I was asked on the doorstep tonight ahead of tomorrow’s election about Labour’s policy for the aviation sector. It was such an interesting question. To be honest, I struggled a little with it. I have such a conflicting internal dialogue on this subject and certainty is never going to leap forth from my lips.
As a Trafford Councillor, Trafford is very dependent in the medium term on the Manchester Airport Dividend.
As a socialist, I want to see working people have the same access to international travel as the very wealthiest
Yet,
Planes are inherently linked to climate change
It feels simply wrong that it’s cheaper to fly to somewhere like Prague than it is to go by train to London.
I can tell you that locally we want Manchester Airport to flourish but my voter wanted reassurance over air fuel taxes. I’m interested in how people feel Labour should balance this?
Trying to give a flavour of what’s been happening.
I’ve already written one piece on Trafford’s finances, so I want to report on some other things that have been going on, but for a councillor, the February budget-setting meeting is probably the most important on the calendar. It didn’t feel like that last week and the headline references the lack of focus coming from the other parties
I also want to mention some of the more interesting things that have been happening locally. The story that everyone’s had an opinion on is the Stretford sun loungers, but I also want to celebrate Lostock Park’s outdoor gym because I’ve been using it.
The Davyhulme Park scheme was part of the Urmston Active Neighbourhood, a project that aims to develop a safe and attractive walking and cycling network for the Urmston area. The wider project is community-led and is being developed by One Trafford Partnership. The project aims to encourage people to make walking and cycling a natural choice for shorter journeys, which will improve their health and the air quality in the area.
The Davyhulme scheme would have seen heavy planters like those above installed on several roads in the area to prevent through traffic between Lostock Circle and Urmston Town Centre. The problem was that the road closures imposed more problems on the people living in the area than on through traffic. The community fed back on the plans to this effect and the Davyhulme Scheme is now cancelled and won’t be revived.
Lostock Park
Hiptwister
The park already boasts the best skateboard facility in Trafford, but they’re by no means finished.
Lostock Park’s newly installed outdoor gym is breathtaking. Without doubt it is the best outdoor gym in the north of Trafford and probably for many miles around. The winter rain has made it a little squelchy in one patch but hopefully, once the grass re-establishes itself that will sort itself.
It’s been ideal for me. After having my heart attack at the end of September, I’m trying to boost my fitness. I’m doing cardiac rehab at the George Carnall centre on a Thursday which is great, but I need a daily exercise. I have never been to an indoor gym and to be honest, it doesn’t appeal, but I do like these outdoor machines. The instructions are on the machines and I think I’m using them effectively. Today was my third consecutive day there and I believe they call it a burn, but I’m definitely feeling it.
The Friends of Lostock Park have once again excelled at getting investment in without fuss and making a real difference. Given so much they have delivered is health and fitness orientated, they’re really making a difference.
Trafford’s Budget
Budget Council took place last week (21st February). This key date on the council calendar always generates much excitement. Over the years the chamber has seemed to fizz, spark and crackle with fierce rival parties throwing verbal grenades about the opening hours of a library or some other highly contentious policy choice from the ruling group of the day.
This year turned out rather dull despite the extreme gravity of the council’s current financial position. The three opposition parties each proposed amendments to the budget proposals.
The Conservatives proposed using latest JCB equipment on potholes
The Lib Dems proposed free car parking in Timperley.
The Green Party proposed using number plate recognition technology to identify parents taking their children to school in a car.
I can see a degree of merit in all the opposition proposals. We do need more innovation from Amey, car park charges shouldn’t undermine trade in Timperley – (we can keep an eye on it). Finally, we do need to encourage walking to school but I worry about the surveillance culture.
However, the real problem with these budget amendments is that they don’t address the precipitous financial predicament we’re in. We’re using £5.6m of reserves to plug the gap in this coming financial year. The rise in council tax brings in £3.6m plus £2.4m for the social care element. That £5.6m from reserves is going to leave a hole we’ll have to fill next year before we even think of trying to keep up with rising costs. Even increasing council tax next year will just about cover the £5.6m. But at the same time, we have a Designated School Grant (DSG) time-bomb that’s currently cushioned by a ‘statutory override’ – essentially an instruction from the government not to make it active in the accounts until March 2026 when it won’t be this government’s problem.
