Today I’ve been chasing up a couple of things. The missing street signs on Butterstile Lane and Carr Avenue remain AWOL. I was told six weeks ago that it would take ten weeks to replace them. I refuse to believe this, since it would take me less time to enrol on and complete a metalwork course and make the damn things myself. So I have been prodding the Highways Department about that today.

In addition, I noticed this morning that the sign at the end of my own road can no longer be read since it has been overcome by nasty-looking thorned weeds. So I asked them to sort that out too, whilst they’re in the area. I’d do it myself but there are nettles and I am delicate…

Later on this week there’s the next meeting of the St Mary’s Conservation Area working group. I am looking forward to finding out the latest plans for this important local area.

One of the issues involved for anyone living in the area is around buildings and planning, which reminded ne today to chase up the planning application for the site of the former Park Hotel on Lowther Road. This site has been derelict for a few years since the pub was knocked down, and now there has been an application received for some flats. I think that opinion may be divided on this one – we don’t want a building site, but not many people like flats, especially if they’re overly tall. So I am talking to a resident with concerns, and would be happy to hear any others. We need to make sure that whatever happens, the development minimises its impact on the surrounding homes – i.e. enough car parking spaces, retention of privacy and light for existing residents, and a commitment to actually build something rather than keep the land vacant for years.

I’ll put any updates on here as they arrive.

Rick

Today the Bury Council Planning Control Committee are visiting School Grove to see for themselves the traffic and congestion issues brought to their attention by residents opposed to the Butterstile Children’s Centre.

Whilst I am firmly of the view that our ward needs a Children’s Centre, I also know how important it is for the Council to listen to the views of residents, and for all of us to have confidence that due process is followed. At least now, if it goes against them, they can’t say that their views weren’t heard at all.

The Committee will come to their fair and impartial view as to whether the residents’ concerns are enough to warrant restrictions or amendments to the planning application. And I will let you know what their view is.

Rick 

So the final full Council meeting of 2007 is over. The press were out in force for the congestion charge debate, and I can only apologise to them for the two hours of knockabout political gaming that went on before the main event.

Questions from the public gallery boomed out from the world’s single loudest microphone, puncturing the eardrums of many during the opening minutes, with a contest going on between Manchester Against Road Tolls (MART) and planted Bury Labour supporters as to who could ask the most obtuse questions to the Leader. I would say that, perhaps for the first time this year in any contest, Bury Labour won.

Of particular note to St Mary’s was the question from one Labour activist concerning the Butterstile Children’s Centre and suggesting that I have put the scheme in jeopardy by giving voice to resident’s concerns at the Council’s Planning Committee.

Once again they have missed the vital point - that Council officers have assured Councillors that if planning permission is granted at the pre-Christmas meeting then the building can still be completed on time. It will be tight, sure. But perfectly possible. And we will see it done.

I don’t like having a go at other parties and other Councillors on this blog or anywhere else. I genuinely believe that we’re all in it for the right reasons and got into this to try and do some good. But there are times when stuff goes on and I start to doubt people’s motives. This is one of those times.

The situation with the Children’s Centre wouldn’t be anywhere near this tight if it weren’t for the numerous mistakes made in the design and consultation phases by Council officers, the early parts of which were presided over by Labour’s Cllr Maggie Gibb in her capacity as Executive Member until May this year. The same Cllr Gibb who was in the same room as me when we were told on November 30^th that the planning delay wouldn’t mean the end of the scheme, but appears to have been distracted by something and missed this key point. The same Cllr Gibb who has been elected by the people of St Mary’s to represent their views to Council, but is dead against me doing the same at Planning. The same Cllr Gibb who allows her local activists to plant questions and write letters to the papers that do nothing but propagate lies and spread anxiety.

I do hope that the same momentary distraction which afflicted Cllr Gibb on November 30^th didn’t return during questions to the Executive last night, when I asked about outreach facilities from the Butterstile Children’s Centre to Rainsough. These are crucial, and heavily dependent on cooperation between Bury MBC and Salford City Council, who own the building where we hope these facilities will go.

I began a dialogue with Salford some time ago when I went to see Cllr Peter Connor, the Labour Executive Member for Housing in Salford. Nothing had been done for 15 years under his watch or that of Bury Labour, so I thought I’d build some bridges. Unfortunately Cllr Connor preferred talking to the press than to me, hence the smiling picture of him and Cllr Gibb in Rainsough some weeks later proclaiming a bright future thanks to Labour.

It’s nice when I can do a favour for Labour once in a while.

Unfortunately the promised bright future requires work. Work which I wanted us to do together, but which now I am barred from because Labour don’t like talking to us. Possibly because they think local people’s lives are all part of a big game of some kind.

So I asked the Leader of the Council last night what work has been ongoing between Bury MBC and Salford CC. There wasn’t much forthcoming on the detail, so I asked to be kept informed. What is clear though, is that if the Rainsough thing doesn’t happen, the blame lies absolutely with Labour. We started the ball rolling, we cajoled Bury into playing along, and now it’s stalled because going to the press to win votes is an easier option than working together with us horrible Liberal Democrats.

If it does happen, the people of Rainsough will be delighted, and so will I because I nudged Labour into action after 15 desparate years. But if it doesn’t, they should be ashamed.

