From the Canal to Sevenways

Category: Local

  • Wake up, forget JCBs and defend Trafford’s services!

    Wake up, forget JCBs and defend Trafford’s services!

    Trying to give a flavour of what’s been happening.

    I’ve already written one piece on Trafford’s finances, so I want to report on some other things that have been going on, but for a councillor, the February budget-setting meeting is probably the most important on the calendar. It didn’t feel like that last week and the headline references the lack of focus coming from the other parties

    I also want to mention some of the more interesting things that have been happening locally. The story that everyone’s had an opinion on is the Stretford sun loungers, but I also want to celebrate Lostock Park’s outdoor gym because I’ve been using it.

    Davyhulme Active Neighbourhood

    CANCELLED

    The Davyhulme Park scheme was part of the Urmston Active Neighbourhood, a project that aims to develop a safe and attractive walking and cycling network for the Urmston area. The wider project is community-led and is being developed by One Trafford Partnership. The project aims to encourage people to make walking and cycling a natural choice for shorter journeys, which will improve their health and the air quality in the area.

    The Davyhulme scheme would have seen heavy planters like those above installed on several roads in the area to prevent through traffic between Lostock Circle and Urmston Town Centre. The problem was that the road closures imposed more problems on the people living in the area than on through traffic. The community fed back on the plans to this effect and the Davyhulme Scheme is now cancelled and won’t be revived.

    Lostock Park

    Rowing machine Lostock
    Instructions for hiptwister
    Hiptwister

    The park already boasts the best skateboard facility in Trafford, but they’re by no means finished.

    Lostock Park’s newly installed outdoor gym is breathtaking. Without doubt it is the best outdoor gym in the north of Trafford and probably for many miles around. The winter rain has made it a little squelchy in one patch but hopefully, once the grass re-establishes itself that will sort itself.

    It’s been ideal for me. After having my heart attack at the end of September, I’m trying to boost my fitness. I’m doing cardiac rehab at the George Carnall centre on a Thursday which is great, but I need a daily exercise. I have never been to an indoor gym and to be honest, it doesn’t appeal, but I do like these outdoor machines. The instructions are on the machines and I think I’m using them effectively. Today was my third consecutive day there and I believe they call it a burn, but I’m definitely feeling it.

    The Friends of Lostock Park have once again excelled at getting investment in without fuss and making a real difference. Given so much they have delivered is health and fitness orientated, they’re really making a difference.

    Trafford’s Budget

    Budget Council took place last week (21st February). This key date on the council calendar always generates much excitement. Over the years the chamber has seemed to fizz, spark and crackle with fierce rival parties throwing verbal grenades about the opening hours of a library or some other highly contentious policy choice from the ruling group of the day.

    This year turned out rather dull despite the extreme gravity of the council’s current financial position. The three opposition parties each proposed amendments to the budget proposals.

    • The Conservatives proposed using latest JCB equipment on potholes
    • The Lib Dems proposed free car parking in Timperley.
    • The Green Party proposed using number plate recognition technology to identify parents taking their children to school in a car.

    I can see a degree of merit in all the opposition proposals. We do need more innovation from Amey, car park charges shouldn’t undermine trade in Timperley – (we can keep an eye on it). Finally, we do need to encourage walking to school but I worry about the surveillance culture.

    However, the real problem with these budget amendments is that they don’t address the precipitous financial predicament we’re in. We’re using £5.6m of reserves to plug the gap in this coming financial year. The rise in council tax brings in £3.6m plus £2.4m for the social care element. That £5.6m from reserves is going to leave a hole we’ll have to fill next year before we even think of trying to keep up with rising costs. Even increasing council tax next year will just about cover the £5.6m. But at the same time, we have a Designated School Grant (DSG) time-bomb that’s currently cushioned by a ‘statutory override’ – essentially an instruction from the government not to make it active in the accounts until March 2026 when it won’t be this government’s problem.

    The budget report section on the statutory override says at 1.5.12

    “However, the statutory override is only in place to 31 March 2026. At this point, if there is no further extension, Trafford’s accumulated DSG deficit has potential to be greater than the Council’s total reserves in which case it would be technically insolvent and mean a S114 would be required.”

    Paragraph 1.5.12 in Trafford’s budget report

    I used a picture of Mr Micawber to illustrate a blog piece on the council finances. I honestly don’t know if something will indeed turn up. Our saving grace is that we’re not alone, but it felt like if we all pretended that everything will turn out right, then it probably would.

