Richard Baum

The long-running battle to save a patch of Heaton Park from development came to a successful conclusion during October, when the decision was made to redevelop the existing site of my old school King David and not relocate to a new site in the park. The Lib Dems had led calls for the move to be scrapped, and we joined local campaigners in their joy that the decision had gone our way. Another victory for hard-fighting local people.

Here in St Mary’s, I got the Council to prioritise the removal of pigeon droppings from the precinct, and sort out troublesome litter across the ward in a clean0up blitz demanded at the Local Area Partnership. We started a “20’s Plenty” campaign to reduce speeds on Gardner Road, and I came second in the “I’m a Councillor… Get Me Out Of Here!” competition, answering questions from young people from all over Bury.

Gordron Brown pulled out of an election, robbing us of the chance to show our true feelings at how he’s handling our country. And Labour locally were doing more or less the same, with Salford Labour still refusing to give local people what they wanted in Rainsough by not attending the Developing Communities Working Group or committing funding to the Chapel Road shops improvement project.

The Lib Dems lost a leader when Ming Campbell resigned, and the battle to replace him commenced with Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg starting a nationwide tour drumming up support to take the party forward.

At Council, I made my first big speech, proposing a free bus travel plan for young people which we Lib Dems say would give public transport a real boost. And St Mary’s welcomed lots of new businesses to the area, like Croma and Ready 2 Run. This is a sure sign that the coming redevelopment of the Village is already attracting new life to the area.

Rick