Nine Greater Manchester Councils, including Bury, have been asked to schedule meetings in late July to agree the new version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
All councillors in Bury have been written to giving a new date for a Cabinet meeting to agree the plan for consultation (21 July 2021), and a Full Council meeting on 28 July 2021 to finally agree the plans for submission to Government.
The previous plans had to be abandoned last year, when Liberal Democrat councillors on Stockport Council were sucessful in defeating the proposals there. Now the other nine councils are proceeding without Stockport and the plan has a new name ‘Places for Everyone’.
We don’t know what the plan will say yet, publication is expected in July. As residents will know all of Labour’s previous plans have included building on large swathes of green belt and, including a large number of new houses in Prestwich over near Simister and Bowlee.
We will let you know as soon as we see the plans. The view of the Liberal Democrat councillors across Greater Manchester hasn’t changed, we are opposed to all building on green belt land. We do need new, especially more affordable houses, but these should be built on the significant amount of existing ‘brownfield land’, and by revitalising our town centres. If the last 15 months have tonight us anything, we need our green spaces more than ever.
Councillor Michael Powell reports back from the Cabinet meeting of Bury Council on 26 May 2021:
East Lancashire Paper Mill site- Plans were approved to bring forward building on the former site of the East Lancashire Paper Mill in Radcliffe. A collaboration agreement will be entered into by the Council with Homes England to begin development of the site for housing.
Acquisition of the Longfield Shopping Centre- The Council are continuing with it’s proposed process of purchasing the Longfield Centre in Prestwich Village and that a property centre manager will be appointed to oversee the purchase. The Council has also confirmed that it is looking at enter a joint venture agreement with developer Muse for the regeneration project and that they expect it to take six months to finalise these arrangements. The paper outlining these plans in more detail can be read here.
‘Levelling Up’ Bids confirmed- Two bids will be submitted by the Council to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, one for Radcliffe and another for promoting for development of Bury Town Centre through the establishment of a Bury ‘flexi-hall’.
Banking Services Procurement Process- The decision was approved for Bury Council to become the Lead Authority for the procurement of a banking services framework on behalf of Greater Manchester.
Public Consultation on the draft climate strategy and climate action plan- The Council has produced a draft Climate Action Strategy and Climate Action Plan for Bury to set out what needs to be done to achieve it’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2038 and it carried out a consultation with residents and other stakeholders on the draft documents. The draft climate strategy breaks down the project into 11 key action areas, including the Green Economy, Environmental Justice and Carbon Offsetting. The full Climate Strategy can be viewed here.
Draft Housing Strategy- The Council commissioned Campbell Tickell to develop a housing strategy for the Borough, which meets the needs of different sections of the population at different stages of their lives. The draft Strategy was subject to extensive stakeholder and public consultation for twelve weeks commencing 30 November 2020 to the 22 February 2021. The paper on the Housing Strategy can be viewed here, along with the findings and responses from the public consultation.
Update on Covid-19 in Bury and the Local Response- A report was presented updating the borough’s position related to Covid-19 and the response locally. The report noted that at the time of writing, England and Bury’s case rate have been falling since mid-March 2021 and Bury until recently had the lowest rate in Greater Manchester and a similar rate to the England average. However, it highlighted growing concerns about rising numbers of cases in the UK particularly in the North West and Bolton specifically of the B617.2 (Indian/Delta) variant. The report also noted that over 100,000 adults in Bury have received their first vaccination and around two thirds of those have already received their second vaccination. Additionally it stated that overall uptake rates in Bury remains amongst the highest in Greater Manchester across all cohorts. The full update can be read here.
Paper from the meeting are here. Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
This Wednesday was Bury’s Annual Council meeting and Mayor Making ceremony. These are the important annual meetings which determine the leadership of the Council for the ‘municipal year’.
The Annual Council meeting was this year held in the sports hall of Castle Leisure Centre, to allow for social distancing between councillors.
Labour, as the majority group, remain in charge of the Council.
Councillor Steve Wright has been appointed Chair of the new Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.
A State of the Borough debate takes place at Annual Council. You can watch the whole meeting online here. Councillor Powell’s statement on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group in State of the Borough Debate is 57 minutes in. The papers for the meeting are here.
Following Annual Council the Mayor Making ceremony took place with reduced numbers at Bury Town Hall.
Holyrood Ward councillor Tim Pickstone was re-appointed as Mayor, the first person to be appointed for a second successive year since 1951.