    Trafford’s Mission to achieve financial happiness, or at least balance its budget

    Circle Court

    The block is closing. It’s a mammoth task to find appropriate new homes for over 100 tenancies. A lot of progress has been made and we’ve worked with L&Q along this path. Hopefully, we’ll have it all done ahead of time. I think they’ve made some real progress. We’ve been very impressed with the work that Kerry and the other officers have put into this and many residents are already fixed up.

    Circle Court

    Stretford Sun Loungers

    The work to transform what used to be Stretford Arndale/Mall continues as does the reshaping of Kingsway.

    It’s fair to say the new stylised seating has been a talking point. The Daily Mail has taken a pop at us for installing “Benidorm-style sun loungers. It was a bit of a shock to see them. Despite representing a part of Stretford that is key that is key to its vibrancy, infuriatingly Lostock and Barton councillors don’t get consulted on our town centre. Nevertheless, I like them and I want more.

    Seating is a vital part of bringing our streets back to life. Places to sit and talk are a vital part of a liveable town. It doesn’t rain all the time. A few years back TfGM were removing seats from bus shelters. Seats were seen as a problem. Seats are never the problem, it’s the lack of facilities for young people that is the problem. Seats that allow conversations are always a good thing.

    I don’t know whether the transformation of the mall will work. Even if the Mall regeneration eventually fails I’d still be supportive of the provision of seating. I know my friends at my physio class were laughing at those sun beds. The interesting thing about that conversation was they were all sat down laughing at it. Conversations are better sat down and I’ve seen more smiles on Kingsway this week than I have done in a long time.

    General Casework Roundup

    photograph of hand with pen

    I’ve had a variety of casework recently.

    • Dog Poo in path between Ely Ave and Barton Road. This is a particular blight on a daily schedule. It’s clearly a big dog and no attempt to clear the mess is taking place. (ongoing)
    • Rehousing issue (currently dormant whilst other solutions explored)
    • Hedging Issue (ongoing)
    • A number of drainage issues in roads (ongoing)

    They will be missed

    We have lost two veteran champions for the area. Ann Day and Tony Lloyd will be hugely missed.

    Ann, John in the background and myself at Lostock Library

    Ann was chair of Lostock High School, chair of Trafford health watch and championed local communities throughout her life. She was generous and always working. A huge loss to this area and her lovely family.

    I will miss Ann terribly.

    Tony Lloyd was our MP when I first joined the Labour Party. He was a Labour man in the true sense of the word. The tributes from all corners of political life say everything that needs to be said about him.

  • Stretford gets a new look Kingsway

    Stretford gets a new look Kingsway

    The team working on a new configuration for Kingsway alongside Stretford Mall put their ideas on show at the weekend. The headlines are more trees, a reduced carriageway to one lane and new crossings.

    It’s a pretty brave decision to reduce the traffic capacity, but Edge Lane and Urmston Lane are single-carriageways and so there’s a consistency to the traffic flow. Nevertheless, there was quite a lot of scepticism on display at the presentation event. I just hope their modelling is right.

    My view is that it’s worth pursuing. For most of the day, the two-carriageway Kingsway acts as a race track and is totally inappropriate for a town centre.

    However, making it a single-carriageway carries risks. There needs to be enough room for buses to stop without blocking traffic. The bus lay-bys on these designs don’t look big enough, especially if we’re hoping to get more people on buses.

    I’m also concerned that the entrance to Kingsway from Barton Road is widened to allow for two lanes, then quickly narrows to one. To me, that’s a bottleneck for no good reason. It should be one lane throughout the distance except at the exit to allow for right turns.

    It looks like the crossings are without pedestrian controls. I’d like to be reassured that these are totally accessible to all users including vision-impaired users and others.

    I hope they’ve ticked all the boxes. The new design looks good but it only needs a slight miscalculation for it to be calamitous. Those bus stops need to be bigger.

  • A councillor’s update from behind the lockdown

    A councillor’s update from behind the lockdown

    Lockdown Blues

    I’ve been remiss in not blogging since virus arrived. I wanted to avoid getting in the way of the advice coming from the authorities whether Government, NHS or Council.

