The announcement yesterday of the Government’s support for the expansion of Heathrow to include a new third runway have obviously generated a lot of heated comment on both sides of the argument.
Personally I support the position that our Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers has taken, and new investment in high-speed rail to the north of England is cleaner, greener, more effective and more sensible than the unsustainable expansion of Heathrow.
My thoughts, however, are with the good people of the village of Sipson, where 700 homes, together with livelihoods, shops, pubs and even a cemetary, would be bulldozed to make way for the expansion. I didn’t get into politics to destroy communities and here in 2009 I simply don’t see how tearing and entire village and community of 1500-odd people apart at the seams can possibly be the right or justified thing to do.
I thought I’d also quickly draw your attention to this must-read post from David Ottewell on the Transport Secretary’s announcements yesterday. Yet again we have been let down by the Labour Government on transport funding. Not good enough, Mr Hoon.
Yesterday the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee, of which I am a member, considered an initial feedback report concerning the consultation process carried out before Christmas of the proposed changes to Roman Catholic secondary schools across the City, including the closure of St George’s RC High School in Walkden.
My view on the St George’s proposals has been clear since day one. It is an excellent school with a long waiting list, and it plays a key role at the heart of the local community. I have yet to see any reasonable justification from the Council for the decision to close it. St George’s should remain open.
The Council’s response to the feedback received through the consultation process were a whitewash. Not a single dot or comma is likely to be changed as a result of the comments submitted. Labour have treated the consultation as a mere formality – something that they have no choice but to do – and are now carrying on regardless, just as they always intended.
I’m pleased to say that the Scrutiny Committee did not agree with that view. I proposed that the Committee formally declared that they were unhappy with the Council’s response to the proposals, and the proposal was passed by the Committee.
I’m pleased that I’ve received notification that long-scheduled improvement works on Walkden Road around Walkden station and the nearby shops are finally set to begin on 19th January.
Hopefully these changes will be welcomed and will make a real difference to the appearance of the local area. I’m just a bit disappointed that it has taken Urban Vision so long to actually get these works off the ground.
It’s been a hectic couple of days – my e-mail inbox keeps refilling, my phone keeps ringing and there’s a lot to do!
I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has left kind messages of support since my selection whether they have been on this blog, on Facebook, by e-mail or text or on the thread on ConservativeHome. They are greatly appreciated.
We have a huge challenge ahead of us. Local residents across the constituency have been badly let down and taken from granted by the Labour Party, and I hope I can show that communities throughout the Worsley & Eccles South seat have a real chance for real, positive change under a Conservative Government and a Conservative-led Council.
My work as a ward Councillor here in Walkden South continues unchanged and I will continue to serve local residents here to the best of my ability. I hope over the four-and-a-half years that Walkden South has had Conservative Councillors that we have stood up for the concerns of residents, and I promise that I will do exactly the same if elected as MP for Worsley & Eccles South.
It is a great honour and privilege for me to report that this evening I was selected as the Prospective Conservative MP for the new Worsley & Eccles South constituency.
This is both a big challenge and a huge opportunity and I am looking forward to it. Local residents across the constituency from Little Hulton to Cadishead deserve a representative in Parliament who looks after their interests and I hope to show in the coming weeks and months that they would be much better served by a proactive Conservative Member of Parliament.
I shall blog more when, well, it has all sunk in!
I’ve been asked by the local Police to publicise some information about a recent series of burglaries across the Walkden South area.
There has been a spate of burglaries on dwellings within the local community. The common modus operandi is for the offenders to enter through the rear by smashing a window or patio door glass. The peak time for these offences is between 12:00 and 21:00 hours.
Police patrols have been increased throughout the areas affected. Local residents are asked to be ensure that their properties are secure and report any suspicious behaviour to the Police.
Channel M have put a few clips of the Q&A session with David Cameron up on their website, including his comments on congestion charging and public transport investment. Click here to view them.
David Cameron’s visit to Greater Manchester has gone extremely well. A packed hall in Bolton yesterday evening was followed by a Get Britain Working forum right here in Salford – with Salford Conservative leader Karen Garrido on the panel – and then the much-anticipated reader debate at the Manchester Evening News.
It’s a real measure of the openness and approachability of David Cameron that he is prepared to take unprompted questions from allcomers, and a huge contrast that with Gordon Brown’s stage-managed public appearances.
The local news coverage has focused on Cameron’s comments about public transport and the TIF bid, and from a Greater Manchester perspective his words are greatly reassuring. Conservatives have already committed to a huge investment in a high-speed rail link to Manchester and any commitment to mending Labour’s broken promises and congestion-charge blackmail over public transport in Greater Manchester is very welcome indeed.
Last night, I went along to the Reebok Stadium in Bolton – along with another 1100 or so people – to listen to David Cameron talk to community and business representatives from across the region at an event hosted by Sajjad Karim MEP.
Later today, local residents across Greater Manchester get the chance to hear David Cameron answer questions about the economy in a debate hosted by the Manchester Evening News.
David Ottewell has previewed the visit here on his own blog and also in a piece for the Conservative Party’s own Blue Blog.
You can watch the debate live on Channel M from 12 noon and David’s MEN colleague Sarah Hartley will be live blogging from 11.30am.
Labour’s Debt Crisis
I’ve been thumbing through the excellent report that Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has released on Labour’s Debt Crisis. It’s a frightening and compelling read and you can download it for yourself here. Launching the report, the Shadow Chancellor said:
He is absolutely right, and Labour’s debt mountain is in stark contrast to the common-sense measures that Osborne and his Conservative team have put forward to help local residents through the recession.