Northern Guild of Toastmasters

Published on May 14, 2012 in Walkden. 0 Comments

I am very grateful to Peter Aust, who served as an excellent chairman of the Friends of Walkden Station until earlier this year, for his kind invitation to the Spring Luncheon of the Northern Guild of Toastmasters yesterday.

Peter did an fantastic job as chairman of FOWS and I am sure that the community-minded attitude that he displayed in his work at the station will ensure he is an excellent President of the Guild for the forthcoming year. The lunch was held at the Novotel in Worsley and it was a lovely and friendly occasion. Thanks, Peter!

A Poor Start, But A Tasty Lunch!

Published on May 12, 2012 in Salford. 2 Comments

The first Council meeting of the municipal year takes place on Wednesday. You can view the agenda online here.

However, you will notice if you do click on the link that at the moment (Saturday lunchtime) the reports to go with the agenda are missing. We’re supposed to have five working days notice – that was last Wednesday. When we’re trying to hold the new administration to account, it is a pretty poor show that we can’t even see the papers that we are supposed to be discussed. A very poor start from the new Labour Mayor.

However – help is at hand! I have received an important e-mail about Council Day – to tell me what is on offer for lunch.

Councillors can enjoy Mushrooms in a Filo Parcel on a Bed of Summer Leaves, followed by Lamb Henry on a Bed of Mashed Potato with Parmentier Potatoes & Caramelised Vegetables. The vegetarian option is Mediterranean Vegetable Tagliatelle with Chilli Ciabatta Fingers. For dessert, there’s Bread & Butter Pudding, with tea, coffee and Eccles Cakes to finish.

So, we’ve no Council papers, but at least we won’t go hungry. Isn’t life grand?

Time To Hold Labour To Account

Published on May 11, 2012 in Salford and Walkden. 0 Comments

After a long campaign, I’ve taken the last week off on holiday in the Lake District, and after a wonderful week of relaxation and fell-walking (including seven Wainwright peaks) I’m back. It’s the first time since I started my current job that I have taken a full week off either work or Council duties so I am feeling much better for it!

Obviously I’m extremely disappointed that Anne Broomhead has not joined Councillor Les Turner and myself as a representative for Walkden South. Anne would have been an excellent Councillor – indeed I hope she will be soon – and I know that she will continue to work with Les and I for the benefit of local residents.

The Mayoral election was always going to be a tough contest, and with the loss of the remaining Liberal Democrats and assorted independents from the Council, it falls to the eight Conservative Councillors – including myself – to speak up for the 54% of Salford voters who did not vote for Ian Stewart to be their elected Mayor. It is a tough task, but I know that we are up to the job and will continue to put local people first. We need to be a voice for them in the Council Chamber, as the initial murmurings from the “new” Labour administration appear to indicate a case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss!”. We shall see.

Put Walkden First – Vote Conservative

Published on May 2, 2012 in Walkden. 0 Comments

A resident handed me a flyer this evening that Labour had delivered through her letterbox. Other than the bare details of Labour’s local and Mayoral candidates, there was not a single mention of the local area at all – just some spurious guff about national politics.

Of course, national policies matter, but our big local issues are far too important for Labour to ignore them completely. Whether it is high Council Tax, Burgess Farm, the Misguided Busway, our broken highways, our failing primary school admissions system, or improving Walkden town centre, Labour just aren’t listening.

We need local representatives who will put our area first, and that’s why I’ll be voting for Anne Broomhead and Karen Garrido tomorrow. I hope that local residents across Walkden South do the same.

Put Walkden first – vote Conservative.

Labour’s Anti-Mayoral Campaign Sinks New Depths

Published on April 27, 2012 in National Comment and Salford. 0 Comments

Labour activists are turning on their own colleagues in Nottingham over a “no to Mayor” campaigning that is plumbing the depths of desperation. Of course, Nottingham Labour are only following the lead of their colleagues here in Salford, who ploughed a similar (if slightly less blunt) furrow back in January. Of course, we all know how well that worked!

Labour Mayoral Candidate Chickens Out Of Hustings

Published on April 26, 2012 in Salford. 0 Comments

BBC Manchester organised a hustings meeting for the ten Mayoral candidates this evening. I was out talking to residents in Walkden South, so I only caught the tail end of it, but only nine candidates showed up.

