From the Canal to Sevenways

Category: Covid-19

  • Why are cycle lanes happening, Everywhere?

    Why are cycle lanes happening, Everywhere?

    A voter asks

    Can you tell me what you think of the situation with regard to cycle lanes, which are being increased by a very large number all around Stretford, Trafford and most other surrounding areas?

    It is a driver’s worst nightmare and it no longer matters when you are travelling. There used to be a certain build-up of traffic in the peak times, but now there is a build-up of traffic all day. This is due in my opinion to a four-lane road being turned into a two-lane road, which seems to be done with very little realistic thinking.

    Question asked by voter in response to election material

    So, why are we doing this?

    This is a question about cycling lanes being asked by so many drivers. I really feel it needs answering and I genuinely feel there are some good reasons so let’s set the context.

    Right across Europe, US and Asia, cities are installing cycling infrastructure. It can’t just be on the whim of politicians like Andy Burnham or Boris Johnson.

    Boris Johnson on a bike
    Boris Johnson
    Andy Burnham, Andrew Western, Chris Boardman and Beryl Executives
    Andy Western, Andy Burnham and Chris Boardman

    There’s even a bike on the front cover of Trafford Labour’s Manifesto

    There isn’t a single answer but the reasons are manifold including:

    • Health
    • Carbon Reduction
    • Air Quality
    • Congestion

    I’m going to go through these reasons individually and hopefully bring that together in Trafford’s strategy.

    Health

    Modern life styles are so reduced in physical activity, it is having a detrimental effect on healthy lifespans. Over the last 30 years, deaths and disability from cardiovascular disease have been steadily rising across the globe. In 2019 alone, the condition, which includes heart disease and stroke, was responsible for a staggering one-third of all deaths worldwide.
    The main thing we need to do about it is to walk* more. Whether it is working from home or our dependence on cars, we’ve got to move more.
    *I deliberately put the emphasis on walking. Whilst cycling and walking infrastructure is linked, we are not putting enough thought into making a walk to the school or shops an easy option.
    As Covid has exacerbated this. I think it’s fair to say to we would want to improve walking and cycling whether Government was leaning on us or not, but the fact is Government is leaning on us to do it.

    Carbon Reduction

    We’re obligated under international treaties particularly COP to reduce our carbon emissions. Globally, the transport sector is a huge contributor to those emissions and one that is seen as being comparatively easier to tackle but with significant positive side effects if we do.

    Air Quality

    The Government has directed Greater Manchester to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads “in the shortest possible time” and by 2026 at the latest. The Government still wants a charging zone for polluting vehicles but Manchester is resisting having got its fingers burnt. Let’s be honest, it was an awful initial plan, putting most of the charge on business vehicles that had to be used regardless of whether there were public transport alternatives or not. Essentially, there’s now a standoff between the government and Manchester, but clearly promoting cycling is an easy win in this, supported by both Govt and the Combined Authority.

    Congestion

    Bikes do not cause congestion, traffic does. Greater Manchester has been suffering congestion for decades. Drivers will point to cycle lanes but there are so many roads without cycling infrastructure and that are still congested. Bikes are ultimately part of the solution rather than the problem.

    Personal Example
    I’m a keen City fan and try to get to a decent number of home games. If I’m travelling alone I’ll use the bike. The roads through central and east Manchester become chock-full, yet there’s no cycling infrastructure worthy of the name on that side of Manchester. As a 64 year old man, I can easily beat my neighbours home on my bike even though they leave early to avoid the worst of the congestion. If I went in the car, I’d simply be adding another car to that congestion. By going by bike, I am helping to reduce the congestion, cycling does not cause congestion.

    Regardless of bike infrastructure, this congestion is hugely detrimental to Manchester. It’s costing businesses millions. It is costing Manchester investment too in investment. And here I return to walking because I can’t emphasise enough how critical good walking infrastructure is.

    Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer who I have huge respect for argues that in addition to the health and environmental benefits mentioned above, walkable neighbourhoods caused

    • Increased property values: Walkable neighbourhoods are in high demand, and as a result, properties in these areas tend to have higher values than those in less walkable areas. Walkability can also help attract new businesses to an area, further increasing property values.
    • Increased economic activity: Walkable neighbourhoods often have more small, locally-owned businesses, which can help to create a sense of community and increase economic activity in the area.
    • Increased social capital: Walkable neighbourhoods can foster a sense of community and social connection, which can have positive impacts on mental health and overall quality of life.

    To summarise why we’re doing it

    • We’re doing it because Government is telling us to do it
    • We’re doing it because many of us (but not all) across all the main parties (and I do mean all) believe in doing it for all the reasons above.

