Category: Weekly Updates

August update
Most council committees avoid August dates for obvious reasons. However, casework never rests. And it’s an opportunity to trigger some of our own.

Circle Court

L&Q disposed of the empty block in Spring, once they’d rehoused the last residents.

Residents are understandably contacting us to find out what’s happening to the block. I am trying to engage with the new owners and will update here.

Lack of upkeep on our streets

Our streets are in an appalling condition. Lostock and Barton was officially recorded as having its weed-spraying complete in May.

I have not seen evidence of ANY weed-spraying in the ward, although I’m told by residents there was some.

It seems to apply from Flixton to Old Trafford. It is deplorable. The fact that I’ve been raising it with those responsible since May doesn’t vindicate me.

We’ve still got a minimum of just under five years on the Amey contract. There’s clearly a need for changes in political oversight.

As ward councillor, I can only apologise.

The intention now is to do a deep clean of the area. You may (I hope) receive letters asking you to keep the street as clear of vehicles as possible ahead of this happening.

Development Sites

Apart from Circle Court, we’ve got a number of additional sites in the area that are fenced off either for, or in anticipation of, active development/renovation.
- Former Funeral Directors Barton Road, Lostock
- Moss Vale Hotel
- Therme
- Surf City on Barton Dock Road – former container base (P&O)
- Trafford Waters
I know a lot of our residents would also highlight The Robin Hood pub in Stretford as being of concern to them.

I’m actively trying to engage with Council Officers and directly with the developers where this is known.

Parks

Lostock Park

I was delighted that yet again Lostock Park was awarded its Green Flag. It’s easy to underestimate what an achievement this is. Big Congratulations to Maureen and the team of volunteers there.

Kingsway Park

My colleague Councillors, Jill Axford, Shirley Procter together with our community champion, Mark Tobin, who is selected to be Labour’s candidate for next May have been working on Kingsway Park.

They’ve been pursuing action to initiate improvements in the park and engagement by the community.

Lookout for details of a meeting to get going together on bringing in improvement.

Highway Trees

I love tree-lined roads. I think they’re something that defines Trafford. However, even I am beginning to back calls in some places for some cutting back. I’ve been particularly engaged with Canterbury Road. And I’m awaiting review.

These are two very big trees.

Featured image: Photo by lil artsy from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-orange-pen-1925536/

All other photos my own
August 19, 2025
Gloomy Outlook for Council Finances

Fierce Winds Conspire, The Dark clouds Do Gather……

There are times when, a good report with confirmation that you are doing everything that you should do, is the last thing you want to hear. The storm is coming still.

We’ve actually had two reports on the council’s sustainability, one following the other. Neither of the two reports provides a route to delivering council services at a level the public aspires to.

The second of these, our Corporate Peer Challenge, from the Local Government Association is stark reading, but it does little beyond telling us that we’re right to be concerned.

The earlier report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is the one that’s providing the action plan that came to Accounts and Audit Committee this week.

There’s a danger that the issues are seen as temporary problems of liquidity that the government could solve. There’s a sense that we’re a special case and it’s nothing the public should worry about; we just need Government to listen. I worry that we’re internalising problems that we won’t solve without the public owning both the problems and the solutions.

The public has an expectation that our parks and streets should be maintained to a much better standard than the council even dreams about. They do understand that not enough is being spent on them. They therefore have an expectation that if council tax rises, they will see an improvement. The very fact that we’re unable to meet that expectation is proof that the system is broken.

I think the latest pronouncements from Government on future local government spending suggests that any hope of special treatment for Trafford has now receded. We’re going to have to deal with this.

How do we balance the cost of funding statutory provision in child and adult care with delivering our everyday environmental services? Can we corral those everyday services so that they are directly commissioned by communities and not subjected to competing pressures in social care? How does community wealth building thrive in the current environment?

Ideally, we can work with the combined authority and Mayor Andy Burnham. However, the risk is that the Government’s targeting of funding puts us on a different trajectory to most of our Greater Manchester colleague councils. That risk only emphasises the fact that communities are the only allies still irrevocably facing the coming storm with us.

We must not fall into myopic thinking that balancing the books will be the only test that the public places on us. More than anything they judge us on the state of their neighbourhood. If we can’t insulate spending on neighbourhoods within the council’s spend, I think we ought to be considering alternative models. It may be time for parish councils and/or area boards to come of age.

Photo by Eg Civic Ferio from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sea-under-a-storm-cloud-18608634/

June 23, 2025
Weekly Update

Quite a light week for meetings. Planning committee met on Thursday with a comparatively light agenda, but that was my only obligatory meeting.

We had our monthly advice surgery on the 5th. Since I won’t be standing for re-election next May (2026), potential replacements are proactively getting involved now, ahead of the selection process. I feel awkward. I want to separate myself from choosing a successor. Candidates to replace me had been invited to come along to the advice surgery. I didn’t know in advance. I was very uncomfortable. It’s an odd position to be in.

I hasten to underline that this is just for the Labour candidacy. I never take the voters for granted. The Labour candidate will be selected 31st May. I continue to be a Labour Councillor until 7th May 2026.

