Author: Mike Cordingley

Somber start to week

Monday

The week began with the funeral of Steve Leathwaite. The packed church and the attendance of so many Trafford Housing Trust staff, councillors and community activists was a fitting testament to the service Steve had given over the years.

I attended a resident’s meeting in the evening called to address increasing problems in respect of the Chatsworth Crescent Play Area. Being a play area, by definition it has attracted kids and youths. As the balconies of the over 55 flats are immediately above the play area, the residents are affected by noise and nuisance from the playground below. Regularly this has resulted in the police being called whenever behaviour has got out of hand. There are real problems with the design and proximity. Insufficient attention has been paid to the layout of the play area with seats immediately below the balconies.

We argued for design alterations to move the seats and to design out football from the playground. Hopefully action can be taken to provide diversionary activities and we’ll be insisting on daily clean ups of the park.

Tuesday

Casework and Correspondence. Finished the mark register upload. 57;000 voters uploaded – glad to see the back of it.

Wednesday

Leaflet delivery in Davyhulme

Trafford Housing Trust Board – raised the issue of Lostock play area. I said it was indicative of a tendency particularly in connection with the Lostock development to make too many promises and deal with issues when it was too late.

Thursday

Meeting with Theresa Grant – Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources

Items discussed included

• the reorganisation of the Access Trafford structure including libraries and contact centres to ensure we’re employing the maximum to frontline roles.
• the decanting of staff to alternative premises while the Town Hall construction is ongoing
• the operational structure of the combined payroll and staffing system with Wigan and Stockport
• Structure changes in Democratic and Legal Services
• Preparing for the elections including the AV referendum
• The Spending Challenge Consultation

Friday

Trafford Housing Trust Board AwayDay

Actually not an awayday as it was held in Sale Point; but it was a good opportunity to examine the challenges and threats facing the Trust and its capability to develop as a trust. The Conservative Government is making huge changes to the social housing sector and radically altering benefit provision at the same time.

I’m not normally a fan of away-days but this was an extremely worthwhile day.

Saturday

More leafletting

Sad News….

Monday

A diary clash between Lostock Tenants and Resident’s Committee or Labour Group meeting saw me chosing the former. I learned at the meeting of the sad death of Steve Leathwaite. Steve has been a champion of the tenant’s voice. He was hugely influential in the stock transfer of council owned homes to Trafford Housing Trust and was appointed to the board of the trust from its inception. I later joined him on the board and immediately came to appreciate Steve’s insight and integrity. He was a giant of a man in all senses and he will be truly missed from the board.

He was a brilliant chair of the Lostock Partnership and inspirational in winning Lostock’s share of the Fairshare Grant. Steve always believed that you needed the Lostock community’s views on how the funds should be applied and his chairing was a model of encouraging everyone to take part. He took those skills on to the community panel and he will be irreplaceable there.

It was difficult to return to the business of the meeting but we also discussed the BioMass plant and winning the fight against closure at Lostock College.

Football predominates…..

Tuesday

Casework, emails and progressing with the marked register upload. I also released the Labour press notice about the ill-conceived consultation on removing the subsidy for care from those who have more than £50,000 in capital. Whilst the initiative might appear to be targetting the better-off, it’s hitting those that have saved or received compensation. It is another vile and heartless cut from Conservatives, the party that sees fit to charge the taxpayer for a cabinet photographer to take flattering snaps for photoshopping into airbrushed propaganda. No surprises there since locally the Tories will make any cut except to their monthly Councillor Coupe gallery (Trafford Today).

Wednesday

Meetings at Town Hall. Firstly with officers from Environment on Air Quality monitoring. As anticipated Trafford’s air quality is less than perfect. The main polluter in terms of NOx and particulates (the biggest concerns in Trafford) is road transport. Our hotspots are along the motorways and there is genuine cause for concern.

Hearing that the only route to reducing our main source of pollution is through a decrease in road use took me back to the congestion charge….

I’m resigned to the fact that congestion charge was resoundingly rejected by the Manchester public. There’s no point in pretending that there’s any possibility it could make a comeback. Locally I was  in the minority of my own party in eventually concluding that, although deeply flawed in design, I supported the charge more than I supported the status quo.