    So how are we doing in Trafford?

    We published the Walking, Wheeling and Cycling Strategy in March 2023 which includes our overall goal that over the next 10 years

    • 90% of journeys under 1 mile will be taken by foot or wheeled
      equipment (e.g. cycles, scooters, wheelchairs, mobility scooters).
    • 80% of journeys under 5 miles will be taken by foot or wheeled
      equipment (e.g. cycles, scooters, wheelchairs, mobility scooters).

    That is hugely ambitious when you consider that the Greater Manchester’s figures for 2019 were:

    • Car or taxi: 55% of trips
    • Public transport (including buses, trains, and trams): 27% of trips
    • Walking: 11% of trips
    • Cycling: 2% of trips

    So we do have to get a move on. The Talbot Road / Stretford Road cycleway was largely in place or committed to when we in Labour came into control of Trafford. Then Covid came along and triggered the A56 cones to be installed as an emergency measure primarily to get people to work without placing them in the then-considered hazardous environment of public transport. The government insists it doesn’t will not fund local authorities who rip out the infrastructure already funded by the government so that has left us with coned areas of the A56 that please no one.

    That said, there have been too many projects abandoned after considerable in-house work has been committed to them. We need to get better and the recent appointment of Councillor Aidan Williams as the responsible Executive Member has helped enormously, but we’re still getting some unfathomable decisions elsewhere in the council such as the failure to resurface the full width of Talbot Road and leaving the cycle lanes on the same road in a poor state of repair. We’ve made the commitment to walking and cycling – people will just get sceptical as to what we’re doing if we don’t stick with it.

    Going back to the original question, we’re not yet seeing the big increase in cycling in Stretford we need to justify the policy and we won’t until it’s joined up. A journey to Manchester, Chorlton or Eccles entails too many sections that are actually quite scary and until there’s an accommodation for the inexperienced cyclist, we’re not going to see that increase. It’s hard not to sympathise with the voter who raised this question. We need that acceleration in the policy.

    Lostock and Barton Ward

    The Talbot Road / Stretford Cycleway is often cited amongst Greater Manchester’s better pieces of cycling infrastructure, but for me, Barton Dock Road is the best and it’s in the ward. It is everything cycling infrastructure should be. It doesn’t interfere with traffic but gets you there on the most direct route. The Trafford Centre and particularly Asda could do much better in accommodating bikes when you arrive at the destination, but there’s no denying the quality of the Barton Dock Road cycle path.
    In choosing walking for short trips the position is more mixed, to put it mildly. Walking has a huge advantage over driving in getting across the railway line from Lostock to Derbyshire Lane, but the upkeep of the Humphrey Park Station tunnel is so appalling and inaccessible to wheelchairs. It usually is in a squalid state of cleanliness. We can do so much better with what is an essential route for parents and school children in particular.
    Similarly getting across some of our minor, but busy roads on foot or in a wheelchair is far more difficult than it should be. The crossings give so much priority to cars. It should be a given that drains next to crossings are prioritised but they’re not. The crossing at the Melville is too often a wade through a large puddle, after you’ve got splashed by cars first obviously.

    So my Lostock and Barton priorities for active travel are:

    • Making the Park Road/Derbyshire Lane junction safe for pedestrians
    • Working with the GM Mayor’s office, Trafford, and Northern Rail on Humphrey Park subway to make it accessible
    • Pursuing improvements to the route from Lostock Park to Trafford Park
    • Working with Asda to improve their cycle accessibility from the roundabout and into the parking area
    • Working with colleagues to ensure that the Urmston Active Neighbourhood has clear objectives impacting on the Lostock and Barton neighbourhoods
    • Looking at all crossings to ensure they meet the needs of those crossing the road in terms of maintenance and responsiveness.
    • Looking at bus routes to ensure our neighbourhoods are connected to the places they want to go to
    • Looking at bus stops so they’re clean and comfortable

    Trafford Manifesto

    Trafford Labour’s 2023 manifesto sets out our general policy priorities.

    Trafford under Labour will work with partners and communities to ensure Trafford’s streets are safer and have accessible walking and cycling routes.
    Under Labour £20m is being invested in improving our walking and cycling routes.
    Continue to work with local communities to help establish Play Street schemes, where children can play safely together, free from traffic.
    Commit to ensuring that children in Trafford can get to and from school safely in an environment that supports walking, cycling, and other forms of cleaner transport by rolling out School Streets.

  • Putting Children back to first priority

    Putting Children back to first priority

    I am really pleased that Andy Western – leader of Trafford Council has made the comments I’m sharing below.

