Thursday 11th Sept

I walked to Salford Royal Hosp for an out-patient appointment on my broken shoulder. Still not the easiest hospital to reach from Stretford. Could have used Metrolink, but a single ticket prohibitive and by the time I’d walked to Stretford Met, changed at Cornbrook, and travelled that interminable tram journey through the Quays, it was sensible to have walked. My arm doing ok, but still not expected to use it – can’t really avoid breaching that recommendation, but does mean I can’t drive or cycle, alas!

I walked back from Salford Royal to Trafford Ecology Park for the opening of the renovated walkway there. The Ecology Park is Trafford’s hidden gem and I wanted to be there to celebrate the new walkway. Cargill’s have made a huge contribution through their workforce in entirely ripping out the old unsafe walkway and replacing it. Trafford Park industry working together. There’s never been a better time to go see the Ecology Park. I really want to see the kingfisher that fishes there. I’ve never seen one and I’d love my first sighting to be in Gorse Hill Ward.

Hitched a lift home off the Deputy Mayor in the official car. At last, I’ve received a councillor perk!

It was then onto Sale for meeting of Shrewsbury Street Project Board. At last there’s a degree of optimism that health facilities might be included. It will mean height of main hall reduced, and won’t be suitable for basketball or badminton etc. This is causing consternation but the Old Trafford Sports Barn is nearby and whilst the cost of this is prohibitive, we should be adding to the facilities in Old Trafford, not undercutting others. Shrewsbury Street is due to go to planning in the evening.

Then it was from Sale back to Barton Clough for a Governors meeting.

Hear that Shrewsbury Street granted planning permission.

Back home to prepare for next days meeting and an ice pack on the arm.

Friday 12th September

Transport for Greater Manchester

Big item on the agenda is consultation to allow dogs on trams. I’m instinctively against as are my Trafford labour colleagues. Argued for consultees to include asthma and allergy societies, but I think it’s going to be an uphill battle.

Northern Rail franchise is also under fire. We need modern trains and increased capacity. Rather than hand-outs from the south. My support for devo-max for the north is intensifying.

Afternoon – press releases and casework

Saturday 13th September

Not yet comfortable going canvassing with arm. All it needs is an awkward gate or letterbox and I’m going to be in agony. Instead I do some telephone canvassing for Warrington South.

Sunday 14th September

Lostock Park poppy event in the park with Stretford Brass Band

Put together an all-member communication’ for members advertising some important dates and fringe events at conference.

Monday 15th September

All day Faith networking event at Trafford Town Hall. I attend as Locality Partnership Chair. Disappointing turn-out from Stretford/Old Trafford, although packed otherwise. Lots of current issues mean that we need to work at maintaining the fabulous community spirit we have.

Tuesday 16th September

Chair’s Scrutiny Pre-meeting putting together work programme.

Chaired Old Trafford and Stretford Locality Partnership. Really positive meeting. Discussed voluntary sector grants, environmental issues, community cohesion, metrolink, neighbourhood forums.

Wednesday 17th September

Disciplinary Panel in the morning. Full Council in the evening. I’ll do a separate full report of that.

Arm is still not allowing me to get a decent night’s sleep but I am now venturing now into using the bike again (gently). At least I’m more mobile.

Image by Károly Váltó from Pixabay

“An advanced city is not one where even the poor use cars, but rather one where even the rich use public transport.”

Enrique Peñalosa, Former Mayor of Bogata, Columbia

Image

Dodo from Finland, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sunday – Remembrance Day

Glorious sunshine at Stretford Cenotaph. Moving Ceremony – a few problems with the sound system but that apart, Stretford did itself proud and paid its humble and sombre respect with dignity.

As well as those who lost their lives in conflict, the sermon reminded us of the ongoing tragedy in the Philippines. My thoughts also tuned to my political adversary – Cllr Ken Weston who had sadly died in the week preceding week. Whilst he didn’t represent a Stretford ward, he was no stranger to Gorse Hill. I remember he exasperated the mayoral staff who accompanied him to the Gorse Hill Funday by staying much longer  than scheduled as Trafford’s First Citizen because he was enjoying the day.

Remembering Ken

Monday

Lostock Tenants meeting. Discussed anti social behaviour and Trafford general a+e downgrading.

Meeting of Shadow team re manifesto planning. More important this year. We’re in a position where any loss of Conservative seats could see loss of power for them. That said, Lib Dems are acting as though they’re inclined to prop the Tories up. Think the voters of Timperley and Village ; the two wards where the Lib Dems have any strength will feel betrayed if they do stick with the Tories. But Lib Dems in parliament voting for bedroom tax and Lib Dems locally voting primarily with Tories – getting to the point where their identity as a separate party is becoming an act of self denial.

Tuesday

At Manchester Town Hall for forum of Labour Councillors across the North West sharing best practice.

Wednesday

Scrutiny session in Salford for Councillors across the northwest. Presentation to deliver about Trafford’s approach to scrutiny. We’ve opted for a lightweight agile model of scrutiny, with the aim of only working in those areas where we can make a useful difference. We’re not audit and we’re not the learning resource room.

I believe the model we’ve chosen in Trafford offers the best opportunity to make a difference to delivery of services, but it’s hard work.

Late afternoon meeting of Stretford area Councillors with the Chief Executive and other senior officers over the masterplan consultation. Still a long way to go before we see any fruit. There’s still too many supposedly commercial stakeholders who will not engage in a meaningful way. I’m not sure whether the term predatory capitalist’ applies to these people; it seems that the behaviour is more analogous to a form that thrives on decay.