    There’s been an incredible effort by local people to beat this threat and we all acknowledge the commitment of workers in essential services. As well as health and care workers, I pay particular tribute to our shop workers, our street cleaners, refuse collectors, bus drivers, delivery drivers, those that keep our drains and sewage systems working. In fact I pay tribute to everyone who has worked or volunteered during this period.

    Lockdown commenced on 23rd March. Almost everyone agreed we should reduce the transmission of the virus through a massive reduction in social interaction. The UK threw in the towel as far as tracing and containment was concerned and opted for a lesser version of the lockdowns introduced in Spain and Italy.

    There’s talk of lockdown now being eased but it’s difficult to see it happening quickly. The death toll in hospital across the three days to Saturday 25th April was over 1,900. This about the level we had at the beginning of April. So we’re nowhere near the levels we had when lockdown started (less than 150 – 3 day rolling). Hopefully we can see the trend of reduced deaths continue. We’re only at the start of this.

    So what’s going on during lockdown?

    Planning continues – The biggest planning application we’ve been dealing with recently is the nine storey hotel at Lostock Circle. This should have been heard at the April meeting but it’s been deferred to allow an impact assessment on the hotel market locally (known as the sequential test).

    Gorse Hill Pub is up for sale. Obviously we’ll keep an eye on this but with lockdown in operation there’s a worry about the whole sector.

    Council meetings are suspended. We’ve had a couple of online video conferences but essentially normal democratic scrutiny is unavoidably suspended. We try to do our best by email but it is difficult.

    Council Finances – Trafford relies heavily on council tax and business rates. We anticipate the impact this year will be well over £30m. This is stark. It affects all councils and really worries me. I don’t trust the government and I don’t trust their solutions. They invariably make hedge fund holders and asset strippers richer, whilst the rest of us struggle.

    Stretford Mutual Aid

    Stretford Mutual Aid has been established at Stretford Public Hall as hub to support various local support groups in delivering to individual needs such things as:

    • Food shopping
    • Getting fuel (if you’re on a pre-paid meter)
    • Getting essential medication
    • Looking after pets
    • Someone to talk to

    If you live alone, are struggling to make ends meet, are self-isolating or generally in need of advice or support please contact 0300 330 9073 (8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday).

    Select option 4 for Trafford and then ignore the options for ‘goods and services’ or ‘pensions’ – just hold the line and they will signpost you to Stretford Mutual Aid.

    Gorgeous Gorse Hill, Lostock Community Partnership, Love Gorse Hill and especially Gorse Hill Studios are all supporting and part of this initiative. It’s no surprise to me that local people initiated this response almost immediately that lockdown was called.

    Labour has a new leader

    For the first time in years I think, I voted for the leader, deputy leader and NEC candidates who all won. I must be growing ‘on message’ for the first time in my life.

    It was always going to be difficult at this time for whoever won the leadership. The challenge is to establish credibility as a potential party of Government. I wish Sir Kier well.

    Labour’s leaked dossier

    For those not following Labour’s in-house troubles, the dossier reveals a party HQ in which individuals modelled themselves on characters from the Thick of It satire, who were more interested in undermining Jeremy Corbyn’s 2017 General Election campaign and used their position to trip up and embarrass the leadership.

    None of this is a shock – to be honest, Labour Party’s HQ had been riven with cliques long before Jeremy Corbyn was chosen as our leader. However, those who were in positions at the top of the bureaucracy, whose wages were being paid by ordinary members, who chose to work against their employers and are still benefiting from the patronage of the party should have the ties with the party removed. We’ve got to put an end to this in-fighting and we can’t have these people like Lord Iain McNicoll still involved in any way.

    We need a reform of the party bureaucracy. I would advocate strengthening the regional democracy. They should hold HQ to account rather than the other way round.

    We still have to deal with antisemitism within the party and it was reassuring that the introduction made clear that it continues to be a blight that has to be dealt with.

    It will be a test of both Kier Starmer and Angela Rayner. If they get this right, then the whole party can move forward together. I worry that they may simply try to consign it to a different time and leave a festering wound that will come back to hurt them.

    Casework Review

    Assisted bin collections have been the one area of the refuse service that has troubled me during lockdown. I have had a couple of cases that could have been handled much better.

    This doesn’t detract from the praise I bestowed at top of this page. I do think our refuse collectors have done a fantastic job. The green bin collections are something I really didn’t expect to resume before normality returned so it’s been a real bonus.

    Business Relief – called in on a small number of cases to try to help resolve. The teams support these have been working round the clock and they’ve been tremendous in getting info back to businesses.