    It’s something I’ve been uncomfortable with since the outset of the first lockdown. I was never happy that schools were shut down. With hindsight, I can see we needed a pause to get on top of the virus. However, I was very supportive of Kate Green’s stance that children needed to be back at school at the earliest date. She took flack for that position.

    It’s never been the loss of examinations that’s been my prime concern. With the right provision of lifelong learning, this can be addressed; and maybe even improved upon, as we’ve never been good at it. Now it’s imperative, perhaps at last we can dream of the universal provision we dreamt about when Labour created the ‘Open University’.

    I agree with Andy that it’s the loss of socialisation skills and friendship forming that’s the real worry. We’re seeing an increased prevalence of mental health problems and worsening anti-social behaviour. I sense there’s a stronger element of pure anger contained within the motivations for that behaviour than I have seen before. I get that anger. I get angry at those who pontificate at parents for the reaction their children are demonstrating.

    It’s something that we’re going to have to address and there’s an urgent need for the conversation to really get started. That conversation has primarily to be driven by the young people and we need to find new ways of getting the voice of those most at risk from problems we’ve created. The catchup plan needs to be owned by those children and it needs to continue to be owned by them as they move through their life. We owe it to them.

  • Can Covid be in the past whilst rates soar?

    Can Covid be in the past whilst rates soar?

    Answer: Possibly not, but it’s not our biggest problem right now

    For a long time I have been keeping a close watch of hospital admissions in the north west and also deaths. Those figures have been gently coming down for a few months. So, I must admit I hadn’t for quite a while been following the number of cases in Trafford until a week or so ago, and it was quite a shock that they’d deteriorated so quickly.

    I was participating in the Covid-19 public engagement board this morning. It’s a forum for getting out key messages to support controlling the pandemic in Trafford. The Chair had some strong words in his opening that Trafford was currently suffering its highest incidence of Covid cases and was sat at the top of Greater Manchester rankings with the situation worsening. He felt that the Government were treating the pandemic as over when clearly the figures said the opposite. That’s a dilemma for me as I would argue the emphasis now should switch to repairing the damage.

    Covid rates Trafford to October 2021

    Clearly the figures are striking and I can understand the consternation caused when generally we’ve never been worse than mid-table in our performance in combatting covid. That said, whilst the overall Trafford figure is high, what we appear to be seeing is a suburban surge throughout Greater Manchester particularly in the south of the conurbation. And we’re almost getting a doughnut effect. So what’s going on?

    The current surge is very much focused on the age cohorts between 5 and 19 and secondly, the typical age cohort of those children’s parents. It’s those schools in the middle that have the greatest travelling around, which perhaps explains the doughnut ring effect. So lot’s of mixing, travelling and socialising.

    This is not to diminish the impact of covid on these young people but we have good vaccination rates. At the same time I’m seeing so many indications of far more detrimental aspects of the 18 months of lockdown than the endemic nature of covid. This is why I’d switch the emphasis.

    You might disagree with me but right now I’m more concerned with the levels of absenteeism in secondary schools across the country. That’s just one indicator but there’s many more and it’ll take years to understand the true costs of the decisions we’ve taken to combat covid but school attendance has certainly been affected.

    Samuel Freedman is a educational analyst

    I worry too about future levels of loneliness. That short period of adolescence into (wom)manhood between 14-18 is incredibly formative and vital and we’ve locked those young people up for long periods of lockdown, forbidden them from mixing.

    People complain about the levels of anti-social behaviour but it’s remarkable to me that we’ve not seen more and worse. I worry that we’re storing up problems for years particularly when combined with damaged education delivery.

    So it’s a difficult position we’re in. I do not want the Government to do more in respect of direct Covid support than they are doing. I think our job is to make the vaccine easily available. We never quite managed that in the north of the borough and there’s no longer going to be a huge return on giving easy access, but there’s booster delivery to focus on. We need to continue to provide support to care homes and those isolating. The Government should focus on providing financial more support to those who are ill or isolating but no more talk of lockdowns unless a future variant really turns this badly around.

    The real thrust of our response should now be on supporting young people. We owe them restitution to enable them to build rewarding lives.

    I just want to make this point. Covid has given rise to lots of wartime comparisons. My parents would have been adolescents at the start of the war. They went through a lot and lost friends and family but they came out of it proud and feeling enhanced by what they went through. This is not the same for the kids who have been through Covid. There is no wartime comparison.

    My worry is that actually we’ve diminished the generations under 40, at times we’ve even blamed them, which I find incredible. I don’t expect them to ever look on lockdowns fondly or with any pride.

