Just to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

Bury Council has a good list of Christmas opening times and service changes here.

Emergency Services
Links to useful emergency contacts can be found on the BurySafe / Policing and public safety web pages.

Emergency Duty Team
Social Services Emergency Duty Team provides a social work service during the periods when daytime social work offices are closed. This usually means during the evenings, overnight, weekends, and Bank and other Public holidays.

Security
The Council has a security force which monitors buildings and grounds, responds to alarm calls. If you wish to report a security problem or suspicious circumstances on or around Council premises or land telephone (0161) 253 6606.

A Christmas poem, presumably sent to all Councillors, from the people at the Save our Suite campaign.

Merry Christmas Dear Councillors and a happy New Year too.

You all went to the Mayors Ball and enjoyed the Longfield Suite didn’t you.

This wasn’t a one off, you must appreciate, next year you will be wanting to go again about the same date.

So lets end the suspense and pointless chatter come on committee decide on the matter.

For all to benefit both young and old the pleasures of the Longfield Suite just have to be told.

We don’t want it to become a memory, so listen to the Longfielders and hear their testimony.

I work in Hebden Bridge, which is part of Calderdale Council.

This was the scene arriving at work on 23 December 2009, you’ll notice I work on a steep hill, but you’ll also notice the refuse collection lorry collecting recyclables.

This is was the scene back at home - this is the view near Heaton Park Congregational Street on Bailey Street. (Actually a day later, but the weather hadn’t changed.)

The following statement has been issued by Bury Council today (Tuesday 22 December 2009).

Due to the atrocious weather conditions, the waste and recycling collections have had to be suspended for the remainder of today (Tuesday). A decision on collections for Wednesday and Thursday will be made on the morning.

Reluctantly, we have been forced to take this decision to protect the health and welfare of our collection teams, who are finding it impossible to navigate through some of the borough’s streets.

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 affected have been asked to take work home this afternoon and tomorrow.

Staff supplying emergency services will be working as normal.

Following public consultation, the traffic safety scheme outside of Prestwich Arts College is to go ahead.

The scheme provides for a short stretch of 20mph ourside the school, including a “raised table”.

More information here

A surprisingly quiet M62 looking back towards Simister at 7.15 this morning.

Please take extreme care travelling this morning - last night there was still snow on minor roads, and also many ‘distributary’ roads (e.g. Heywood Road, Whittaker Lane) - this looks to have frozen solid, so TAKE CARE.

Many people have contacted me over the weekend about gritting with the situation being bad everywhere, but particularly acute in the north of the Borough (north of Bury town centre).

We did receive an informal update yesterday explaining that the teams had been out almost permanently gritting around the Borough, but clearly people have still has significant problems. I have already asked for one this morning which I will post here when I get it.

Bin collections that people would normally have had on Tuesday which are meant to be happening today may well be affected. I have put my bin out as normal, but as soon as I have more information I will let people know.

Bury College have cancelled all interviews for new students today, saying:
“For pupils attending for interview on Monday 21st December 2009. Due to the poor weather and road conditions, all interviews for year 11 pupils are cancelled on Monday 21st December 2009. Please be reassured you will be contacted early in the New Year to arrange an alternative appointment for you.”

UPDATE AT 12.30 pm - MONDAY

Update from Bury Council:

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.

Refuse/recycling collections were severely disrupted on Friday in the Ramsbottom/Tottington area due to snow and ice. We 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.

This morning it was debatable as to whether the 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.

The message to all callers is that we are doing our very best to get all collections made before Christmas in very difficult circumstances.

A huge thank you to everyone who made it out for our final leafleting session for 2009 yesterday - leafleting in heavy show on Holyood Road yesterday.

The OFSTED Report for Prestwich Arts College has been made available by the school.

The school was granted the score ‘GOOD: GOOD” by OFSTED, which is excellent!

Read the report here:
http://www.prestwich.bury.sch.uk/OFSTED/OFSTEDREPORT2009.pdf

Update sent to Councillors from Bury Council:

“All gritters were called out last night at 8.45pm and they did a full grit of the borough.

It was snowing fitfully throughout the night and a decision was taken to do another grit in the north of the borough, which was completed in the early hours of this morning.

5 gritters are out and about at the moment across the borough, but they are particularly focusing on the north where conditions are worst.

All Street Cleaning teams are spreading grit by hand in town centres and other areas with a high footfall. Grit bins are being replenished too.

In total 108 tonnes of grit have been taken out by the gritters last night and today.”

Bury Council have received an application for a Premise Licence for - Tesco Stores Ltd, 456/462 Bury Old Road, Prestwich, M25 1NL

They have applied for the following:
Sale of alcohol off the premise Monday to Sunday from 6.30am until 23.00pm

The objection period ends on 14th January 2010

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you need to know more or have any comments.

Last night was the regular “Full Council” meeing for Bury Council. This is the meeting that brings together all 51 members of the Council five or six times a year.

The mood of the meeting last night was restrained, if only because it was SO awful the time before, that everybody seemed to want to be on their best behavior. I only hope it lasts….

Not much on the agenda either:

Recommendations of the Executive and Regulatory Committees
We agreed three items, all of them quite important, but mostly not eliciting extra debate because they have already been discussed at many other meetings:
- AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) Governance - this is the ways that the 10 Greater Manchester Councils will work together to make decisions that affect the whole county area, following the decision that we are to be a pilot for “city region” governance.
- Gambling Policy - we have to have one, its the policy framework which gets used should anyone ever want to build a casino in Bury (hopefully never, in my Methodist opinion!)
- Strong Leader Model - we agreed to have something that the Government has imposed on us, a Council Leader elected for four years. Thankfully the Conservatives backed down on their(?) idea to make it especially difficult to change the leader, should the political makeup of the Council change. So, next May we are going to elect a so-called “strong leader”, for four years, but if we want we can get rid of them at any time……

Questions to the Council Leader
We are allowed 30 minutes (ie 2 1/2 hours a year) to question the Council Leader and his Executive Committee on their work. Questions yesterday seemed to take some time to answer, so we only go through the first 9 questions, the rest are answered in writing.

I asked a couple of questions:
- Council Newspaper and the Local Independent Press
Bury Council has decided (I’m not sure where it was decided, but somebody seems to have decided) to publish its “magazine” (called “OUR VOICE”) every month instead of every quarter. I think it is a cost neutral exercise, and money has been saved through saving money in its production (its to be produced by company that owns the Manchester Evening News), and by reducing advertising in the local press (in particular statutory notices will be in “Our Voice”, rather than as adverts in local papers.

What really worries me is that this could be the end of our local independent press in Bury. The local news industry is really struggling all over the country, and many local papers have closed. I really fear that this loss of advertising income, from a reliable regular advertiser will mean the end of our local papers. So what? you might say, but for many people its a really important source of local news - where else would we find out how Prestwich Heys AFC were doing, or what people thought of the last PADOS performance if it wasn’t in the Prestwich Guide or Advertiser? Certainly not in the MEN, and certainly not in “our voice”, no matter how frequent.

Most importantly a local independent press provides challenge to elected politicians. From time to time the Bury Times, or the Advertiser, will publish stories critical of the Council, of Councillors, or our local MPs. Who will do this if they close? Certainly not the Council’s own publication!

Fascinatingly the Advertiser Group were “tweeting” from Bury Council meeting live. (Ie publishing what was happening on the internet as it happened.) I was following this on my phone in the meeting - hopefully it will be something they will repeat in the future - a good use of a local independent media!.

- 10:10 Campaign
Secondly I asked a very quick question (the last one in the 30 minutes allowed) on the 10:10 commitment. You may remember that Bury Conservatives voted down our proposal for the Council to sign up to the 10:10 campaign (the commitment that individuals and organisations make to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.
Shamefully the whole of Greater Manchester has signed up to 10:10, except Bury! What a disgrace, especially as world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss this on a global challenge. The other 9 Councils in Greater Manchester - Lib Dem, Labour and Conservatives ones - how shown Bury up.

Individuals and organsiations can all sign up to 10:10 - I have, so has Bury Liberal Democrats, and so has my employers!

To complete a wonderful year of enjoying the best of Prestwich a Community Carol Service will be held at St Mary’s Parish Church, Church Lane at 7.00pm on Monday 21 December.

Organisers Rev Bryan Hackett from Churches Together, along with Councillor Mary D’Albert, David Curtis and Local Area Partnership Manager Carran O’Grady have planned a beautiful service of Readings and Carols for this special community event.

Rev. Bryan Hackett said “The Eccles Singers and Bury Music Service will be performing at our very first Community Carol Service. It promises to be a very special event for a very special Prestwich community. The doors are open for any person of any faith to come along and celebrate. We really have saved the best to last and chosen to close the year with something spectacular.”

Chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership Cllr Vic D’Albert said “LovePrestwich Festival was amazing and needs to be closed in an amazing way. A Community Carol Service at St Mary’s Parish Church is a fitting tribute to a wonderful year”.

If you wish to attend this service and want further information please contact Carran O’Grady, Prestwich Local Area Partnership Manager on 0161 253 7245.

Email c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk

KEEP FIGHTING FOR OUR HERITAGE
SAY NO TO FORTRESS FOOTBALL
SAY YES TO JUMPERS FOR GOAL POSTS

For the second time in three months Goals Soccer Centres have been
forced to withdraw their planning application to build a sports centre in
Heaton Park. When will they get the message that a huge number of people
do not want their park fenced in and covered with concrete and astroturf.
As a result the Planning Committee Meeting to be held at Manchester
Town Hall on the 17th December 2009 has been cancelled.

Goals need to realise we are against their plans to build a sports complex in
the park. We say no to traffic congestion, parking chaos, noise and light
pollution, having 8 acres of our beautiful park covered in concrete and
astroturf, protected species such as bats threatened.

Thank you for your continued support.

Goals Soccer Centres planning application to build a five-aside
centre in Heaton Park

It’s time to turn up the pressure - we need your help.

Write to the Manchester Evening News
Lots of people have started to write to the Manchester Evening News. This
has raised the profile of the campaign and kept the pressure on
Manchester City Council
Write to:

Postbag,
Manchester Evening News,
1 Scott Place,
Hardman Street,
Manchester,
M3 3RN.

Or email them at postbag@men-news.co.uk

If you do email your letter please follow the following guidelines.
Please send plain text only and do not include attachments.

It doesn’t have to be a long letter. You could mention all or some of the
following, traffic congestion, parking chaos, noise pollution, light pollution,
air pollution, loss of historic parkland and greenbelt, protection of
endangered species such as bats.

Join the Save Heaton Park Facebook Group
Search for “Save Heaton Park” on Facebook. Current membership 1200

Attend Save Heaton Park Meetings and Events
We plan to arrange meetings and events to keep people informed and raise
the profile of the campaign

One of only two towns in the country to receive such an accolade, Bury has been given the White Ribbon town award by Chris Green, chief executive of the White Ribbon Campaign UK.

The award aims to recognise the hard work and dedication of the BurySafe partners who campaign tirelessly throughout the year to combat domestic violence and support families affected by it.

White Ribbon Campaign is a charity which works throughout the year in education and awareness raising of issues around violence against women. The 16 days of action begins on White Ribbon Day (November 25, UN International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day) and is used to highlight the issue of violence against women worldwide. Throughout the period there have been a number of events organised across Bury.

This is the fourth year Bury has been involved in the campaign, and it is a great honour to receive an award for the team’s efforts. The Council is delighted to be at the forefront of this battle to end domestic violence towards women.

Throughout the campaign there will be White Ribbons, costing £1, on sale in Bury Library, Bury Tourist Information Centre, at the reception desk in Bury Town Hall and at Bury Police Station.

Picture: Holly Elderston-Smithers of the White Ribbon Campaign UK presents the award to the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Sheila Magnall.

Until very recently I didn’t know that the St Margaret’s Road corner of Heaton Park was used as a camp during the First World War.

This postcard was sent from the camp to Katie from Jack. It seemed that Katie was too busy to write back…..

The campaign to stop an 8-acre private soccer centre being built in Heaton Park is in its final stages ahead of a decision by Manchester Council on December 17th. Campaigners to save the park have been encouraged by a wave of rejections for similar schemes in parks in London.

Campaigners in Morden Park found out this week that their campaign to stop their park being turned into a commercial soccer centre had been a success. Find our more from their website here.

Regents Park, as well as parks in Morden and Wandsworth in the capital, have all been threatened with “Goals” soccer centres similar to the one proposed for Heaton park. In each case the applications have been rejected after public pressure.

Campaigners in Morden produced this stunning video to support their cause:

It is brilliant Ithat communities in London have come together to save parkland, and that local Councils have listened to what people want. I appeal to Manchester City Council to do the same.

We have always said that this is a good facility, but in completely the wrong place. We are all for better sports facilities, but this is an 8 acre concrete site with a big car park, charging people a lot of money and open until 11pm. This isn’t something that should be built on green land inside a quiet public park.

