Cllr Iain Lindley – Conservative Councillor for Walkden South Ward
There’s an open day at Irlam Fire Station on Monday August 30th, running alongside the fantastic Irlam & Cadishead Community Festival on the same day.
The Fire Station will be open from 11am until 3.30pm – click here for more details of what will be going on. Hope to see you there!
Last night, I had the pleasure of taking part in a hustings debate at Higher Irlam Social Club with my fellow candidates. I’m very grateful to Jackie and her colleagues from Save Our North West Green Belt for organising the debate, which was well attended by local residents.
I’ve done everything I can to support local residents in Irlam, Cadishead and Peel Green to defend the Barton Moss Green Belt from Labour’s bulldozer, and a Conservative Government would hand planning powers back to local communities.
There were also questions about Labour’s appalling decision to close the excellent maternity unit at Salford Royal Hospital; I do not believe that it is too late to reverse that decision and a Conservative Government would allow local people to give maternity services the necessary funding priority to keep Salford Royal maternity unit open.
A kind resident has handed me a copy of a Labour election leaflet delivered in Irlam and Cadishead. It explains that “many roads and pavements in Irlam & Cadishead are in a shocking state”.
Most local people would agree with this. The Labour Party have run Salford City Council for the last 36 years and have consistently neglected our broken highways. Now even Labour’s own leaflets are damning about their appalling failure to maintain our roads.
Conservative Councillors across the City have consistently argued for more investment in our broken roads and pavements, whilst Labour have let the roads crumble for decades. There’s only one way to improve our highways here in Salford, and that’s to vote for change on May 6 and vote Conservative.
The roads across Irlam and Cadishead are in a shocking state, but I’m particularly concerned about the condition of Station Road which in places appears to be crumbling down the embankment. The contractors building the new school must be held accountable for that damage and should ensure that the road remains fit-for-purpose during construction and returned to tip-top condition afterwards.
There are some great views across the Worsley & Eccles South constituency – here’s one from earlier today. I’ve been out campaigning with our excellent candidate for Cadishead ward, Tony Kelly, and Conservative colleagues, and I thought I’d grab a quick snap of the great view across the Glaze from the top of Lords Street and Fir Street.
I’m always delighted to hear from local residents about their local area – be that a great view or something that needs sorting out (of which, more shortly…)
It seems that Salford’s Labour Council is going to perform a dramatic u-turn, and axe their plans to bulldoze 40 hectares of Green Belt land at Barton Moss for heavy industrial usage.
The plans would have a catastrophic impact on local residents in Cadishead, Irlam, Peel Green and Brookhouse, and I’m delighted that Labour have finally seen sense and moved to withdraw their proposals.
I’m particularly pleased for the “Save Our North West Green Belt” campaign group, who have worked tirelessly and have been rewarded for their efforts on behalf of the community.
It’s important to ask, though – why did these daft proposals ever see the light of day in the first place? As with the Congestion Charge, Labour haven’t listened to local people and instead have had to backpedal after wasting all our time and money only to be howled down with derision.
Your local Conservatives, by contrast, have backed local residents from the start and stood up for their concerns.
It was great to see another huge turnout for today’s walk in Irlam, from Cutnook Lane to the peat extraction works on Irlam Moss.
The sheer scale of the peat works was a real eye-opener, and I think it would be very difficult to justify any further planning permission for more extraction. Acres of bog have already been decimated by the works.
The “Save Our North West Green Belt” group are continuing to do a fantastic job in raising the profile of the local environment, not just in Irlam and Cadishead but across the local area. They continue to have my full support.
I’m really pleased that the local residents fighting Labour’s plan to bulldoze Barton Moss continue to go from strength-to-strength, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend their meeting yesterday at Higher Irlam Social Club.
It’s brilliant to see so many community-minded people standing up for their local environment – fantastic to see. I’ll be heading back to Irlam on Saturday for the vigil walk out onto the moss and I will continue to give every support that I can.