I will keep you updated.

Rick

Last night the Planning Control Committee of Bury MBC decided to withhold its decision on the planned Butterstile Children’s Centre, and make a visit to the site on December 18th. It was a tight call, with a 5-5 split vote decided by the Chair’s casting vote. I’m glad the vote went the way it did because I think a number of the people voting against a site visit did so on the grounds of proper committee procedure rather than common sense. The fact that the question wasn’t raised at the proper time during the meeting shouldn’t be a good enough reason to stop local people having a fair hearing.

I think this is probably the most sensible decision for local people. We all want a Children’s Centre for the ward, but School Grove is a traffic and parking nightmare already, and a new Children’s Centre, no matter how well planned or small or anything else, will only make the situation worse.

Now local people will have the chance to show to Councillors on the Planning Committee exactly what we in the ward already know to be true - that the School Grove situation is an accident waiting to happen.

The final outcome of the application may be swayed more by the positives of a Children’s Centre than by the negatives of the traffic problems, but at least local people will have been granted the proper say that they’ve been denied so far.

Rick

Tonight it’s Planning, at 7pm in the Town Hall. The main issue from a St Mary’s ward point of view is the Butterstile Children’s Centre proposal. Whatever the decision, lessons have to be learned about consultation and planning timescales.

There hasn’t been adequate consultation, and relationships between Butterstile School, local residents and the Council may well be at an all time low.

We’re either going to get a Children’s Centre that’s deeply unpopular with local people, or no Children’s Centre at all. One outcome would be bad for residents of School Grove, the other terrible for the ward as a whole.

And now the time has passed so that the sensible solution, a Children’s Centre in Rainsough where there is the greatest need for both renovated buildings and children’s facilities, almost certainly can’t come to pass.

What a shame, caused by the government’s crazy timescales, the Council’s inadequate consultation, and a failure to work with our neighbour Authority to get the best for local people.

I will let you know how it goes.

Rick

Local people will have their chance to put their case to the Planning committee over the proposed Children’s Centre at Butterstile School next Tuesday, and I have been asked to speak on their behalf.

This is a repeated item on the agenda because last time a lot of residents were unaware of their right to make representations, and so didn’t. Now the Council has consulted more widely and I can give across the views of local people very concerned about the increases in traffic on School Grove, and the increased danger to school children caused because of it.

I think everyone is united in their desire for a Children’s Centre in St Mary’s ward. I think the planning process has been seriously flawed, and now time is running out to get the money committed without us risking losing it. I am still of the view that a better site for the entire thing would’ve been in Rainsough, and we need to make sure that at the very least a substantial outreach centre is sited there, preferably in the shops at Chapel Road. But we are where we are, and whilst I’ll continue to push for this, if it has to be at the school then we nee to mitigate the potential problems with things like residents-only parking, no stopping in the turning-zone on School Grove, and enforcement.

These are the types of things I’ll be asking for on Tuesday. And remember that the meeting is public so you can come along as well.

Rick

Today I have been chasing up a lot of issues on behalf of residents.

I have been in touch with the company developing Tulle Court to ask them whether or not they are going to renovate the unadopted road next to the development.

I have added some trees which are in need of pruning on Church Drive to the list which the Council has to prune back. Unfortunately this list is so long that the trees may well grow into mighty specimens, entirely overwhelm the district, and then die of their own accord before they are pruned back. But we can but try, and keep the pressure on.

I have also had some good news this morning about the road markings at the corner of Butterstile Lane and Bury New Road, which have faded to such a degree that I fear that soon locals may begin to see apparitions of the faces of deities in the road surface. Regardless of this development, it is dangerous at the moment, especially at night and in the rain.

I have also raised issues about brown bins today. The brown ones are for garden waste, and like the blue ones last year, coverage across Bury seems patchy at best. We should be encouraging recycling by providing adequate facilities for everyone, not just some people.

Rick

Last night I attended the Prestwich Community Development Working Group, where lots of exciting things were on the agenda. From an update on progress in Rainsough to a re-affirmation of our commitment to working with Salford to achieve improvements there, to an update about the Butterstile Children’s Centre, and the proposed Ball zone for Polefield. It’s only been three weeks since the last meeting so there’s not been any major progress, but all of these things are still on the agenda and will be worked through.

We also took a look at some grant applications and were able to allocate some of the money in local funds to some worthy causes.

Tonight I am starting to put together the new St Mary’s Focus, which will be printed next week and delivered from the week after. Which is fairly depressing because I know full-well that there’s plenty of the current batch still to deliver. No rest…

Rick

The Prestwich and Whitefield Guide today published an article on my efforts to preserve the privacy of the Jewish cemetary on Bury New Road. The wall surrounding the site has been knocked down as part of a new development, and this has increased visibility and thus the risk of vandalism. I am seeking assurances that a suitable replacement wall be installed as soon as possible, and that in the meantime the flimsy metal fences protecting the site are replaced with sturdy wooden ones. The Prestwich Heritage Society are also helping with the campaign, and have pointed out the historical significance of the site as the second oldest Jewish cemetary in Manchester, dating back to 1841. I thnak them for their efforts in the campaign so far, and I hope that the article in the papers helps to convince the developers of the real need for protective measures.

Rick