If people don’t wake up, they get left out. Disengagement means someone else takes the decisions. But who has the ideas? Why you do of course!
Author: Mike Cordingley
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20 mph zones come of age in Manchester
More than 1,000 streets in Manchester become 20mph zones
From the Manchester Evening News
Over 1,100 streets, covering 111 miles, are included in the scheme aimed at making streets safer
A third of Manchester's roads have become twenty mile an hour zones. Over 1,100 streets, covering 111 miles, are included in the scheme aimed at making streets safer.
The 20mph limit could eventually be extended to all residential streets if this initial stage proves successful and more funding can be found.
Some of the roads affected are already signposted as 20mph zones – but these are not legally enforcable. The changes the council has got permission for are under traffic regulation orders, which change the legal speed limit for the road permanently.
The huge project, over two years in the making, has been paid for using £500,000 of public health funding.
Alongside improving street safety, it is hoped the new 20mph limit will encourage more children to walk to school, make streets more pleasant to live on and cut air pollution.
It'll be interesting to see how this scheme performs. It'll certainly be the largest 20mph scheme in the near vicinity. Personally, I'm very much a supporter of reduced speeds but they're so dependent on driver consent (regardless of penalties). If drivers accept the reduced speeds, it'll make a real difference to the environment and more importantly on health. It's very much a development I welcome and will be watching with a great deal of good will.
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Rhyan Wilson
Such sad news that we have lost a young man on a night out in Urmston that ended so violently and tragically.
My thoughts go out to the family of Rhyan. I can only imagine the suffering they are going through now.
The police are keeping the councillors updated as much they can. And hopefully their investigations can be concluded speedily.
If anyone can help the police with information, please call the 101 number or crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
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Gorgeous
This post has caused me 40 minutes messing. It's such a nice photo. It sort of sums up what Gorse Hill is about. I didn't take the photo. I've probably broken all sorts of protocols in getting it linked to this site. All can I can say is the Gorgeous Gorse Hill movement is taking off and if you've not become part of it – it's never too late.
[fb_embed_post href=”//www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152583274060937&set=a.10151688525935937.1073741824.748810936&type=1″ width=”350″/] -
It’s not really about Alex Salmond is it?
STV Flyer for the independence debate I caught bits of the Scottish Independence televised debate. It looked to me that Alistair Darling edged the contest.
I like Alistair, he's a good labour man. He's an honest man and it's easy to see why he was chosen to lead the together campaign. I just happen to believe he's wrong. The whole focus of the debate seems to be about the first few months of an independent Scotland under the SNP. My problem is that this is one of those huge decisions that can't be judged over months or even a few years. I have absolutely no doubts that over time an independent Scotland can sort out any teething difficulties over currency or EU membership.
What seems certain to me is that in one hundred years the quality of the decision will not be judged upon the inevitable uncertainty that will exist whichever way Scotland votes. We have almost come to terms with the fact that as a nation we'll often have periods of uncertainty whilst coalitions form yet Alistair was clearly making a period of uncertainty the absolute clincher in deciding that Scotland would have to remain ruled by London. Yes there would be days of the nation been swept along in a stormy sea but the prize being offered to an independent Scotland free from London rule is far too valuable and long lasting for it simply to be judged against a period of turbulence. It's almost a crime against future generations to allow it to be determined on a week of two of discomfort.
My party supports the better together campaign. I think it's wrong.
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Litter – What is it good for?
The Select Committee responsible for looking at Councils has just launched an inquiry into litter.
The promotional video below is looking at very similar aspects to the Panorama last year featuring Gorse Hill. There's a focus in the video on enforcement looking once again at the Braintree experience which has a zero tolerance regime. Trafford has opted for zero enforcement and it'll be interesting to see how the inquiry goes.
How we can contribute to the inquiry
Written submissions are invited from interested parties on:
- What problems do litter and fly-tipping create for local communities-is the situation improving or deteriorating?
- How effective are the actions of those responsible for managing waste in the local environment? What more should local councils, the Environment Agency, and Government funded bodies such as WRAP do?
- Does the current statute, regulation and guidance set an effective framework to minimise litter and fly-tipping. What, if any, further changes are required?
- What roles do and should the private citizen and campaign and action groups have in tackling litter?
The Committee particularly welcomes any evidence from local authority scrutiny committees.
Photographs
The Committee welcomes photographs illustrating problems with litter and fly-tipping and also before and after photographs where areas have been successfully cleaned up. Please tweet your photographs to @commonsclg, using the hashtag #litterpix
Deadline
The Committee asks for written submissions in accordance with the guidelines below by 2.00pm on Thursday, 16 October 2014. As a guideline submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words.
Submissions should be uploaded onto the website in word format no later than the deadline.More Details on the parliamentary website