The budget report section on the statutory override says at 1.5.12
“However, the statutory override is only in place to 31 March 2026. At this point, if there is no further extension, Trafford’s accumulated DSG deficit has potential to be greater than the Council’s total reserves in which case it would be technically insolvent and mean a S114 would be required.”
Paragraph 1.5.12 in Trafford’s budget report
I used a picture of Mr Micawber to illustrate a blog piece on the council finances. I honestly don’t know if something will indeed turn up. Our saving grace is that we’re not alone, but it felt like if we all pretended that everything will turn out right, then it probably would.
The block is closing. It’s a mammoth task to find appropriate new homes for over 100 tenancies. A lot of progress has been made and we’ve worked with L&Q along this path. Hopefully, we’ll have it all done ahead of time. I think they’ve made some real progress. We’ve been very impressed with the work that Kerry and the other officers have put into this and many residents are already fixed up.
Stretford Sun Loungers
The work to transform what used to be Stretford Arndale/Mall continues as does the reshaping of Kingsway.
It’s fair to say the new stylised seating has been a talking point. The Daily Mail has taken a pop at us for installing “Benidorm-style sun loungers. It was a bit of a shock to see them. Despite representing a part of Stretford that is key that is key to its vibrancy, infuriatingly Lostock and Barton councillors don’t get consulted on our town centre. Nevertheless, I like them and I want more.
Seating is a vital part of bringing our streets back to life. Places to sit and talk are a vital part of a liveable town. It doesn’t rain all the time. A few years back TfGM were removing seats from bus shelters. Seats were seen as a problem. Seats are never the problem, it’s the lack of facilities for young people that is the problem. Seats that allow conversations are always a good thing.
I don’t know whether the transformation of the mall will work. Even if the Mall regeneration eventually fails I’d still be supportive of the provision of seating. I know my friends at my physio class were laughing at those sun beds. The interesting thing about that conversation was they were all sat down laughing at it. Conversations are better sat down and I’ve seen more smiles on Kingsway this week than I have done in a long time.
General Casework Roundup
I’ve had a variety of casework recently.
Dog Poo in path between Ely Ave and Barton Road. This is a particular blight on a daily schedule. It’s clearly a big dog and no attempt to clear the mess is taking place. (ongoing)
Rehousing issue (currently dormant whilst other solutions explored)
Hedging Issue (ongoing)
A number of drainage issues in roads (ongoing)
They will be missed
We have lost two veteran champions for the area. Ann Day and Tony Lloyd will be hugely missed.
Ann, John in the background and myself at Lostock Library
Ann was chair of Lostock High School, chair of Trafford health watch and championed local communities throughout her life. She was generous and always working. A huge loss to this area and her lovely family.
I will miss Ann terribly.
Tony Lloyd was our MP when I first joined the Labour Party. He was a Labour man in the true sense of the word. The tributes from all corners of political life say everything that needs to be said about him.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and six, result misery.
Mr Micawber’s Principle from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Mr Micawber’s rules for personal finance are still cited. They rather disregard mortgages and credit, but they still have some worth. The one area in which the rule still pertains with absolute adherence is in local government finance.
The work on the Trafford Council budget is usually largely decided upon by this time of the year. It’s never been an easy task, but we would normally have made our choices and be ready to prepare for the February Budget Meeting of Council. Our choices this year are awful and they’re getting worse.
It’s not just in Trafford either. Strange words and numerals, ‘section 114’ have started to be heard regularly in news bulletins usually accompanied by the more familiar phrases, “council” and “bankruptcy”.
A Section 114 notice is not bankruptcy as a normal business would see it, but no one wants the commissioners in!
In the context of how private businesses manage their accounts, the circumstances of a council having to issue a Section 114 notice bear no resemblance to that of a business facing bankruptcy. It’s just one year where the council’s expenditure is forecast to exceed its projected income. For the chief officer of a council though it’s just about as bad as it can get!
Commissioners called in on a Section 114 notice, never use the poker! (unless they have to)
Trafford needs to get itself into a position where it has sufficient income to cover the statutory functions it is obliged to provide in 2024/2025. It will have to do so either by increasing its income or by reducing that expenditure.