    Hospital Visiting for serious cases. Sadly this is one those really awful aspects of social distancing. There’s no easy answer. With such a contagious disease amongst us, hospitals have had to impose really hard restrictions on visits even where the patient’s illness is not covid-19. Patient Liaison have been incredibly understanding and have tried to facilitate electronic communication etc but it’s incredibly hard on the family. One reason we really need to beat this virus.

    Surrender of rented property on death of tenant – clearly lockdown creates special problems when surrendering a home and I have had clarification that account will be taken of these difficulties. Definitely get in touch with a councillor or citizens advice if a landlord is making demands to remove belongings etc.

    Foster Care Support during Covid – Lockdown is difficult for us all but for the council’s foster parents it brings extra burdens. With schools closed and at the same time having to manage social distancing there’s clearly a need to support foster parents and it’s something that’s been raised locally.

    Social Distancing whilst mobile and not in a car – I am particularly engaged in this issue and it’s one that’s deserving of it’s own piece, but the second class status we give to pedestrians and cyclists is one that’s giving problems when it comes to social distancing. Anyone who’s walked, cycled or ran will have found themselves in the middle of the road when passing with the 2m margin.

    Public Transport will be an issue too when lockdown eventually eases.

    Gorse Hill – Behind the Takeaways – There’s a build up of commercial waste bins and the drains are blocked with congealed gluck. Seriously, what sort of an advert do they think this makes for their produce?

    I’m hoping Environmental Enforcement can take action and perhaps even involve Food Standards. I want to support businesses, but not if they fail to look after their premises and surroundings.

    I do want to hear your views

    Please leave a comment below or join the debate on Facebook if that’s where you find this post.

    Lastly…

    We will get through this. Stretford is a wonderful town and it’s a place where we look after each other. So don’t suffer alone, do get in touch and don’t don’t forget the Stretford Mutual Aid number 0300 330 9073.

    Stay classy.

  • Elinor Ostrom

    Elinor Ostrom

    This interests me. I’ve never come across Nobel prize winning economist, Elinor Ostrom. I’m going to learn more because this coincides with much that inspires me.

    Scale matters. For Ostrom, localism is the only real model of democracy. The current – minimal – view of democracy – where we occasionally vote for a representative at one or another tier of government, maybe pick an option in an occasional referendum – is fine for what it is. But there are deeper kinds of legitimacy when decisions are made closer to home – giving people meaningful control over the institutions, services, and assets that have the biggest impact on our own neighbourhoods.

    http://www.nlgn.org.uk/public/2020/elinor-ostrom/
  • Planning Committee

    Planning Committee

    It was half term and so a quieter week than normal. However, it was dominated by a particularly heavy Planning and Development Meeting on Thursday.

    Sometimes you just have to site-visit

    Google Earth is a great resource for planning committee members but sometimes you’ve just got to get on your bike and go and see. So I took trips out to Altrincham and Partington.

    Altrincham

    Application for variation of Erection of detached dwelling, following demolition of existing garage block on eastern side of Greenbank House.

    Greenbank is quite an impressive mansion on Altrincham’s Downs. It already had been converted to flats and the landowners had planning permission to build a separate single storey detached apartment in place of the garage block. Construction was well underway but it hadn’t been built to plan.

    The planning officers recommended approval of the new plans. The temptation might be to refuse on the basis that they frankly had taken liberties in building something different. However, the changes weren’t radical, it wasn’t as though they’d built more storeys. You have to ask whether the plans now such that you would not have approved them had they come to planning committee in this form initially? In this instance I felt I would have voted to grant the application and so I was content to approve. The developer though takes a huge risk in not building to approved plans.

    Partington

    Cycling to Partington is not my favourite journey. The A6144 is a nasty piece of road; too narrow and too fast. The pavements have really high kerbs and you ride in fear of being taken out through too close a pass.

    When I have used a bus to get to Partington, the service has been infrequent and in this weather I don’t suffer long waits at bus stops willingly, so I end up risking it on the bike.

    The application was to convert a disused nursing home on the A6144 into a mini-housing estate, utilising the existing building and adding an extension to get four houses out of the site as well as a new separate bungalow at the back.

    The issue was parking. Planning officers had recommended approval.