In terms of significant casework, I followed up on social media complaints about NHS lists at Revive Dental at Nags Head Circle. NHS patients had been informed they needed to sign up for private provision to remain on a dentist’s roll. We’re seeing this a lot throughout Trafford, but I’ve been asking questions of both Public Health and the Integrated Care Board (NHS).

I was pleased to see clearance of the bike lanes on Barton Dock Road together with some lovely planting of flowers on the verge.

That’s what I call a cycle lane!

They even watered the flowers the following week, so they’ve done a really good job.

Stretford Town Centre

I know the town centre is not Lostock and Barton Ward, but many residents here (including myself) consider themselves proud Stretfordians, and we’re passionately interested in how the regeneration of Stretford meets our needs.

The last vestiges of the Mall close at the end of August. Some businesses, such as Heron and Aldi retain their premises; others will have new premises in the new layout, and others will sadly depart.

I’m particularly sad to see Uplift go. It’s no exaggeration to say that the Uplift café has personified the spirit of Stretford since before Covid. They’ve kept going, they’ve delivered art, craft, music and energy to the community when it’s been most needed.

If you’ve not been following the co-owner Georgie’s video’d walks to work each Saturday on Facebook, you really should dip in and watch a few while they’re online.

The Uplift Collection

Frustratingly, we still don’t have a firm grasp of the grand design for Stretford. We have themes of longer hours and an increase in the night-time economy. There’s an aspiration for independent retail, but at the same time, there’s an expectation of corporate uniformity in terms of operating hours. I know there’s a tension there for some smaller operators who are being asked to commit to the project.

Hopefully, we’ll hear exciting news soon about who’s coming. I think those existing traders need to hear it too.

There’s been good news that Stretford Beach has won an award. It needs café seating and trade, but I like how it might evolve.

April 14, 2025
Council Tax and Cones

The fact of Trafford Council being one of only six councils in the country being allowed to increase the council tax we pay by more than the standard 4.99% ceiling set by government has been a shock to people. It’s understandable that residents have asked how Trafford has come to be a special case. I’ve had lots of emails and social media posts. Many of these messages point to cycleway cones on the A56 being the cause of the shortfall in the finances.

I wanted to share below, the reply I am providing to these messages which I hope gives some explanation.

Cycle Lanes

I’ll deal briefly with the cycle lanes first.

We have a problem. Manchester’s roads can’t cope with the increase in cars we’ve seen. We’re nowhere near seeing the peak of car ownership here. It’s increasing every year.

Several European nations have tried a different model notably Holland, but also includes mayor led cities such as Paris, London and particularly Seville. Citizens are encouraged where they can to use the car less. They’ve managed to halt the spiral of road widening and new highways within the city. At the same time, it’s had a positive impact on the prosperity. They’re healthier and wealthier.

So, I am quite happy to justify the ‘why’ this is being done. Why we’re encouraging walking, cycling and public transport.

But the A56 cones?

I’m not going to lie and say the cones on the A56 are so easily justified (at least south of Stretford)edit. They were introduced as a Covid emergency measure. If it hadn’t been for Covid, we’d have gone for a proper appraisal and a proper business case. The last Government made us stick with our Covid measures.

I’d have preferred to come back to the A56 when we’d done a lot more town centre work and worked on crossings to get a quicker return in terms of walking and health. So, I struggle to justify the timing, but we’d inevitably have to implement cycling infrastructure on our main route into Manchester at some point.

Ultimately, I don’t think anybody disagrees with the premise that there would be an increase in cycling if all roads were safe to ride.

In terms of the budget, the lanes have been government funded, so they haven’t impacted on our current financial plight. They do ultimately come from the taxes that you and I pay so I don’t dismiss the criticism.

2025 Council Tax

I’m now going to move on to Trafford’s general budget. Trafford has always had a low council tax.

Other than Wigan, (who for historical reasons have substantial reserves) we have the lowest in Greater Manchester and I’m pretty sure it’s with Wigan as the lowest of all the Metropolitan districts nationally. At the same time we depend on Council Tax more than most councils.

It’s argued that we’re affluent, but that only matters if we use that affluence to increase our income and we’ve deliberately kept it low.

Historically, since Council Tax was introduced in the early 90s, it hasn’t mattered which party was in control of Trafford, we’ve kept it low. I am fairly sure that this is the first time in those 30 years a Labour Council in Trafford has proposed a percentage increase that is higher than the norm for the year.

So, for 30 years we’ve been falling further behind. I’d have preferred us to have put a little more into reserves, but that couldn’t be done while chasing this target of lowest council tax. Put it this way, if we had Stockport’s rate of council tax in terms of our spending, we’d not only be in clover, we’d be giving out rebates back to you!

As it is, you can remain assured that you’re still paying the lowest rate in Greater Manchester (bar Wigan) after this increase.

It’s not a great position this year and I apologise. I genuinely believe we have been so lean in council finances that we were always going to come to a year like this where we need to make a correction.