Manchester Council will hear the application on December 17th. In the meantime I urge as many local people as possible to visit the website at www.saveheatonpark.org.uk and learn more about how to stop this development from threatening our park.

There are flood warnings in place for various parts of Bury borough in river valleys today.

The emergency planning team has been to Ramsbottom and has informed the Council that water levels in the area are extremely high, an officer from emergency control is stationed in the area and is keeping the Council appraised of the situation.

The Walmersley road area is flooded, police and fire services are in attendance and people are advised to stay away from the area unless their journey is absolutely necessary.

More information as it happens - but please be careful if traveling today.

Update from the Council at 14.30
The rain has now eased, and is expected to remain light for the next few hours. River levels are now dropping, and the Environment Agency have downgraded their flood alert. We would encourage everyone to remain alert, but not alarmed, at this time. The risk of serious flooding is reducing at present.

This event has caused some media interest, and you may see coverage of high river levels in Ramsbottom on television news reports this evening. These reports were filmed early this morning, and should not be taken as an indication that the situation is expected to deteriorate.

Nonetheless, the Council is maintaining vigilance, particularly in light of additional rain forecast for Thursday night, and over the weekend

Prestwich Library in partnership with UNISON are holding a “Living Library” event where, instead of checking out a normal book, people will be able to “borrow” a person who has their own unique story to tell.

The Living Library event takes place at Prestwich Library on Thursday 19 November 2009 from 2pm to 6pm, and all are welcome to attend.

You can choose from a catalogue of twelve books, sit and listen to their stories in small groups or on a one on one basis and then ask questions for up to twenty minutes. Amongst the ‘Living Books’ to choose from will be “Wedding in a Handcart” which tells of a ‘take a break’ style wedding from hell. It will make you laugh, it made her cry! Another Living Book is about a life intertwined with ‘World Cup Fever’, recounting how the demands of watching 50+ live matches a month can be reconciled with life as a father, husband, call centre worker and member of the world’s worst punk band.

The project aims to offer a novel way of improving community cohesion across the region. The union has built up its own catalogue of members from the public sector to be books with stories and backgrounds that are designed to challenge prejudice and stereotypical views.

The Living Libraries idea came from Denmark in the year 2000 and has been praised as a great way of getting people with different backgrounds to talk to each other and gain a different perspective on life.

Prestwich Library is in the Longfield Centre, Prestwich M25 1AY. If you would like more information about the Living Library event please do not hesitate to contact Alison Bond McNally on 0161 253 7345.

A planning application has been received by the Council for permission to temporarily erect 4 modular classrooms on the playground adjacent to the car park for one year. This is to allow construction of the small children’s centre building that is planned for the school.

More details are on the Council’s website soon here. Its application number 51908.

Warning from the local police of people posing as roofers.

Four men came to an address this week - one of them banged on the window and then spoke with the occupant. The male claimed that the guttering on the house needed replacing, and eventually two of them took the elderly person in a van to a bank in Manchester where it was possible to raise the alarm. The men were using a white van.

We are beginning to see more and more mornings when vehicles are frosted over.

Many people in residential areas may be tempted to leave their vehicles with the engines running whilst they nip back inside their houses to keep warm. Unfortunately car thieves are aware of this and now that winter is here they will be up and about early in the mornings driving around residential areas looking for easy pickings.

Don’t leave your car engine running on the street or your driveway unless you are stood with it. If a criminal steals your car with the keys in the ignition, your insurer is unlikely to pay out. Can you afford to give away thousands of pounds in an instant?

Bury Council is gearing up to introduce new borough-wide rubbish and recycling collection routes as from Tuesday 24 November.

The new routes are part of a plan to reduce carbon emissions by cutting down on fuel usage, make better use of the collection vehicles and extend recycling opportunities into rural areas. This is the first major change to collection routes for eight years and the first since kerb side recycling was introduced. As a result 20,000 households out of nearly 82,000 are to be given new rubbish and recycling collection days.

Read the rest of this entry.

Prestwich Local Area Partnership Meeting this week, at 6.30pm, Thursday 12th November, Heaton Park Primary School.

Prestwich Local Area Partnership will showcase Prestwich Winter Wonderland which kicks of on Sunday 22 November with a bumper Prestwich Christmas Farmers Market and Christmas Lights Switch On at The Longfield Shopping Centre with not only top Coronation Street Star Katherine Kelly (Becky) to switch on the lights.

There will be lots of family entertainment to enjoy this splendid day with top local entertainment, Dave K, a Town Cryer, Besses o’th Barn Brass Band, Pop Star Academy, Prestwich Arts College Choir, Sweeky the Clown and Santa’s Grottos of course. Prestwich Library have pulled its own cracker for the visitors at the Farmers Market to drop in with their children to enjoy Carnival of the Animals Story time and mask-making 11am-12 for children under aged 10 and under in Prestwich Children’s Library and a FREE prize draw for a big cuddly blue teddy bear. (Please contact the library to book your place), a chance for children to write your letters to Santa and post them in the post-box at the Santa Grotto, Local History Displays – with Craig Brisbane, Guitar Class & Art Society Demonstrations and a one off Computer Taster Session – ‘Shop till you Don’t Drop!’ teaching shoppers how to online shop from the comfort of your home 11-1pm. There’s even a chance to pop in and see Prestwich Hospital Exhibition. What a Cracker!

Read the rest of this entry.

Transport bosses in Greater Manchester are encouraging people to take advantage of two days of free travel on the Metrolink network.

Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) is providing free travel on Metrolink all day, from the first tram until the last tram, this Saturday, 14 November, and next Thursday, 19 November, as a ‘thank you’ to passengers.

Councillor Keith Whitmore, Chair of GMITA, said: “We’ve invested a significant amount in improving the Metrolink network this year; projects that will make journeys smoother, quieter and more reliable.

“We’ve completely replaced the city centre tracks, provided high quality new street finishes, upgraded two of the busiest city centre stops and installed the first sets of new ticket machines – major improvements that were completed on time and on budget.

“However, we fully appreciate that passengers were left without a full service while all this work was done, and we want to thank them for their patience and understanding during that time – that’s why we’ll be providing these two days of free travel.”

The city centre section closed in April and services returned on 2 November.

Read the rest of this entry.

Next week (9-13 November) is apparently School Dinners week. Local pupils have been voting alongside children from the rest of the country for their favorite school meal.

According to the Council’s press release the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Sheila Magnall will be joining children at Mersey Drive primary for a meal of cheese and onion pie or pork sausage served with a choice of either chipped or new potatoes, baked beans and farmhouse vegetables followed by chocolate sponge and peppermint sauce. …. Councillor Beverly Sullivan, Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing said “School meals have changed so much for the better over the years…….”

But I remember eating exactly that at primary school in the 70s - though i think we called peppermint sauce “green custard” back then! I do know Bury schools have an excellent service, one thing Cllr Sullivan is probably right about is that £1.80 per day at primary schools and £1.90 at high schools seems great value for money?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with some of the team from Greater Manchester Probation Service’s “Community Payback” scheme who have been working on the “Prestwich Big Clean”.

The scheme, where offenders undertake supervised community work as part of a sentence from the courts, has provided 30 days of graffiti cleaning to Prestwich over the last couple of months.

The team’s last day was yesterday where then ended up cleaning around the end of Holyrood Road and Bury Old Road in our area (particularly there was some terrible graffiti near to the “Holyrood Nursery” on Bury Old Road), before going down to the Rainsough area and the Rainsough Community Centre.

It was great to meet with the probation team, the supervisor and to thank the men who’d been working on the scheme for their hard work. The team told me that they’d had some really positive feedback from local people over the last couple of months.

Unfortunately more graffiti has appearded since the big clean started, and unfortunately more probably will. The Local Area Partnership has engaged the team to come back around 3 days a month to help keep up the graffiti cleaning and undertake some other community work.

Goals Soccer Centres have re-submitted their plans for a commercial soccer centre in the St Margaret’s Road area of Heaton Park this week.

These plans will now be subject to public consultation, with an expected date at Manchester Council’s Planning Committee on 17 December 2009.

The plans have been resubmitted despite significant opposition from local residents, heritage watchdogs and many users of the park.

The new plans see a slightly reduced scheme of THIRTEEN soccer pitches, SIX tennis courts and a climbing wall area. There are 40 car parking spaces and Club House.

Over the next week we’ll be giving you more information on how to campaign against the proposals - this will be our last chance to SAVE HEATON PARK!

More information on the planning application here (Manchester City Council). (Search under Higher Blackley Ward.)

Download the plans here and here.

Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council’s Executive Committee. This brings together the 11 Executive Members from the ruling Conservative Group, myself and the Leader of the Labour Group attend but with no vote.

Bury But Better Town Centre Vision
One of the weightier issues on the agenda, but one which attracted little debate, was some changes to the Bury Town Centre planning “masterplan”. Obviously people can see the plans already taking shape with exciting developments of shops/cinema/houses etc at the “Rock Triange”, offices and hotel at “Townside Fields” (opposite the Town Hall) etc. But the revised plans provide some amended guidance to take account of recent proposals and amendments. There are maps and details of the changes with the Council Papers here.

St Monica’s RC High School - Sixth Form

The Executive agreed a proposal from St Monica’s Roman Catholic High School to add a sixth form to its school (off Bury Old Road in Prestwich). The school is a very high performing school and Government guidance means that the normal answer from council’s is “yes” when successful schools like this want to develop in this way.
I did raise a question about the non-Educational issues on the proposal. As people will know the school opens onto a very busy 4 lane stretch of main road (Bury Old Road), and I asked if measures were or had been considered to ensure that this can work with 7 years of pupils rather than 5. I was assured that plans were in place for this.

Local Government Ombudsman Case Report

The Council considered the report and recommendations of the Local Government Ombudsman into the very tragic case of a family in need which the Ombudsman concluded had been very badly let down by Bury Council. We agreed the recommendations in the report which will now happen.

I did ask about how, as 51 Councillors, we are going to be assured that everything we can possibly do is in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future, and was told of the detailed work that is being undertaken by the Council’s professional staff.

Decisions of the AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) Board

We received our usual update on decisions taken at a Greater Manchester level. The Council Leader agreed to have a special presentation later in the municipal year on the new ways that AGMA is proposed to be run in the future, before these decisions are taken.

Service Improvement Review - Community Safety Service
This was an exempt item (which means it cannot be reported on at this stage), however a number of people who work for the Council were present in public question time at the start of the meeting to raise their concerns about the review of this Council Service. The decision on the future of this service will be taken at a later date after a review of the service.

Any questions please ask. Papers for the meeting are available here

Yesterday I attended the Prestwich Local Area Tasking Team. This is the body that brings together various staff that are working to make Prestwich a safer place (Police, Council, Six Town Housing etc). I try to attend as a representative of the nice Prestwich councillors. Yesterday’s meeting was, for some reason, very poorly attended - hopefully this will pick up again next time.

There were a number of issues discussed, including:
- We talked a lot about concerns many local residents and business owners have around the area of the shops on Heywood Road (near Heaton Park reservoir) and some people who are worried about a group of young people ‘hanging out’ here in the evenings. The police are very aware of this situation.
- We discussed alley-gating, particularly now that the Council has a policy which allows alley-gating schemes to go ahead. In particular I asked about progress on the three alley-gating schemes that we have as potials in Polefield, and also another group of local residents who’ve approached me on the Taunton Grove alley. The Police are going to look into all of these.
- We discussed some issues around Baguley Crescent (in Middleton, but part of Bury Council and part of “Prestwich” for Council issues). There have been a number of concerns about fly-tipping and other criminal issues amongst a small number of residents. The area is actually policed by the Middleton Police Team, and our Prestwich team agreed to get in touch with them to make appropriate contacts.

(On leaving the meeting I had chance to have a quick look at the small exhibition upstairs at the Library on the history of Prestwich Hospital. It is only a small exhibition, but well worth a quick look if you are in the building!)

Any questions, please ask!
Tim

The Guardian, it’s feature on “where to live” last Saturday (31 October 2009) featured our lovely Borough in “Let’s move to Bury”.

“It’s smaller, more manageable and all-round nicer than its fellow edge-of-Manchester neighbours Rochdale, Oldham and Bolton. Studded with villagey spots such as Summerseat, its Victorian villas and semis are also way cheaper than those just south in Manc, whose bright lights are just a 20-minute ride away.” …. says the Guardian.

Local resident (and by chance Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate): Richard Baum comments on Guardian online: “Absolutely ideal in terms of geography – you can be in the Peaks or the Lakes in an hour, the Yorkshire Moors in 20 minutes.”

Here are the written answers to questions asked by the Lib Dem Group to Full Council last week. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you require any further information.

Suggested answer to written Question 1 submitted by Councillor O’Hanlon

Q The Council is considering changing the use of the Longfield Suite in Prestwich, whilst proposing to retain the Elizabethan Suite in Bury and Ramsbottom Civic Hall.