    This is where planning rules get messy because the Local Highways Authority objected due to under provision of a single on-site parking space. This under provision against a maximum by one space. We don’t have a minimum provision but Local Highways officers can take a view as to the impact on the highways network. And we’re back to the A6144 being too fast and too narrow, so we don’t want overflow parking out on the main road.

    Anywhere but Partington, I think I would have wanted to allow the application as it was presented. We really do need to provide decent public transit for Partington. I’d love to encourage more to use their bikes but that main road really is horrible. So we’re left with a place dreadfully reliant on the car. That’s not going to be sustainable as we close down our city to petrol and diesel over the next decade or so.

    We deferred this particular application as we were advised it may be possible to get that extra space into the scheme but it’s not really the long term answer, is it?

    Warburton

    This is an application to build up to 400 (Four Hundred) dwellings on open land. The land which is situated beyond the southern edge of the built up area of Partington. The site extends to approximately 24.8 hectares and spans two parcels of land which are separated by the route of Warburton Lane (which divides the site on a north/south axis).

    The developers Redrow Homes have appealed against non-determination by the council within the timeframe. It now goes to inquiry.

    The applicant’s decision to submit a non-determination appeal came at a time when negotiations were continuing in an attempt to resolve outstanding issues; a process that it was understood both parties were committed to.

    To grant planning permission on this ad hoc basis for up to 400 dwellings, and on greenfield in the absence of supporting infrastructure would be at odds with central planning principles in the NPPF of providing sustainable development.

    The site of the 400 Dwelling Warburton Development just South of Partington

    The planning committee determined that it would have opposed and that should be the council’s stance at the inquiry commencing 21st April 2020.

    Other Applications

    • The Market Hall Urmston
    • Football pitches and supporting infrastructure adjacent to Soccer Dome, Trafford Park
    • Soccer Dome to become new location for Event City, Trafford Park

    All approved.

    Lastly,

    I wasn’t allowed to determine this one because I was supporting it. Approval was granted for the Wine Bar on Davyhulme Road East next to Della Roma. I was pleased that the committee agreed with me that the hours of opening should be allowed until 11pm (12 at weekend) rather than the 10pm proposed by officers. I’m hoping the new wine bar will be a welcome enhancement to our street scene.

  • Stormy February

    Stormy February

    A big thank you to all our services who worked through Storm Ciara. We shouldn’t underestimate the task of getting things back to normal after something like this.

    Lostock High

    My workload has been particularly focused on Lostock High School and continuity within the school as the head moves on to new challenges. We want to see the changes that have already taken place become embedded. I am still so thrilled at the standards set by pupils as at the previous week’s Holocaust memorial and that’s exactly where we want the school.

    Circle Court Hotel

    It’s nine storeys and 197 rooms so it’s bigger than I would like, and it’s creating the need for residents’ parking to be displaced. The main focus is on making sure the residents don’t lose out, that they gain from employment opportunities both within the construction and longer term operation of the hotel.

    Labour Party Nomination – Lisa gets 12 points from Stretford and Urmston

    I voted to nominate Lisa Nandy for leader and Angela Rayner as her deputy. I think for the first time, my choices coincided with the majority of members in Stretford and Urmston Labour Party. So it’s quite nice that I’m mainstream for once. I think Lisa is the one that’s showing the most insight into the reasons we lost and how we go about regaining trust.

    Living Streets

    Living Streets is the charity promoting Everyday Walking. Essentially normal urban walking to nip down to the shops or get the kids to school. A small group of us has decided to get a Local Living Streets Group set up for Stretford. We know there’s a lot going on to get Bee Networks developed and we’re keen to see that happen, but we’re also keen to put pressure on to improve existing crossings as a matter of urgency through timings etc. and it’s something we want to pursue. We’ve got the seal of approval from Living Streets HQ, so you should be seeing us spring to life in the coming weeks.

    Stretford Memorial Hospital and the lack of Health Infrastructure for Stretford/Old Trafford

    I noticed Stretford Memorial Hospital came up on the agenda at Health Scrutiny the previous week. There was no report attached so I ran through the YouTube video to see what it was about.

    It’s presence on the agenda was triggered by my colleague Councillor Judith Lloyd. Judith quite rightly wanted to know what was happening following the closure Stretford Memorial. She was making the point that there was a dearth of decent quality health resources in the north of the borough. It’s a point I too have been making. The Conservatives steered everything to Altrincham, we now need to make sure that we get some decent facilities here.