From the Canal to Sevenways

Author: Mike Cordingley

  • Road and Pathway Resurfacing Schedule

    I’ve received the following letter from Trafford. As councillors, we will submit roads and paths from Gorse Hill Ward for consideration but with the best will in the world, we can’t guarantee knowledge of every street and road is up to date (particularly as Trafford Park makes up a good proportion of the ward).

    As you can see below we’re being invited to do it again this year. We were very successful last year and we hope to be again. Please submit roads that you feel should be considered for resurfacing. And note that we need to get these in by 20th February.

    Dear Councillor,

    Highways Planned Structural Maintenance 2012-13

    Inspecting and prioritising roads and footways for the 2012-13 planned structural maintenance programme is currently being carried out. The process is that the roads identified for engineering inspection come from; the national highway surveys, the highway inspectors general assessment carried out in conjunction with safety inspections, requests for service and from the Elected Members identifying roads in their Ward.

    Hence, it would be appreciated if you could identify the worst roads/footways in your Ward where the whole of the area is in poor condition. These will then be included on the inspection list. Roads and footways where the general condition is acceptable but there is a particular bad patch or pothole will not be addressed under the planned structural maintenance programme and it would be appreciated if you could refer these to Peter Barton at Carrington Depot rather than include them in any list of roads you refer for possible planned structural maintenance.

    It would be appreciated if you could send any roads identified in your Ward by 20th February 2012. Apologies for the tight timescale, but it is hoped to have a draft programme in place by the end of February after which any other roads identified could not be considered except under exceptional circumstances until the 2013-14 year.

    Thanking you in advance for your input.

  • The Not Credible Tale of Two Libraries – Thoughts on Council Meeting 25th January Part Two

    The second major debate at last week’s council was Labour’s motion calling for Trafford to withdraw proposals to replace paid librarians with volunteers.

    Our Motion

    The Council values the tremendous cultural and community benefit of all our Libraries in Trafford and calls on the Council to ensure no Library is closed in the Borough.

    Trafford Council also fully supports and pays tribute to all volunteers who work so hard in supporting our communities and individuals. However the Council is opposed to the Conservative Executive proposal to replace professional paid Library Staff in some of the Council’s Libraries with volunteers.

    The Council fully supports the statement within the open letter, sent by volunteers, and representatives of the voluntary sector in Old Trafford, to the Leader, All Councillors and Chief Executive which stated :-

    ”Old Trafford has a magnificent tradition of volunteering and community activism. Resident volunteers in this neighbourhood have established many innovative and successful voluntary projects, and we are rightly proud of our countless achievements. However we are also quite clear about our role and purpose of the community and voluntary sector in Old Trafford: it is to complement and enhance the work of statutory services, to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities in our local area. Our role is definitely not to enable employers to make our friends, colleagues and neighbours redundant and replace them with unpaid volunteers”.

    In light of the above the Council calls on the Executive to withdraw their plans to replace paid professional staff with volunteers at Old Trafford and Hale Libraries, and any other Library within Trafford.

    The debate

    Old Trafford Councillor Whit Stennett proposed the motion. He poignantly described the sense of grievance felt in Old Trafford and Hale at being picked on for the initiative. He underlined the value attached to the libraries at the heart of their respective communities. Why should Old Trafford Library be selected when it serves such diverse and often disadvantaged users?

    The reason the council has given for selection is that there is more community activity going on in these neighbourhoods.

    I pointed out in my support for Labour’s motion that if the vitality of the Old Trafford community was the primary factor in its selection, there was a real risk that it would put communitities off getting involved. Why come forward to be active in your community if the consequence was that services provided by Council were withdrawn?

    It is punishing success.

    And we’ve already heard lots of criticism from volunteers throughout Trafford protesting that they volunteer to enhance and supplement the work of the paid professionals, not replace them. We know that community involvement in Trafford is well below average; it would be criminal to make it worse.

    Examples from afar

    The Council is highlighting that other local authorities have volunteer run libraries but when you look at the specifics, these are often tiny libraries open for a few hours a week and usually additional to the the normal libraries, for example, Carrbrook in Tameside, Woodberry Down in Hackney. Too often, attempts at getting volunteers to run council libraries end in failure.

