From the Canal to Sevenways

Author: admin

  • Public Schools – Elitist, Exclusive and Exempt

    The Tory loyalists have got themselves into a lather at Conservative Home. The charity commission have had the downright cheek to threaten removing the charitable status of two public schools; St Anselm’s in Bakewell and Highfield Priory in Preston. The Preston school does not provide any bursaries; its only claim to charitable status according to the Independentbeing that “it kept its fees as low as it could”. Don’t Asda and Tesco make the same claim? Perhaps they should be given charitable status. St Anselm’s used 1% of its fees to provide a paltry two bursaries to two pupils, who I’m sure were heavily vetted.

    The two schools have been given a year to sort themselves out. But even this generosity has upset the Tories. They consider the exclusivity afforded to public schools is a charitable aim in itself.
    We live in a country that provides universal free education. I have therefore long held the view that private schooling in our country cannot be considered a charitable act and that therefore it should never be given the same status as legitimate charities such as Oxfam and Cancer Relief. My party has been far too timid in its approach. It pains me that these two schools will be able to negotiate the minimum changes to their provision to allow them to continue to receive a subsidy from all of us. The charitable status should have been removed from our elitist public schools long ago. But it’s clear that the Tories want to remove any expectation of bursaries or similar and consider the charitable status is their birthright.
    Mike Cordingley
    First published 14 July 2009

  • Trafford Park Station continued

    I spotted this report on the Manchester Evening News political blog of David Ottewell , their chief politcal correspondent. Since the report suggests that the minister, Chris Mole, would like to experience the overcrowding for himself, I thought I’d get in there and make the point that it’s not just the packed trains that put people off; the timetable means that for many, there won’t be a convenient train back. I’ve therefore written the following letter:

    Dear Chris,

     

    I am writing in respect of a Manchester Evening News story from Friday 10th July reporting on the constructive dialogue between Gtr Manchester Integrated Transport Authority delegates and yourself. The report is copied below:

     

    Leading members of Greater Manchester Integrated Authority (GMITA) headed down to London for their ‘showdown’ talks with transport minister Chris Mole.

    They were angry that the Department for Transport plans to cut back on the 182 extra train carriages for Northern Rail services, including those covering Greater Manchester.

    Apparently the talks were ‘constructive and encouraging’, with Mr Mole ‘listening very carefully’.

    He’s even promised to come up to Manchester to experience train overcrowding for himself.

     

    I hope that you don’t mind me attempting to highlight another aspect of the rail service in Manchester at the same time, but I’d hate to miss the opportunity.

     

    I have two stations serving my ward, Humphrey Park and Trafford Park. The 8:14am from Humphrey Park achieved national notoriety a year or so ago as the third most overcrowded in the country.

     

    Trafford Park is the last ‘picking up’ stop on the same commuting journey as Humphrey Park and by definition is even more overcrowded. It’s therefore clear that most authentic overcrowding experience in Gtr Manchester can be found at Trafford Park station.

     

    However, it is not overcrowding that I wish to highlight. In fact, many of the commuters at these two stations consider an overcrowded train still to be a luxury. Their biggest complaint is that the timetable does not provide an adequate off peak service with no trains at all on a Sunday. I particularly highlight Trafford Park as the busier of the two stations.

     

    Trafford Park Station

    The station sits in a high density residential area of Stretford (much of which is deprived economically) and offers a convenient regular 7 minute journey to the city centre in rush hour period only. It is also the most convenient station for supporters coming from the west e.g. Warrington / Widnes etc for Old Trafford football ground which is about 10mins walk from the station.

     

    I must distinguish between the express Trans Pennine services and local services originating at Warrington or Irlam. These local (non express) trains are running regularly during the off peak period and on Sundays, but on the whole they don’t stop at Trafford Park. This is particularly galling considering that:

     

    • Manchester United play so many of their matches on a Sunday, so the option of using the train rather than the car never becomes a habit.

