RESIDENTS VIEWS

Give Cllr John Lamb some feedback!

Here is the question:

For you what one thing needs to change that would make Ashton-on-Mersey a better place to live?

Use the 'comments' link below to leave your answer. If you want me to get back to you then leave your contact details also.

Cllr John Lamb

New Mayor of Trafford names his Charity

I attended the Mayor's Civic Sunday service at St John's on Brooklands Road last Sunday (14th June 2009). The new Mayor is Councillor David Higgins who represents Brooklands Ward on the Council. His Mayoress is his wife Wendy.


A very full congregation, hearty singing of hymns accompanied by organ and choir with the service led by the Mayors Chaplain, The Rev. Canon Ian McVeety. There was just one thing missing: there was no street procession! There always used to be, usually led by a brass band just to make sure that those local residents having a, no doubt well earned Sunday lie in, at least did so in the comforting knowledge that the civic life of the borough rolls on!


The word that went around when I enquired why we were not marching was that the Borough could not afford it! I will make enquiries and hope to be able to report that this is not in fact the reason.


On a higher note, the Mayors charity for the year 2009/10 is Stockdales who provide support and services in the north west for children and adults with learning difficulties. See more about their work by following the link below. This splendid charity is based in my Ward on Harboro Road. The Mayor has already been informed that we will organise a fund raising event during the year for Stockdales.

http://stockdales.org.uk/

Cameron Cleaning up the act and getting tough on abusers of Tax payers money

Like many of you I have been horrified when reading the daily dose of abuse of taxpayers money. No, I am not talking about the press releases from Trafford Council concerning benefit fraudsters - I am talking, of course, about the 'honourable' men and women sitting in the House of Commons. Sent to that place by a mainly trusting electorate, it is a scandal that so many MP's of all Parties then proceeded to systematically ransack the public purse. To my mind such Members deserve to be turfed from office. It was encouraging then when I opened my mail shot letter from David Cameron, the Leader of the Conservative Party, to all Party members, setting out his view and actions taken over this whole sorry and sordid business. It certainly seems that Mr Cameron is determined to clean the act up. I reproduce below some key paragraphs from his letter:


"British politics has been shaken by one of the most serious scandals in our history. The abuse of expenses is an abuse of trust. People are angry, disgusted and disappointed. I'm writing to you today because I want to apologise, directly to all those who have supported the Conservative Party through thick and thin. You have been let down, and I am truly sorry. I want to tell you what I am doing to lead us through this crisis of trust in our political system.


Many Conservative MP's work very hard for their constituents and for our Party. Many felt on expenses that they were acting "within the rules". That might be technically right, but we still know that many of the things that were done were wrong. We need to recognise that and put things right with practical action. That's why I've been busy putting our own house in order, precisely so that our MP's can be respected and appreciated for the hard work they do. I have met with the Shadow Cabinet, who have all agreed to pay back the claims that caused concern, whether that was hundred pounds or several thousand.

To review all the expense claims made by other Conservative MP's, we have set up a Scrutiny Panel. Its job is to work out how much money should rightfully be paid back. If our MP's don't comply, the consequences are simple - they won't remain as Conservative MP's. And I've been very clear about the rules for our MP's from now on. There'll be no 'flipping' of first and second homes to make more money, no avoiding capital gains tax, no more claiming for furniture, food bills or luxuries. From now on all Conservative MP's will be allowed to claim the basic necessities - and they'll publish each and every expense detail on line."

Tough talk then. Lets us hope that actions follow the rhetoric and that a number of Members seeking alternative employment begins to restore confidence in the political system. For my part that confidence is pretty fragile at the moment!

Cllr John Lamb

Caring for our Environment - Glebelands City Growers and Woodheys Junior School

Right: L to R Cllr James Wibberley and Ed Sweetman.

Left L to R: Cllr John Lamb, Sally Westaway and Ed Sweetman

Recently I and my colleague from Urmston Cllr James Wibberley visited the Glebelands City Growers which is a market garden. Its situation is quite unique in that it sits alongside the river Mersey but otherwise is nestled up against a busy suburban environment. This well established business has new owners and they have set up a 'not for profit' organisation to pursue their passionate interest of growing organic produce, mainly salads. Talking to the new owners it became clear that they really are committed to ensuring that their produce is completely free of any artificial ingredients. The approach they take also involves a tremendous respect for the environment and contribution to a sustainable way of living. I was pleased to be able to support their application for some lottery money to enable them to invite local schools to the market garden to learn something about this environmentally friendly enterprise.