Why is this the case when the Council’s own figures show that the Longfield Suite is better utilised and makes more money than the Elizabethan Suite and Ramsbottom Civic Hall?

Can the Leader of the Council assure me of the Council’s commitment to provide a civic hall for Prestwich which allows community groups to use a dedicated public events space and which provides a hub for local community activities?

A I would like to thank Cllr O’Hanlon for his question

First of all I would like to remind all members that no decisions have been taken regarding the future of any of these venues, despite some member’s best efforts to whip up public anxiety and anger.

A task and finish group will look at all four venues with a view to finding the most viable and sustainable solution for local communities and the Council. Commitments have already been given by the Leader that there will be extensive consultation with any interested groups, individuals and the Local Area Partnership and their views on alternative use for the Longfield Suite be reported back as part of the Group’s final report.

Suggested answer to written Question number 3 submitted by Councillor Baum

Read the rest of this entry.

The Council has received an application from JW Lees for the above. They have applied to vary the hours for the following:
Performance of Live Music, Playing of Recorded Music, Provision of facilities for Making Music, Provision of facilities for Dancing, Late Night Refreshment.

Monday to Sunday 12.00 until Midnight
Public Holidays 12.00 until 1.00 am the following day

The notice will be displayed on the premises from 1/11/2009, so the objection period will end on 29/11/2009

If you need any further assistance please contact a member of the licensing team on 0161 253 5208, or contact one of your local Councillors for more information.

The Campaign has recently made it to the national satirical magazine “Private Eye“.

(just click on the cutting to view in a larger size).

The LovePrestwich Big Clean will officially end next week – but the campaign to clean up the town still goes on.

The Community Payback team will hit the town centre on November 3 and 4 for a final go, then head to the Holyrood Road/Heys Road/Bury Old Road Area to tackle graffiti on shops, businesses, backs of shops, and the side of houses.

Councillor Vic D’Albert, chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership, said: “If this Community Payback team were playing in the Premiership or Champions League, they’d be champions. Their team work is fantastic, their commitment without doubt and the difference they have made to Prestwich is phenomenal.

“The work doesn’t stop here - we hope to continue to work with Community Payback, subject to funding, for three days a month to clean off graffiti and much more.

“We certainly want to expand the idea, and arrange community clean-up weekends of action whereby, if people volunteer, we will provide skips and litter picks to tidy the streets. This team is a winning team and I hope it is here to stay.”

Graffiti and No Graffiti outside M&S earlier this month.

Overnight work is due on Bury Metrolink line. Residents are being advised of overnight work taking place on the Metrolink line running to Bury next week.

Work is expected to take place overnight at a number of stops along the line between Sunday 1 November and Friday 6 November while the trams are not running. Work is anticipated on the following dates:

Crumpsall – 1 November
Bowker Vale – 2 November
Heaton Park – 2 and 3 November
Prestwich – 3 November
Besses o’ th’ Barn – 4 November
Whitefield – 4 November
Radcliffe – 5 November
Bury – 5 and 6 November
Woodlands Road – 6 November

Metrolink aims to keep any disturbance caused by the work down to a minimum.

Anyone with any queries can contact the Metrolink team on 0161 244 1555 during office hours or email future.metrolink@gmpte.gov.uk. Anyone who wishes to report issues or incidents relating to the work should call 0161 205 2000.

Last night was the regular full meeting of Bury Council. This is the six-times-a-year meeting which brings together all 51 members of the Council.

Nowardays there seems to be only one useful purpose for this otherwise farce of a meeting, which is to remind me beyond all doubt why I am not a Conservative. Last night saw Bury’s Conservatives at their worst, or at least I hope it can’t get worse.

There are two main parts to a Full Council: questions and motions.

Questions
Since the Conservatives took control of the Council we’ve been restricted to 45 minutes of time for written questions, and then only 20 for questions asked on the night. As usual far too many questions had been submitted then was ever likely to be answered. A few from the Lib Dem group did get answered:
- Cllr O’Hanlon asked about the review of Civic Halls, and in particular why the “task and finish” group that is considering the future of civic halls has already been given the seemingly preferred “option” by the Council (keep and develop the civic halls in the North of Bury, “reconfigure” those in Radcliffe and Prestwich). Cllr Baum asked about whether the Council would visit Rochdale to see how they had extended their “park for free” service to encourage shopping in the town centre (the answer was that the Council wouldn’t visit Rochdale(!); I asked about the proposed commercial soccer centre in Heaton Park, and around whether the Council would reconsider its position if a revised application was made which significantly affected the way that it affected Bury residents (I think the answer was yes); Andrew Garner asked about recycling in Prestwich, in particular the problems that the recycling centre at the Longfield has seen since the Tesco site closed (the answer was a not very professional “phone up if you see it is full…)

But the shaming responses actually came from Labour questions this time. Both were from a Conservative Councillor I would normally have had a great deal of respect for. In response to a question on the stepping down of a fire engine at Bury fire station one day a week, Cllr Walton read what looked like a detailed 4 page response. It is an important issue, but when accused of “filibustering” (filling time to make sure not many questions could be answered), senior Conservatives could be seen smirking behind their hands. What a disgrace if this is how they want to avoid being asked questions?

Secondly a Labour Councillor asked a very important question about how the Equal Pay case is progressing through the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. This is a very important issue that affects many of the people that Bury Council employs. The Councillor asked if the member could given an update on the Equal Pay issue. The answer from Cllr Walton: “Yes I can”.

Made me ashamed to be in the same room.

Motions
Next we came to motions, and what was essentially one debate on the 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. This was a motion proposed by the Liberal Democrat Group, with an additional amendment (which we accepted) by the Labour Group.
Over 50 local councils have already signed up to the 10:10 campaign, including next door Manchester City Council and many others of all political persuasions. We were hoping that this would be an uncontraversial debate where we could all commit to Bury playing its part to reduce emmissions and tackle climate change.

Regrettably, not so: the Conservatives forced through an amendment to the motion which:
- took out the commitment to reduce carbon emmissions by 10% in 2010
- took out the commitment to sign up to the 10:10 campaign!
Obviously we had to vote against their amendment, but in the end it was forced through.

I’m not quite sure why Conservatives (who a couple of years ago were peddling the obvious myth of “vote blue, go green”) have to be so ridiculous on a issue we should all be able to support, but perhaps we should ask them.

The second piece of farce which made me ashamed to be a member of Bury Council came with the voting on the motion and amendments. Regrettably one Conservative Councillor has had a serious hospital operation and was unable to attend. A early vote was 24 votes in favour, and 24 votes against, but we were told of a “new” rule (I say new, because in all my life I have never heard of such a thing) where this meant that something was lost (ie the Conservatives won). The next time we voted the (Conservative) Mayor obviously thought differently, and began voting in the debate (normally the Mayor “abstains” on everything) - so it was 25 to 24. However for the final vote one Conservative Councillor had obviously needed to visit the Gents, and we were back, even with the Mayor voting with her Party, to 24 / 24. Again the “new” rule came into play and the Conservatives “won” the tied vote.

You couldn’t make it up.

So, not a good night. If anyone is interested the papers for the meeting are available here. More information on the 10:10 campaign is available here - join me and sign up as an individual - even if Bury Council won’t!

The Council is consulting on a proposed new traffic safety zone and 20mph area art the southern end of Heywood Road.

The area covered includes the bottom of Heywood Road, from the Rectory Lane mini-roundabout to the junction with Scholes Lane. It also includes the Park View Road as a 20mph zone, through to its junction with Bury New Road. The scheme includes four sets of “raised cushions” along Heywood Rosd (perhaps similar to those on Whittaker Lane). North of the Rectory Lane roundabout it is proposed to have some speed reduction signage and other features, but not to make this a 20mph zone or to have physical restrictions.

The area has been identified as a dangerous area for accidents, particularly because of the amount of school traffic that uses the area, particularly Park View Primary, but also there are walking routes to other schools.

The full consultation letter is here. The deadline for comments is 20 November 2009. The report of the consultation will come to the Prestwich Local Area Partnership in January 2010.

Please get in touch with your local Councillors if you have any other comments, ideas or concerns.

Last night was the regular meeting of the Governors of Prestwich Arts College on Heys Road. This is one of the two schools on which I serve as a school governor.

Last night there were two main issues that the Governors discussed:

Building Work
There are two really exciting building projects happening at PAC this year. Firstly a new dining room is being built, the school was the only high school in Bury without a dining room, so this is long overdue; secondly a new Arts Auditorium is being built in the land below Glebelands Road, and the former arts hall (Bracewell Hall) has been converted into a Creative and Media Suite. I’ve not seen the suite yet, but apparently its a top class facility that the school will be rightly very proud of. The new auditorium brings a welcome facility to Prestwich and will be available for broader community use.

Regrettably not everything that we had hoped to do can be done within the very tight financial framework that the school has to operate in. It had originally been hoped to build some new teaching facilities above the dining room (as a 2nd story), this will now not be possible at the present time. We agreed that we needed to have a look again at our longer term building strategy and what work needs to be done to take the school forward.

School Update
The headteacher was able to update us on a number of issues in the school over recent months:
- GCSE results: the school has had its BEST ever results for its GCSEs with the number of pupils getting the normal benchmark of 5 A*-C grades rising by 10%. This is a real achievement for the school, and particularly a recognition of the success of its “assertive mentoring” programme for the older pupils to help develop an enthusiasm and commitment to better grades among pupils. We did discuss a particular issue around the gender differences in results (girls doing better than boys). This is a national issue, but still one that the school is concerned about and looking at ways to encourage higher performance in boys.

Regrettebly almost 40 pupils who wanted to come to Prestwich Arts could not be accomodated
this year. This is a reflection of the success of the school and the changes that have been made in recent years.

Any questions, please ask!

Tim

The Council is consulting on some significant improvements to the junction on Bury New Road and Hilton Lane/Scholes Lane.

Local Lib Dem Councillors with Parliamentary Candidate Vic D’Albert

Why are the works being carried out?
Following receipt of a petition handed in by your local Lib Dem Councillors from local residents in March 2007 investigations have been carried out to assess the feasibility of installing controlled pedestrian crossing facilities within the Bury New Road / Scholes Lane / Hilton Lane junction, Prestwich.

Pedestrian surveys have found that large numbers of school children cross the junction travelling to and from school particularly across the north arm of the A56 Bury New Road.

In the period from April 2004 to March 2007, 13 road traffic accidents were recorded at the junction, resulting in 25 casualties. 1 of these was recorded as a serious injury accident with the remainder recorded as slight injury accidents. This was the highest number of collisions reported at any site in the Borough.

What’s happening?
Assessment of the existing junction capacity found that it is insufficient to provide controlled pedestrian crossing facilities on all arms without major widening works. It is therefore proposed to provide controlled crossing facilities on the two arms of the junction which have the highest pedestrian flows, namely Bury New Road north and Scholes Lane arms (see
the plan on the attached leaflet).

In order to achieve this localised widening of the existing junction at its south west quadrant is required. To facilitate this a small pocket of Barnfield Park land has been appropriated as Highway.

The works include refurbishment of the existing carriageway and footways within the junction, construction of a retaining wall, tree felling and new landscaping to Barnfield Park.

Read the rest of this entry.

Details of Children’s Activities in Prestwich next Half Term (next week!)

Read the rest of this entry.

Latest news from First Bus: who have been unable to resolve the industrial action by our drivers at Bolton, Bury and Wigan depots.

Schools bus services will run as normal in all areas but other services operated from our Bolton, Bury and Wigan depots will not operate with the exception of a limited service, every 30 minutes between approximately 0730 - 1830 on the following routes:

Read the rest of this entry.

Last night was the regular meeting of the Council’s Executive Committee. This brings together the nine Executive Members from the ruling Conservative Group, myself and the Leader of the Labour Group attend with no vote.

In local government some issues are what are called “exempt items”. This means that they are not available for the public. Normally there are either no “exempt items”, or very few, and those that there are are minor issues around contracts or finances. Last night was a bit different as the main discussion, and main controversial issue was “exempt”.

First the other issues:
“Gypsies”, Travelers and Traveling Show people.
: The Government has undertaken a review of the need for places where travelling people can find suitable places to live. For Bury, the proposals seem somewhat wrong, as it is proposed that there is a massive four-fold increase in the spaces that Bury should provide, whereaas other Boroughs and Counties in the region are asked to provide either none or very few. The Council is making representations to have these reconsidered.

Update of Housing Renewal Assistance Policy: Just as it sounds, reviewing this existing policy.

Greater Manchester Minerals Plan: An agreement to have a Greater Manchester-wide strategy for mineral useage (e.g. mining) - I suspect all the coal from our area went a long time ago!

Greater Manchester Revised Governance: This was an agreement about how SOME decisions across Greater Manchester can be made in a simpler way. Greater Manchester has established some “commissions” to look after different aspects of policy, for example there is an Economic Commission. The new rules mean that some decisions can be made by the Commissions, without being agreed by the main AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) Executive on which our Council Leader sits.