Sources of Council Income
Council Tax is the main source of income. Trafford has traditionally kept council low. Since 2010, the council’s ability to increase its council tax has been limited with a period of effective freeze followed by percentage caps on increases. As a consequence, if anything, Trafford has fallen further behind.
Nevertheless, despite the capping of council tax, the degree to which Trafford relies on Council Tax has increased. In 2008 council tax made up 55% of our income, this year it makes up 58% of our income. The Government has decreed extra responsibilities such as Public Health, but accompanied by lower levels of central funding.
Decline in Central Funding
Fees and Charges
Sales, Fees, Charges and Rents brought in £46m this year and I’m sure there’s an expectation to bring in more next year. The sale of council properties and assets is an exhaustive process. It can be counterproductive and increasing fees and charges beyond what the public will tolerate is a fool’s errand.
Undoubtedly, there’ll be some increases. For instance, I don’t have any explanation as to why we don’t charge for Sunday parking but it wouldn’t bring in huge amounts.
So, Council Tax has to go up again from April!
Our Income
We know that council tax will rise is schedule to rise by 4.99% including 2% dedicated to social care. On top of our council tax income, we’re granted various amounts from Government as well as Business Rates. By December our total funded spending was scheduled to be £212m.
The Government describes this figure as the Core Spending Power of a Council.
Our Spending
The latest published figures show a projected expenditure of £218m. This figure was included in November’s draft budget. It’s clearly out of date. However, whilst the leadership team were tasked with getting this figure down, we know that actually, the £218m figure has been growing. So it’s getting harder. The government has found another £500m nationally for social care but our share in Trafford won’t be enough on its own to bridge the gap.
If our Council Tax was at the average level in Greater Manchester we would not have this gap, but it would require Trafford to break the Government’s cap on Council Tax increases to get there.
We’re in an especially difficult position because our reserves are so low. We will have to use reserves in the current year.
Whilst the Tory Government has been using Local Government to carry so much of the austerity burden, I’m not expecting any future Labour Government to ride up over the hill and bestow their beneficence on Trafford. We are not in a good position.
I suspect we’ll have to make some painful choices, but we’ll get to a balanced budget. We need to get to a position that is sustainable for a few years and that’s going to be incredibly difficult.
Mr Micawber was wont to say “Something will Turn Up!”.
My term as Trafford’s representative on the governing body of Manchester Universtity NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) began on the 20th September. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances I found myself accompanying my partner to Trafford General’s Urgent Care Centre on that day. So I had to miss the MFT AGM. I didn’t know it at the time, but it wasn’t going to be my last involvement as a service user.
Ten days later on the 30th September I suffered a heart attack during the last half mile of a Parkrun at Stretford. That was the Saturday. By the Tuesday I was having a stent inserted at Manchester Royal.
I’ve since learned that it’s not a mandatory requirement for new MFT governors to have subjected themselves to life reviving procedures as part of their induction onto the governing body, but I tell you it really underlines the importance of this institution to our lives.
MFT is the single largest Foundation Trust in the country, with 10 hospitals and community services located across Manchester and Trafford. It’s largest employer in Greater Manchester. It’s an internationally important research facility as well as being our premier acute care provider. It matters.
The governing body’s role to hold the Board of Directors to account. So whilst I’ve had a lot of induction meetings, the first business meeting I could formerly observe as governor was Monday the 13th’s Board Meeting.
Mark Cubbon MFT’s CEX provided his top 3 current concerns:
Financial Position
Our financial position, whilst still very difficult, has stabilised in Months 5 and 6. We continue to take appropriate action to deliver improvements to our run-rate throughthe application of enhanced controls, delivering improvements in productivity, and through the delivery of further waste reduction. We are on track to deliver £116m of waste reduction and we have a plan to deliver £136m by the end of the financial year. We remain committed to the delivery of our plan, and while we have seen an improvement in our position, significant risks remain.
Impact of Industrial Action
Industrial action continues to present challenges for our patients and staff, as well as having an impact on our operational efficiency. Should further episodes occur in the coming months this will present additional significant risks to our plans to reduce waiting times for our patients and could also impact on efforts to address our financial position, as outlined above.
While taking every reasonable step to reduce the impact on our patients, it has been necessary for MFT to stand-down and rebook circa 18,400 appointments across 8 periods of industrial action since the beginning of April 2023.
