From the Canal to Sevenways

Category: cycling

  • Just don’t ask me to run

    Just don’t ask me to run

    Pulled a calf tendon at Parkrun on Saturday so I can’t run even for a bus. Thankfully the bike remains the best way of getting round and whether the calf is redundant on those pedals or it’s specific tendons, I don’t know, but I’m thankful I can get around. I actually had access to the car this week but you’ll be pleased to know I never used it once.

    You’ll see that the following update contains a friendly nudge to my council that they get a move on with the Bee Network.

    Monday was neighbourhood watch

    Gurdev Singh is one of those people who when he sees things need doing he gets on with doing it. It’s great that Gorse Hill ward has so many of these people. Gurdev lives in Lostock and he’s seen enough attempted burglaries and car thefts to know that it’s a growing problem, that the place is not kept as clean as it should be and there’s too much dog dirt in the park and paths.

    We receive the invitation in the morning for an inaugural neighbourhood watch meeting in the evening. He’s done some advertising on Facebook and we get enough people. It was such a worthwhile meeting it earned its own post here.

    One thing the meeting really underlined was the need for more policing resources and it very much prompted me to respond in favour of the precept increase on council tax proposed by our Labour mayor and Deputy.

    Tuesday Circle Court Drop-In

    With PCSOs Jonathan and Mike, as well as officers of Trafford Housing Trust and Ian Underhill of Safer Trafford for their regular drop in.

    Wednesday Trip to Trafford Park Hotel

    Thrilled to see the inside of Trafford Park Hotel for the first time in 30 years, maybe longer. More here

    Hopefully we can get this heritage jewel into use again.

    Thursday

    Design Guide Presentation

    There’s a lot of good work going on in Trafford about urban planning for the 21st century and beyond. I still worry that the Council’s decision makers are not yet ready to break old habits. So we might adopt new design standards, but only if we know we can ignore at leisure.

    Trafford habitually rejects planning applications for want of parking despite there being no minimum figure already. The car is given far more status than greenspace or play areas for children.

    Gorse Street

    This was my initiative. This street backs the shopping parade and pub in Gorse Hill. The combination of commercial premises, particularly take-aways as well as above-the-shop accommodation and a residential area means bringing people and services together is a challenge. The alleys and street needs a deep clean, we need better management of cleaning and litter removal and not just from the council.

    On Thursday I got councillors and officers together just to focus on Gorse Street. We need to identify what’s adopted and what’s not, work with the commercial waste and try to develop a permanent strategy. We can’t continue just tweaking, removing the odd bag of builders waste etc. So it’s an issue I want to return to.

    Urmston Active Travel

    500+ people in a wedding venue in Urmston to hear Chris Boardman launch the Urmston Active Neighbourhood. Lots of activities set up but the sheer weight of numbers was the big story.

    The numbers of people turning up to this meeting are really important. We’re now into the third calendar year of the bee network project. Whilst other local authorities like Salford are making good progress on moving forward from design stage, Trafford is beginning to lag behind now. It would be a shame if we didn’t make progress. The Talbot Road cycleway we inherited put Trafford at the forefront. The 500 people turning up to the Urmston event shows Trafford residents want to keep us in the leading pelatron on active travel.

    Bee Network Progress Tracker

    Saturday Canvass

    Over to Broadheath for a Labour Party canvass in support of Denise Western. Denise is a very popular councillor and that came through on the doorstep. It felt ok, better than I expected if truth be known. We see the polling, but out on the doorstep it felt ok, at least in Broadheath.

    Almost forgot to mention the Stretford town centre consultation. People are really keen. The mall is an issue, its physical presence sits on the wrong trajectory for me. There aren’t enough routes that place a person accidentally passing through the mall. I get the sense that I’m in a minority as far as the mall’s potential is concerned and I’m more than happy to see Stretford get its overdue attention.

  • Active Gorse Hill

    Active Gorse Hill

    In addition to the civic quarter masterplan we’ve got a couple more reports going to executive next week with special pertinence to Gorse Hill ward.

