First week back

The election is over. Many thanks if you voted for me. I’m overwhelmed to have got 65% of the vote in Gorse Hill Ward which is humbling given the state of politics at the moment.

The priority has to be to get the services that Trafford provides back up to scratch. There can be no excuses, Labour now has majority control. The Conservatives are in disarray.

There could not have been a more stark demonstration of the responsibilities that fall upon the shoulders of the local leadership than the headlines that greeted us following the the publication of Ofsted’s inspection into Trafford’s children’s services. We received an ‘inadequate’ rating.

It will be the most pressing priority to get this put right. It’s on our watch and we must deliver.

The New Executive

I relayed my decision back in January to the Leader that I wouldn’t serve on the Executive this coming year. It’s been a real privilege to have been there for a year in the finance role. I know that it’s been no secret that I disagreed with the scrapping of the green bin charge. We have such a low council tax in comparison with others, I felt the green bin charge needed to be retained, but I lost. And it’s right therefore, that I withdraw from the Executive at this time.

So this year I focus on Gorse Hill Ward.

Gorgeous Gorse Hill Spring Fair

One of the bonuses of being councillor here is that you get invited to all the best gigs. And so it was on Saturday that I came to be manning the plant stall at the spring fair. If you’re not aware of Gorgeous Gorse Hill then you need to be. We have brought so many of those pocket parks along Chester Road back into life as well as artwork on walls, bollards and shutters. It’s going to be great to see the Pankhurst Mural reveal itself on Trafford House. It’ll be the largest public artwork. Venessa Scott is an artist so closely part of the Gorgeous Gorse Hill story we can’t wait to see the big reveal on Trafford House.