This looks tremendous. Plans have been approved to bring a new food and beverage destination utilising shipping containers and focusing on independents. It’ll be facing us, so just over the footbridge and no cars.
The first traders to be based in the unique, waterfront setting next to the Lowry Theatre, will be ready to serve customers by Christmas with the line-up featuring start-up brands and operators across six units.
Along the waterside and overlooking the iconic view of Manchester United, The Millennium Bridge and the Imperial War Museum, there will be new terraces for outdoor dining balanced with attractive landscaping.
As well as the new outdoor space there will be an independent food hall and community space which will provide a platform for start-ups as well as nurture and support new, homegrown talent.
As part of the plans, the food court is being upgraded and given a fresh new overhaul and will be complete by early summer.
We have a longlist for Labour’s replacement to stand for parliament when Kate Green’s term ends.
It looks a quality field
This will be the third selection since the constituency was created and we can already say that once again there’s been no parachute in of a favourite candidate and no stitching up to prevent a local candidate from standing. We have a reputation in Stretford and Urmston of choosing good Labour MPs and we’re trusted to make our choice.
All those who declared their candidacy before this first stage have got through. I’m pleased to say I’ve not heard of anyone else coming forward to complain. So the selection is running smoothly.
Currently, Chester Road and Kingsway sever the Mall from the rest of Stretford and create dangerous, uncomfortable crossings for residents and high levels of pollution and noise.
My thoughts on the Accessibility of the Town Centre
Too limited in scale. The plan assumes that people only walk to the town centre from an area not much further out than Victoria Park. In making this assumption, it confines its consideration of severance to the A56 and Kingsway.
Stretford Foodhall and other venues that have started up in recent years are already successfully exploiting the walkability of the nearest neighbourhoods. The new homes planned for the centre will add further to this ultra-local market. However, the best potential increase in the town centre’s market share lies beyond the immediate area.
A walkable journey of fifteen minutes could reasonably define the catchment that Stretford needs to exploit. Applying this extends the area out towards:
Lostock/Sevenways/Derbyshire Estate,
Moss Road,
Gorse Hill,
The Quadrant,
Longford,
The Meadows,
Urmston Lane,
Moss Park.
The routes serving these neighbourhoods from Stretford are typically busy fast roads with narrow pavements, often in poor condition and subject to aggressive pavement parking. Certain junctions are already notoriously unsafe.
The council could work with Living Streets – Stretford to engage with the community in identifying further severance and improving walkability.
The risk of not addressing this is that Stretford loses walking market penetration, putting people in a taxi to Manchester rather than taking an unpleasant 10-minute walk to their local town centre.
Edit
As a consequence of this post, my twitter friend Owler Nook has posted an isochrone map of Stretford showing increments of walking areas. This is a live calculation available here
Isochrone from Open Route Service
What really underlines the importance of attracting these potential customers for Stretford all living within 15 minutes is the scale. The plan is focusing all its accessibility improvements on the inner ‘red’ area currently accommodating 1500 residents. Take it out to the 15 minute range and you’re targeting fifteen thousand people.
This week has brought a couple of pieces of casework that have not resulted in complete resolution (though have managed to get a couple of potholes fixed) but still worth the work in pursuing further.
Potholes in Lostock
There’s a lot of potholes in Norwich Road at its junction with Moss Vale Road. They’re not deep, but they are plentiful and the road looks a mess. Because they’re not deep, the holes do reach the criteria to be repaired. I’m arguing that the criteria should be tweaked to bring in sections of road where like Norwich Road, there’s been a systemic failure in a small section of road.
Barfoot Bridge
A resident noticed that the Bridgewater Canal aqueduct over the River Mersey was displaying visual signs of decay. I raised it with officers of the Bridgewater Canal and they’ve been to inspect.
The bridge seems to have weathered the recent storms and high water level in the river, but it’s worth giving consideration to the longer term. They’re hoping to bring forward the next more extensive inspection and have engaged a consultant of arched structures to look at the longer term. We want it to survive in perpetuity, so it’s worth following up on this.
Big Agenda for Last Executive Meeting before Election
Scrutiny looking to improve its Outcomes
When the Cabinet System was adopted by Trafford, there was a clear expectation that Scrutiny would be an influential and effective means of holding the Executive Members of Cabinet to account for the important decisions whilst allowing the routine day to day work to proceed without hindrance.
It’s not worked. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny were invited to put Scrutiny under the microscope and have produced a quite damning report. Though it’s interesting that the Executive Papers describe the report as highlighting that the “Scrutiny function at Trafford is effective and that proposed changes are around process and procedure, rather than fundamental changes”.
It’s worrying that the Executive takes the above view. There is very little in the report from the The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny that should give them comfort. I think this is summed up in the report itself in describing how the Council views Scrutiny:
“Overall, the general view is that Scrutiny does a good job. However when asked more specifically about Scrutiny’s output and impact most Members and Officers found it difficult to point to consistent work that has made a real difference, or tracking recommendations that have been accepted and implemented.”
