling group on the Council, the Conservatives have a majority on this (and all other) Committees.

The meeting was to discuss the issues of questions at Council meetings from members of the Public and Councillors. A number of changes are proposed:

Questions by Members of the Public at Full Council Meetings
The Conservative Group are proposing that questions at full council from members of the public must be submitted in writing in advance. On behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group I spoke out against this. We believe that, although its probably a good idea to encourage members of the public to submit questions in writing so that a fuller response can be prepared, it is still a fundamental right to be able to ask questions at the meeting on the night. We couldn’t agree on this, so the debate will go to the full meeting of the Council.

Questions by Councillors at Full Meetings of the Council
At present any Councillor can ask an unlimited number of written questions. Although it has “worked” up to now, clearly this is open to abuse given that there are 51 councillors. There was general consensus that this should be limited to TWO questions per councillor. Councillors will also be able to ask an addition question “on the night” up to a maximum time limit of 20 minutes.

Questions by Councillors at the Executive Committee
At present Councillors may not ask questions at the Executive Committee (members of the public can, but not councillors!). We suggested that Councillors should have the right to ask questions - particularly on issues that affect their ward. This is now being proposed.

The proposals will be discussed again at the Full Council meeting a week on Wednesday. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Tim

In the wake of the announcement that dozens of post offices in and around Greater Manchester, 11 across the Stockport Borough, are scheduled for closure, Liberal Democrats from across the area have launched a petition to ‘Save our Post Offices’.

Cheadle Constituency Mark Hunter MP, Hazel Grove Constituency MP Andrew Stunell, Manchester Withington MP John Leech and Rochdale MP Paul Rowen, along with Lib Dem Councillors and activists launched the petition today in central Manchester by holding a demonstration to oppose the plans and asking local residents to sign up in support of the protest.

Speaking after the launch Mr Hunter said: “It’s not too late for action on this issue. I hope local people will speak out and sign our petition to save their local post office. Many are under threat now and many more will surely follow if the Government gets is way.

“Post Offices are a vital part of the community; they often help to keep local other shops afloat and are relied on by a very wide variety of people particularly the elderly and young mums. It seems to me that Labour is fast becoming a Government that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. The Liberal Democrats are committed to the future of the Post Office and we will keep up our campaign to show the Government that local people want to keep their Post Offices open.”

Mr Stunell added: “We lost a lot of Post Offices in this area when the Conservatives were last in Government, and now we are faced with a Labour Government that does not understand how strongly people feel about their local Post Office.

In fact the situation could soon get even worse - the Post Office Card Account that many pensioners rely on for drawing their pensions and benefits is being reviewed and if that work is lost by Royal Mail than even more Post Offices will surely be closed in the future.

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.”