Clearly we need government to modify its demands for real-terms pay cuts from staff.
Winter Preparedness
Preparation for the winter period is a key focus for our clinical and operational teams as we are likely to see increased pressures across acute and community services with associated impact on bed capacity and flow in our emergency departments. It is imperative that we have robust plans in place to monitor and respond to surges and ensure that we are working collaboratively both internally and with local partners to safeguard our patients and operational resilience.
Elective capacity will be protected as much as possible over winter months through the optimisation of Trafford as our elective surgical hub.
Trafford General perfomance will thus be key in the trust’s efforts to reduce waiting times.
Other Snippets
Hive / MyMft
Getting the Trust’s IT optimised has been a key component of the drive for efficiency. Hive is the electronic patient record that’s been introduced, replacing a lot of disparate systems. It’s now live. There’s still some ironing out but the board is hopeful of it delivering a better system for staff and for patients.
MyMft is the patient facing app. The takeup from users has already reached 300,000. I know from my own experience that I’m getting almost a letter a day in connection with my treatment. There’s huge savings to be made by using the app to deliver.
It makes me smile that it provides electronic check-ins for appointments. It should allow for better use of the practitioner’s time as we move forward. Some of the routine questions like whether there’s any change to medication can be better handled by app.
Hospital at Home
I want to understand more about this ambition but the intention is to have more patients getting ‘hospital care’ in their home or in community settings. It could really help with winter pressures.
Recruitment
MfT being the largest hospital trust in the country is an attractive place to work. It’s a place with cutting edge research that enhances careers as well as patient outcomes. The board welcomed the appointment of 31 new consultants across the trust.
Touch wood, I seem to be recovering well from my heart attack. I’m taking short bicycle rides and making sure I exercise daily. I’m trying to lose some weight too, I’m just eating at meal times and I’ve completely stopped snacking. The scales don’t seem to be shifting as much as I’d hoped but it’s early days.
I’d had hints prior to the heart attack of something not being right and I wish I’d been more assertive in getting it checked. So my advice is make sure you have your check-ups. I can see that heart attacks are no respecter of sex or age.
I suppose I ought to make a full disclosure: l am on the record as preferring the demolition of the Mall and pretty much most of King Street apart from the former Post Office.
I felt the old town centre was turned in on itself and didn’t even attempt to capture passing walking trade coming from the Metrolink or bus connections. I overwhelmingly lost that argument. The majority wanted to retain and improve salvageable assets in the then-existing layout. I get that and I’m happy to support the regeneration of the town centre via the retention of parts of the Mall that have had the roof removed.
Generally, I think there’s a consensus that the centre should be smaller and that the night-time economy; restaurants, entertainment and bars should play an increasing role. There’s a general acceptance the space created in reducing the Mall can be used for housing. Nevertheless, it’s vital that the town centre continues its day job of performing as a place for routine shopping and services. I sense that the scale of retail is still not settled.
We know that King Street is the retail heart of the centre and that links via King St Square to Quality Save and Little King Street next to the multi-storey car park.
Known retail arteries of redeveloped town centre
What I don’t know is what is going on around that new ‘central park’ just below the multi-storey. If those blocks are purely residential I think we have a problem. On the other hand, if the ground floors are taken up by prime retail like Marks and Spencer, or similar then that changes everything.
This image below hints at shop fronts surrounding the central park. I wish they were more explicit as it makes all the difference to my thoughts on the Central Park in the consultation below.
Consultation
The latest consultation covers three aspects. It covers:
the maximum heights of apartment blocks,
the realignment of the central park strip of green space.
a revision in car-parking to retain surface parking for Aldi,
Maximum Heights
The architecture is important. The consultation is on a desire to increase the height of blocks close to the centre to 12 storeys. This is still 3 storeys shy of Circle Court at Lostock Circle, so it’s hardly massive. And while Circle Court became hard to update, it was never the scale that was the problem. It was a very popular block with tenants.
Judging by public submissions, however, not to mention social media, these medium-sized towers do seem incredibly unpopular with Stretford residents. My problem is that they’re hidden away. I really want Stretford to have active frontages facing on Kingsway and Chester Road. The interior elements of the centre should be peeping out and enticing me to shop. The apartments should work with the retail elements to put people and movement in at ground level.
