From the Canal to Sevenways

Category: Environment

  • Councillor Update July 2020

    Councillor Update July 2020

    Covid

    Trafford is experiencing the rise in positive cases of Covid seen across Greater Manchester. We don’t seem to be experiencing a corresponding rise in hospital admissions.

    The rise in positive tests seems to particularly focused on a younger segment of the population. The message continues to be vigilent and get tested if you have symptoms. Trafford’s testing facility is at UA92 this week. Tests are booked via the NHS.

    Impact on Council Finances

    Dealing with Covid-19 has had a huge impact on Council finances for this year. Remember that the Government’s diktat was to do what was necessary.

    The Government has issued grants to councils but go nowhere near addressing the full amount.

    So looking at this year’s budget spend, we’re about £17m down on where we should be for the year.

    The Government is talking about spreading the cost but Trafford under Labour has been a frugal council. I’d like to see finance reform but unless that happens we’re going to need support from Government. It’s my view you can only squeeze so much out of Council Tax.

    Trafford Leisure

    You may have seen reports that the impact on Trafford Leisure in terms of maintaining a service has been even greater than on the council since they’ve not been able to open their centres. The council has reconfigured reserves allocated to the Trust to assist but since some of these reserves were connected to a new Stretford Leisure Centre/Pool, it’s obviously a concern to us in Gorse Hill.

    Crime

    Crime in Greater Manchester is currently up by 25% compared to the same time last year. This is a significant change as the figures for April and May were quiet in comparison.

    I’m told that Trafford is not seeing the same increase. That may be across Trafford as a whole but my experience suggests that there is a peak in crime and disorder, as well as anti-social behaviour.

    We are not very good at reporting crime in Gorse Hill. We know there is drug dealing at a number of locations. It’s not being reported to the police.

    Do report on Crimestoppers too. It gives police vital information to apply resources

    Lostock Circle Court

    Circle Court has been due regeneration for a number of years. Windows are draughty and uninsulated and it needs all aspects bringing up to 21st century standards. There were hints that building a new hotel (still subject to planning) could bring in the receipts needed to assist. However, the financial outlook is such that the Housing Trust has indicated that any regeneration is now pushed back.

    As councillors we’re arguing that this is precisely the right investment to be making at this time. We’re angry about it and will continue to make the case.

    Waste Disposal

    I don’t think closing the household waste and recycling centres was ever a good idea. They are at last open but we’ve been left with a legacy across the ward of fly-tipping and overflowing and abandoned commercial waste. I’m doing my best to find a way through these but people are angry and I understand that.

    We also seem to have had a spate of bin thefts this week. Now the collection service is supposedly back to normal, expectations are confused and it’s clear that there’s a backlog of frustration and unattended fly-tipping and a big increase in incidences of rats across the ward.

    Schools

    The September resumption is a really difficult issue. Schools have been operating primarily as learning hubs with most of their pupils learning at home. The effectiveness of the learning we know is very mixed and the quality of the learning environment is extremely varied. The impact of covid-19 on learning will range from almost zero to a level seriously detrimental to the child’s outcomes.

    Teachers and staff have worked incredibly hard throughout the period. I know there are worries about a full resumption. I suppose I’m in the camp where I just think we have to get children back. It is not going to be easy.

    I’m a governor at Lostock High as well as Old Trafford Community Academy; but I did want to report back on Lostock as it’s important to the ward. Since May we have a new Headteacher, Lindsay Brindley. I’m really impressed with how she’s addressing the current situation. She’s managed to recruit some really proven senior staff into key positions. She’s worked so hard and I really wish her all the best in September when it’ll be the first time she’s had all the children back.

    GP Practices

    Extremely disappointing that Trafford’s GP practices with the worst ratings amongst patients were all located in the Stretford/Old Trafford area.

    Trafford has 30 practices:

    27 – Delamere Medical Practice, Stretford (72),
    28 – Old Trafford Medical Practice (67),
    29 – North Trafford Group Practice, Stretford (61)
    30 – Brooks Bar Medical Centre, Stretford (60).

    Only Lostock avoided the bottom places coming in at 14.