Bury Samaritans remain as the Mayor’s charity for 2021-21, alongside Greater Manchester HIV Charity George House Trust. The Mayor’s Chaplain remains Reverend Jez Hackett from Prestwich and Heaton Park Metrhodist Churches.
You can watch the Mayor Making ceremony online here.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and known personally to local people.
Everyone has the right to feel safe where they live, and everyone who has been the victim of a crime deserves justice.
But for too long, the Government has been ignoring victims, failing the police and letting our communities down.
And that’s why, last year, 1.8million cases were closed without a suspect even being identified.
In Greater Manchester the police force failed to record an estimated 80,100 crimes reported to it between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, amounting to about 220 crimes a day, according to a report from the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
Even before the Covid pandemic, too many people felt unsafe in their own homes or walking down their own streets. In fact half of all people never even see police patrols in their local area.
Government Ministers like to talk tough on crime, but they have failed to do what works to actually keep people safe. Their unnecessary police cuts have contributed to a rise in serious violence.
Police need the officers, resources and time to focus on preventing and solving crimes.
Instead, the Tories want to waste police time chasing centralised Whitehall targets and carrying out pointless, suspicionless Stop and Search.
That’s why today, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted andknown personally to local people.
We will do what works to build communities where people are safe and feel safe too.
In Greater Manchester, policing is the responsibility of the Greater Manchester Mayor. Liberal Democrat candidate Simon Lepori, is asking for residents views on this important issue. Take part in Simon’s survey here.
Last month was the regular full meeting of Bury Council. As always your local team of Liberal Democrat councillors asked our full quota of questions on local issues. Here are some of the more interesting issues raised:
Longfield War Memorial Councillor Steve Wright asked about the Prestwich war memorials, which are currently out of public view because of the closure of the Longfield Suite: Q – Now that it has been confirmed that there are no plans to reopen the Longfield Suite in Prestwich, can the Leader confirm what the plans are for rehousing the war memorial located in the Suite? A –
A full and final decision has not yet been made, and residents are still able to contribute to the consultation survey and put forward their views. The consultation will continue to run until 17 March 2021, via the One Community website: – https://www.onecommunitybury.co.uk/burycouncil- civicvenuesfeedback
Following public consultation, all consultation feedback will be thoroughly analysed and considered. A report will be scheduled at Cabinet in early Summer in order for a final decision to be reached.
If a decision is reached at Cabinet to permanently close the Longfield Suite, alternative options will be explored to relocate the war memorial.
Potholes Councillor Michael Powell asked about reports of Potholes: Q: Could the Leader inform members on the number of reports made of potholes, in each of the last five years? A:
The number of potholes reported in each of the last five financial years is as follows: 2015/16 – 2942 2016/17 – 2798 2017/18 – 4587 2018/19 – 2170 2019/20 – 2400 2020/21 – 1397 to date (09/03/2021).
The number of reported potholes has deceased by over 50% since 2017/18, which clearly demonstrates that our investment in highway maintenance through the Highway Investment Strategy is improving our road network.
Compensation Following on from this, Councillor Cristina Tegolo asked about compensation from road users: Q: Could the Leader inform members on the amount paid out by the authority, and the amount spent on legal costs, for compensation claims as a result of poor road and pavement surfaces, for the last five financial years?
A:
Metrolink Ticketing Options Councillor Steve Wright asked about different ticketing options to suit people who are being asked to work more flexibly than before: Q: Could the authority’s spokesperson on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee inform members what steps TfGM is taking to facilitate more flexible working practices through ticketing options? A:
TfGM currently control ticketing options for the Metrolink network only, with fares and ticketing on the bus and rail network controlled by their respective operators. Operators and transport bodies including TfGM have been examining the case for more flexible ticketing options over the last few years, as changes to working patterns have become more evident. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated changes to working patterns, as employers and employees adapt to home working and alternative working patterns.
TfGM are working with bus and rail operators to support flexible ticketing initiatives where they can and in July last year launched Clipper, a carnet-style ticketing option for Metrolink. Customers benefit from a discount for travelling multiple days but can choose the days of travel across a number of weeks, providing greater flexibility for those who may have previously bought a traditional season ticket, but now travel less often.
Contactless payment on Metrolink also provides customers with the flexibility of only paying for the journeys they have already made, with fares calculated for them up to a daily cap.
Rail operator Northern also introduced a new flexible ticketing option in July 2020, providing ten unlimited travel days for the price of nine, to be used any time during a six-month period. The option was introduced after the first national lockdown, ahead of predicted changed to passenger travel patterns.