It doesn’t look at this stage that the residential is integrated with the retail elements very much at all. As a whole, the development looks to be zoned. I don’t mind the heights so much as the fact residential elements are not working with the retail elements as much as I had anticipated.
I’m hoping the computer-generated images are just illustrative. There are many examples of really good integration between retail and residential. It’s nothing new, Paris managed this more than 100 years ago.
Reorientation of Central Park
We were discussing this on Facebook. I think we came to the conclusion that it would work better as a paved square area. I wonder if the aspiration for green space is working against good design. It does deserve to be the prime area in the whole development with the best retail units.
Aldi retail surface car park
I hate this proposal. It cuts Aldi off leaving no interplay with the town centre. The ‘left-turn in, left-turn out’ proposal is awful, putting more traffic onto the roads, looking for somewhere to do a U-turn. Lastly, the car park itself works as barrier for those walking from the Sevenways direction.
Summing Up
On the whole, this is still exciting. I’m not sure the consultation has helped. It’s not easy to consult on heights of buildings without understanding how the buildings interact with the centre. All the focus has been on King Street and Little King Street. The town centre is so much more than this. I can’t pretend to like the arrangement with Aldi but there are hints there are contractual obligations that have to be met. I’d love to see Central Park become a town square with good quality retail on four sides. I’m still hopeful.
The proposals limit north-south traffic cutting through roads like Wallingford and Guildford Roads. It focuses east-west traffic on Lostock Road, Winchester Road and Canterbury Road.
Railway Road will no longer be a through road.
Full list of closures – these will often effectively create new cul-de-sacs or crescent arrangements:
Sandgate Drive – Point closure
Salisbury Road – Point closure
Exeter Road – Point closure
Rochester Road/Westminster Road Junction – Point closure
Lichfield Road – south of Lichfield Road/ Westminster Road Junction – Point closure
Winchester Rd/Westbourne Rd junction – Point closure
Furness Rd/Newstead Rd Junction – Point closure
Newstead Road/Sherborne Road Junction – Point closure
On Abingdon Road northwest of Newstead Rd/Abingdon Rd Junction – Point closure
Wallingford Road at Y-Junction – Point closure
on the eastern arm of Railway Road at Railway Rd/Westbourne Park Junction Point closure
Granville Road/Langley Close Junction – Point closure with cycle-about
My view
I don’t pretend this is where I would prioritise my active travel interventions. My view has always been to focus first on enabling people to cross those roads that sever neighbourhoods through their sheer weight of traffic. People who can’t get across the main road won’t pick up a bike anyway, so enabling people to get across is essential. That would mean a lot of new crossings.
That said, a strategic decision was taken to make Urmston an active neighbourhood and these plans attempt to address some of the concerns raised by residents where rat-running is an issue and they do include a few new crossings.
So this is for a trial of at least six months. It’s created a lot of comments on FaceBook, mostly adverse. I talked to a few residents while I was riding through the area today. No one I spoke to was totally against it, although a few wondered if it was a good use of money. Some only vaguely knew about it. Others were disappointed that the busiest roads, Canterbury and Winchester weren’t going to benefit. The Railway Road filter was going to put one person I spoke to on the wrong side for Urmston. I think that might be a wider problem, but it’s outside my ward.
I am struggling to test the scheme against objectives as they’ve not really been published. The scheme doesn’t really benefit cycling. In most instances, it doesn’t benefit walking. There are some small incidental forced gains in walking to Davyhulme school – particularly with regard to those approaching the school from Winchester Road. On the whole, these are already walkable streets requiring tree work in places and dropped kerbs to be fully accessible, but more walkable than most.
Without a doubt, it will quieten some streets that currently have an amount of through-traffic. I’m thinking of Wallingford Road and parallel roads etc. It’s a strange scheme to benefit from Active Travel funding though, as I want to see more than a handful of quieter streets coming out of it and that troubles me as an advocate of active travel investment.
Conclusion
I’m keen to see the consultation reach the largest audience. I’m surprised Transport for Greater Manchester has approved it as meeting their criteria. We are where we are and if it gets the support I will be content to see it proceed.
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