The tenth, Labour candidate Ian Stewart, was a no-show. Not just a no-show but failing to appear is a very poor show as well.

Burgess Farm: Secretary of State Wants Your Views

Published on April 24, 2012 in Walkden. 1 Comment

There has been an important development in the Burgess Farm appeal by Peel Holdings. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP, has decided that due to the new Planning Guidance the Government has recently issued, he wants to hear more views from local people about Burgess Farm.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework aims to put power back into the hands of communities to shape the places in which they live, and changes made have been welcomed by conservation groups. Indeed, the Director-General of the National Trust said: “There are a number of important changes that have been made to the draft, responding to concerns that we and others raised. All these changes improve the document and give it a better tone and balance.”

The Secretary of State wants to hear how local residents think the Burgess Farm plans fit in with the new guidance, which is published online at www.communities.gov.uk.

You can submit your views by e-mail to Pamela.roberts@communities.gsi.gov.uk, or in writing to Department for Communities and Local Government, Zone 1/H1, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU. The deadline for comments is Friday 4th May.

Don’t forget, your local Conservative Councillors have always supported local residents over Burgess Farm. By contrast, the Labour Council have consistently voted to send in the bulldozers by including the site for development in the Council’s Core Strategy.

Vote Anne Broomhead for Walkden South

Published on April 22, 2012 in Walkden. 0 Comments

The rain falls, but the campaigning goes on! I’m out leafleting and talking to residents to help make sure that Anne Broomhead is elected as the next Councillor for Walkden South ward. Anne is a hard worker who knows the local area well, and she has strong track record of dedicated public service, so I know she will do a great job for local residents if she is elected on Thursday 3rd May.

It’s a straight fight in Walkden South between Anne and the Labour candidate who has been parachuted in from Blackfriars – a full nine miles from our area! Labour simply don’t listen to local people in Walkden – they’re ploughing on with the Misguided Busway and plans to bulldoze Burgess Farm, they tried their best to close St George’s High School and they’ve cocked up primary school admissions locally for the second year running.

Walkden South needs a local Councillor who will listen to residents – a voice for Walkden on the Council, not Labour’s mouthpiece in Walkden. You can only get that by voting for Anne Broomhead on election day.

Who Is Running The Labour Campaign?

Published on April 16, 2012 in Salford. 1 Comment

I’m grateful to Liberal Democrat Steve Middleton who has shared with the world a letter he received from the Labour Party in Langworthy ward. I’m sure he won’t mind me commenting further on here. The letter is standard Labour Party guff, with little or no reference to local issues here in Salford, but the interesting thing about it is the return address, the printer and the franking mark:

The local Conservative campaign is being paid for and carried out by local volunteers and residents. I daresay that Steve’s Liberal Democrat campaign runs likewise. However, it is clear that the Labour Party campaign is being run not in the interests of the people of Salford, but in the interests of Ian Stewart’s Union baron friends.

There are many hard-working Unite members in Salford – including quite a few who vote Conservative – but sadly they are badly let down by the Union barons at the top of the organisation. Let’s not forget that the Unite General Secretary, Len McCluskey, described the Olympic Games as a “legitimate target” for industrial strike, and more recently the same Union almost brought the nation to a standstill by threatening fuel strikes.

Is Len McCluskey really the sort of person we want pulling the strings at Salford Council?

Burgess Farm Decision Postponed

Published on April 16, 2012 in Walkden. 0 Comments

The Department for Communities and Local Government has informed local residents and Councillors that the decision on the independent inspector’s report into the Burgess Farm appeal has been postponed by a few weeks due to local election “purdah”.

The report was due to be published today (16th April), but it has now been put back to the 10th May, after the local elections.

I’m still hopeful for a positive outcome; local residents have clearly indicated that they do not wish the land at Burgess Farm to be developed. It would remove one of the few remaining green spaces in Walkden, and add further stress to highways infrastructure that is already beyond capacity.

Despite being abandoned by the Labour Council, residents put up a strong fight at the inquiry, and I hope that the inspector’s judgement supports local people here in Walkden. I will, of course, make sure that local residents are kept up to date with any further information that I receive.