My personal view is that ‘Scrutiny’ should be a multi-faceted function, ranging from neighbourhood accountability through some sort of regular forum right through to oversight of the Greater Manchester provision of diverse activities whether they be Health, Police, Transport or Waste, etc. It’s sad that this scrutiny function across GM, but particularly in Trafford is in such a poor state. I don’t think it’s the fault of scrutiny members. Officers and to a degree, the senior politicians, have got such a firm grip on strategy, it’s very difficult to get into those firewalled areas.
It would be wrong to say that there are not good suggestions in this report but the very fact that accountability has so broken down, I’ve been dragged to the regrettable conclusion that we should follow Sheffield and go back to the Committee system.
Leisure Strategy Review: Mainly Sale Leisure Centre which gets some investment. Stretford earmarked for a report in July. The thinking is that because the Urmston Leisure Centre improvements are considered to have gone well, that’s the model to pursue for the other centres. My worry is that Stretford and Sale are much older centres and whether it’s better to ‘improve’ or ‘replace’ is still a moot point for me.
Stretford Mall: Trafford hold the freehold – the lease that the joint venture of Bruntwood and Trafford has expires in 96 years. This is considered short for borrowing purposes and the report is about refreshing that lease.
GMCA Brownfield Grant – Sale Magistrates Court: Approval to enter into a grant agreement with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
WGIS Lifting Bridge: Approval of Agreement that provides limited contribution to running it.
FUTURE GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE : This is the replacement for Trafford CCG with additional focus on Social Care. It’s very much early days in terms of the relationship to Greater Manchester but the report sets out the details of governance arrangements for the Trafford system including: Locality Board (One System Board), Trafford Provider Collaborative Board, Trafford Clinical and Practitioner Senate and other relevant groups, forums and boards.
Future Commissioning Arrangements For Health and Social Care: See above, but somewhat more pressing.
Care Act – Urgent Measures Decisions Framework: Shows the parlous position we’re in with regard to Social Care. The report provides a summary of the current position across the social care system and based on the current pressures and needs across the sector, seeks approval to keep the contingency framework in situ to enable the Council to reach speedy decisions around the implementation of agreed urgent measures if the situation reaches a critical point.
Contract Procedure Rules : A regular renewal of the contract rules which operate across authorities attached to STAR. It includes a change to increase the threshold trigger for a one quote exercise for both Supplies, Services and Concessions and Works and Public Works Concessions from £4,999 to £9,999 which will make it easier to let out small contracts.
Report on Complaints Determined by the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman 2020/21
Budget Monitoring 2021/22 – Period 10 (April 2021 to January 2022) – There are never any shocks at period 10. The council calendar dictates that we panic in autumn and chill out in winter. Pretty much on budget. That said, if we could recruit the people we need in social care, we’d be in a different position.
Corporate Plan 2022/23 – Good and bad – children under 5 improving obesity rates. Adults with depression very worrying trends in Trafford. This dashboard is interesting but the corporate plan sits in its own bubble. The extent to which the corporate plan talks to everyday lives lived in Trafford is a another moot point.
A busy time for planning applications, both new applications and older ones being resolved:
Trafford Park Hotel
This is a new application for the Hotel which is oldest heritage asset in Trafford Park. It’s been allowed to deteriorate for some time though in recent years attempts have been made by what has been a procession of new owners to come up with a plan to provide new purpose to the pub.
We had an attempt to have it built into a boutique hotel development that included a new block adjacent to the pub. That was rejected out of hand by planners as the new block was considered too big.
We now have new owners and their vision is for apartments. Again there is a new block albeit somewhat smaller than that proposed earlier.
In terms of architecture, I’m supportive of the new application. It retains and repurposes the pub building and whilst the adjacent block is not blowing anyone away, this is what it might to take to preserve the pub building.
My problem is that it’s for apartments in a very much depopulated part of Trafford Park. It does have the tram and good bus connections. Trafford Park village actually has lovely shops but they are geared to a 5 day a week operation and there’s nothing there at all at weekends. We’ve very much reserved this whole area for industry and commercial activity since the last houses were demolished.
I think there’s a very good chance that planning officers will take a dim view of it being for residential use. This application might well go the way of the last application with summary dismissal.
Sadly, I think hotel use was a much better proposal but that application never even got to planning committee. I’m not making the same mistake twice. For that reason, I’ve ‘called’ the application in. At the very least it will allow councillors to have consideration of the remaining options for preserving this much loved listed building. I won’t be a councillor when the application is ready for determination but I’ve consulted with my fellow councillors and Dave and Laurence and both agree we need proper consideration of the proposal.