    I raised this with the Director of Public Health but I suspect it’s an issue for the CCG and the Council’s Health Scrutiny. I suppose looking at the position as a whole, then Trafford’s practices are doing well, however I’m not happy our practices are failing to serve their patients as well as others.

    Housing

    There are a number of pressures building up whilst covid-19 lockdown has been in place. It is only now that Social Landlords are entering into new lets. We had an effective freezing of movement. The ban on evictions extends until 23rd August.

    Obviously no one wants to see evictions without cause but sometimes it’s the only way for a situation to ease and it’s pressured to say the least at the moment.

    Easing of Lockdown

    I think generally it’s gone well. Clearly a lot of this is for the council to police. The requirement to wear a mask was 100% adhered to when I visited Tesco, but I understand the company (along with Sainsburys) is now saying they won’t intervene with people not wearing a mask. I think that’s a mistake.

    From what I have seen bars are quiet.

    Really disappointed to see the Up Top project not proceed. I have no inside information on what happened there.

    Not comfortable with gyms reopening personally.

    Supporting the A56 Bike Lanes

    I’ve made my position clear that I very much welcome the bike lanes. Perhaps interestingly, I think it’s less about facilitating bike riding and more about taming the A56 so that traffic movement is at civilised speeds and steady whilst people can reclaim the pavements for walking and chatting without the poisonous exhausts and imposing roar.

    I think we’re going to see more facilities brought in quite quickly. Close to home we might see some filtering around Gorse Avenue and Ashover Street. Apparently letters are going out today though I’ve not seen them.

    Trafford Press Release – Closing Rat Runs

    Planning

    Planning appeals have been lodged against refusal on:

    • Hotel at corner of Warwick Road and Chester Road
    • The safe-storage facility opposite Arnold Clark showroom

    A planning application has been submitted for the B&Q site to build 333 apartments (use class C3) and communal spaces ancillary to the residential use; flexible space for use classes A1, A3, D1 and/or D2; undercroft car parking; new public realm; and associated engineering works and infrastructure | Former B&Q Site Great Stone Road Stretford M32 0YP

    We’ve also received a pre-planning consultation letter in respect of 13 storey appartments on Warwick Road. The letter has also been delivered to local residents.

    Lastly,

    This continues to be the busiest time I can remember for casework. At the same time, Trafford’s officers are mainly working from home. I’m continuing to do my best to deal with issues. I have had a mixture of complete success, partial progress and getting nowhere on various issues.

    It’s a fabulous role being a councillor. It’s much better when I can get out and about as trying to deal with it all from a laptop is a pain. Have a great summer and hopefully things will be a little bit better come September.

  • Climate Emergency Committee

    Climate Emergency Committee

    Meeting Monday 24th June

    Timely that we just met on the same day (Monday) that Andy Burnham was announcing radical improvements to Manchester’s public transport.

    It’s obvious we all have a stake in the our environment and no one wants to see our green and pleasant land turned to dust. It’s so good that we have cross-party involvement. I think it’s going to be a worthwhile committee.

    Clearly there are global aspects to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but putting our own house in order is never a bad place to start and it has to begin at the local.

    We agreed last night that we’re going to want to benchmark our energy consumption as a council. I’m quite keen we go a lot further. The Royal Family seems able to measure its carbon footprint, as can Tesco. I think Trafford can too! We’ll see how that conversation resolves itself.

    One of the interesting conundrums we’ll face is whether to measure only that which comes under Trafford’s control. I believe that climate change is a matter for all of us, not just a data collector hidden away somewhere. We should even be capturing data on emissions from commuting. It’s been done elsewhere and it helps everyone appreciate the full extent of the impact we make in our working lives. It’d be quite fascinating to see the carbon footprint of councillors – I think we can make significant percentage reductions in greenhouse gas emissions here.

    We also need to consider the extent to which we can guide via the planning process reducing the carbon footprint on new development. I don’t think we’ve progressed as much as we predicted in the 1980s. There was a television series on Granada back then called House for the Future and we genuinely expected homes to be self-sufficient in energy use and far more sustainable that has transpired.