But I can’t help wistfully thinking what might have been. Certainly the evidence suggests we will live shorter lives as a consequence of our over reliance on polluting car use.  And more than ever, Manchester needs a world class public transport system if it’s going to secure the growth we require of it. My Labour Government failed to deliver anything like the progress we needed. And the Conservatives were the ones who wrecked it in the first place!

Peel’s BioMass plant seems destined to be throwing particulates and NO2 into the air in a locality already subject to concentrations close to permitted levels (around the M60). We will have to see how their dispersion modelling copes with this when the planning application arrives.

The second meeting with officers was in respect of the residential area adjacent to Old Trafford Football ground. The plastic urinals are being used and are helping to divert supporters from using doorways and gardens. It’s sad though that they are needed and I believe United and the council can do more to engender a spirit of respect to this area. As we’ve stated on the website, those houses and United have been together for a century and I believe we should use that fact to make the area part of the United heritage. I’ve suggested that the council look at ways such as street sign branding, endorsement from players and programme promotions to get across the message that what supporters do to the residents’ properties, they are doing to United. Officers seemed open to this suggestion and will look to taking it to the club to look at consulting with residents and others to how they take this forward.

And in the evening I went to the Manchester Derby. If both sides carry on playing like that, there will be no supporters to worry about.

Thursday

I went to the planning meeting as the United Supporters Club was on the agenda. It looks to be an exciting design and I look forward to seeing it progress. (being a blue will mean I’m probably barred, but it’s still a wonderfully creative piece of architecture in a very demanding setting).

By coincidence, City were also up before Trafford’s planning and were allowed to keep the training developments they’d built without permission but not without 15mins of chastisements. Planning also spent 15 minutes on the survival of a garden hedge. Fair enough, but the bit of the hedge in question was not under threat and nobody had applied for any sort of condition being attached to it.

The planning committee also managed to have a major development at Barton nodded through without any discussion.

Friday

Monthly meeting of the Constituency Labour Party which I chaired in the absence of the official chair of the CLP. Good discussion regarding the cuts and Labour’s approach to them. We felt the party was too timid in the message it was putting across and really needed to use the opportunity to take on the inequalities that existed in Britain where the landed gentry still owned most of the country. I put forward the argument that we should give real consideration to the proposals of Professor Philo (see Guardian Summary) who reasoned that since the top 10% of the country possessed nearly 50% of the wealth, we shouldn’t be forcing the bottom half (who possess just 9% ) to make the sacrifices in taxes, benefits and services. A one-off tax of just 20% on the estates of these super-rich could pay off the national debt, never mind the deficit. And we’ve all seen and understood the benefits of a more equal society.

When people like Peter Mandelson can say “Haven’t the rich suffered enough”, you are forced to point out that the 20% tax on super rich estates would leave no Duke cold, no Earl hungry, no Duchess without their luxury holidays and yachts, no billionaire will be unable to buy christmas presents for their children. If we’re all in this together, then that shouldn’t be an empty slogan. But doing it this way also means we can focus on putting growth into the economy and getting the needed investment in our infrastructure that’s so badly needed.

Saturday

Sunday

Visit to the Lostock College open day (see previous post)
SundayRemembrance Service at Stretford Cenotaph. Really solid turnout and a moving ceremony. An unexpected bonus was a spur of the moment invite from the acting OC at 207 Field Hospital. These are volunteer medics and doctors from Manchester hospitals who do the most inspiring service with our operational troops, treating servicemen and civilians. Incredible people. Humbling

Trying to influence…..

Emails seem to the preferred method of contacting a councillor these days. I received probably 300 emails last week. Many were relating to the Bio Mass plant at Barton but also dealt with complaints on match day litter clear-up, anti social behaviour, improving transport, housing conditions and many more.

Monday – Labour Group Meeting

I met with colleagues on the Monday night to discuss the implications of the Adjudicator’s decision to save Stretford High School and Lostock College from closure. It remains to be seen how the decision impacts on the transfer of Stretford High School’s field to Tesco.