Talking about schools, last night (5th May) members of Trafford Council's Sustainability and Climate Change Select Committee (of which I am Vice Chairman) visited Woodheys Junior School in Sale to hear from the children about the their approach to maintaining a sustainable school. As always the children were great advocates for what they clearly believe in. They have gained an understanding of energy consumption, new sources of energy, healthy eating and living and sources of food. In the grounds of the school is a small nature reserve and they have been visited by the well know environmentalist Professor David Bellamy. The school is a leader in the region for its approach to these matters and for me one of the great outcomes will be the awareness that youngsters gain as one day they assume their various roles on our planet.

I probably need to make sure that one day the children of Woodheys school visit the Glebelands Road Growers market garden!

Three cheers for St George!

Top: Cllr Kathy Bullock a member of the Altrincham Court Leet. Middle: Cllr Ken Weston, a member of the Court Leet and below : The Mayor of Trafford, Cllr Steve Adshead, raises the English flag of St George, outside Altrincham town hall

Last Thursday, the 23rd April, I along with fellow councillors attended a splendid celebration of St George's day at Altrincham Town Hall. The whole occasion had something very English about it, as it should of course. The ancient Altrincham Court Leet was led by the Bellman of the Court all dressed in medieval robes and bearing impressive looking staffs. They arrived at the town hall where the the Mayor and Mayoress of Trafford awaited them. Plenty of fine words were used as the life of St George was remembered and following the hoisting of the cross of St George by the Mayor, the Stretford Brass band stirred the throng into choruses of Jerusalem, There'll Always be an England and the National Anthem.

In Trafford this was probably the first openly nationalistic event there has been for years and such is the madness these days of not wishing to offend non English Christians that one almost felt that one was participating in something slightly naughty or forbidden. So it is with enthusiasm that I join the campaign to celebrate St Georges day on a new public bank holiday. Why not have a day when things quintessentially English are celebrated, in dress, song, food and drink! Bring out Hogarth's roast beef of Olde England washed down with a quart (or two) of excellent ale and amble home singing songs about defeats over Englands traditional enemies of yester-year.

Just in case you think I have taken leave of my senses or already quaffed my first quart of English ale, just go to Spain, France or Italy and I think you will find that they have no shyness about upholding and celebrating their nationality in quite robust fashion.

So, to conclude in the words of the Bard (whose birthday we also celebrate on St Georges day) who put these famous words into the mouth of another hero of mine, King Henry the fifth,

"Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George! "

Bogus callers - Show them the gate!!

We have just been made aware of some pretty low down characters taking advantage of trusting elderly people in the borough. Two men, cold called on an elderly Trafford resident offering to repair the fence. They took, in advance £100 in cash, painted one fence panel and have not been seen since. Its called robbery and I know what I would like to do to the kind of low life that carry out these abuses on vulnerable people but the public nature of my blog site requires the use of moderate language!!


However, thinking about this despicable activity I thought a link to Trafford Councils Trading Standards page on bogus callers would be useful. Basically the advice seems to be, if you didn't ask for someone to call then show them the gate!


The Council offer a few steps to follow when someone arrives, unexpectedly, at your door step:

• Never do business on the doorstep
• Never allow strangers into your home
• Always ask for ID and do not let the caller in unless you have verified their identity with their employer
• Always lock the back door when you answer the front - use a chain or look through the window
• Never keep large sums of money in the house
• If you are suspicious ring the police on 0161 872 5050
• If you have signed a contract at home following an unsolicited call, you may be able to cancel. Contact Trafford Trading Standards on 0161 912 1377

For more information use the link below.