Evening Full Council

I moved Labour’s motion on the Robin Hood Tax. We tweaked the version doing the rounds. Manchester passed a similar motion.

I’m very much in favour of the Robin Hood Tax. It taxes financial transactions’ at a notional rate. I worry slightly that it’s seen by some nationally as new painless money. Its virtue is that targets speculative actions where money flies about the world many times in the blink of an eye. But it still is taking money out of the economy up to £100bn on some estimates.

I would really like to see that £100bn being used to reduce/extinguish National Insurance which raises a similar amount. The reason is simple national insurance is a tax on employed productive work and it is a tax on jobs. I can make a far stronger case for taxing the speculators than I can for taxing work. In a swoop it would give millions to the NHS as the nation’s largest employer, it would save a substantial amount off Trafford Council’s costs, but more importantly it would put money into the hands of workers and make it more attractive to take on more staff.

The actual tax take would remain similar but with a beneficial effect on the productive end of the economy which we still vitally need.

Anyway, the Tory Party is so wedded to the financiers and hedge-fund bosses that the motion was never going to pass.

Thursday

Meeting of Old Trafford Masterplan project committee with regard to the Shrewsbury Street site.

Friday

Transport for Greater Manchester Committee.

Evening: Lostock Community showcase – brilliant 

Waterpark under threat and campaigning stories.

(more…)

Full Council – a little background

Full council meets once every two months or so. At this time of the year it’s a little more often, because it’s the time of setting budgets. The full council meeting perhaps surprisingly, is not a major part of the councillor’s workload. And for that small mercy I’m thankful.

I don’t want to single out Trafford. Most councillors I meet from other towns tell me similar stories. And if you Google ‘Council Chamber’ and click on images, your screen fills with thumbnails of identikit forums facing a throne upon which the mayor presides from Aberystwyth to York. The lack of variety is striking but Trafford is the place I know.

For anyone that’s not witnessed Trafford’s full council (i.e. nearly everyone I’ve ever met), it’s a mixture of mock ceremony and fake heritage. It’s a bit amateur-dramatics in an endearing sort of way. When we speak we strike heroic or accusing poses. We do have some good speakers on both sides of the chamber but limits of 2 or 3 minutes on speeches make it a difficult discipline to master. It is confrontational and the chamber layout is designed to support that.

Does it allow the main points to be aired?

I don’t know that it does.

Does it serve the public?

Very doubtful.

Should it change?

Most certainly.

Will it change?

Not in the next hundred years!

I thought it was interesting a few years back just as I was elected in 2006 that the Conservatives had such a reaction to their proposal to move the town hall to a new site apparently/allegedly at no cost. There was a real public outcry. The familiar town hall on Talbot Road became a listed building in answer to the threat and battle lines were drawn. However, there was almost no discussion about what 21^st century democracy should look like. There was very little debate about whether a new building was an opportunity to reframe the relationship with voters? Wherever we had a town hall we were going to get a council chamber on the lines of what had preceded it and that exists in every other town hall in this country. It seems people like the tradition.

I think you could call me an iconoclast. The meeting of full council is an affront to local democracy. It serves little purpose other than to inflate the egos of those who sit on the stage.

Anyway, back to last night

Dave Acton spoke very well on the need to maintain a fire service for the whole of Greater Manchester. And Laurence Walsh spoke powerfully on the threat to care standards in contracts to private providers if we didn’t build into those contracts a commitment to good employment practices such as the living wage.

In terms of decisions Council adopted the Council Tax support scheme it has designed to replace the Council Tax Benefit that the Tory Government has abolished. It’s yet another cut affecting the poorest. I hate the idea of devolving benefit design to local authorities. It is a waste of resources to all be redesigning benefits at the same time plus it creates anomalies. This should have stayed with central government.

It’s striking that in this same week the leader of Trafford Council is having to plead with ministers on behalf of all of Greater Manchester for an extra High Speed Rail station at the airport. The Government is delegating things like benefits to councils but when it comes to stations on a strategic line, we have to go begging. The Government is getting so much wrong it’s causing real hardship and delaying the recovery.

Mike Cordingley

These are my views – feel free to comment

Thoughts on the Council Executive Meeting of 30th July
(a long meeting of many parts)

Annual Report from Trafford Community Leisure Trust

Jo Cherrett from the trust gave very upbeat feedback speaking to a summary of the annual report. The trust has performed well over the year. Key achievements were:

• an increase of 10% in attendances,
• Swimming has increased against a national downward trend,
• Active Trafford – the leisure trusts concessionary scheme for the over 65s, disabled, unemployed and other groups achieved a 31% increase in attendances

These are good results. I’d have liked assessment of risks and difficult to exploit opportunities.

In Gorse Hill and the north of Trafford generally, one of the key pressures is the demand on football pitches – indications suggest demand is outstripping supply. Additionally there is often a tension between field users, whether they be dog walkers or those simply enjoying open spaces and the clubs who want to use the space. There could be another flashpoint developing at Lees Field in Davyhulme. We’ve certainly seen our share in Gorse Hill. It’s a challenge to councillors to try to reach a compromise. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t.

Due to demand we’re seeing all-weather pitches being adopted more and more. By definition these pitches are taking away some accessible grassed field-space, but they do allow for more participation. Frustratingly, I still don’t see sufficient access to school fields or facilities.

I applaud Stretford High School for pursuing the Stretford Sports Village vision with the leisure trust. I know it’s been controversial, I know there’s still grievance that some of it is on parkland, but I do look forward to seeing it in full swing and being fully utilised by school and community. The challenge now is to get more schools to fully commit to partnering their communities and to get more usage of their sporting facilities.

image: author’s own