For those readers who are new to Twitter, here are a few Salford- or Conservative-related Twitter feeds worth following:

• @jfostermep - newly-elected Conservative MEP Jacqui Foster has just joined Twitter
• @andycrane64 – Channel M news anchor, BBC Radio Manchester host, and (for those of a certain age, like me) Children’s Television legend.
• @SalfordOnline and @tom_manchester - Tom Rodgers from SalfordOnline.com
• @davidottewell - Chief Reporter, Manchester Evening News
• @PamelaWelsh – Salford Advertiser reporter
• @Conservatives - Conservative Party twitter feed

Seems our local media are very proactive in embracing new media, then!

Following a number of breakdowns earlier today, crews will be working late in the following areas to complete:-
 
CADISHEAD/IRLAM/WALKDEN AND LITTLE HULTON.
 
Any outstanding work will be completed in the morning.

This is about the fourth week in a row that bins have not been emptied on the correct day. It is simply not good enough.

I know that my colleague Cllr Ian MacDonald, Worsley ward Councillor and Vice-Chairman of the Transport Authority, will be protesting along with his colleagues in the strongest term. This is a real let-down for the people of Greater Manchester, and means that commuters from Walkden, Eccles, Irlam, Patricroft and Swinton stations will continue to suffer overcrowding and inadequate services.

I have been appointed as the Authority spokesman to Salford City Council and I have also taken up a place on the North-West Regional Management Board.

Walkden town centre has suffered considerable decline over the last few years, and the number of empty shops has steadily increased. Obviously the current recession has exacerbated this, but traders have also complained about the inflexibility of the ownership of the Ellesmere Centre – not helped by the Council’s decision to flog the Market Hall and Pembroke Halls to them back when Labour last found themselves in financial crisis.

Incidentally, as I’ve pointed out before, Labour promised to reinvest that money in Walkden town centre and it has never materialised – we’re still waiting for the money.

The new Tesco development is now well underway. Many people are rightly wary of Tesco, but sadly there wasn’t a huge queue of firms waiting to invest in Walkden. I hope that the new Tesco – and particularly the extra parking spaces – will provide a boost to those smaller and independent traders who have stuck out the difficult times, and encourage new firms to invest and set up in Walkden.

Locally, the Council needs to do much better. The millions received from the Pembroke Halls sale went into a typical Labour black hole and show no sign of returning. There is a “Salford West” development strategy but Walkden town centre does not even feature on the radar (although they are doing some useful work elsewhere).

Nationally, we need to be doing much more to support businesses and independent traders. Conservative proposals include:

• Get credit flowing and save jobs with a £50 billion National Loan Guarantee Scheme.
• Help small businesses with cash flow by delaying VAT bills for six months.
• Get companies hiring again through reducing employment costs for small businesses by cutting National Insurance, and through a tax break for new jobs.

Like many local residents, I have my fingers crossed that the new Tesco has the desired effect. Regardless, I know that a Conservative Government and Conservative-led Council would be much more proactive in supporting town centres like Walkden (and Eccles and Swinton) and the businesses that inhabit them.

What they show is that only 33.7% of Salford residents are “satisfied or fairly satisfied” (hardly a high barrier!) with Salford’s Labour Council. This is an appalling figure and in the table places Salford City Council at the giddy heights of nineteenth from bottom, out of every single Council in the country.

Funnily enough, I don’t see any mention of this survey on the Council website. I wonder if there will be a big article in Life in Salford magazine? I’m not holding my breath…

This is a damning indictment of decades of Labour misrule. It’s time for a change!

The exhibition is being held at Worsley Courthouse on Tuesday 30th June and will be open from 2pm until 7pm.

Hazel should not be apologising to her Labour colleagues. She should be apologising to the people of Salford as a whole – she has let them down badly. Ultimately Hazel Blears is accountable to her electorate, and her fate will be decided not behind the closed doors of a Labour Party meeting, but in the ballot boxes of the Salford & Eccles constituency at the next General Election.

The public need to have the opportunity to pass judgement on Hazel and her Labour colleagues. What we need is a General Election to give local people the chance to pass that judgement – that’s the real test of our local democracy.

I don’t know whether this is kite-flying or a solid proposal to change the name permanently, but as a first impression I’m not convinced by it as a name.