    Whilst the House for the Future template might have derailed, there has been progress in design standards abroad and Councillor Jerome has been quite keen to promote Passivhaus design to the committee. The carbon footprint of these is so much lower than a standard build. We need to be recommending quite a shift in our planning expectations. The extent to which this can be implemented locally will be something we want to test.

    We’ve also had time to look at some smaller scale projects:

    Both of these groups are relatively small but are collectively generating green energy locally using communal assets.

    We also talked about District Heating schemes and some suggestion that Trafford Park could offer heat sources. Not so sure myself. Tend to find that the big heat producers recycle that heat to the nth degree themselves. There was a proposal for the incinerator at Barton to be supplying heat for the housing development being built alongside it. Councillor Carey is going to talk to the power station at Carrington, so we’ll give it a chance.

  • Local Shops – some TLC required

    Local Shops – some TLC required

    This is something I’ve wanted to tackle since I first became councillor.

    As a council we take our local shops for granted.

    Trafford gives strategic attention to four specific town centres of Altrincham, Sale, Stretford and Urmston. These four centres are designated within the official Local Plan and are monitored and supported through the council budget. Less attention is afforded to village centres such as Sale Moor, Partington, Hale Barns, Ashton upon Mersey and Timperley; but at least they are on the map.

    As a council we give almost zero recognition to corner shops and smaller shopping parades. Yet there’s an argument that these hyper-local neighbourhood parades contribute more in social capital and community well-being than the town centres ever could do.

    The local shops are part of family life

    When mum or dad says ‘can you nip down to the shop for butter?’ the child knows where they’re being sent. It might be that these days the child is much older before they’re considered sufficiently road savvy to be allowed shopping errands, but it’s still a right of passage to nip down to the shop.

    Local shops matter. When local shops fall into decay, it becomes a blight on the community. They can either add value to property prices or detract. They are very much part of the identity of a place.

    The good news is that we have a lot of local shopping parades in and around Gorse Hill Ward and largely with one or two exceptions, they’re doing ok.

    Lostock Circle
    Lostock (Winchester Road)
    Lostock (Barton Road)
    Derbyshire Lane West (near Sevenways)
    Moss Road
    Fiveways
    Moss Road/
    Davyhulme Road East
    Gorse Hill

    Apart from on the Gorse Hill parade, there are almost no vacant units across our local shops. So that’s good. But are there things that should be improved?

    I believe there’s a whole host of things that could and should be done by council and other agencies; and especially by the store owners themselves. I’ve tried to come up with a list primarily based on the complaints and gripes I’ve encountered in this area. It’s not exhaustive but generally I’m hoping to have captured the doable stuff.

    • Litter management issues, sufficient bins – right locations?
    • Access to the shops – safe crossing?
    • Traffic Management – too many cars on forecourt? Deliveries?
    • Graffiti?
    • General cleanliness?
    • Good mix of provision? Too many takeaways? Duplication?
    • Cycle parking
    • Trip hazards, uneven pavements?
    • Lighting?
    • Feeling safe? People smoking outside pubs and betting shops
    • Vacant units?
    • Management of waste – commercial waste
    • Cleanliness of alleys and ginnels associated with the shops

    Is this a reasonable basis for measuring the health of our local shops and things to do to improve ? Is there anything I’ve missed?

    It’s something I’m really keen to do. I’m hoping to put together a living set of actions for the council and other agencies to support the vitality of our shops. So I really want you to engage with this.

  • Hotel at Warwick Road

    Hotel at Warwick Road

    A 212 bedroom hotel is proposed at the corner of Chester Road and Warwick Road where the bronze windowed offices currently stand. In many ways I’m in favour. However at ground level, I feel the hotel fails to deliver sufficient active frontage on either road but particularly on Warwick Road.

    It should feel as though you’re invited in and interested in the restaurant. It’s an important building and could trigger quite a renaissance for ‘Red Chippy Village’ if it’s developed appropriately, so I believe it’s appropriate for me to object to the development at this stage. I of course hope that the architects revisit the frontage at ground level to improve the interaction with people passing by.

    My representation to planners

    95591/FUL/18 | City Point 701 Chester Road Stretford M32 0RWObjection

    I wish to make the following objection in respect of the above planning application to demolish the current office block and build a hotel on the site which is in Gorse Hill Ward.

