Today at the Full Council meeting of Salford City Council, I challenged the Council leader Cllr John Merry to support Conservative proposals to democratise NHS decision-making, which would give us a real opportunity to save the maternity and neo-natal units at Salford Royal Hospital.
He changed the subject.
Conservatives would also introduce a “patient premium” which will improve funding for health services in Salford, and a new joined-up maternity network for Salford.
I also stood up for local residents across the area who are fighting to defend their local green spaces from Labour’s bulldozer, and formally welcomed the announcement by GMITA that they will be funding Sunday services through Walkden station. I believe that the Labour leadership of AGMA should stop their daft plans to waste money on the Leigh misguided busway and invest in local rail infrastructure instead.
Pamela Welsh from the Salford Advertiser was reporting on the meeting live online, and I added a few contributions myself via Twitter. Click here for Pamela’s record of the meeting as it progressed.
I was interested to read today that the Manchester Evening News would like to stream the proceedings at Wednesday’s Council meeting live on their website.
It’s an interesting suggestion and one that I wholeheartedly agree with. I don’t know how many people might tune in, but anything that improves the access that local residents have to the democratic functions of the Council is a good thing.
The Council meeting is held in public – anyone can come along and watch – so I can’t see that there should be any objections to the business of the Council being filmed. We’ll see on Wednesday!
The deadline for local residents to submit their responses to Council’s draft Core Strategy is this coming Friday, January 15th.
It was pointed out at the outset back in November by myself and others that the consultation period had been scheduled to run over Christmas, and in fairness to the Council they have allowed a few days longer for consultation than the statutory minimum.
However in view of the recent atrocious weather, and the unprecedented public concern about a number of the proposals contained within the document, it seems only right to extend the consultation period so that all Salford residents have the opportunity to submit their comments.
I know that in many parts of Salford the post has been unreliable, and the minds of local people have rightly been elsewhere. I would hate to see submissions ruled out-of-order simply because they were posted within the deadline but did not arrive.
Ideally the consultation period should be extended by a couple of weeks, but at the very least I’m seeking a few days’ grace so that any held-up submissions can be accepted.
I’m also continuing to hear disappointing reports about the failure of the “Life In Salford” magazine to be distributed properly. This was the Council’s main method of communication with regard to the Core Strategy and if the magazine was not delivered as promised then this clearly merits a consultation extension in itself.
Don’t forget to have your say – visit the Council’s Core Strategy website to submit your comments.
It was a great honour to have the opportunity to take part in the meeting today to award Ryan Giggs the freedom of the City of Salford. It would be very easy for me as a United fan to sing his praises, but Ryan is not only a great player but also a fantastic role model, and the award is thoroughly deserved. Well done!
There’s a page on the Council’s website to visit if you need to find out which services have been affected by the current snowy weather:
http://www.salford.gov.uk/servicedisruption.htm
Most schools are closed today, and the refuse collection service has been suspended. The bus service is patchy although the last I checked trains were running albeit behind schedule. It is still snowing here in Walkden, with over 6 inches of snow on the ground already, so I suspect that the disruption will continue into tomorrow at the very least.
I note with interest that a senior Labour Councillor in Salford is posting – verbatim and unchallenged – copy from the extreme-left Morning Star newspaper onto his website. How far to the extreme left are our local Labour Party lurching?
Meeting With David Cameron
David has always shown a great interest in Salford and has visited on a number of occasions since he became Leader of the Opposition.
I know that David’s commitment to local health services will be particularly welcomed by the people of Salford, and Conservative proposals for a “health premium” will see increased resources spent on the NHS here in Salford under a future Conservative Government.
It was great to have the opportunity to get across how valued the maternity unit at Salford Royal Hospital is to local residents across the City, and I hope that under Conservative plans to hand decision-making powers over the NHS back to local communities that we will be able to save the unit from Labour’s axe.