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/AdviceAndBenefits/TradingStandards/BogusCallers

Ashton-on-Mersey School Triumphs with Les Miserables

There are school performances and there are school performances! Last night, we attended the Sale Waterside Robert Bolt theatre to watch the final night of Ashton-on-Mersey School's production of Les Miserables and it was a night not to be missed. The audience were constantly reaching for their tissues as the performers successfully and convincingly invoked every human emotion. From tears and tension to joy and laughter as we listened to Little Cosette (Niamh Dean), Jean Valjean (Calum Burke) movingly pray to God for the safety of Marius (Damon Daniels) and Msr et Mme Thenadier (Cameron Davies and Lorna Hughes) as they sang with obvious relish and enjoyment the Innkeeper's song. I felt emotionally drained after the show and for the right reasons!

What struck me about the production was the supreme talent, confidence and very strong stage presence of all the cast. Javert and Gavroche played by Joe Fairbrother and Jacob Ashcroft respectively were very good examples of this. We heard powerful singing voices from Fantine (Rachel Mayon), Enjolras (Jenny Booth) and The Bishop of Digne (Jenny Flanagan) and great tenderness in the love expressed by Marius, Cosette (Shobi Miller-Lawson) and Eponine (Lorna Smyth).

The whole cast had clearly worked hard on this production and invested a lot of personal emotion into the performances. They were a joy to watch and listen to and a credit, not only to their school and the teaching staff who have encouraged them but to young people of their generation. But there was something else going on last night as well. Not only did the performers work together as a team but a team behind the scenes supported the great stage spectacle we could see. Musicians, set-design, scene changers, lighting, make-up, costume design all came together in a very professional way.

I'll take a gamble with this next statement: I think we saw last night some actors that are destined to become household names.

The audience loved it and gave the entire cast a standing ovation. We look forward to many more excellent performances.

Vive L' Ashton-on-Mersey School!!

(or is it la? perhaps the head of French will let me know! UPDATE: I am informed that actually it is L')

Cllr John Lamb

Royal Visit to Ashton Upon Mersey - HRH The Duke of Gloucester at Ashton-on-Mersey School

Above left: The official plaque unveilled by the Duke of Gloucester.

Middle: Speeches- The Mayor and Mayoress of Trafford look on.

Above right: HRH The Duke of Gloucester meets some of the students

Today (24th March 2009) HRH The Duke of Gloucester opened the new Sixth Form College at Ashton-on-Mersey High School. The school has worked hard to see this day and pupils attending the college will benefit from some quite fabulous state of the art facilities.

Below: On the left Cllr Brian Rigby Chairman of Governors and Taran Kapur Executive Head Teacher

I was invited to and attended the official opening since a lot of young people attending the college live in my ward. I wish the students, teaching staff and governors every success as they start to teach and learn new skills in conducive surroundings.

Right: Cllr John Holden and Vicky Beer

Left: Dora Carter, a former GMC and Trafford Councillor with Don Horsefield, former Head Teacher at Ashton-on-Mersey school Above centre: Cllr Brian Rigby and me on the right

The way to empower local communities is by giving more power to town halls says Cllr John lamb

In his speech to Hale Central Conservatives today (Sunday 15th March 2009) Cllr John Lamb said:

"The government is busy publishing paper after paper, Act after Act on the future of local government. The focus is on empowering local communities, the suggestion being that as councillors we don’t listen enough to what you have to say, what your views are and what you would like to see changed. I think it is true that councillors need to think about how they engage effectively with the people they represent."

This was in response to proposals that local people should be able to veto council spending plans via a referendum and that people should be able to directly elect police commissioners.

Cllr Lamb posed the question that surely the reason for being elected as a councillor was to take decisions and be accountable for the running of local government services through the ballot box.
" The way you return power to local communities is by returning powers to the town hall! Exercise of local powers by local politicians is what will get noticed by local people and they will insist on making their views known as local spending and policy decisions hit their pockets and in a democratic system, that is the ultimate in accountability"

The full speech can be seen by following the link below:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13291520/Hale-Central-Speech-15th-March-2009-Future-of-Local-Government

Watch this man he's going places! Damian Hinds in Ashton-Upon-Mersey

Damian Hinds was the guest speaker at the Ashton-Upon-Mersey ward annual dinner which was held at the Ashton-on-Mersey Golf Club last Thursday evening. Graham Brady MP was also a guest. (in the slightly shaky picture above is L to R: Cllr Mike Whetton, Cllr Brian Rigby MBE, Mr Graham Brady MP, Mr Damian Hinds and Cllr John Lamb)

Damian Hinds is no stranger to this part of the world. Damian’s family live in Altrincham and he was the Conservatives parliamentary candidate in Stretford and Urmston, halving Beverley Hughes majority in the 2005 general election

Damian is now the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency of East Hampshire. This is currently Michael Mate’s seat where he has a majority of some 5,500 votes.