    I’m in favour of the application to demolish the current building. My understanding is that whilst aesthetically the office is acceptable, it contains a number of structural flaws that have made it historically hard to let.

    I am also in favour of the change of use for the site to a hotel and consider the height and scale to be appropriate to a site which visually links Manchester United/Hotel Football and developments on Talbot Road linked to the Civic Quarter.

    I appreciate that the height exceeds the specification in the emerging Civic Quarter Masterplan but believe it appropriate for a key site in the Masterplan area and its stated aim to bring about an evening economy. The location is very much in what is colloquially described as Red Chippy Village and will contribute to the evolution of this area to deliver a more comprehensive offering to visitors and supporters.

    However, I’m very disappointed that at ground level the proposed hotel does not provide a sufficiently active frontage on either Chester Road or Warwick Road and as such fails to deliver key outcomes towards the Civic Quarter aspirations. I believe this is a key deficiency and sufficient to reject the proposal as it stands, but one which should be relatively easy to rework to provide active ground floor frontages on BOTH Chester Road and Warwick Road.

    I am not enamoured of the proposed finish to the building as shown on the artist impressions. I believe that it can be improved. I am pleased there are no balconies and hope that this means that there should be no possible interaction or goading between patrons of the hotel and supporters in Warwick Road.

    There is also shown on the plans, an outcrop over the pavement on Warwick Road. I am worried that this extends too far into the road and cut be hit by high vehicles.

    I am inclined to OBJECT to the proposal until active frontages are designed into the scheme but am otherwise supportive albeit I believe the finish can be improved.

    If active frontages can be introduced my objection would substantially diminish. However it would of course be dependent upon considerate construction as the demolition and construction phases are likely to be disruptive to nearby neighbours particularly those residents on Hornby Road and Warwick Road. This would be a major development so close to houses and would require the fullest consideration of the impact on their daily lives.

    Mike Cordingley

  • Citizen Planning

    Citizen Planning

    We’re doing it wrong aren’t we?

    Planners chew a pencil end and create. Managers look at the budget and frown. Planners go back and modify. Politicians call for a tent, people queue and some are beckoned. Hushed tones. Death by Powerpoint. Anti Climax. Shuffle on.

    A cheerful alternative?

    Why is planning our place so tediously joyless? We’ve not always done it this way. Man would never have built cities if this is the way we’d done it.

    I don’t necessarily have an answer. What I will say is that I came across the image below on the Skyscraper City forum. You’ll probably recognise the place as our own White City. It’s just a few scribbles on a map, it won’t have taken more than a couple of minutes. What I will say is that the drafter got more into these scribbles than I’ve ever seen in any official consultation document. Maybe he or she has got town planning qualifications, maybe not; either way the scribbles tackle both current problems and current potentials and then solutions. There is no personalisation, no slandering of motivations. It is pure and free of bull. I love it. You can do similar.

    White City

    Pick up your pens and start scribbling. Oh and don’t wait for that tent!

  • Should we care about insects?

    Should we care about insects?

    It hardly made the news. Relegated to sixth item on Thursday’s 6am BBC news, not even mentioned on the preceding ‘Farming Today’. If it wasn’t for the Guardian putting it onto their frontpage, maybe the BBC wouldn’t have mentioned it at all.

    guardian frontpage

    The news that German Scientists had revealed a 75% reduction in flying insects since the 80s was greeted essentially with a shrug.

    I’m no scientist but I do know we need insects, that a 75% reduction is beyond serious; and that the most likely culprit is man. It therefore follows that we need to do something about it, …but probably won’t.

    The EU has been struggling to comprehensively ban neonicotinoids, against an alliance of Tory MEPs, German industrial giants – Bayer (largest manufacturers of neonicotinoids) and the industrial farming lobby.

    I’m proud that the Labour Party manifesto committed a future Labour Government to ban these filthy neonicotinoids. We need to go further though.

    Buglife, the conservation organisation committed to invertebrates, put together its own manifesto in 2014 and it still looks credible today.

    We do need a comprehensive strategy though and quick. I think the direction will have to come from the EU. The UK’s Tory Government is in a state of collective psychosis and the US has Donald Trump. Insects really matter.