Some of these decisions used to be made by the “regional government” (ie by Civil Servants sat in Warrington or somewhere), so I suppose its better that the decisions are now nearer to home. However I did raise a concern about how all of this is linked back to local people and to local councillors that we’ve voted to represent us. At the moment we get a short report at the Executive Committee (that we’re not allowed to ask questions on!) - but otherwise there is no reporting back to Council or to local people.

Finally the contraversial “exempt” item which took up most of our time. The subject was a review of the Council’s four “Civic Halls” (The Town Hall’s Elizabethan Suite, Ramsbottom Town Hall, Radcliffe Civic Suite and the Longfield Suite in Prestwich). The rules that govern Councillors mean that I am not allowed to tell you what was in the report or discussion. Some people will have an understanding about what this was about from the press reports last week here and here.

The papers for the meeting (but not the exempt part!) are here. Any questions please ask!

Tim

Last night was the regular meeting of the Governors of St Margaret’s CoE Primary school on Heywood Road. St Margaret’s is one of the two schools in our area that I have the honour of serving as a Governor.

There were a number of issues that came up, including:
- last years results were reported to governors - the school did well at both reception and “Key Stage 1″ level, and saw good results at Level 5 in Key Stage 2.
- We discussed the Government’s plans for “Sustainable Schools” as part of the global commitment to reducing carbon emmissions and other environmental concerns. We learnt that the school is already performing very well on these important issues.
- We discussed ideas for improving the buildings in the school and are looking at how we can extend some classroom space that would benefit from more space.
- There was discussion about how important the issues of safeguarding children, and the very strict standards that schools have to comply with.

Governors also talked about how we can be more involved in the school and it was agreed to have a link Governor for each class. I’ve been given Year 5, and I’m looking forward to finding more about the work of the class and visiting during the year.

Any questions please ask!
tim

People in Bury are being urged to ‘rethink your drink’ during Alcohol Awareness Week, which begins on Monday 19 October.

Events will be taking place throughout the week, but on in the Millgate Shopping Centre in Bury on Saturday 24 October, members of the public can get involved in an exercise bike challenge to find out exactly how much exercise they need to take to burn off the calories in an alcoholic drink.

Read the rest of this entry.

Please find below information from Digital UK regarding the Digital Switchover:

There is less than a month to go until switchover takes place in the Granada TV region and we’re now entering the final wave of our communications to ensure viewers know when switchover is happening and what to do.

Read the rest of this entry.

Young people in Bury have made a mark on volunteering by becoming regional winners in the unite category of the vinspired National Awards 2009.

This award celebrates great examples of volunteers engaged in team activity.
As regional winners they have been invited to attend an awards ceremony at indig02 in London on November 26.
vinvolved Bury’s Youth Action Team proved to be a winning formula due to their team work, commitment and contribution as youth volunteer ambassadors in Bury.

Read the rest of this entry.

COULD YOU VOLUNTEER TO BECOME AN APPROPRIATE ADULT ?

When a young person, aged between 10 and 17, is arrested an ‘Appropriate Adult’ must be present throughout the process at the Police Station.

In the majority of cases this will be the young person’s parent or guardian but on occasion the parent or guardian may be unable or unwilling to attend the police station. In these situations the police would contact a Volunteer Appropriate Adult.

Read the rest of this entry.

These pictures, taken by a local resident early this morning, show digging works in the top corner of Heaton Park (the St Margaret’s corner). According to the Heaton Park Wardens some sort of work around the proposed Soccer Centre - funny I thought we lived in a democracy, and no decision has been made yet?

Bury Council’s trading standards team is warning residents to be on their guard after a council tax scam was uncovered.

The scam involves fraudsters posing as council staff, who are telephoning residents to say they have paid too much council tax and then asking for their bank account details so that a refund can be processed.

The fraudsters have operated in a number of Greater Manchester boroughs, and Bury Council is eager to make sure they don’t start in this borough.

Peter Jagger, head of Bury’s trading standards, said: “Residents giving out their bank details risk having money taken from their accounts.

“A phone call of this nature would not be made by our council tax team, so we would urge residents never to give out personal information, unless they know who the caller is.”

Anyone who receives these suspicious calls, or has further information about the scam, such as a name, address or telephone number, should report it to trading standards on 08454 040506.

A new exhibition looking at the history of Prestwich Hospital will be opened by the Mayor of Bury, Councillor Sheila Magnall.

Aptly titled “The Prestwich Hospital”, it will comprise artefacts and memorabilia along with photographs and a fascinating history about the largest mental hospital of its time in Europe.

The mayor will launch the exhibition on Tuesday October 13 at Prestwich Heritage Museum, which is based in Prestwich Library & Adult Learning Centre.

This is the fourth exhibition at the heritage museum, which was created with the help of Heritage Lottery funding in partnership with Prestwich Heritage Society, Bury Library Service and Bury Art Gallery and Museum.

It has proved a great success with the public, with visitor numbers from local schools and community increasing year on year.

Residents may remember that the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Prestwich is where former hospital patients and staff are buried, and a memorial stone was erected there in 2006.

Photo courtesy of this website, which contains more info on the Hospital’s history.

The next meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership takes place:

6.30pm Thursday 1st October
Butterstile Primary School
School Grove, Prestwich
(6.15pm Meet and Greet members of Prestwich LAP or speak on a 1 to 1 basis)

· 6.30 Happy 10th Birthday Area Initiative – Test Your Prestwich Knowledge
· 6.40 Business Matters, Reports from Lap Manager, Youth Manager, Children’s Services, Community Plan
· 7.15 Domestic Violence presentation
· 7.30 Open Forum
· 8.15 Community Update

Everyone Welcome!

For more info contact:
Carran O’Grady, Prestwich Local Area Partnership Manager
on 0161 253 7245
or by e-mail c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk

This month Community Update will include
Heys Road Safety Plans
Where we are up to with Graffiti cleaning in Prestwich
Forthcoming dates for your diaries Festival meeting, Community Carol Service, Christmas Lights Switch On

The new £4.3 million Fusilier Museum in Bury was officially opened today (Friday, September 25) by the Duke of Kent.

For some unknown reason, the invitations to myself and the Leader of the Labour Group in Bury only reached us the afternoon before the event! I’d have really liked to have been there, but regrettably not at such short notice!

The museum commemorates more than 300 years of Regimental history and includes the impressive collection of the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers – who are currently on active service in Afghanistan. Apparently more than 5,500 visitors have been through the doors of the museum since it opened in late June this year.

The new building houses the Fusiliers collections, the Tourist Information Centre, Hero’s cafe and a shop. The Lancashire Headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers have also relocated here along with a new Army recruiting office.

The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is the only organisation to enjoy Freedom of the Borough in Bury. It allows the Fusiliers to march through the town on all ceremonial occasions with drums beating, bands playing, colours flying and bayonets fixed.

“Overcrowding on Greater Manchester’s Trains could get worse,” says Transport Chief Keith Whitmore

Overcrowing on Greater Manchester’s trains could get worse if Department of Transport (DFT) rules lead to five trains, currently used betweeen Oldham and Manchester, being mothballed next month,” says Cllr Keith Whitmore - the first-ever Liberal Democrat Chairman of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA).

Cllr Whitmore said:
“Due to Transport Authority activities in Greater Manchester, we will next month begin conversion of a train line from Oldham to Manchester to carry Trams. When this happens, five trains will become available. We believe that the DFT’s super profits, raised from North West rail companies, should be used to allow those five trains to continue operating in Greater Manchester, where they will be invaluable in relieving some of the chronic overcrowding we experience.”

“The DFT has refused to make any funding available and have instead decided that these trains will be put into cold storage, very likely never to see the light of day again in our area. This is frankly scandalous.”

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats has launched this message for anyone who’s ever voted for the Green Party, or is thinking about doing so at the next general election. He’s asking you to lend your vote to the Liberal Democrats in 2010, to stop climate change.

Nick says: “This election is our best chance – it’s probably our last chance – to get a government that acts to cut carbon emissions and protect our planet for our children. This is not a time for people who care about the environment to quarrel between ourselves. This is a time for unity.

I understand completely why people are drawn to the Green Party. Lots of people tell me they know the Greens can’t win, but they want to send a message that the environment matters. I understand that.

But the time for sending messages is over. Climate scientists tell us the next government will be the last one that can stop dangerous climate change. So it’s time for action. Only a party that has real power and influence at the heart of government will be able to make it happen.

There has been too much hot air from Labour and the Conservatives. If either of them is given a free rein in the next Parliament, they will fall short of what’s needed. They will kow-tow to business interests and political pressure. We cannot afford to let that happen.

That’s where the Liberal Democrats come in. We can make the difference.

Already, there are 150 Liberal Democrats MPs and peers in Parliament. Our votes in Parliament got a “feed in tariff” put into law to encourage renewable energy. Our votes forced the government to commit to smart meters in every household. Our votes forced companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions. We are a force for real green change, not just green words.

Just imagine what we could achieve in the next Parliament, with your help. We will demand 10% cuts in emissions in 2010, like the brilliant 10-10 campaign is fighting for. We will demand a real commitment to renewable energy. We will demand Britain be set on course to a zero carbon future. And if – with your help – our voice is strong enough, we will succeed.

Many people vote for the Green Party for good reasons. But time is running out, and a vote for a party that probably won’t win a single MP is a wasted vote. The best bet for all environmentalists is to unite under the banner of the only green party that’s actually got power in Parliament. With your support, the Liberal Democrats will be bigger and stronger than ever, and we will force through the change you want - the change our planet needs.

The clock is ticking. Climate change is worsening. We have one planet, and no second chances. So let us have one voice, too. Lend your vote to the Liberal Democrats, and stop climate change before it is too late.”

Nick Clegg
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

How & Why We Can Do This

Nick Clegg: Conference 2009

This was Nick’s speech to Party Conference - Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats: Speech to Conference 2009.

My favourite quote? “If you supported Labour in 1997 because you wanted fairness. You wanted young people to flourish. You wanted political reform. You wanted the environment protected. Or you simply believed in a better future. Turn to the Liberal Democrats. We carry the torch of progress now.”

In the last eight weeks, 28 British soldiers and Royal Marines have been killed in Afghanistan. However easy it may be to forget, we are a nation at war. Already more than 75,000 British men and women have done tours of duty in Afghanistan.

Thousands upon thousands of our compatriots, putting their lives on the line in the burning heat and the frozen winters of a country on the other side of the world. I want to pay tribute, on behalf of all of us, to the tenacity, bravery and extraordinary professionalism of every one of them. Their families, too, have borne with incredible fortitude the separation, the fear, and the anguish of bereavement. We salute them.

I’m afraid the hardship has been deepened, for all of them, by the enormous difficulties of this war. After nearly 8 years, victory not only seems more distant than ever, failure seems inevitable unless we change course.

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

Many thanks to Sean for this map which shows just how much of Heaton Park is already taken up for other activities, rather than ‘open parkland’. The areas in use include car parks, gold courses, animal grazing and football pitches.

Campaigner fighting to save the St Margaret’s corner of Heaton Park from being turned into a commercial soccer centre are worried that less and less of the Park is being left as open parkland.

More information www.saveheatonpark.org.uk

At the Council Meeting on 9 September 2009 the Liberal Democrat group asked a number of questions. As not much time is allowed by the Conservative Council for questions, here are the written replies to our questions.

tim
Read the rest of this entry.

Lib Dems in Bury have revealed how that Conservative-run Bury Council is set to take 75 years to repairs roads that need repairing at its current rate of expenditure - so we’ll be done by 2084!

In last night’s Full Council meeting, I asked the Council how many roads fail the Best Value Intervention level where repairs are needed - “BVPI224b”. This is the criteria which currently generates a report for each Local Area Partnership in Bury from which we can “choose” an average of ONE road a year to be repaired.

Amazingly, the answer was 426 roads with secitons below the Best Value Intervention Level - at current rates of around one per area in Bury (six for the whole of Bury) - thats 75 years before our streets get fixed!

The streets which failed the intervention level test included such famous streets as Gigg Lane and The Rock in Bury - streets in our area included Fairfax Road, Heys Road and Cuckoo Lane.

Last year the Liberal Democrat group proposed a massive 50% increase in the road repair budget - but we were voted down by Conservative councillors.

Last night was the regular meeting of Bury’s Full Council. This is where all 51 Councillors come together - about six times a year. Last night’s meeting was one of the longest for some time, and didn’t finish until well after (my) normal bedtime!

Questions
In an unusual spirit of cooperation, the Groups have agreed to alternate questions to the Leader of the Council (ie Labour, Tory, Lib Dem etc), which started last night. There were a number of questions about Building Schools for the Future funding - which Bury Council would like (and deserves), but hasn’t got yet. A number of people are understandably concerned about this funding given the spending cuts which are no doubt on their way as a result of the credit crunch. There seemed to be no clear answer about what would happen if the funding didn’t materialise - bad news for Radcliffe which is at sever risk of being left without a high school.