Damian has almost 20 years’ political campaigning experience. He is former chairman of Bow Group and gained a first class honours degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford, and was president of the Oxford Union debating society whilst there. His business career since has been mostly in the hotel and leisure industries.

Introducing Damian, Councillor John Lamb said “During the 2005 GE campaign in Stretford & Urmston, I was Damian’s Election Agent and it became clear to me as it did to many who also worked in that campaign that Damian was destined for the House of Commons. He worked hard, impressed the people he met with his intelligent and considered views, displayed instant warmth for his fellow human beings and following the campaign we all wished him luck in finding a safer seat to contest.

You can imagine our delight when we heard that he had been selected for East Hampshire. Here in this part of the world we would have been delighted to see Damian selected for a NW seat but we are very content that soon a very decent man will enter the commons and begin his contribution to the governance of our great nation.”

Damian Hinds pictured at the Ashton-Upon-Mersey ward annual dinner with some of our guests from Stretford and Urmston.

Trafford Council Tax Rise in Context

Nobody will have welcomed the recently announced rise of some 5% in Trafford's Council Tax (4.94% for Trafford services taking it to 5.14% after Police and Fire precepts). Above inflation rises are always hard to explain away and justify to those who have no choice but to pay up. This task is made even more difficult during an economic recession bordering on depression the likes of which most people have not experienced in their lifetime.

Conservative controlled councils always strive to keep the increases as low as possible in the believe that hard earned money is best kept by the individual to spend rather than the state.

However, it is important that the local context in Trafford is understood. Nearly 70% of what Trafford spends annually is financed directly from central government in Whitehall. Trafford has argued for decades that the formula used to calculate how much Trafford receives from the government is unfair because by comparison with other local authorities it is one of the lowest. Across Greater Manchester the average government support per head of population is £716. For Trafford this figure is £471 and in neighbouring Manchester it is about £1,050.

If we look at support for schools we see a similar trend. The government schools funding per pupil across Greater Manchester is £4,223. For Trafford this figure is £3,992 and again in Manchester this figure is about £4,750.

Add to this unfair funding position the growth in demand for services in Trafford then it becomes easier to see how little room there is for manoeuvre. As the aged population of Trafford grows and demand for adult social care increases then the Council has to provide this service. In fact Trafford as part of this years council tax increase has invested an additional £4.5m (8.8%) in adult social care services and an additional £2.9m (9.6%) into children's social care.

Conservative controlled Trafford should never become complacent about the effect of above inflation rate council tax rises, on those who have no choice about paying them but the context in which these decisions are taken needs to be taken into account.

Wythenshawe Hospital (UHSM) and the Territorial Army (TA)

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of Wythenshawe Hospital's new logo. Wythenshawe recently became a Foundation Trust hospital and I am one of its 'appointed' Governors. The new more formal name for the hospital is University Hospital of South Manchester or UHSM. The unveiling was impressively carried out by members of the TA as they absailed down the side of one of the buildings and in so doing revealed the new 'green double heart' logo.

Just as impressive though was the presentation we received afterwards. It was about the work of hospital staff in their TA roles. Staff from the hospital serve in Afghanistan and Iraq providing medical support to not only our armed forces but to anyone who presents at the field hospital.

There is currently television coverage of the excellent work that NHS staff do in these theatres of war but I felt very proud that local people from our local hospital are also playing their part.

The link below is to the MEN coverage of the work of the UHSM / TA volunteers. Worth a read!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/business/s/1095675_medics_leading_from_the_front

Raising The Standard Spring 2009

Raising the Standard Spring 09 (1)

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Planning Applications parked

Before Christmas Trafford Council’s Planning Committee considered three significant applications for development in Ashton-Upon-Mersey ward. They were: a proposal for a residential care home on land at the junction of Ashton Lane and Ashlands, sheltered apartments for the elderly on the site of the former RAFA club on Oakfield and refurbishment and provision of ground floor level retail units at an existing office block at the junction of Washway Rd and Barkers lane (formerly known as the IBM office).