It’s a genuine cause for concern for me. Ideally I’d like to see Stretford High work with Trafford Leisure Trust to collaborate in regenerating both Stretford Sports Centre and the adjoining Stretford High School (Tesco) field to provide a truly sports led / community regeneration. There is a £3m sum set aside for Stretford High to develop a sports barn, this sum has been around since the disposal of the original smaller plot of land to Tesco. It would be great if this £3m could be used as the impetus to attract a greater development but it requires good will from all. I can’t help feeling Trafford’s Conservative Council is so focused on saving face in delivering the £21m to the cricket club, when so much of this project has fallen apart, that it’s incapable of taking an objective look.

And the tragedy is that losing the Tesco field means that if Stretford High is to deliver the enhanced facilities to which it aspires, it’s obliged to look towards Gorse Hill Park for any extra land.

I hope that Stretford High can take its time and resists council efforts to rush it into any decision that puts Tory desire not to have another failed project on its hands. Getting an ashes test at Old Trafford should not be a greater priority than delivering the best for school and community.

Tuesday – 3rd Stage appeal to Trafford Housing Trust

As a council nominated board member of Trafford Housing Trust I get called upon from time to time to hear complaints from tenants or leaseholders that have exhausted the normal procedures. They are time consuming but do provide an insight into the difficulties faced by customers and staff in the carrying out the work of the housing trust.

Barton Clough Governors Meeting

The end of my year as chair. It’s been a year of challenges having taken on the role on the departure of chair and 3 other senior governors in late 2009. We’ve also seen the retirement of a long serving Assistant Head and capped by a career progression move for the existing headteacher. So I can honestly say I drew the short straw in the timing of becoming chair of governors.

But whilst the timing might have been better, through the support of Trafford’s officers and co-operation from staff and children, we’ve pulled the school through. The arrival of Anthony Rae as temporary executive head has been an inspired move and is really down to that support coming from Trafford that we were able bring him. The lesson is that the Government’s flagship Academy/free school programme will see the end of local authority involvement in supporting individual schools. Academies are fine when things are going well but you don’t know what’s round the corner. We’ve had to navigate an unsettled sea at Barton Clough for the past year and we’ve really needed Trafford.  As an academy Barton Clough would have hit rocks.

I’m staying on as a governor at Barton Clough but I’m pleased to have stepped down and wish Moira Slack as chair and Ryan Chrysler as incoming new head the best of times.

Wednesday – Anti Social Behaviour Meeting at Stretford Public Hall

Long meeting of the different agencies in respect of concerns around the behaviour of young people and the tolerance of older people in Lostock. It’s an issue we’ll keep working at.

Overview and Scrutiny Core Meeting Trafford Town Hall

Looked at the Comprehensive Spending Review – no new information and we’re still awaiting the break down for Trafford. Clear that council tax will be frozen for the 2011/12 year. We await the council’s response to its ‘Spending Challenge’ consultation that closed at the weekend.

Also looked at the long-term accommodation (new town hall) strategy. I still think we’re missing a trick. Rightly or wrongly the Comprehensive Spending Review is going to lead to a revolution in the services provided by councils and how they’re delivered. It’s not clear to me that many of the services delivered independently now by Trafford will be delivered in the same way in 4 years or so, never mind 20 years. We seem to be building to meet last year’s needs rather than the next decade’s.

Scrutinised Trafford Primary Care Trust’s plans with the PCT’s Chief Executive Graham Wallis and Director of Public Health Abdul Razzaq, giving verbal reports. I raised the issue of air quality and how it might be impacting on health. Mr Razzaq said that past working practices such as asbestos-use and mining had a greater impact in Trafford but the soon to be abolished health protection agency had a greater role in monitoring air quality. I’m meeting with Trafford’s air quality monitors tomorrow and I’m hoping to get more information that I can put back to the PCT if necessary.

Thursday

Labour Local Government Committee Meeting – Pretty much a repeat of Monday’s group meeting with largely the same people.

Friday

Councillors and Social Media Conference – Some useful stuff and some showing off. Tweeting councillors – say no more.

Saturday

Advice Surgery at Lostock Library – no customers

Leaflet delivery in Urmston

Sunday

Entered and uploaded the marked register for Clifford. It’s part of political life that parties are provided with the marked register of voters and it’s a laborious task uploading them to the database. This is from the general election in May. I’ve now done seven of the nine wards so nearly finished. It’s useful to know not to knock on the doors of electors who never vote; and to knock a little more often on electors who sometimes vote and sometimes don’t.