Don’t forget that a Conservative Government would abolish the Labour Government’s daft planning targets which have contributed to the plans to build on Barton Moss – Conservatives will return power to our local communities and let residents decide.
In 2008, the good people of Irlam voted out their Labour Councillor, after it became clear that the Labour Party were no longer listening to local residents in Irlam, particularly over their disastrous proposals for a congestion charge.
Our Conservative candidate saw his vote share rise considerably, and Labour plunged to third place, but the seat was won by Cllr Rick Houlton of the Community Action Party.
I wonder what local people in Irlam would make, then, of last week’s Council budget meeting. Cllr Houlton stood on an anti-Labour ticket, and was swept into office on the back of disillusionment with Labour, so how is representing the people of Irlam when he votes to prop up the Labour administration on Salford City Council and supports their budget?
It’s clear that voting for fringe parties like Community Action – and independents who also supported Labour’s budget – that you just end up with Labour. There’s only one way to make sure you kick Labour out this year, be that on Salford City Council or in Westminster – and that’s to vote Conservative.
Like most local residents, I’m appalled by the latest schemes put forward by Peel Holdings – they would lead to a wholesale destruction of the local environment in Worsley, Eccles, Irlam and Cadishead, to the severe detriment of our local communities. I hope that the Council treat the plans with the disdain that they deserve at the next stage of the Core Strategy process.
However, let’s not forget that Peel are merely doing the bidding of the Labour Government on this issue. The Government’s regional planning guidance, imposed on the people of Salford, demands that we make space for over 30000 new homes as well as heavy industry on our green land. The Council’s own plans, although less dramatic, would still wipe out huge swathes of Green Belt land on Barton Moss and green field land at Burgess Farm.
A Conservative Government would scrap the dangerous regional planning guidance and return powers to local people – allowing our precious green land to be protected.
Conservative Party News
Supporting Our Excellent SureStart Centres
I know our local Sure Start staff and management work hard day in day out, doing all that they can to support families in our community. I’ve been a regular visitor to Little Hulton Children’s Centre, in particular, for meetings, and I’m very grateful for the warm and friendly welcome that I always receive.
Sure Start Children’s Centres will play a critical role in the Conservative vision of making Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe. As David Cameron said recently, we are absolutely committed to keeping Sure Start and helping it do more for families, not less.
It is a pity that Labour are concentrating on spreading scare stories about Conservative plans to cut Sure Start, rather than working to improve the service themselves. Ministers have claimed that our plans to refocus Sure Start spending are a ‘cut’ – but the small print of the Budget revealed that Labour are themselves planning to make up to £150m of ‘efficiencies’ in the Sure Start budget. False rumours about our plans have caused real anxiety and concern amongst parents, and risked distracting attention from the important task of improving Sure Start.
Let me make it quite clear: the Conservatives have no plans to close any Children’s Centres.
Now the Centres have been created, Labour thinks the job is done – Sure Start staff know the job is really only just starting. The National Audit Office, the Audit Commission and OFSTED have all criticised this Government’s failure to help develop Sure Start, and in particular to support the poorest and most vulnerable families in our communities better. Our plans and vision for Sure Start will change that.
We will strengthen Sure Start by recruiting thousands of new Sure Start Health Visitors and introducing a universal Sure Start Health Visitor service – improving the support Sure Start is able to provide to every family. Currently, fewer than one in five Sure Start Children’s Centres has a formal agreement with their local Primary Care trust to join together to provide the services families need. Our plans will change that, and put health back at the heart of Sure Start as it was when the programme was originally launched. Sure Start Health Visitors, working with outreach and other workers, will also help improve the effectiveness of support given to the most vulnerable families.
This will cost £200 million per year and will be paid for using money the Government has set aside for more Sure Start outreach workers and from the Department of Health, the budget of which the Conservative Party has promised to increase in real terms every year.
We want Britain to be the most family friendly country in Europe. A stronger Sure Start is at the heart of delivering on that vision. I look forward to working with our excellent local Sure Start staff to make this change happen.