    Breach of Compact

    Damningly for the Council, the recognition that volunteering to replace staff is counterproductive and should not happen is already enshrined in an agreement signed by the council in 2008 together with the body representing Trafford’s voluntary sector (VCAT) and known as the Trafford Compact.

    Clause 12 of the Code of Practice for Volunteering states:

    12. Volunteers should not be recruited to fill the place of paid staff. This could be seen as exploitation of the volunteer and a deprival of someone’s livelihood.

    The Council signed the Compact because it wanted a better working relationship with the voluntary and community sector in Trafford. At the very time when the voluntary sector is valued most, the council chooses to ignore the very foundation upon which the relationship is built on.

    And how did the Tories respond to the charge?

    They simply ignored any reference to the Compact. Despite it being raised repeatedly, they just blanked it out. It might as well not exist.

    This matters. Trafford scores exceptionally lowly on the environment for a thriving third sector. It’s blindingly obvious the third sector will not thrive if trust breaks down. It’s a worsening situation.  It’s not enough for Tory Councillors to go around saying that job’s easy and that they could do it. Could they provide a 40 hr a week service? Could they deal with difficult customers? They are insulting the staff if they think it’s just putting books back on the shelves.

    It’s appallingly insulting to staff and Trafford needs to get it’s act together quickly. The Tories have been so crass in the manner they’ve approached this, that it’s hard not to suspect that they know it won’t happen. They must realise that it won’t be long into the operation before residents question why their council tax pays for other libraries to have paid professional staff when they have to provide volunteers. Is it a way of knocking the issue into the long grass until after the election? That won’t do. And if political expediency means that trust between the voluntary sector and the Council deteriorates further, they’re doubly culpable.

    We lost the vote

  • Salford goes for elected mayor – should worry all parties

    Salford’s decision to go for an elected mayor should give us all cause for concern. It was pretty clear from all the vox-pop interviews the media undertook in the aftermath of this shock result that this was that most contrary of creatures, a negative yes vote.

    Journalists could not find a single person within the loose unholy alliance of Conservatives, English Defence League, Tax Payers Alliance and BNP who had led this campaign, who would give a positive reason for having an elected mayor. The only reason given was they felt a non-labour party person might be elected. Karen Garrido, the Tory group leader suggested it might end Labour’s 40 year rule in the city. It might, it might not…

    Garrido misses the point that the option to change parties is open to voters everytime we have local elections.

    If the leader of Salford Conservatives has given up trying to win Conservative votes across the city, then it seems unlikely it will be a Conservative Party Mayor in May. Her hope seems to be that some charismatic person will come forward without party affiliations, but broadly in tune with Conservative thinking. That is an incredibly dangerous hope with truly awful precedents. She hopes for a meritocrat, when she’s just as likely to get Kilroy-Silk or Silvio Burlusconi.. or worse.

    Did she never ask why the BNP and EDL were so much in favour?

    It was portrayed as a chance to cut council tax when in fact budget setting remains with Salford council. So the best the Conservatives are hoping for is a right-wing mayor and a Labour Council. This seems to be an act of political sabotage and at best, irresponsible. Far better to have promoted the mayor for the positives – if there are any, rather than misleading information.

    Nevertheless, the vote was a clear majority in favour of a mayor for whatever reason. And that should worry us in the Labour Party. We should learn from this.

    However, this is in no way a handy and convenient method of removing a hard to shift council of a different persuassion. The Tories currently run Trafford and have done for 8 years. We do intend to defeat them, but we’ll do it through the election of Labour Councillors, not through manufactoring a referendum on a subject few care about. We will not sink to the depths of the Tories in Salford.

    Salford is too close to Trafford for it not to matter. I sincerely hope they can make the mayoral system work for Salford. My fear is that there will come a point at some time in the future when the mayor and council are in such opposition to each other, that Salford suffers more than it can bear. When that time comes we should all remember the Garridos and the English Defence League etc who brought this about.

    Mike Cordingley

  • Incinerators welcome here – thoughts on the Council Meeting 25th Jan 2012 – part one

    There’s a plan sir?