    Lastly, I say this. Given the damage that Covid and the measures we’ve been forced into, if you’ve not been vaxxed and there’s no medical or age reason stopping you, then shame on you. I don’t particularly have a view on vaccine passports but be assured of this, any scepticism is purely practical and should in no way be interpreted as sympathy for those who choose not to be vaxxed. Jurgen Klopp is right that it should be viewed with the same contempt as drink driving.

  • Covid is not done with us yet

    Covid is not done with us yet

    Latest Covid figures are bleak

    Purely, in terms of cases, we’re hitting a new peak. Locally, the number of Covid infections has gone through the roof compared to how it was just a few weeks ago. Your chance of coming into contact with the disease in Gorse Hill or Lostock is greater now than it’s ever been.

    Latest (2nd July) data for the three Gorse Hill Ward output areas

    Whilst the numbers being admitted to hospital are low, they are growing and worryingly the northwest’s number of covid patients requiring mechanical ventilation has risen six-fold in the past 6 weeks. So these are stark figures.

    Get your jab

    Maddeningly, we know that the vaccine works to reduce hospitalisations. So this is a plea to you to get your jabs. The vaccine is available to everyone 18+. If you’re registered with a GP, you can book through the national booking service. For those that can’t use the booking service, there are vaccination drop-in sessions advertised on the Manchester City Council website. https://secure.manchester.gov.uk/info/500362/covid-19/8079/covid-19_vaccination_programme/5. You can just turn up and will usually get your jab.

    Freedom Day

    In less than two weeks most of the restrictions we have had imposed on us to combat Covid are lifted. I desperately want July 19 to be a success but you need to get your jabs if you’ve not already done so.

  • Covid-19 Vaccination Progress

    Covid-19 Vaccination Progress

    This has been a big issue for me. To be honest, I’ve ruffled a few feathers and got a ticking off at this month’s Labour group meeting, but hey-ho.

    In the wealthy belt across the south of the borough the GPs seem to have worked through the cohorts at breakneck speed, way ahead of the Government’s schedule. It’s paying off. The rates of infection are now too low to measure across that area which hitherto has consistently had amongst the highest rates in Trafford. Trafford’s vaccination rate is very, very good in general except for the Stretford/Old Trafford area.

    Seven–day rolling rate of new cases by specimen date ending on 17 Mar 2021

    Vaccine rates in the north of the borough (the wards of Clifford, Longford, Gorse Hill and Stretford) continue to lag. We didn’t get off to a good start – the Delamere Centre is not a convenient location to serve the whole of the area and it took too long for Limelight to be brought alongside in Old Trafford to provide a second centre.

    Nevertheless, we are where we are with centre locations. We still have a problem with vaccine take-up. Vaccine hesitancy in poorer areas, particularly amongst the BAME population is an issue across the country and it’s something we need to take seriously.

    The Government is not paying it very much attention yet, but I think we should in Trafford. I logged on to a Local Government webinar last week on this issue; and it was clear the Government’s take was just to concentrate on the numbers, get through the willing as quickly as you can. I get that. The numbers matter. However, leaving less protected populations will matter too.

    We see that covid is not affecting people equally. My concern with the vaccine is that the very people that have a right to be concerned about safety for historical; and to be honest, contemporary systemic reasons are the same group of people at greater risk of exposure and death from the disease. So, it is really worrying and highlights the importance of having these conversations; and going beyond just saying ‘trust us, it’s safe’ to really engaging and listening to people; and understanding where people come from and taking the time to address those concerns. Because otherwise, you have a further widening of the inequality you want to avoid, where the vaccine coverage also ends up being unequal with lower coverage in areas of black and minority ethnic groups which would be such a tragedy.

    Dr Tollulah Oni – urban epidemiologist at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge

    The quote is from a video interview with Dr Oni published by the Voice newspaper and is well worth watching in full. https://youtu.be/2oE3IGOMXc4

    There’s not enough acknowledgement that there are genuine issues. The video quoted above was released in December so it’s not as though we weren’t warned. We really need to listen to people, to be patient, to go the extra mile. It’s not simply a case of going through the Imams. I think there’s more we can do. I want to learn from places like Birmingham who have nearly 600 community covid champions – volunteers from within the community. We need to break through that lack of trust and it’s not going to be easy. The ‘hesitancy’ rate in the north of Trafford is at least double of any of the other areas.

    However, I think we can do it and when you see the improved covid rates for Hale, you have to say we have every incentive to make this work.