Amasingly i determined that we’re going to have to wait 75 years to get our roads fixed at the current rate of Conservative spending (see below).

Next it came to motions or debates - all three last night from the Liberal Democrat Group:

Democracy
I proposed this motion on behalf of the Lib Dem Councillors. We wanted to raise a number of issues to make the Council more democratic:
- make available to the public details of decisions made by Executive Members on their own (delegated decisions).
- report to the Council decisions made by other bodies which are taking decisions that affect us (”Team Bury”; the AGMA (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities); and other joint authorities.
- review the rules for questions by the public at Council meetings
- review how we “scrutinise” the work of the Council.

I genuinely wasn’t expecting any problems with this - having (perhaps a misguided view that we’re all committed to democracy) - but I was wrong. The Conservative Councillors amazingly voted down proposals which would allow for the minutes of joint authorities and outside bodies (like the AGMA Executive and local strategic partnership “Team Bury” to be reported to the Council. I still don’t quite understand why - this fear of giving people information is something I will never understand about Conservatives.

Olyimpics
Next to another Lib Dem motion on the Olympics proposed by my Lib Dem colleague councillor Donal O’Hanlon. Again we wouldn’t have expected any problems, but again a Conservative amendment to take something out. This time our idea of creating a “Greater Manchester Leisure Card” so that we can all use facilities in different parts of the County (e.g perhaps nearer to where we work of live) with the same leisure card. Both Labour AND Conservative Councillors voted this down - no idea why with such a sensible idea.

Amusingly the Whitefield conservative Councillors got themselves in a mess over Heaton Park. They (included the Tory wannabe MP for our area) got confused to our support of SPORT (with the olympics motion) and our OPPOSITION of the ridiculous commercial soccer zone in Heaton Park. Despite clearly telling local residents that she OPPOSED the plans not long ago - Conservatives not seem to SUPPORT removing a piece of parkland for ever. Talk about U-Turns…

Surveillance
Finally a motion from my Lib Dem colleague Vic D’Albert raising concerns about the surveillance undertaken under RIPA powers. It was late so a very short debate, but again we were voted down by a RED/BLUE coalition of Labour and Conservative councillors who obviously think surveillance is a good idea.

As soon as I receive the written asnwers to questions I’ll post them here (the Council doesn’t seem fit to publish them for local residents itself!). Any questions, please ask!

Tim

Prestwich residents might be interested to learn just how confused the wannabe Conservative MP for Bury South - Whitefield Councillor Michelle Wiseman - seems to have become.

On her “blog” (here), Michelle appears to be confused about the Liberal Democrats saying, quite rightly, no to a massive commercial soccer centre in a Prestwich corner of Heaton Park, whist at the same time promoting sports in a motion to Bury Council about the Olympic Games.

She has, of course, missed the point. Probably all of us are in favour of better sports facilities. This is what we’ve said all along about the Heaton Park Soccer Centre - its a great idea in the WRONG PLACE! Why turn a beautiful piece of public parkland into a commercially run soccer centre where pitches seem likely to be £45 a hour to hire? Surely there are better places to put such things?

What our motion on the Olympic Games attempts to highlight is the lack of action, by both the current Conservative and the former Labour people who run Bury Town Hall on sports in our local area. One of the sensible ideas we’re putting forward tonight is about a Greater Manchester Leisure Card so that people can make good use of sports facilities across boroughs - a sensible idea you’d expect a Parliamentary candidate to support?

The Conservative Councillor seems to be particularly confused in what she is saying. Michelle has told the Campaign Group against the Heaton Park plans that she is 100% supportive of our campaign to stop the Soccer Centre being built there. Brilliant - but at the same time she’s trying to make a cheap political point about the Liberal Democrat group supporting the Campaign AND supporting sport. Do we really want such a confused MP?

Tory-run councils have been advised to delay major commercial and housing developments until the Conservatives get into power. (Source - www.planningresource.co.uk

Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman has apparently written to Conservative local authorities to set out more clearly the practicalities of her party’s intention to scrap regional planning structure and to give local councils more freedom to break regional guidelines like “greenbelt”.

We will be asking Conservative-run Bury Council that this instruction from Party HQ won’t be affecting the redevelopment of Prestwich village centre….

Nick Clegg has today launched a new Liberal Democrat pledge to put service personnel and their welfare at the heart of our defence policy.

Nick said: “Many soldiers fighting on the front line are on salaries lower than those of trainee police and fire fighters. 13,000 members of the armed forces take home less than £17,000 each year. Under Labour, our lions are being paid peanuts.

Our servicemen are being sent to fight in treacherous conditions in Afghanistan while living close to the poverty line. It is time to stop short-changing our troops.

That is why if elected, the Liberal Democrats would ensure that no service personnel receive less basic pay than someone starting out in the Police or fire brigade.

If you believe our troops should receive better pay, then help us spread the word. Please make sure all your friends know about our new policy, especially those with family members serving in the Armed Forces.

To back the campaign and help spread the word, see my website: NickClegg.com/ArmedForcesPay

Nobody can put a price on the sacrifices our troops make on our behalf - but we can start rewarding them properly”

I had the pleasure of meeting up with reps from Bury Council’s LGBT Employee Group at their stand at Manchester Pride over the Bank Holiday Weekend. It was great to see Bury represented at the event - the stand included a write board to for Bury residents to say what they wanted from the Council - with interesting results.

There are a couple of forthcoming events for the Group:

CONCERT AT THE MET THEATRE IN BURY

The next concert is on Thursday the 24th September 2009, acts already confirmed are Jonathan Mayor, Cocquettes (male vocal group) and Zoe Lyons. More details will be sent out as we have them. The last concert was a great success and we hope this one will be even better. Come along and have a great evening and don’t forget to tell your friends. Tickets available from The Met, Market Street, Bury, BL9 0BW. Tel 0161 761 2216.

BURY LGBT BOOK CLUB/READING GROUP

The first meeting of the book club/reading group will take place at the WHITE LION PUB in Bury town centre, on the 28th September 2009 at 6.30pm. The first book will be JACKIE KAYS TRUMPET. Tea coffee and sandwiches will be provided on the evening, if you prefer alcohol sorry, but you will have to buy your own.

It has been announced that 40.52% of young people in Bury voted in the Youth Parliament elections earlier in the year (an increase of 16.15% from last year). Bury has moved up from 10th best turnout to 6th best turnout in the country (around 140 authorities held elections this year)!

Well done to everyone involved.

In Bury lots of organisations and projects involve volunteers to deliver valuable services and support to the people of Bury. They face the highs and lows of involving volunteers. Many are working in isolation dealing with similar problems and concerns and they don’t have anyone to celebrate the successes and achievements they have with volunteers.

Bury vinvolved Team and B3SDA want to change this. They are working together to launch Bury’s Volunteering Forum. The first meeting will be on Wednesday September 30th from 12pm until 2pm at the New Kershaw Centre on Deal Street.

Read the rest of this entry.

Information below on an display on the work of Manchester’s Quakers on Refugees during September at Central Manchester Friends Meeting House. This is in connection with the Anne Frank Exhibition at Manchester Cathedral.

Time is running out to tell us what you think about services for young people.

Bury Council is reviewing its Youth Service, and is keen to hear from as many people and organisations as possible. It will then produce a report in November.

The Youth Service promotes and delivers personal and social development to 11–25 year olds. It operates out of four local authority centres - in Radcliffe, Whitefield, East Bury and Elton – while the Phoenix Centre in Prestwich is used in partnership with Prestwich Methodist Youth Association.

The service supports the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and many others including Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, Junior Sports Leaders Awards. Staff and members are involved in Youth Action Groups, Youth Cabinet and the United Kingdom Youth Parliament elections.

Many partners work with the service, such as Connexions, the Youth Offending Service, and schools. Services include advice and information, joint working to support unemployed young people, teenage pregnancy groups, activities for young people with disabilities, and outdoor adventure activities.

To make your views known, contact youthservicereview@bury.gov.uk or see the service’s Facebook group by Sunday, September 20. For more detail and to ask questions, call Amy Svensson, improvement adviser, on 0161 253 6549.

The Liberal Democrats have launched a new campaingn about public spending - you can find out all the details at www.NickClegg.com/InTheKnow

As Liberal Democrats, we’re firmly committed to new public spending in important areas - such as delivering our green new deal on jobs and housing, lowering infant class sizes and cutting student debt. These are all central to our vision of a better, more liberal Britain.

But if we want to get the most we possibly can from our public services and direct money where it is needed most, we must do more. Our national budget is going to be tight for years, if not decades. So we need to cut out all wasteful spending in order to protect vital frontline services.

Hardworking nurses and teachers tell me how frustrated they are by the money which is still wasted on needless paperwork, administration and computer systems that don’t work.

David Cameron and Gordon Brown are having a sterile debate about the size of the total Whitehall budget. But they’re asking the wrong question: we first need to find out if money is being spent on the right things.

Instead of politicians in Westminster lecturing about how this can be done, I want to ask the people who know most about how public services are run: public servants. The people who are best placed to tell us where money isn’t well spent are the teachers, nurses, social workers and other public servants who work so hard, day and night, to serve people.

We are ‘Asking the People in the Know.’

So if you work in the public sector - or have family, friends or colleagues who do - then please visit, and encourage them to visit, our new website to give us your ideas - so we can make sure that every penny of our money is well spent.

Road safety measures are proposed at the junction of Bury Old Road and Heywood Road in Prestwich.

Bury Council has included this junction of the A665 in its annual programme of Local Safety Scheme works for 2009/2010. These are designed specifically to reduce the number of road accident casualties and to improve road safety.

Within a recent 36-month period there have been five personal injury collisions reported at this junction which have resulted in six casualties. Two of the collisions resulted in injuries to pedestrians, and one collision involved injuries to a cyclist.

The council proposes to add a push-button pedestrian crossing, or “green man” facility, to the existing traffic lights at the junction. It also proposes to widen the pedestrian island north of the junction, with association carriageway realignments. Additional lining, surfacing and signing measures are also included.

The letter to local residents is here, the plans are here.

It is anticipated that work will start in autumn 2009.

Further information: Les Watts, principal engineer, on 0161 253 5782.

Local residents campaigning against the proposed commerical soccer centre at the St Margaret’s corner of Heaton Park are hoping that the parks hertigate could save the day for this beautiful area of open parkland.

Consultation on the Goals Soccer Centre application closed in July, but campaigners have been informed that English Heritage - the Government’s formal heritage “watchdog” have raised several serious concerns about the development. Heaton Park is a Grade II parkland, and Heaton Hall itself is a Grade I listed building. Campaigners understnad that English Heritage have raised concerns about the size of the development (the number of football pitches and tennis courts), the car park (that there shoudn’t be one) and the amount of fencing in the scheme which detracts from the open nature of the park.

At the same time campaigners have found out that the Heritage Lottery Fund, who have funded millions of pounds of improvements in Heaton Park in recent years were not consulted on the proposed development, and only found out after the consultation deadline after a resident tipped them off!

Requests for a copy of the English Heritage objection have been denied by Manchester Council.

Its brilliant that these important heritage agencies have been brought into the discussion on the Soccer Centre. Heaton Park is a historic piece of parkland thats been used as a park for over 100 years. The proposed development is only metres away from a beatiful historic house.

These heritage concerns raise serious questions about the proposed development. “Bury Council has already raised concerns that there is not enough parking in the scheme. If English Heritage say there shouldn’t be a car park where does this leave the local residents?

Manchester Council must see sense now?

The Managing Agent Contractor for the Highways Agency in this area is writing to local residents that might be affected by the following roadworks.

Some works we are about to start on the M62 motorway - starting on 17th September and continuing until 6th November they will be working on the eastbound hard shoulder between Simister Island (junction 18) to Heywood (junction 19).

The work we will be doing is to relocate the gullies (drains) behind the kerb and to strengthen and resurface the hard shoulder. The works will be carried out at night time as we will need to close lanes on the eastbound carriageway in order to work safely. Works will start near to Junction 18 and progress towards Junction 19 as the work continues.

There may be some noise as a result of these works which we will monitor and do our utmost to minimise and it may be that you will hear our machinery on occasions. They inform residents that that we will keep any disturbance to an absolute minimum.

If you should like to discuss these works or have any further queries, John Williams can be contacted on 01925 859314 or by email john.williams@aone.uk.com. Alternatively you could ring the Highways Agency 24 hour Information Line on 08457 50 40 30.

Click below for planning applications received in our local Ward in the last month. For more information on any of these applications please click here. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like more information or have any concerns.

Application Number: 51455
Registration Date: 29/07/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 35 MOUNT ROAD, PRESTWICH, M25 2GP
Proposal: LAWFUL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATE FOR A PROPOSED SINGLE STOREY REAR EXTENSION
Case Officer: Mark Kilby
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51545
Registration Date: 10/07/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 28 POLEFIELD CIRCLE, PRESTWICH, M25 2WP
Proposal: SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION AT REAR
Case Officer: Amanda Uhunmwagho
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51483
Registration Date: 06/07/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 166 HEYWOOD ROAD, PRESTWICH, M25 1LD
Proposal: SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION AT REAR
Case Officer: Jane Langan
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51520
Registration Date: 02/07/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 42 LUDLOW AVENUE, WHITEFIELD, M45 6TD
Proposal: SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION AT SIDE
Case Officer: Janet Ingham
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51496
Registration Date: 02/07/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 38 ST JOSEPHS AVENUE, WHITEFIELD, M45 6NT
Proposal: ERECTION OF DETACHED GARAGE
Case Officer: Amanda Uhunmwagho
Decision: Approve with Conditions
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Organisers of the LovePrestwich Festival want residents to tell them what they thought of it.

Starting with the Clough Event and ending on Prestwich Carnival day, no fewer than 55 events were held over 35 days.

Feedback from local people and businesses is vital if the team is to plan an even better and bigger event next year.

The aims of the LovePrestwich Festival were: to bring people into Prestwich to support local businesses; to bring Prestwich’s diverse communities together; to provide an opportunity for local people to showcase their talents; to raise funds for local charities and community projects; and to create success stories associated with Prestwich.

Organiser David Curtis said: “I went to many events during the 35 days and received so much praise about the festival - so much so that I’ve been working on holding another Farmers Market on Sunday August 23 and on a Sunday at the end of November as part of the Christmas lights switch-on. We want to make the 2010 event better so please let us know what you thought of it all.”

Councillor Vic D’Albert, chair of Prestwich Local Area Partnership, said: “I was delighted to be involved with this, our first festival, and between us we got to as many events as we possibly could, although on some nights there were several events going on.

“What people thought about LovePrestwich Festival is really important if we want to stage it again. You may have attended an event or many events and have tips for future events, you may be a charity that was able to raise funds at events, or you might be a local trader who saw increased custom.”

Feedback forms are available from Prestwich Library, or online - from www.iloveprestwich.com - soon. Alternatively, email c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk and request a form.

The local LIberal Democrats have recently been informed of the death of Sam Crilley. Sam was 89.

Sam, was a very active Liberal for many years in the Prestwich & Whitefield area, and we believe the Liberal Party candidate on a number of occasions for the then Middleton and Prestwich Parliamentary constituency.

Sam will be fondly remembered by Liberal activists in Prestwich.

The funeral is on Thu 6th Aug, from 11am at the Unitarian Church on the A56 in Altrincham “by the Loretto Convent”. http://www.altrinchamunitarians.org/

A month-long Big Clean of graffiti and garbage starts in Prestwich on August 3.

A hit squad from Community Payback will be removing graffiti, cleaning alleyways and “grot spots”, litter picking and carrying out community projects.

This pilot project by the BurySafe partnership will start in Prestwich Village and then move to each ward in the town.

And organisers want local people to report problems now so that they can be dealt with.

Carran O’Grady, Local Area Partnership manager, said: “Over the last month the police, councillors and volunteers have been filling in Grot Spot sheets telling us where the graffiti and other grot is – we have had more than 100 graffiti reports alone.

“Community Payback are here for 30 days only, so if you don’t report it, it won’t get done.”

Community Payback officer Craig Sykes said: “We’re glad to be involved directly with what Prestwich residents want, where offenders can be seen putting something back into the community.

“We have had the pleasure of improving St Mary’s graveyard over a number of years which is a real local treasure and our work has made a big difference.

“We have a job sheet for the town centre and every ward has had forms on site for people to fill in if residents and businesses want graffiti removing when they see what we are doing. I hope that Prestwich residents and businesses will see what a difference Community Payback can make.”

Graffiti can be reported to Carran O’Grady at c.o’grady@bury.gov.uk or via any Prestwich councillor’s blog page, and forms are available at Prestwich library.

For further information contact Carran O’Grady on 0161 253 7245.

Back by popular demand! - Sundey 23rd August 9.30am - 2.30pm

It is hoped to have another Farmers Market in November to coincide with a Christmas Lights “switch on”

Alongside the market activities incldue:
- giant free raffle
- children’s ride
- face painter
- squeaky the clown
- bag piper

Please find below the latest information from NHS Bury about the National Pandemic Flu Service:
As you will be aware, important changes have been announced to the way in which the NHS is managing the growing swine flu pandemic in England, this sees the launch of The National Pandemic Flu Service.

The National Pandemic Flu Service is a self-care service that will asses a patient’s symptoms and, if required, provide an authorisation number which can be used to collect antiviral medication from a local collection point.

The service can be accessed online at https://www.pandemicflu.direct.gov.uk/ and for those who do not have internet access, the same service can be accessed by telephone on 0800 1 513 100 (Minicom 0800 1 513 200).

Read the rest of this entry.

This afternoon was the regular meeting of Prestwich Area Tasking Team. This is the meeting which brings together most of the statutory agency staff who are responsible in some way for Prestwich (Police, Council, 6 Town Housing, Fire, Youth Service etc). I’m there as the “rep” from the Prestwich Councillors.

Graffiti
We discussed some exciting plans about how we tackle graffiti in Prestwich. I don’t want to spoil the public announcement of the plans, so I’ll keep quiet for now! But they’re very welcome and something we’ve been calling for all year.

Alleygating
Bury Council doesn’t have a policy on alleygating at present, but it is hoping to adopt one this September. In Prestwich we want to be ready with schemes that have been waiting for years for a policy, “ready to go” when the policy is in place. The area identified as a possible first priority is in our area, and some ginnels and back alleys in the Polefield area which have long been identified as a cause for concern. Six Town Housing are currently undertaking a survey on environmental concerns which culminates at the roadshow in St Mary’s Park next month.

Be Active in Prestwich

We learnt about some of the excellent work that is being undertaken from Heaton Park Primary School on Cuckoo Lane to develop sports and fitness activities for children and young adults. This has included getting people involved in boxing training, football skills (with a coach from FC United) and activities in the Park for children. The scheme is very successful and the team are looking for more funding to develop this in the future.

Quadbiking
The issue of illegal use of Quadbikes and Trailbiles on our streets remains a key priority for our local police team.

Local Issues

We received an update on local issues including the Kersal Road area, Penryn Drive and some ongoing issues such as CCTV and the skatepark project. On the latter, land has been identified at the back of St Mary’s Park as a possible site, and a planning application will follow shortly. Local people will obviously have a chance to have their say on this project as discussions progress.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there are any questions on this.
Tim

Bury Council is consulting on a proposed 20mph zone on the stretch of Heys Road as it passes Prestwich Arts College.

Houses fronting on to the scheme will receive a consultation letter (copy here) on 24th July and comments are sought before 14 August 2009. It is hoped that the scheme will come to the Local Area Partnership meeting on 1 October 2009.

The scheme includes the provision of four sets of speed “cushions” and a raised table outside of the School.

Local Councillors have been calling for 20mph safety zones outside all of our schools to reduce accidents.

Prestwich Local Area Partnership have launched this “Be Active in Prestwich” pocket sized map.

The map shows promotes walking, cylcing and jogging in Prestwich, with suggested cycling routes from Rhodes to the bottom of the Clough, public footpaths, ideas for health walks and heritage walks.

The map can be picked up from the Library, or you can download a copy here.

Last night was the regular meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership. This meeting brings together your nine local Councillors, together with partner organisations (police, NHS etc) and community representatives.

Prestwich Festival Feedback
The meeting was opened with a rolling slide show of photos from the 55 events held throughout Prestwich Festival. I took the opportunity to highlight how the festival came about and to thank all those that played a part in ensuring its success. I also requested feedback from residents who attended any of the events also with suggestions about to improve the festival next time.

Oasis Concerts
Graham Atkinson, Bury’s Director of Leisure services, reported back on the issues faced by Bury Council and the cross council coordination of the Oasis concerts. He highlighted all aspects of the operation and identified areas to improved on next time. Which included aspects of parking and toilet provision, crowd dispersal at the end of concerts. Public transport issues and nuisance/anti-social behaviour. A report is currently being compiled. Download the presentation here.

Highways
We received a report with the delegated budget for local unclassified road repairs for the year. Prestwich is being offered just over £62,000 to spend. the report highlighted that the 13 worst streets in Prestwich needed repairs totaling £700,000. Its fair to say the Area Partnership was not amused. A resolution was passed highlihting our dissatisfaction and calling on the Council to review the situation as a matter of urgency and to get to grips with this issue that is now approaching crisis point.

Heaton Park Soccer Zone
Residents from St.Margarets area attended open forum to raise the issue about Manchester’s plans for a private game zone in Heaton Park. In response the Area Partnership passed a resolution in support of residents and to inform Bury and Manchester Planning of our deep concerns about their proposals.

Next Meeting
October 1st, Butterstile Primary School arrive from 6.15 for 6.30 start.

No time to wait to object to object to Goals Soccer Centre’s planning applicaiton to Manchester Council. Send in your responses by 20 July 2009. See this guide or download our leaflet now.

Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council’s Executive Committte. This brings together the nine “Executive Member” from the ruling Conservative Group on the Council; myself and the Labour Group Leader attend but cannot vote.

There were two main issues considered and agreed last night:

Love Prestwich Village Centre Strategy

For over a year now, the Council and its contractors have been consulting on the future of Prestwich Village. This was finally presented to the Council and has now been agreed as “material planning guidance” which will determine what the centre looks like in the future.

In summary, the Longfield area of the Village centre would be redeveloped: a new supermaket and shopping area; existing and new community facilities (the Longfield Suite), Hall, Library and Health Centre); above the shops/supermarket would be some apartments, a hotel on Bury New Road and some (not too high) multi-story parking. In addition work would be undertaken to improve the A56, including restoring the opening of Rectory Lane onto Bury Old Road to imrpove traffic flow.

More information here.

Full details of draft development strategy, and its supporting background documents, can be downloaded from www.bury.gov.uk/prestwichregeneration.

Older People’s Housing Options
We also discussed and agreed the final results on the consultation on older people’s residential services. What will happen is:
- Retain Redcliffe (in Prestwich) as the only council run residential care home.
- Replace Redbank with extra care units
- Close Whittaker House (in Radcliffe)
- Retain Killelea and Elmhurst as intermediate care centres
- Designate Spurr House as a specialist site for dementia care
- Develop two care village sites in the Borough, preferred sites to be confirmed as Hazlehurst/Whittle Pike and Haworth Close/William Kemp Heaton.
However, the main issues as far as I can see with this are:
- The Council will only have one generic residential care home that it runs (with capacity for 21 people)
- The new vision of two “care villages” are many years off, and it may be that a number of years go by between the Councils existing homes closing, and new facilities being in place.

Other Issues Discussed
A number of other improtant issues were also discussed by the Executive Committee which included:
- approving a number of 20mph and traffic calming zones (including schemes in our area on Heywood Road, Heys Road and the junction of Bury Old Road and Scholes Lane).
- a pilot project to address alcohol issues from the Whitefield and Unsworth Local Area Partnership
- a review of the Bury Plan.

Papers for all the items above can be downloaded from here. Any questions please ask!

Young people in Bury will take over the council chamber at Bury Town Hall for “The Debate” on Tuesday, July 14.

The topic for discussion will be: “A local authority youth service is not necessary as it is the parent’s responsibility to provide young people with sufficient funds to engage in positive activities.”

Councillors and other adults will be invited to sit in the public gallery and put questions after the debate.

Bury’s Youth Cabinet has organised this event and all young people in Bury aged 11-19 are invited to come along and join the debate, which will take place between 6pm and 8pm.

For further information please call Heather Cooper, youth participation worker, on 0161 253 7165 or 07900 188695 or visit www.buryyouth.co.uk

Here’s a video of the “rally” of local residents last Sunday.

and, so we don’t forget what a Goals Soccer Centre looks like - here’s footage of their existing Centre at Raynes Lane in London…

Here’s how to object.

Many thanks to local resident Guy Dickinson for this information

Lodging a planning application objection will take you 2 minutes.

You must lodge an objection by 20th July - go and do it right now!

1) Go to this page (it redirects to the Mancs Council planning site) - http://tinyurl.com/leuakn

2) Fill in your details and then carefully select the various options:

3) COMMENTATOR TYPE: Neighbour (obviously if you live near the park, you’re a neighbour)

4) REASONS:

(hold down the ctrl key to select multiple reasons.) I chose:
Ecology
Light
Loss of trees
Noise or Disturbance
Parking
Traffic
Visual Amenity

5) MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE OPTION “Inform the Authority that you object to the Planning Application.”

6) COMMENTS:

As I understand it, planning decisions apply more weight to objections/concerns over traffic and pollution, parking and environmental concerns. Your objection is likely to carry less weight if you simply object on grounds of aesthetic or tradition.

As an example of what can be written see this site, which you may wish to use as a template.