    General Melchett: You look surprised, Blackadder.
    Captain Blackadder: I certainly am, sir. I didn’t realise we had any battle plans.
    General Melchett: Well, of course we have! How else do you think the battles are directed?
    Captain Blackadder: Our battles are directed, sir?
    General Melchett: Well, of course they are, Blackadder, directed according to the Grand Plan.
    Captain Blackadder: Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter until everyone’s dead except Field Marshal Haig, Lady Haig and their tortoise, Alan?
    General Melchett: Great Scott! Even you know it!

    Came away from last night’s council meeting wondering whether the tories were ever that opposed to incinerators and supportive of clean air. Michael Young is their councillor on the Greater Manchester Waste Authority. I think it’s fair to say that no-one has ever mistaken Michael for anything but a Conservative. Last night was a bad night for Michael Young.

    As Trafford’s lead member on the Waste Authority, Michael has been stewarding Trafford’s input into the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Development Plan, although technically as a planning matter, it comes under Davyhulme’s Councillor Michael Cornes.

    Confusing?
    Yes, but Michael Young was taking the lead last night, and gave no impression of being the subordinate in the process.

    The Joint Waste Development Plan is essentially the identification of sites and areas for waste facilities. The Conservatives have volunteered Trafford Park and Carrington as areas for incinerators. These are the same Conservatives who queued up at planning to state how implacably opposed they were to the incinerator at Barton, now identifying more areas for waste incineration.

    What’s the problem?

    Certainly Michael Young didn’t see a problem. And if there was a problem, it should have been raised earlier.

    Labour has voiced our concerns about this plan as it has been developed. Those concerns have got louder as we’ve learned more about the risks associated with incineration. The Barton Incinerator campaign has taught us a lot. We’ve seen so much evidence of the risks to health, our position is clear; we don’t want any more incinerators until we can guarantee clean air, and that is a long way off, given the poor air quality at present.

    Michael Young was adamant his consultation had yielded no opposition from the public and therefore the public were content with the plan, and the plan should be submitted. In effect he blamed everyone but the Conservatives for their plan. This is not a new device, but it’s probably the most shameless demonstration I’ve seen.

    Where were the antennae? Did nobody realise that the absence of public opposition might suggest that awareness of the consultation was practically non-existent and that it would serve the council well to raise the consultation’s profile? It’s impossible not to conclude that the Conservative base position is quiet support for incineration unless opposition reaches such a crescendo that they’re forced into joining the opposition in set piece events.

    Anyway we voted against  the waste plan. The Lib Dems abstained – they were neither for nor against the adoption of a joint waste development plan. Pathetic as usual.

    I am going to give a lot more credit to the one Conservative who abstained – Lisa Cooke. It was a courageous act.

    The rest of the Conservative group voted for the adoption of the plan. We will still be able to oppose any incinerator proposed for Trafford Park but this strategy makes it much harder to defeat it. We will then have to question any Tory who joins a popular opposition. What are you doing this for?  Votes and nothing more.

    Here’s the Report to Council on Joint Waste Development Plan

  • Weekly Update 23rd January 2012

    Monday

    Meeting of member development (see previous post on working together)

    Stretford Neighbourhood Forum – A dreadful meeting. The Tories dictate the agenda for these forums and this meeting was so obviously a deceitful device to share some of the blame for their harsh budget proposals. Nothing original in that – what I found really brazen was that they’re only putting certain chosen items into the consultation.

    Where was the budget for their lauded Transformation Team?
    Nowhere to be seen – not up for discussion.

    What happens if volunteers don’t come forward to replace paid staff in libraries, youth services and other areas?
    Automated response – not programmed to answer. Please ask another question

    As usual, councillors and officers outnumbered the public two to 1 but at the end of the process, we’ll be told how supportive of the budget proposals, the public have been. Deeply depressing.

    Wednesday

    Met with Trafford’s Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources along with Dave Acton and Barry Brotherton.

    Thursday

    Gorse Hill Action Group – Really good meeting. There seems a renewed energy to move things forward. Gorse Hill Funday was provisionally set for May 20.