    GM Mayor’s Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund – Update (External Pdf)

    The report details what we’ve done so far:

    • additional work on the Stretford cycleway (Talbot Road / Stretford Road)

    Programme Entry status for

    • Talbot Rd/Greatstone Rd Junction
    • A56 Talbot Rd Junction

    Programme Entry status means that Trafford is encouraged to work up plans and that the Mayor’s team would want to support a scheme that’s workable and cost effective. It gives them a slight get out clause and no funds are transferred but I personally would hope the business case is so strong that these will become reality.

    The next scheme in the pipeline is described as:

    • Dedicated Cycle and walking link from Moss Road to Wharfside, Trafford Park

    I want to stress that this is the complete Trafford list, it’s not a selection for a Gorse Hill Ward readership. I’m quite proud that every single scheme has had benefits for Gorse Hill Ward.

    The future direction for Trafford’s use of the fund is now beginning to shift towards active neighbourhoods: something I very much support. Initially, it will be targeted on the Urmston Town Centre and routes into it. I’m keen that it means that dropped kerbs become the standard at crossing points and we embrace something called ‘implied zebras’, a thing that you’re going to hear much more of, particularly in Salford. But I want it also to provide more seating and access to toilets on routes. We have to be including all ages and needs in this.

    Leisure Centre Investment

    The report sets out Trafford Leisure’s investment strategy. Within the document is reference to Stretford Leisure Centre, still very much subject to Civic Quarter Masterplan consultation but we’re assuming a new centre will be built:

    It is designed and firmly positioned as community leisure centre predominantly serving residents in the Stretford and Old Trafford areas but also of sufficient capacity to meet the needs of an expanding student population at UA92.


    The facility mix includes a 25m pool and 18m leisure pool with moveable floor. A 160 station fitness suite some 3 times bigger than the existing one with a health and wellbeing suite and assessment room to help people get the most from their fitness regimes. Overall there will be 9 court sports hall capacity with flexibility as an indoor cricket practice area to professional standard which attracts funding from the ECB and provides a route for local people to access world class practice facilities
    alongside the elite cricketers.


    This would combine with a number of fun activity based facilities aimed at the family market along with a social meeting point and café area offering wholesome, healthy food and party catering.
    The total construction cost including overheads, inflation and car parking for 300 cars is £24.460m.

    I think the key thing is that it has to serve the needs of  wider Stretford and Old Trafford. Proximity to Metrolink will help but fitness isn’t just about sports centres and we need to stop expecting to be able to travel door to door in a car. We need to provide an urban landscape that people want to walk and talk in.

  • Surface of Chatsworth Road – Call for Evidence

    Surface of Chatsworth Road – Call for Evidence

    Every year I submit Chatsworth Road in Lostock to the council's highways dept as my number one priority within the ward for resurfacing. The best I've achieved is some haphazard patching of occasional potholes there.

    It's a well used route. I've talked to councillors with residents who'll use it regularly, particularly in Davyhulme and Flixton. All have agreed that the road is the worse for wear. I've always had the suspicion though that cyclists see this road as in a lot more serious condition than 'worse for wear'. It's more  than an uncomfortable ride too.  The road is rutted throughout and the cyclist is forced off their natural course by regular fractures of the surface. This makes it quite dangerous in sharing the route with motor vehicles as the cyclist is forced to weave in and out.

    We've not really put in a concerted collective demand for the road to be resurfaced from cyclists and it's perhaps time we did. I've helped cyclists before, particularly with regard to Victoria Road in Hale; but that was for a cycling club. We don't seem to have a collective voice for cyclists from the Urmston side of Trafford. I've been approached by one cyclist who feels that he's going to have to change his route to avoid Chatsworth – I believe there's many more cyclists out there who 'require' this road to be resurfaced. My lonesome annual plea for this road to be top of the list has not worked. I'm therefore putting the call out for anyone who's had experience of an uncomfortable/dangerous riding experience along Chatsworth Road to 'tell' their story to the council, to make the case collectively with me.

    Tell me about your bike ride on Chatsworth Road in Lostock. Ideally use the comments below, so that it might encourage others to join in. If you absolutely prefer confidentiality then email me at michael.cordingley@trafford.gov.uk.