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.