Richard Baum

Tonight I attended my third Council-related meeting of the week, and this time it was the turn of Rainsough Tenants and Residents Association.

It was their first meeting of the year, and it was great to see well over two dozen people in attendance, including representatives from the police, Six Town Housing, Salix Housing (from Salford), and two Councillors including me, as well as lots of tenants and residents of course.

We seem to be making a bit of progress on improving the park on Kersal Road, and I have this evening made further enquiries with the Council to see if they can find the money to give us some play equipment for younger children, as well as more dog waste bins which I think are sorely needed. Hopefully there’ll be some good news there.

The main debate of the evening was around the future of the Chapel Road shops. Councillors from both the main parties in St Mary’s are clearly of the view that this has been a neglected area of the ward for too long now. We have the ideal opportunity to do something about it now, with Children’s Centre outreach facilities an obvious solution, and £20k available for this purpose. Labour-run Salford City Council have neglected Rainsough for decades, but have indicated a willingness to engage with us now, and that’s to be commended if they follow it up with action.

What struck me tonight though was the different viewpoints of so many residents. Some were keen on the idea of an outreach centre, whilst others preferred other options ranging on conversion to domestic use, commercial shops or even just to board them up. There are clearly concerns over security, and these were shared both by us Councillors and the Committee. However, the Police pointed out what I suspect most people in the room knew - that times and people have changed a lot since the last time the shops were open, and that security needn’t be an issue if things are planned correctly.

With such a range of views on display, the Committee has agreed to hold a special meeting with all interested stakeholders including Police, housing managers, residents in the immediate vicinity of the units, and the TRA itself, to see if we can find a sensible solution that will do the best for the whole community. I will be at this meeting, and I will let you know when I have a confirmed date. But it is vital that we move forward here and don’t let a golden opportunity slip through our fingers.

I’ve had a very busy week and haven’t been entirely happy with all the meetings I’ve been at. Sometimes it can be frustrating. But other times I leave meetings feeling hopeful, and tonight was one of those times. The community was out in force, and although there are lots of options on the table and points of view around, everyone in the room tonight was united in wanting to make Rainsough a better place. And that’s to be commended.

Rick