Category: Blog

Warning: The events that follow are all True.

Proposed Adoption of a Markets Policy

 

The right to hold markets in the  town of Altrincham was originally granted by Royal Charter from King Edward I in 1290. The Council’s market rights were acquired by Deed from the successors in title to the Lords of the Manor to whom the original charter was granted. The charter allowed markets to be held in the town on a Tuesday in each week.
The Charter Rights and statutory rights give the power to stop markets from operating anywhere within a radius of six and two thirds of a mile from any location on which Altrincham Market operates and to require anyone wishing to hold a market to obtain a licence for the market.

 

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Seven centuries later…….

On 29th June 2015 Trafford Council determined that the policy dating back to 1290 be restated. As a consequence, other than the markets recognised by the council at Urmston, Partington and Sale, the assumption is that no new regular markets will be allowed to be established in Trafford except for occasional one-off events.

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The policy does not recognise that Stretford ever has had an established market. It certainly doesn’t recognise regular car-boot sales or even the Computer Markets that ran for many years at Bowlers. Coming within 6 and three quarter miles of Altrincham, the expectation is that under the new policy these would not be allowed again, regardless of changing fashions.

Clearly the policy is feudal in origin and looks to be feudal in practice.

Labour councillors have called the decision in and thankfully the Conservative Chair of Scrutiny has agreed to the call in. Hopefully we can improve the policy or widen the consultation.

Image: Nicole Oresme, translation of Aristotle’s Ethics, Politics, and Economics, Rouen (France), Bibliothèque Municipale, Ms. 927, fol. 145, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Scene:

September 2014 BBC Newsnight – Ed Miliband had forgotten the deficit in his speech. The political pundits are tearing into the Labour leader’s performance.

BBC manage to find a single minister prepared to come on to promote the economic policies forgotten by Ed Miliband. Liz Kendall gave such a slick and controlled interview defending Ed and Labour that the interviewer was forced to move on.

This was the first time I’d really seen Liz Kendall under pressure. She totally owned the moment. Since then she’s never failed to impress.

I’m supporting Liz Kendall for Leader of the Labour Party.

I hate Labour being in opposition. Some find it a very comfortable place to be. I absolutely hate it. Liz Kendall offers Labour it’s best chance of winning in 2020.

daliscar1, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 

Labour lost the general election and went backwards in Trafford. It was bad, unbelievably bad.

Sometimes defeat means you just pick yourselves up, dust yourselves down, and start preparing for next time. But this was seismic. I want to understand better what happened. Kate Green has a survey on her website. I’d really like everyone to complete it. I don’t think democracy is served by having an opposition Labour Party kidding itself that it’s going to be easy; and I really want to hear from people across the political spectrum including those who voted for other parties, or didn’t vote at all.

Survey

 

85022/OUT/15

I am writing to object to the above application.
 

The proposal is to build on a shallow band of land adjacent to the railway embankment. The land is currently a band of scrub that is an important piece of greenery for the community. Although it is untended it does play a roll in community life. In the blackberry season, residents can be seen with buckets full of blackberries. The terraced houses bordering this space tend not to have gardens and this small piece of green is a vital amenity.
 

We have seen in recent months Community Volunteers from ‘Love Gorse Hill’ and the Stretford Wombles take part in litter picks of this area and the future looks really positive for this land.

The development itself is inappropriate to the terraced community. It will dominate the street scene of Bowness St as it will be much taller than the houses. It will take away natural light from the street itself.

Station Road is a vital cycle route through to Gorse Hill recognised in Trafford’s cycle strategy that will grow in importance with developments already under construction at the Trafford College site and behind Trafford Park Station which I’ve welcomed. The proposal will have a detrimental affect on this cycleway as access to the footpath will be compromised.

This proposal is going to lead to over development in the area largely due to the loss of greenery. The site is also part of a wildlife corridor particularly for birds.

The railway line is increasingly busy and is running at full capacity. I have worries that the new homes will be too close to the railway. Clearly we need new homes but this is an inappropriate site as it removes a vital community asset and is simply wrong for the area.
 

I have been contacted via Facebook by a number of residents and it is clear that there is a great deal of disappointment in this application coming forward again. Gorse Hill Ward has insufficient greenspace which is why even small plots such as this are so vital. It will be a development too far if planning permission is granted.

Mike Cordingley

Labour Councillor for Gorse Hill Ward

I show this to the appropriate agencies. It’s the small park off Gorse Avenue. Technically not Gorse Hill Ward but close enough and it’s not acceptable.

Image by Isa KARAKUS from Pixabay

The elite will not like it one little bit, but Ed is absolutely right on this. For too long the unfairness in our tax system has been left unchallenged. The fact that there would be no deficit if HMRC collected the revenue that the Government calculates should be forthcoming from the current UK economy makes this urgent. Ordinary people are bearing the brunt because the rich and powerful refuse to pay their share. It’s brave, it’s challenging and it’s right.

UK Parliament, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons