The next meeting of the Walkden and Little Hulton Community Committee takes places this coming Monday, 30th November. It is being held at James Brindley Primary School on Parr Fold Avenue in Walkden, and the fun and games start at 6pm.
There’s a presentation and discussion on the draft Core Strategy, including the Council’s proposals to build 1000 homes on green field land at Burgess Farm off Hilton Lane, and all local residents are welcome to attend and take part in the discussion. Hope to see you there!
I’ve had an extremely enjoyable evening at the switch-on of the Worsley Village Christmas lights. Congratulations to the Worsley Village Community Association who have worked extremely hard to ensure that the event was a success.
It was great to see so many children there to enjoy themselves and to visit Father Christmas who as usual arrived in the village on a narrow boat. Well done also to Sale Cruising Club who decorate their boats brilliantly.
Father Christmas did consent to the above photograph but asked me to make it clear that he is does not endorse any Party and distributes presents to all good children, regardless of political affiliation.
Earlier this evening, I popped along to Fit City Irlam to see how the Core Strategy roadshows were doing. My Cadishead ward Conservative colleagues, Cllrs Liz Hill and Lyn Bramer-Kelly, were also there along with our excellent local campaigner in Cadishead and Irlam, Tony Kelly.
Discussion focused – and rightly so – on the proposals to industrialise Barton Moss. There is a great deal of anger in Irlam and Cadishead about this proposal and rightly so – it would have a huge negative impact on local people. I’d like to thank all the local people who turned up to the event; it was great to listen to their views.
Tom from SalfordOnline was also in attendance and I expect he’ll be adding a report on his website in the near future.
Network Rail are currently consulting on their investment plans for railway stations across the country. Our local stations – Walkden, Eccles, Patricroft and Irlam – are all in need of significant investment, and I’d encourage all local rail commuters to complete the short Network Rail “Action Stations” survey to make sure that their views are heard!
Click here to take the “Action Stations” survey!
The weather may have been cold, but there’s been a warm welcome on the doorsteps as I’ve been out and about with colleagues talking to local residents.
On Saturday morning we were out in Walkden, listening to the concerns of residents – discussion topics ranged from potholes to St George’s to the excellent new community-right-to-buy policy announced by David Cameron last week. I’m very grateful both to local residents for the warm welcome we received and to my friends and colleagues who helped out.
This evening I braved the wind and rain with Antony Yates – our excellent local campaigner for Barton ward – to talk to local residents in Peel Green about Labour’s daft plans to bulldoze over the Barton Moss green belt. Residents in Peel Green are rightly furious that they are not being listened to by the Labour Council – once again it is only the Conservatives who are standing up for local people.
It’s very heartening to see that local residents in Irlam, Cadishead, Peel Green and Brookhouse are fighting back against daft Labour proposals to bulldoze the green belt at Barton Moss.
Following on from a unanimous vote against the proposals at the Irlam and Cadishead Community Committee last week, residents have now taken to the internet to express their disgust. In particular, there is now a Facebook group complaining about the proposals, and I’d also like to draw your attention to this excellent post on the “Cadishead In Space” blog.
Please make sure that you have your say during the consultation process on these proposals! Local residents campaigning against these proposals have the full support of myself and the local Conservative teams in Eccles, Winton, Barton, Irlam and Cadishead.
This evening I popped along to the Irlam and Cadishead Community Committee. It is always great to see a room full of community-minded local people, and as with my previous visit to this meeting in the summer, the room was full to bursting.
One local resident raised their concerns about the Council’s proposals to bulldoze large chunks of Barton Moss, and it was really good to see that local people in Irlam and Cadishead are strongly opposed to this dreadful proposal. I was also pleased to hear from the GMPTE officer present that proposals are advanced for improvements to the car parking at Irlam station, and that the station (and indeed Walkden station) are high up the priority list for further improvements. Finally, the officer from Urban Vision reported that Lords Street has finally been refurbished – this is long overdue and something that my Conservative Council colleagues for Cadishead ward have been long calling for.
I’ve talked in some length on this site already about Labour’s daft proposals to build 1000 houses on greenfield land at Burgess Farm in Walkden.
This evening I’ve been discussing with my Conservative Council colleagues the equally-barmy proposals the Labour Council have put forward in the draft Core Strategy to bulldoze 40 hectares of Green Belt land at Barton Moss for industrial use.
Green Belt land is both the green lungs of our local communities and also provides a buffer between built-up areas. The development of 40 hectares of Green Belt would remove the open space between Peel Green and Irlam entirely. The industrial land would be created either by removing Grade 1 agricultural land from by the airport, or alternatively – according to briefings from officers – bulldoze Boysnope Park Golf Club.
Secondly, of course, the question arises of access to this proposed new site. The A57 already operates well above capacity at peak periods. You can add to this the traffic created by the now-approved Port Salford development, the Reds Stadium and an expanded City Airport Manchester. I have my doubts that the upgraded highway can cope with that additional traffic, never mind that created by 40 hectares of industry and warehousing.
Don’t forget that local residents can have their say on these proposals – visit the Council website to make your comments or alternatively visit one of the consultation events.
Queen’s Speech Broadcast – Ready For Change