And that’s it apart from…

• called in decision to consult on removing subsidy for caring support where person has more than £50k capital (rejected)
• continued drumming up support for lighter later campaign (see below) Disappointing response so far. I’m going to give it one more go.
• issued press releases on the call in rejection

Impact of Cuts

The details of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending review are still coming but we’re getting a clearer picture of the areas of impact on the council. Rather than list them all, I’ve picked out three high profile issues.

• 28% cuts in the amount granted to councils over the next four years
• freeze in council tax rises
• Housing Benefit changes

The cuts to the council

The 28% cuts are over 4 years but the deepest cuts will come in the spring.  We still need details but for instance it looks as though the Area Based Grants will disappear. They accounted for £10m in this year’s budget. Trafford has been operating a spending challenge now closed. We’re going to have to see how Trafford responds. They’re past record suggests they’ll hit the poorest areas hardest. Hale will be left wondering what the fuss is about just as they did last winter when they were first to get their streets cleared of snow.

Council Tax Freeze

Councils will not be able to raise income through council tax rises. Expect that regressive fees, fines and charges will increase in Trafford.

Housing Benefit

Two thirds of rental properties in Trafford will not be fully covered by housing benefit. The threat of homelessness is there to see. 28% of Trafford’s (LHA) Housing Benefit recipients are in employment.

Activity this week

Council meeting – I voted against Town Hall development. I didn’t see how we could be spending this money when we we’re looking to rationalise the activities Trafford performs. Increasingly we’re going to see councils pooling resources. We might not even need a shiny new HQ by the time its built.

I also voted to delay submitting potential sites for the possible construction of waste disposal incinerators. This is of particular concern since two of the sites were Trafford Park. The Labour group wanted to examine and restrict what we were handing over to the waste authority and we were supported by the Lib Dems. We were still defeated by Tories who voted obediently and silently. They really didn’t look as though they had a clue.

Finally I voted to scrap the new magazine that Trafford has just signed up to. Yes Trafford is facing massive cuts but a magazine providing a platform for self publicity is still considered a necessity. Tory councillors again dutifully voted like sheep although this time with gusto. One councillor, Kathy Bullock said the magazine was what she’d always been waiting for.  I’m ashamed to say I burst out laughing at the absurdity of this. I should not have done so. She clearly is out of touch with any sense of priority. It’s not funny it’s pathetic.

So it was another really depressing council meeting.

Appointments

Two separate appointments took a considerable time with the selection of a new head at Barton Clough and a new Council Legal Monitoring Officer at Trafford. I was on the shortlisting and interview panels for both.

Scrutiny

I attended the Budget preparation meeting.

Lostock Partnership

I attended the Lostock Community Partnership meeting and gave an update on issues affecting the area. Delighted with good news that Lostock Park playbuilder funding has got the go-ahead. Great that at least one Labour initiative has been continued.

Barton BioMass

I attended the Balloon launch and have arranged appointments to see a writer in connection with community environmental campaigns. I have also obtained an appointment to see Trafford’s air pollution officer in respect of emissions monitoring. Additionally I got into a bit of a spat with Conservative Councillors who argued I was being unfair in highlighting their absence from community meetings concerned with the power station. They had a better turnout at yesterday’s balloon launch – still not matching Labour’s response but better than it was.

Other

Met with Trafford Housing Trust Officer on site to discuss problems with Abbey Close footpath. Residents have proposed closing it. I hope we can take it on to a wider consultation.

Engaged with Lostock College Parents to support building on its more positive profile gained in the successive campaign to fight its closure.

There doesn’t seem to be any notable planning or licensing applications to report this week. I’ve still posted the summaries which can be accessed from the planning and licensing tabs above.

I have also requested a call-in of the executive decision to consult on removing the subsidy from the homecare support provided to those with capital over £50k. We wanted to examine whether the effect had been fully considered.

I attended a meeting on Humphrey Park Nico field on progressing consultation in respect of improved play facilities.

And finally I attended the Mayor of Trafford’s civic reception. Disappointed that more community representatives weren’t invited. Didn’t see much evidence of the Big Society at the reception. I will be declining future invitations unless there’s an greater emphasis on the community.

Mike Cordingley