It was not a good night for the planners. All three were recommended for granting permission but after representations made by local residents, your local councillors and concerns expressed by members of the planning committee only one was approved – the sheltered apartments for the elderly on the Oakfield. This application was welcomed, subject to car parking restrictions and a requirement for a car parking review when occupancy reaches a pre-determined level. The picture below shows the ‘bomb site’ that is the former RAFA Club and clearly a good piece of architecture is going to be welcome here.

The care home proposal was rejected on the basis of the size and scale of the proposed building for the site and the planning committee invited the applicant to come back with a revised proposal. The developer of the former IBM office block has been asked to be more specific about the retail unit uses and to ‘beef up’ the travel plan to alleviate the office workers car parking congestion on Barkers Lane and other surrounding roads.

Older age deserves dignity

In my role as a member of a Trafford council scrutiny task force looking at older peoples services, we visited a quite fantastic facility in Macclesfield this morning. Homes for the elderly range from the traditional model of the 1960’s to the ground breaking scheme known as ‘Belong’ in Macclesfield.

Designed with input and ideas from older people and opened in 2007, Belong offers a range of accommodation from truly self contained apartments where residents exercise full independence to facilities for people suffering from what I consider to be a cruel condition, dementia.

We were told that the object of Belong was to encourage residents to not only interact with one another but also with the community in which they live. The ethos of the place is to respect the individuality of residents and allow them to make the everyday decisions that are often denied them in more traditional settings.

One thing that struck me about the scheme in Macclesfield is the very high design and architectural standard that has been applied. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into this particular living space. This is surely the right approach to providing specialist accommodation for older people.

Trafford is not without its good examples and tomorrow we visit Elkin Court in Partington. So I will provide a report after that visit.

People Power - Recent referenda make politicians look out of touch

I had a pretty good idea that the the Manchester road congestion charge referendum would result in a massive 'No'. Ah! you might say, he would say that now the result is out. If you ask some of my colleagues they will tell you I was predicting a big 'No' in Trafford but I was unsure about the rest of Greater Manchester - although I should have guessed. How did I know? quite simple really - I listened to what voters in Ashton-Upon-Mersey were telling me and my other ward colleagues, Councillors Rigby and Whetton. During a Saturday morning in November last we struggled to find anyone who was in favour!

So, to my point. Government and by that I mean Ministers, MP's and Councillors, need to listen more carefully to what local residents and citizens are saying. The Irish told their government what they could do with the European constitution, The Danes told the EU what to do with the Euro, the people of the NE of England told Prescott what he could do with his proposed regional assembly and now the good voters of Greater Manchester have told the Government where they can stick their 'tax on going to work'. I hope the NHS listen very carefully to what people are saying about the proposal to add fluoride to the drinking supplies in the North West!!

Up the plebiscite!!

Listen to what people are saying

In a previous post (see 31st December 2008) I set out my views on adding fluoride to the drinking water supplies. This article also appeared in the ward newsletter distributed to about 7000 residents of Ashton-Upon-Mersey ward in Trafford, Greater Manchester. In the newletter article I invited residents to let me know what they thought about this issue. Many responded and while some favoured adding fluoride to the drinking water, I can report that a massive 94% of those who responded were opposed to the proposal. The NHS bodies responsible for making the final decision on this matter need to take note!

Don't stop setting personal targets

I read the other day that MIND that really excellent charity working with and on behalf of people with mental illnesses, was warning people about the dangers of setting themselves new years resolutions. The argument ran that by setting targets people very often suffer from low self esteem leading to depression when the targets are not met.

Now I would accept the need to be realistic about personal targets but surely, for a lot of us, this is how personal and organisational progress is made. I am sure that the people at MIND would accept this but I hope that in the same way that competitive sport for children is seen by some as damaging - because somebody is going to lose - we don't see a set of warnings that setting personal targets is bad for your mental health.