Following a meeting on Friday 3 rd July 2009 Prestwich Arts College will now be open to all students at 10.15am on Tuesday 7th July 2009 ,contrary to the letter sent from the head teacher to parents and carers of students at the school  on 3rd July.

Hundreds of local people staged a “Save Heaton Park” rally on Sunday in protest at plans to create a large commercial sports centre on part of the park.

Over 150 local residents were joined by six local Councillors to make clear their opposition to the proposed Goals Soccer Centre which is planned to be built near the St Margaret’s Road entrance to Heaton Park. The message was clear: Save Heaton Park!

Cllr Tim Pickstone, the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward, addressed the crowd. He said “More sports facilities are great, but this is in completely the wrong place. The park has been here for the people of north Manchester and Prestwich for over 100 years. It’s open parkland where people can play football, have a picnic, walk the dog or play in the sun. All of this will be lost forever if it is a £40 an hour soccer centre.”

St Margaret’s Road resident Paul Toner, who helped organise Sunday’s rally, said “None of us are opposed to sports facilities, but the impact of this development on the local area would be terrible - parking, traffic, illuminated pitches.”

The scheme will be decided on by Manchester City Council, who own Heaton Park despite it being bordered by Bury land on three sides. Local residents were urged to send in letters and emails of objection to Manchester City Council before the deadline for comment on 20th July.

A full copy of the plans is available here (note this is quite a large file).

Campaigners are being asked to join a new Facebook Group to show their support.

Prestwich Local Area Partnership takes place this Thursday, 9 July 2009 from 6.30-8.30pm, at Sedgley Park Primary School, Bishops Road, Prestwich.

The Local Area Partnership brings together the local councillors in Prestwich, partner agencies like Police, NHS and Six Town Housing, and community group representatives.

Councillors and partners will be available from 6.00 to meet up with local people, the meeting starts with formal business at 6.30, and then the public open forum where everyone can have their say is around 7.30pm.

Main Agenda Items

The main agenda items include:
- report and evaluation of the Love Prestwich Festival
- reports from the Area Manager, Police, Childrens Services and Youth Services
- report on Oasis Feedback
- Highway Repair proposals
- local grants.

Local Area Partnership Papers

Agenda (pdf 38kb).

Action notes (pdf 104kb).
Local area partnership manager update (pdf 47kb).

Highways refurbishment programme (pdf 51kb).

All members of the public are welcome to attend.

The Council has issued a statement in response to this weeks announcement on Swine Flu.

Full details are here.

At the last Full Council meeting of Bury Council a large number of questions were submitted by Lib Dem Councillors. These included issues such as Heaton Park, Prestwich Festival, Road Repairs, Street Lighting and more…

The highlights are probably:
- answers to Richard Baum’s questions about public transport funding (with the Leader of the Council trying to pretend that the £40 a year extra we’ll all be paying in Bury for trams in South Manchester is a “good deal”. (see Richard’s site for more details)
- the fact that we only have £65,000 to spend on road repairs in Prestwich this year, but the Council has paid out over £3 MILLION in claims for tripping etc on dodgy roads and pavements
- the amazingly small amount of litter penalties given out in Prestwich.

Here are the replies from the ruling Conservative Group.

Read the rest of this entry.

On Wednesday and Thursday I was one of Bury’s delegates to the General Assembly of the Local Government Association (LGA). Bury sends four Councillors delegates (two conservatives, one labour and one lib dem), together with a couple of senior staff. The LGA brings together (almost) all the local councils in England to provide coordination, services and representation to local government.

The event takes place over four day (in Harrogate this year), but I only went over for two days and one night due to work commitments. The Conference is a mixture of presentations and debate, exhibition, political meetings and guest speakers.

Vince Cable spoke at the Conference from the Lib Dems - here is an interview he did for the Conference online channel.

I’ve attended the LGA General Assembly on and off for about seven years now, and what has been quite striking has been the decline in the number of Labour Councillors at the event. Since the local elections in June the Lib Dems have more Councillors in England than Labour does, and this is replicated at national events like these.

Goals Soccer Centres have submitted an application to Manchester City Council for their controversial commercial “soccer centre” in the part of Heaton Park just off St Margaret’s Road in Prestwich.

Full details of the application can be found here.

This is the Location Plan which shows the area of park which would be converted into the Soccer Centre.

This is a more detailed plan showing the 12 football pitches, 6 tennis courts, club house with cafe and function rooms, car park and skate park.

Click below for planning applications received in our local Ward in the last month. For more information on any of these applications please click here. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like more information or have any concerns.

Application Number: 51473
Registration Date: 17/06/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 7 LANGLEY GROVE, PRESTWICH, M25 3EE
Proposal: TWO STOREY EXTENSION AT SIDE
Case Officer: Janet Ingham
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51440
Registration Date: 16/06/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 13 HILLTOP AVENUE, PRESTWICH, M25 1LL
Proposal: REPLACEMENT OF SINGLE STOREY FLAT ROOF WITH PITCHED ROOF
Case Officer: Jane Langan
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51374
Registration Date: 10/06/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 22 KENILWORTH AVENUE, WHITEFIELD, M45 6TG
Proposal: SIDE GARAGE EXTENSION
Case Officer: Jane Langan
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51264
Registration Date: 10/06/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 38 SIMISTER GREEN, SIMISTER, PRESTWICH, M25 2RY
Proposal: GARDEN SHED (RETROSPECTIVE)
Case Officer: Janet Ingham
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

Application Number: 51407
Registration Date: 08/06/2009
Ward Name: Prestwich - Holyrood
Location: 19 ST MARGARETS CLOSE, PRESTWICH, M25 2LY
Proposal: SINGLE STOREY EXTENSION AT FRONT; PART SINGLE STOREY / PART TWO STOREY EXTENSION AT SIDE
Case Officer: Amanda Uhunmwagho
Decision: This case has not yet been decided
Appeal Received Date: This case has no appeals against it

A wide range of free sports sessions awaits young people in the summer evenings.

Qualified coaches from Bury Council’s sports development team will offer football, rounders, basketball and rugby, to name but a few.

The sessions take place at Heaton Park Primary School in Cuckoo Lane, Whitefield, for boys and girls aged from ten to 16.

They run every Monday and Wednesday between June 29 and July 15, from 6pm to 8pm.

There’s no need to book – simply turn up, register and play.

For further details contact Andrea Pilling, Health Kick co-ordinator, on 0161 253 6463.

Parents and the wider community are invited to attend an information day at Heaton Park Primary School on July 13.

The school, on Cuckoo Lane, Whitefield, has been identified as requiring significant modernisation, and a children’s centre. It is planned to integrate the children’s centre on the school site.

Proposed drawings will be on display showing facilities and services being offered. Bury Council officers and the Heaton Park school management team will be available to answer questions.

Work is planned to start in early to mid 2010, and take nine months to complete. The information day is on Monday July 13, from 3pm to 6.30pm.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need to more about these proposals.
tim

Today was the Prestwich Carnival Parade - seemed to be loads more entries this year.
Well done to everyone involved.

More pictures here.

At today’s meeting of Greater Manchester’s Independent Transport Authority (ITA) (formerly the GMPTA), Manchester Liberal Democrat Councillor Keith Whitmore was elected as its first ever Lib Dem Chair.

Keith said “I am honoured that colleagues have put their faith in me. I will work across the political groups to campaign and lobby for a better deal for Greater Manchester, and a better Transport system across Greater Manchester.

This is a big day for Keith and the Lib Dems across Greater Manchester. He has been a Levenshulme Councillor for 30 years, and a member of the PTA/ITA for 20 years. No-one I know has more knowledge of transport issues, or is more committed to improving Public Transport across Greater Manchester.

It’s started with a storm at Prestwich Clough and should end in glorious sunshine at Prestwich Carnival. After 35 days, 55 events, 1,000’s of visitors to events, money raised for charity Prestwich Festival puts its feet up and says goodbye for 2009 with a final 5 days of fun.

The last free archery session is today (Thursday 18 June) at The Phoenix Centre. During the festival over 100 11 to 8 years olds have already enjoyed these free session’s.

This evening also sees the Festival Music Night taking place between 7pm and 10pm. It promises to bring the some classical sophistication to The Longfield Centre with a wonderful night of music with the Bury Music Service Band, Affetside Choir and to round off the evening, in grand style Besses o’ th’ Barn brass band.

Tomorrow, there will be a Friday Night Social - Shangri La at 8pm at, Carlton Club, Bury Old Road featuring live music. And finally a bumper weekend of family entertainment will take place at the Prestwich Carnival.

On Saturday 20 June a Football Tournament organized by FC United of Manchester will take place from 9am until 4pm at St. Mary’s Park.

As well as Butterstile Fun Day which takes place from 12.00 noon at Butterstile Primary School. The friends of Butterstile will be holding their traditional fun day. As part of the fun all the children from the school will have the chance to enter a series of competitions to celebrate Prestwich, the four categories are photographs, poems, paintings or portraits.

And finally on Sunday 21 June Prestwich Carnival Grand Parade kicks off at 1pm. The Parade arrives in the park at 2.30pm with six arenas showcasing local talent.

Read the rest of this entry.

The Highways Agency is advising drivers using the M60 between junctions 19 at Middleton and 23 at Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester to allow extra time to complete their journeys over the next six weekends.

Starting Friday (June 19), work is being carried out along this 6-mile section each weekend until August, weather permitting.

Read the rest of this entry.

Planners at Bury Council have given approval for state of the art new facilities at Prestwich Arts College, marking the end of a long campaign for improvements to the successful local school.

The Council’s Planning Control Committee voted on Tuesday 16th June to grant planning permission for a new dining room and arts auditorium for the school, which was threatened with closure back in 2005. Commenting on the news, local Lib Dem Councillor Tim Pickstone said “This is great news, not just for the school but for the whole community. Prestwich Arts College is the only high school in Bury without a dining room, and this news is long overdue. We’ve been lobbying the Council for years, and I’m glad they’ve finally seen sense and given Prestwich young people what they need.

Commenting on the new arts auditorium, Cllr Pickstone, who is also a governor of the school, said “This will be a first class facility for a top quality school. But more than that, it will be used as a community facility, bringing better arts provision for the whole of Prestwich. I’m delighted it’s been given the go-ahead.”

The new facilities will be built in the near future. Cllr Pickstone said “We need to listen to the concerns of local residents on Heys Road, Glebelands Road and other nearby streets to ensure that the plans do not adversely affect local residents. When we get the process right, Prestwich Arts College and the whole area will have splendid new facilities.

The summer edition of “News from Six”, the newsletter of Bury Council’s Housing Management Organisation Six Town Housing is now available and can be downloaded here.

After nearly 9 years of planning and over 2 years of renovation works, the Fusilier Museum in Bury opens its doors to visitors on the 27th June – British Armed Forces Day.

The museum displays a rich Regimental history spanning over 300 years and is the new home to the collection of the XXth Lancashire Fusilier Regiment, following the closure of the museum at Wellington Barracks last August. The museum also has a new collection, that of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Although the Regiment is 40 years old, this is the first time the Regiment has had its own museum and place to commemorate its history – from the streets of Northern Ireland to Afghanistan, were the Regiment is currently on active service.

The doors will open at 11am to welcome visitors. As this is also British Armed Forces day, there will be a chance to meet with colleagues and friends associated with the regiment, past present and future. There will also be children’s activities from 1pm onwards.

Said Mike Booth, the museums General Manager, ”The entrance today is free to thank all who have helped support this fantastic project that has had the support of the whole community – though of course, donations are always welcome!”

The museum also has a shop, café and is home to the towns Tourist Information Centre. The Fusilier Museum is set to become a major tourist attraction for visitors to Bury and the surrounding area.

WWW.fusiliersmuseum-lancashire.org.uk

The following statement was released from the Prestwich’s local Lib Dem Councillors last week:

Lib Dem Oasis Verdict: Room for Improvements, not 200,000 fans

Local Lib Dem Councillors have praised clean-up staff following recent Oasis concerts in Heaton Park, but voiced concerns that not enough was done to protect local people during the recent events. The concerts, which saw
210,000 people enjoy music in the park over three nights, generated controversy over noise, but passed largely without major trouble.

Commenting on the concerts, Cllr Vic D’Albert, Liberal Democrat member for Holyrood and Parliamentary candidate for Bury South said “What’s clear is that over 200,000 people came to Prestwich and had a great time. But there
were lots of problems for the people that live here, and we need to get the balance right. Before Manchester City Council think about having more concerts here, they need to think about Prestwich residents.”

Read the rest of this entry.

Just to update the many people who have been in touch with me and other Councillors today with concerns about the Oasis Concert.

We have fed ALL your concerns into the Senior Officer Team at Bury Council who have been liaising with the event organisers.

The following guidance is also currently being delivered to houses on Bury Old Road and Sheepfoot Lane to clarify the situation on parking restrictions. (This is from Bury Council).