  • A levels and Alleyways

    A levels and Alleyways

    Councillor Update

    Local people performing miracles. Getting on with it and sorting out their neighbourhood.

    whilst in government

    Every contract seems to go to the mates of Johnson or of his free-wheeling ministers. Everything the government touches seems to fall apart. It matters.

    The lazy algorithm

    The algorithm replicating the previous year’s results was inherently unfair. The calculation took no account of effort or attainment. It was a rotten method, and it would never stand up to the scrutiny of real-life circumstances. Leaving the retreat so late was incredibly frustrating. Given no exams, these results could have been released months ago. That would have given time for appeal and challenge before university places needed to be allocated.

    Thankfully, the combined might of the pupils and schools, together with backing from our very own Kate Green in her role as Shadow Education Minister forced the Government to abandon it. I’m so grateful that the pupils won before it was applied to GCSEs.

    It’s not all good. BTEC results are only just beginning to filter through after being pulled at the last moment.

    Perhaps the hardest hit has been those students who were independently submitting themselves to resits to get the grades for their chosen University. They’re not getting any grade, and now the worry is that it’ll be much harder next year.

    Please sign the petition for universities to honour the 2020 offer.

    Sign the petition on Change Org

    Covid 19

    Local lockdown continues to apply in Trafford. Wigan and Stockport having their lockdown relaxed, it can’t be long before the measures are lifted here too.

    I’m not sure the additional restrictions in themselves have had the substantial impact, but they reinforced the message that the disease continues in our community. My hesitation is that measures need to make sense within the context of what is going on in the local area. We should design our own measures. This should be Andy Burnham’s job with the support of the local councils and our superb Directors of Public Health.

    We need the data. We need our Directors of Public Health to know who’s getting the disease and the places where they may have caught it. National tracing is not working. Another of Boris Johnson’s mates has the job of running track and trace. Local knowledge is a tremendous part of effective track and trace. We need full devolution of this to make it work properly.

    Overall Death Rate

    Trafford got through the peak Covid-19 in better shape than most metropolitan boroughs. Testing for coronavirus before discharging patients back to care homes had a significant impact. However, we are seeing a slightly more pronounced increase in deaths now compared to the five-year average. These are small numbers, but it’s worth monitoring as we move forward.

    Council Work

    Local Plan

    All councils set out a local plan for their area. It forms the basis of planning development decisions the council takes on applications that come before it. I’m a member of a consultative group on Trafford’s Local Plan as it has fallen out of date.

    It’s a necessary, and sometimes boring document, but councils can be ambitious and visionary, if they choose. I am keen that the plan should bolster neighbourhoods and communities. I am attracted to the ethos of the 15 minute city. Trafford’s outdated plan encourages urban sprawl. It’s going to be an interesting debate.

    Urban sprawl as a planning concept has lost its sheen, but it seems at least in Trafford to be the default model. You’re just not allowed to call it sprawl.

    You can describe a development as a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in an attractive urban extension with nearby access to town amenities and close to a renowned rural setting. These developments have no public transport links and no shops or community setting.

    I hope we can produce a local plan that puts people at the heart of it.

    Stretford Town Centre

    Keep an eye out for the next update on Stretford’s Masterplan. We were hoping this weekend to reopen the continuing conversation on the town’s evolvement. We didn’t quite get everything ready, but it’s coming.

    Greatstone Hotel

    A planning application to demolish the Greatstone Hotel and build a 6 storey apartment block

    101637/OUT/20 | Outline planning application for the demolition of existing hotel and erection of 69 residential apartments, including details on layout, access and scale, with all other matters reserved. | Greatstone Hotel 845 – 849 Chester Road Stretford Manchester M32 0RN

    Casework

    • Motorbiking gang tensions on Chester Road
    • Nansen Park investment
    • Gorse Street Alleyways and Environs (issues of cleanliness and waste removal processes)
    • Parking issues connected to Lostock Park visitors.
    • Waste removal at Milton Court – serious breakdown in services
    • Sub-standard street restoration following tree removal in Lostock
    • Vibrations caused by structural issues on foundations on Barton Road
    • Housing issues – a number of residents unable to move from inappropriate accommodation. Covid-19 has effectively clogged up housing allocation.
    • Overgrown passageways and footpaths
    • Royal Mail Deliveries
    • Accommodating Active Travel (walking and cycling) v The needs of people in cars and vans
    • HGVs getting lost in residential areas trying to find Trafford Park, particularly Moss Road and Avondale Road.

    Those Bowness/Derwent Alleyways

    It’s always brilliant to help community clean-ups but the work of Dave on the Bowness / Derwent Estate has been of another level. It’s took us a few weeks but he’s achieved so much.