    Friday

    Transport Committee in the morning. Not been a good week for the Trams with points failures and breakdowns. I thought it sensible to go by tram and fortunately the trams were fine or perhaps unfortunately as I didn’t really experience the problems they’d been in the week. Tram problems are nothing new though but I think the issues that have really infuriated is firstly the regularity, and secondly how the breakdowns were handled.

    In the afternoon I had a sneak peak at the parliament channel as I’ve been following the Daylight Saving Bill which aims to give us an extra hour of daylight in the evenings and a later dawn. I’m a supporter. But there are arguments against and they should be listen too. However, what happened on Friday brought parliament into disrepute. I don’t recommend anyone watches all of the video below but it demonstrates the complete farce of the filibuster (talking a bill out – at one point they resorted to readings from the bible). Pathetic

  • Thoughts on doing things better – together

    Excellent, albeit rushed meeting of Member Development Committee on Monday night. The committee takes on a much wider remit than simply – training courses for councillors. At the moment we’re looking at the role of councillors in their community. With huge cuts to the spending power of councils, we’re looking to maximise the potential of the community in terms of what it can provide from within; and its ability to pull in funding from outside.

    All the indicators suggest that over many years we haven’t done this well in Trafford. In the last Comprehensive Area Assessment (2010 – the analysis has since been scrapped by the Govt.), we were in the bottom quartile for most of the indicators relating to community involvement:

    • Incidence of voluneering – worst 25%
    • Involvement in civic participation – below average
    • Percentage of residents who feel they can influence decisions affecting their local area – worst 20%
    • Environment for a thriving third sector – worst 5%

    These are appalling results and frankly embarrassing for Trafford. If anything, the position has worsened since 2010, with the reduction in grants to groups and our third sector. This has led to VCAT (Voluntary and Community Action Trafford) being drained of funding in its role as the support for Trafford’s voluntary sector. So the training, advice, guidance it provides is by no means guaranteed in future. We know that firstly Trafford Housing Trust and latterly Blue Sci have been touted as partners to VCAT for a joint tender, but it’s impossible to ignore the mood music coming from those watching on.

    But suddenly, despite this bleak backdrop, community groups and their volunteers are seen as the shining saviours ready to spring into action to maintain services as staff are made redundant. We Labour councillors are opposed to volunteers being used to do the work of paid professional staff, but that’s an issue to be debated at Council later this week when we put forward our motion. The topic being discussed at member development was how councillors can support volunteering and community involvement; and that has to be a worthwhile aspiration. Simply put, it is something we’re not as good at as we should be. And to make matters worse, the council as a whole is abjectly woeful in its approach to this agenda. It’s an object lesson in how not to do it:

    • 100 Days100 Days in Trafford – we’ll advertise a few things (in a thrown together web calendar) that were mainly going to happen anyway and the community will rush to take part?
    • The implied threat that if you don’t volunteer to do this we’ll be forced to make savings elsewhere
    • The general disregard for existing community groups and what they’ve been doing
    • A lack of appreciation that communities and volunteer groups are not people that can be told ‘stop what you’re doing, we want you to do this (e.g librarians)
    • A lack of interest in the motivations for getting involved
    • A failure to provide adequate ways to influence the decisions affecting their area
    • Neighbourhood forums provided by the council intermittently and tied rigidly to an agenda controlled by the council

    As you can tell, I am really disappointed in the way that the Tories have implemented this. I see genuine risks that it will actually deter people from coming forward. But I’m going to acknowledge that Labour has a record that is mixed when it comes to community empowerment. We have been too managerial, too dismissive and too ready to believe we had all the answers. In recognising that fact, and in common with a growing body of people in Labour, (and Conservatives too, it has to be said) I’ve become really interested in the achievements of  the London Citizens Movement. I don’t agree with everything they’ve done, but they’ve got an energy. They’ve got a can-do attitude that makes any regular at Trafford’s neighbourhood forums, want to weep in the realisation that engagement in Trafford has never amounted to anything approaching this.

    So I think there’s real opportunities for energizing our communities. Councillors can’t do it all, but we can do a little bit to help. And I think we can learn to do things better.

    Links

    You can read more on London Citizens on their website London Citizens

    There is a good video on You Tube about their story here