     

    • Part time workers can’t use the train to commute as they are unlikely to find the timetable provides a convenient two way option.

     

    There are two ironies to this; the local trains that trundle through without stopping are not crowded, and at peak times when the overcrowding occurs, the timetable is actually quite good; trains stop half hourly rather than the 120-150 minute frequency during the off-peak.

     

    From my point of view as a ward councillor, I see the Trafford Park station as a squandered resource. It sits in a vicinity requiring a catalyst for regeneration. It is not served by bus services. We have this wonderful facility that other areas only dream about, but we can’t take advantage of it because the operators won’t add an extra 90 seconds to the journey time, allowing the train to be used by the people of Stretford.

     

    I hope that you will take the opportunity to experience the peak-time overcrowding at Trafford Park, but I hope that you will also look beyond the peak-time commute; to see what really needs to happen to allow this wonderful resource to be used by the people ofStretford.

     

    Your very best wishes

     

    Councillor Mike Cordingley

    Labour Member for Gorse Hill Ward

    First Published 12 July 2009

    http://gorsehill-labour.blogspot.com/2009/07/trafford-park-station.html

  • Lostock Allocations Policy

    This morning’s meeting was really well attended. It really demonstrated a commitment to making the new development a success. Trafford’s waiting list is incredibly high and it’s getting bigger so balancing those pressures to ensure a cohesive future for Lostock is the challenge.

    First Published

    10 July 2009 http://gorsehill-labour.blogspot.com/2009/07/lostock-allocations-policy.html

  • Mersey Valley

    I was at the AGM of the Mersey Valley today. The state of maintenance of the Trafford managed areas is a real cause for concern. One of the first things that our Tory council did was to withdraw grounds maintenance funding from the Mersey Valley warden service, saying that they could maintain the areas more cost effectively themselves. Regrettably, that grounds maintenance has now pretty much reached zero for the Mersey Valley in Trafford. 

    So the Mersey Valley staff that remain are getting it in the neck over the state of maintenance but they can’t do anything about it. They can only do the maintenance on the Manchester side of the boundary. You can’t really expect Manchester to pay to maintain Trafford, but ridiculously this seems to be the argument that Trafford are employing. All in all, these are difficult days for the Mersey Valley.

    Mike Cordingley

    First posted 9 July 2009 http://gorsehill-labour.blogspot.com/2009/07/mersey-valley-joint-committee.html

  • St Georges Day Parade

    Those of us that spent any time in the cubs or scouts will well remember the emphasis placed on the St Georges Day Parade. It was the one day of the year where suddenly we’d discover other packs and somehow out of nowhere we’d find that we’d got bands, drummers and pipers. 

    Together we’d proudly march the local streets before coming together in a local park. 

    The scouts’ St Georges Day promoted the best aspects of the celebration of this national day; it wasn’t a promotion of battles won or battles lost, it didn’t discriminate between class, creed or ethnicity. It’s a tradition that maintained in Stretford all through the years until 2008.

    Whatever the reasons for this year’s cancellation, whether the fault lies with the police or Trafford Council, the lack of a parade this year is a shameful omission. It embarasses us all. 

    Mike Cordingley

    First published 23rd April 2009

    http://gorsehill-labour.blogspot.com/2009/04/st-georges-day.html

  • Old Trafford Masterplan – A new look for the cricket ground and beyond

    This sports themed regeneration of the area between Chester Road and Old Trafford Cricket Ground is a hugely ambitious, complex and far-reaching project.

    The proposed component parts include:

    • A modern cricket ground with increased capacity and associated leisure / hotel facilities.
    • A new Accademy to replace Lostock College and Stretford High School
    • A large Tesco’s
    • New residential and office areas
    • A new look to the Talbot Road area

    More details are on the website.

    First published 22 March 2009 http://gorsehill-labour.blogspot.com/2009/03/old-trafford-masterplan.html