Manchester United Stadium
The future of Old Trafford has been the subject of much press speculation. It seems certain that significant proposals are being drawn up to either almost rebuild the current stadium, or to build a new stadium on nearby land.
I think it’s fair to say that as the main concerns will be traffic and community impact, local councillors will be sharpening their elbows to work their way to the front to be heard.
We know how these sorts of regionally significant projects have a tendency to pan out. There’s lots of ‘glad-handing’ of regional ministers, Metro-Mayors, not to mention leaders of Salford and Trafford, but little say from the communities most affected. Those local elbows will have to be razor sharp and in my view, it will be to the benefit of Manchester United if they are.
A Manchester United Stadium that meets the collected needs of the fans, the club and the people who live and work alongside has to be better than one that sets itself apart.
Greatstone Hotel
This was a planning application to build apartments on the site of the Greatstone Hotel adjacent to the Gorse Hill Park gates. The council refused planning permission but the applicants appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. The inspector Louise Crosby ruled in support of the refusal:
I have found that the proposal would have a significant harmful effect on the character and appearance of the surrounding area, great weight must also be given to the harm I have identified to designated heritage assets which is not outweighed by the public benefits. I have also found that the proposal would not provide adequate outdoor private amenity space for future residents of the apartments.
Louise Crosby
I’m sure they’ll come again with a new proposal or someone else will.
701 Chester Road – 169 bed hotel on corner with Warwick Road
This was the second time this site had come to planning. The first time, planning committee refused permission and to a certain extent, this was confirmed in an appeal against the decision.
The applicants tried to address the reasons for refusal endorsed by the planning inspector. So, this application had reduced maximum height and more car parking, particularly disabled car parking.
However, planning committee still didn’t approve the application for reasons of:
The design having a detrimental impact on the character and visual appearance of the street scene and the surrounding area.
The scale would give rise to an unduly overbearing and over-dominant impact and result in harmful overlooking to the detriment of the amenity that the adjoining occupants could reasonably expect to enjoy.
The proposed development would generate an additional demand for car parking which cannot be accommodated on this site in a satisfactory manner.
Interestingly to me as an observer, the Director of Growth and Regulatory Services was sufficiently disturbed by the overly theatrical performances of some members of the planning committee in their considerations, that he felt bound to chastise them over their lack of focus in what he rightfully reminded them was a quasi-judicial function.*
(*This is a nice way of saying that he gave them a bollocking and it’s unprecedented as far as I’m aware to do it in public unless one counts Jackie Weaver.)
School Streets – What are School Streets?
A School Street is a road outside a school with a temporary restriction on motorised traffic at school drop-off and pick-up times. The restriction applies to school traffic and through traffic. The result is a safer, healthier and pleasant environment for everyone.
School Street schemes offer a proactive solution for school communities to tackle air pollution, poor health and road danger reduction. A School Street scheme will encourage a healthier lifestyle and active travel to school for families and lead to a better environment for everyone.
Trafford is hoping to finally get one installed imminently. It’s taken too long but we’re there with our first pilot. Given we’re almost there, I’ve made a plea for data to be collated quickly in terms of how the school performs now. I want us to be able to show the difference that school streets make.
All things transport
Just to emphasise how important it was for Andy Burnham to have his franchising of Greater Manchester’s buses ruled as legal and legitimate, we can already see the benefit the decision to cap all bus fares to £2 for a single journey. The bus fares in Manchester over recent decades have almost forced people into cars. At last we’re allowed to bring some common sense to the issue.
Vernon Everitt has been appointed as Andy Burnham’s new Transport Commissioner to replace Chris Boardman who’s taken on a national role at Active Travel England.
Dame Sarah Storey takes over Chris Boardman’s other role for Active Travel in Greater Manchester.
If I’m honest, I’m not overly thrilled that the two disciplines are separated again. We really need everyone singing from the same hymn-sheet and I’m still concerned that those in TfGM responsible for traffic are resisting change. There are too many unresponsive crossings in GM and we’re nowhere near giving priority to pedestrian travel. I’d go as far as to say major sections of TfGM are not fit for purpose.
Covid-19
Bad news, I’m afraid. Trafford back as having highest rates in Greater Manchester and trends are all upwards. Hospital rates are rising. The only positive indicator is that use of ventilators are down.
Stretford Town Centre
Let’s finish on a positive note. Stretford took a another jump forward with planning permission granted to proceed to the next stage. This includes quite a substantial demolition to focus on the King Street area as well as underneath and around the multi-storey car park.
Now we’re moving beyond outline planning, I think we can lose the rather too cartoony CGI images of people dangling their feet in the canal. This is quite a radical change for Stretford but we did need to lose a lot of the Mall. The challenge is to make sure we have a Stretford that’s big enough to be the town centre we want, and that presents an attractive face to those coming through. I think we can deliver that.
Designated for demolition (hatched areas)
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