February 21, 2025
Focus on Derbyshire Lane West

We’ve been out and about in Derbyshire Lane West, asking how it’s going. As you can see below, you’ve been saying lots of good things about the area.

But there are things you’d like to see improved…

You don’t feel as safe as you deserve to feel.

This has been raised a few times. The police figures are not too bad, but they don’t tell the whole story. You’ve told us about drug dealing in alleys and instances of self-injecting in the open. The area is not far from well-publicised tragic events involving knives and there has been a lot of worry about an incident in Moss Park about a year ago.

I want to bring the police into this. I’d like to see some community engagement. I’m not sure police surgeries are the answer, but there are actions we need to consider.

It’s not good for anyone if we don’t feel safe enough to engage fully in community activity, particularly if that means children are denied the freedom granted to older generations.

Flytipping and graffiti

We need to do better at clearing flytipping. There’s graffiti on the back of the flats above the shops. People have told me it adds to the general sense of a neighbourhood that’s not looking after itself.

Decline of the road

The state of the speed-humps in particular has been raised. They’re by no means the worst, but I get that people expect better.

Subway under railway

The subway has received some attention lately but it needs major investment. Andy Burnham wants all Greater Manchester stations to be accessible. The condition of the Humphrey Park subway means it can not be said to be wheelchair accessible.

Actions

I’m going to talk to the police over the general perception of personal safety in the neighbourhood. I’m already talking to Trafford over graffiti.

Ideally, I’d like to improve general engagement with the area. The Friends of Moss Park is not currently active because people have left the area.

I almost live too close to the area, because it’s easy to take things for granted and I’d like us to improve our channels of communication with the area.

I’d really love for people to engage with the comments below and tell me how we need to respond. Should we be doing more in terms of litter picking for instance? I’d suggest public meetings but is there an appetite?

I’m intending to update the site on how we’re getting on. But please do comment below!

February 18, 2025
Le Tour de Barton
A trip around the ward to check out what’s happening

Kellogg’s Closure

Although the Kellogg’s factory is just outside the ward boundary, the warehouse and loading bays are ours. There’s a perceptible slowing down of activity on the site. It’s rare to encounter an incoming HGV on Park Road now. Landscape maintenance has lost its edge. It’s sad seeing the slowdown. Manufacture might continue for a few more years, but the focus is shifting to what happens next. The land remains allocated for industry in Trafford’s strategic plan. We’ll have to see if that changes. I’ve not heard any discussions. These are quite large parcels of land and there may be more than one solution.

Barton Dock Road and underpass

I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a cycleway down Barton Dock Road. It was there when Massey Ferguson was there. It might even go back to the war. Trafford Park has always had a lot of workers travelling by bike. So it’s sad to see parts getting overgrown. I’m going to try to get Amey to attend to it.

For some reason, the underpass is decked with Red Bull cans, dozens of them. We have had some rough sleeping there in the past. It might be happening again although there was no obvious sign of bedding, just the empty cans. I’ve reported.

Surf Centre and Therme

There are no visible signs of life at either of the two proposed water-based projects on Barton Dock Road although, by coincidence, new planning applications have come in both for Therme and the site of the Surf Centre. I suspect the surf centre is only one of many options for that site, but I’d love both Therme and the Surf Centre to happen!

Link to latest Therme planning application

Link to latest Surf Centre site application

Asda Crossing

There’s been some bad press lately for the company. They’re slipping down the Supermarket popularity charts. Having said that, the Trafford Park store tends to be my supermarket of choice largely because it’s so accessible by bike. I just wish they’d improve their bike parking. If you’re blessed with a segregated cycling route all the way to your front door, make the most of it, get rid of the wheel bender brackets and install some proper stands! Please!

That crossing outside Asda that links to the Trafford Centre needs to be more responsive to allow the crowds to cross. It’s an incredibly long wait for the lights to change even when the traffic is barely moving. The Bee Network is improving crossings across GM. I’m asking them to look at the Asda crossing.

Bee Network Publicity 31st August 2024

Church of All Saints, Barton on Irwell, Barton Swing Aqueduct and their joint Conservation Area
Note: All the interior photos are from the Greyfriars website

The church is Trafford’s only Grade 1 listed building north of the River Mersey. We’ve got a small number of Grade 1s in around Dunham Park and Hale, but nothing as highly regarded as this up here.

Nikolaus Pevsner described the church as (Edward) Pugin’s masterpiece. It sits with Barton Swing Aqueduct (listed class 2 + star) in its own conservation area. You would not know it. The area opposite is a dumping ground for old fridges and mattresses and the swing bridge is looking unloved.

According to April’s ‘Tablet’, the Greyfriars who are the current custodians of the church are moving on. I want to engage with Trafford’s heritage officers to prioritise this conservation area.

I also want to visit the church and attend a service there. Definitely on my to-do list.

Trafford Centre Premier Inn

An application has been submitted to demolish the former premier inn next to the motorway (not to be confused with the one on Trafford Boulevard). This one has been empty for a few years.
August 28, 2024