OASIS CONCERTS
TEMPORARY WAITING RESTRICTIONS

Following a number of issues occurring at the first Oasis concert held on Thursday evening, this note seeks to clarify the position for residents in respect of the parking restrictions in place along Sheepfoot Lane and Bury Old Road.

The intention of the temporary waiting restrictions is to provide a safe environment for the people attending the concerts. In order to make this effective the restriction has to apply to all vehicles, including those belonging to residents.

This message has been conveyed to the Marshals and Enforcement Officers to ensure consistency in dealing with the matter.

I hope this eases the problem for the concerts over the weekend and I can assure you the process will be reviewed should any future events of this magnitude take place

I certainly was - you think anyone in this half of Prestwich could sleep though that?!
Oasis were forced to abandon the stage twice at their huge headline show at Manchester’s Heaton Park tonight (June 4) due to technical difficulties. (Source NME)

At around 9pm (BST) following support slots from Twisted Wheel, Reverend And The Makers (standing in for The Enemy, who cancelled due to frontman Tom Clarke falling ill) and Kasabian the band began their set with ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star’.

The song was stopped due to sound problems. The band headed off stage for around ten minutes to the sound of boos from the crowd.They then returned and began to play ‘Lyla’ – although that song was cut short due to further sound troubles.

The band left the stage again, while a message appeared on the stage screens declaring that the problems would be fixed as soon as technical staff could sort them out. The message explained that generator failure was causing the issues, while smoke could be seen emanating from the equipment. It was then updated to say “Almost there!”.

Oasis returned to the stage after around 40 minutes to successfully kick-start the set again with ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ and ‘Cigarettes And Alcohol’, with the Gallaghers promising to give fans their money back. “Really sorry about that,” Liam Gallagher told the crowd. “This is a free gig now. Everyone will get a refund.”

His brother Noel added: “The curfew’s 11, but we’ll play ’til they kick us off. Keep your ticket and you’ll get your money back.” Later in the set, Noel said: Kind of regret offering you your money back now. Apply for it back if you wanna be ______, we do our best for you.”

The band played a 24-song set, ending with their customary cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Am The Walrus’ at 11:20pm.

Please let us know what your experiences were as a local resident. We are hearing reports of:
- excessive noise (lots of bleary eyed Prestwich people at work and school today……)
- parking problems, especially around the south of the Park, and on the Rhodes/Bowlee side of the Park.
- alcohol nuisance.

It could be that some issues could be resolved before Saturday’s and Sunday’s concerts, when people have to listen to it all again…..

tim

Labour have held on to the seat of their former leader in the Radcliffe West by-election.
Lab 30.7%
Con 30.4%
BNP 16.0%
LD 15.0%
ED 8.0%
Well done to Liberal Demorat candidate Mike Halsall and his hardworking team who saw the Lib Dem vote more than double from last time.

Tomorrow is polling day for the European Election and several key Borough by-elections.

European elections have traditionally been low-key and largely ignored by the press, this time they are mentioned in
every news bulletin, and the media have begun to notice that the Lib Dems do have unique selling points.

Sunday’s Observer leader says

This Thursday’s vote is being held in a uniquely febrile climate. It should be about Europe; it will be about the expenses scandal. On both counts, it is a moment to reward the principled consistency of the Liberal
Democrats.

And in yesterday’s Guardian

The case for supporting the Liberal Democrats is now very strong. People should remember, too, that on two other great crises - the debt-driven collapse of high finance and climate change - the Lib Dems led the way.”

Remember, due to the list system used in the European election, the difference between electing Helen Foster-Grime as our second Lib Dem MEP, or the BNP’s odious Nick Griffin may come down to just a handful of votes!

School pupils are to be rewarded for designing Bury libraries’ new junior membership card.

The library service had asked all schools in the borough to put forward designs, and the winners were Isaac Mason (aged 11) from St Stephen’s Primary School and Brenda Achieng (aged 13) from Prestwich Arts College.

There are two new junior membership cards, and a new adult card which features the new library branding plus key fob.

Read the rest of this entry.

Help is at hand for residents struggling to pay their mortgage in the current credit crunch.

Bury Council is taking part in the Government’s £200 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme, to prevent vulnerable families losing their homes through repossession.

The scheme is specifically aimed at families who have had all the help their lender is willing to offer.

There are two possible solutions the scheme can provide, but only the most suitable option will be offered:

Read the rest of this entry.

Two additional statements have been released from Bury Council regarding the Oasis Concerts in Heaton Park on Thursday 4th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2009.

This statement is on the proposed street cleaning operation, and this statement deals with road and metrolink closures.

The main factheet is here.

Nick Clegg has taken a strong stand on cleaning up Parliament and leading the call for a complete overhaul of our political system. Last week at Prime Minister’s Question Time he challenged Gordon Brown to reform our electoral systems. Now even Brown’s own ministers are echoing Nick’s call.

Nick is making the case to:
- Give people the right to sack MPs
- Stop all big party political donations
- Elect the House of Lords
- Make the voting system fair - so that governments can’t just get all that power and all that money with only a minority of you voting for them
- Put an end to self serving politics and put you back in charge
- But Nick can’t do it all on his own. He needs our help.

Oasis are performing in Heaton Park on Thursday 4th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th 2009.
The event management team are distributing this leaflet to nearby residents this weekend, but no doubt the concerts will affect everyone in Prestwich.

Prestwich is going to be VERY BUSY on the days of the concert - so please be prepared! Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any information or help.

The text of the factsheets is reproduced here, or you can download printable versions of page one here and page two here.

Oasis will be playing three concerts on the 4, 6 and 7 June and on each day there will be a series of road closures in place in and around the concert venue at Heaton Park.

Road closures will come in to place on the evening of each concert from 9.30pm onwards until the audience has dispersed and the roads can safely be opened, which is anticipated to be around 1am.

The road closures will affect:
• Bury Old Road between Heywood Road and Scholes Lane/Sheepfoot Lane;
• Sheepfoot Lane, between Bury Old Road and Middleton Road.

Read the rest of this entry.

Readers can pick up a bargain when Prestwich Library holds a sale of withdrawn items on June 13 and 14. A large number of adult non-fiction books are up for grabs, along with Jewish non-fiction, junior fiction books and a selection of DVDs.

The library is open from 9am to 1pm on Saturday June 13, and from 10am to 2pm on Sunday June 14. Telephone 0161 253 7214/7216 for further details of the sale or check our website www.bury.gov.uk/libraries for information on all library service

As part of Bike Week 2009, Love Your Bike.org are encouraging Bury council and businesses, schools and people in Bury to take the CycleGM Commuter Challenge.

Many people think that doing regular exercise is time consuming and expensive, but it does not have to be. Staff can incorporate exercise into their routines by cycling for 15-30 minutes (2 - 5 miles) to and
from work every day instead of taking the car. Over 50% of the car journeys in Greater Manchester are less than 5 miles.

The commuter challenge is simple, all people have to do is cycle to and from their place of work/study at least once during Bike Week (13th – 21st June).

People can take part in the Commuter Challenge on an individual basis. To enter, just visit this website during Bike Week and fill out the online entry form.

Or they can register as a business, organisation, school or college and challenge their staff or students to take part as a team. There are three £100 prizes for the company, organisation or education
facility who collectively cycle the most miles during Bike Week.

Cycling to work makes sense. Here are six good reasons to take part and try something different
* A chance to win £100 in the prize draq
* Lose pounds: 30 minutes of cycling 5 times a week will burn off the equivalent of 11 kg of fat per year
* be fitter and feel younger… well, regular cyclists do enjoy a level of fitness equivalent to someone ten years younger
* Get there quicker - beat the traffic congestion queues.
* reduce your risk of heart attack. Physical activity reduces the risk of developing major chronic diseases (e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes) by up to 50%, and the risk of premature death by about 20-30%
* Reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution

Cycling is a fantastic way for people to improve their health, whatever their current condition. They will soon notice the difference.

Please encourage people to take the Greater Manchester Commuter Challenge. See this website for more details.

Last night was the regular termly meeting of the Governors of St Margaret’s Primary School on Heywood Road. This is one of the two local schools where I serve as a Governor.

Here are the main issues from the evening:

Buildings
The Buildings Sub-Committee (of which I’m a member) met up before the main meeting to have a “walk round” the school to look at building issues and ideas. We were able to take a look at the recent improvement to the staff toilet blocks, but also have a think about some of the things that could be done over the coming years to improve the facilities in school. We’re going to meet up again in September to take some of these ideas forward.

Budget
We agreed the School Budget for the 2009-2010 (academic) year. There has been a lot of discussion in Bury’s schools about “excessive balances” (e.g. Schools holding on or saving up money that they have been given by the local Council). The Council does have the power to take back excessive unspent money - fortunately this doesn’t apply to St Margaret’s.

Admissions
There has been a particular problem in the next academic year as significantly more children wanted to come to St Margarets as their “first preference” than there are places. The school has become a very popular and successful school which is a tribute to everyone involved. Regrettably what this means is that some children in the school’s traditional “catchment” area are having to be offered their second preference, though many are going through the appeals process. If seems particularly ridiculous when children from Simister cannot get into St Margarets, as they have to walk / drive past to get anywhere else! I will be raising this with the Authority.

Traffic Safety
At the request of the Governing Body I met with Bury Council’s traffic engineer to look the chiccane and traffic calming measures that were introduced a couple of years ago to reduce the speed of traffic on Heywood Road as it passes the two schools. Some people have reported excessive waiting times at the chiccane at school opening/closing times. We had a good discussion about this, and I agreed to take back ideas about improving safety, particularly around the bend as Heywood Road passes the Parenthorn ‘estate’.

Please get in touch if you need to know more.
tim

Many residents have expressed concern over the Oasis concerts which are taking place in Heaton Park on Thursday 4th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2009. (There is no concert on the Friday).

As your councillors we have raised a great number of concerns to the event organisers and to Bury Council which is part of the event management group.

Whilst I’m sure we all wish the concerts to be a great success, we do have to live here as well! The Local Area Partnership in Prestwich has had two presentations on the plans, and what measures have been put in place to manage traffic, parking, litter, noise and local residents needs.

The event organisers have prepared this set of Answers to “Frequently asked Questions” to help local residents plan for the event.

Please get in touch if there are other issues you wish us to raise in advance of the event.

The Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto for Europe: “Choose a different, better future”

Labour’s recession is hurting people badly.

- Unemployment is rising every day
- People are worried their businesses could go under
- Every week people are losing their homes
- Ministers are too busy fighting among themselves to govern properly

The Liberal Democrats will give people the help they need.

Read the rest of this entry.

The Love Prestwich Festival kicks off tomorrow with the Prestwich Clough Day on Sunday 17 June 2009, and then runs right through to Prestwich Carnival on 21 June. Between these two main events are no less than 55 other events that make up the first ever Pretwich Festival.

The Festival has been funded largely by the Local Area Partnership in Prestwich which brings together your local councillors with partners and community groups, together with voluntary donations and sponsorship. Its a brilliant way to celebrate the place we all live in, so why not go along to some of the events!

The full programme is available here.

“TRANSPORT FUNDING PROVES WASTE IN C-CHARGE DEBATE” SAY LIB DEMS

Bury Liberal Democrats have reacted to the news that £1.4bn transport investment in Greater Manchester which has been made despite the rejection of congestion charging in last year’s referendum.

Speaking after news of the investment was made public, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesman for Bury North, Cllr Richard Baum, said “The fact that these improvements to transport are happening without a congestion charge finally exposes the pro-charge campaign’s key message as a complete lie. They said that there was no Plan B, but there obviously was and this is it.”

Bury Lib Dems led the fight against congestion charging, securing Council backing for their motion rejecting the charge. Cllr Baum continued “The whole c-charge idea wasted millions of pounds of public money for absolutely no reason. Not only was the proposal hugely expensive and riddled with flaws, it now turns out to have been totally unnecessary.”

Cllr Baum gave a cautious welcome to the extra money, but warned that there were still many unanswered questions to resolve. “£1.4bn into Greater Manchester is great news. But we should remember that this is our taxpayers’ money to begin with, trying to make up for decades of under-investment. This new package still doesn’t give Bury what it needs. We will still have an inadequate bus service, an expensive tram service, and little in the way of incentives for cycling and walking. The government are giving us back some of our money, but nowhere near enough.”

“I also have concerns about the deal that’s been done to get this funding. There will be Council Tax increases to pay for it, and all local Councils in Greater Manchester have had to give up a large part of the local transport grant which could have been directed to local schemes. The government are giving with one hand and taking away with the other. And none of this has come before Bury Council for a vote or even a discussion. Once again the people of Bury are being ignored by the government. Our Council Tax will pay for a bypass in Wigan and a busway in Leigh, and whilst these are welcome schemes, the Councillors of Bury have been denied their say once again.”

Last night was the regular meeting of the Prestwich Local Area Partnership. This is the meeting that brings together your nine local Prestwich councillors, together with community representatives and parter organisations like the Police and NHS Bury.