Waiting times for 101 Councillor Michael Powell asked about waiting times for people calling the Police non emergency number 101: Q: Could the authority’s spokesperson on the Police and Crime Panel inform members on what the average wait time is for 101 calls to be answered in Greater Manchester, how does this compare to previous years and what proportion of calls hang up before being answered? A:
The average waiting time for 101 calls over the last 12 months is 2 minutes and 53 seconds, which has seen a marginal improvement from the previous year.
The abandonment rates are slightly higher than the previous year at 27%. Whilst GMP are always striving for improvement when these results are considered in the context of Covid, it is a more understandable outcome.
Members will no doubt be aware that all public services have suffered from impacts to staffing through the Pandemic and the 101 service has been no different. With a need to prioritise calls to the 999 service there have been capacity issues over the last 12 months. However GMP report that the situation is now improving with recruitment of new staff a priority.
There continues to be a drive towards online facilities such as
Livechat facility, an online tool which is answered in about 16 seconds. This option continues to be used more and more by the public, which is positive.
Greater Manchester Police are also promoting their call-back service at peak times, where call-handlers will return calls for those assessed as low-risk to avoid people queuing – about half of the calls received and resolved at Switchboard relate to requests for updates on previously reported crimes.
The Police & Crime Panel will continue to scrutinise the work of the Call centre and I will provide further updates to Council in the future.
Full answers to all questions can be found here and here. Any questions please ask!
In recent weeks there have been two significant announcements which will have a major impact on bus services in the future.
Firstly, at a Greater Manchester level, it was announced that the decision that is recommended to the Mayor is for a ‘franchised’ bus system in Greater Manchester. This decision, to be made formally by the Mayor at a later date, is being taken after about two years of consultation on the subject, alongside a campaign by some bus operators to oppose the proposals.
Essentially Greater Manchester would be the first area outside of Greater London to have a franchised bus network. What this means is:
Bus routes and prices would be brought under the control of Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Private bus companies would be invited to run these routes under a franchise agreement.
The arrangements could lead to improvements in the service – e.g. more electric buses, integrated ticketing across bus/tram/train etc.
The new arrangements would happen in three phases, starting in 2023 with most services which operate in Bury part of the second tranche starting in 2024.
This will cost a lot of money to introduce, about £134 million – with about £50 million coming from local council tax payers including what looks like an increased Mayor’s precept in future years.
As with all of these major proposals a lot of work will need to be put into the detail. At present Greater Manchester has a mixture of commercial services that bus companies run at a profit (e.g. the 135 up Bury Old Road/A56), and then subsidised buses (e.g. the buses to North Manchester or up to Simister). It will be interesting to see what the proposals for a franchised model will be.
The second announcement was from Government, with its National Bus Strategy, which outlines how the Government expects transport authorities throughout England to improve bus services. Interestingly the Government is very clear that it expects most areas to use a ‘partnership’ model with bus companies, rather than the ‘franchise’ model which is looks set to be used in Greater Manchester.
The Government will only give money to local transport authorities if they meet its new criteria. They say that they expect to see more bus lanes and similar measures on major bus routes.
More information on the Greater Manchester proposals here.
More information on the Government’s National Bus Strategy here.
Bury Council met on Wednesday 24 February 2021 to set the Council Budget for the coming year, including the rates of Council Tax. Here is a summary of what happened:
Headlines The proposals from the majority Labour Group of councillors were adopted. This includes: – 5% increase in Council Tax (actually 4.94%) from 1 April 2021. For a Band D property the Council Tax will be £2001 per year (this ranges from Band A £1334 to Band H £4002) – 1.5% increase in Council House rents – To balance the books, the Council is proposing to make around £20 million of cuts/savings over the next two years (mostly to adult social care), but also to spend £26 million of its reserves (taking the reserves level down to a very low level (just £11 million after two years)). – The budget assumes that the Longfield Suite and the Elizabethan Suite will close (but there was a change of mind in Ramsbottom and the Civic Suite there will stay open). – Street lights will be dimmed between midnight and 6am. – £17 million will be spent next year on Radcliffe Regeneration. Regeneration in other towns is moving more slowly, so the investment in Prestwich next year is just £75,000.
Some good news in the proposals was that the Council will ‘more towards’ Social Care staff being paid a living wage (but that won’t be achieved immediately). Lunches for children entitled to Free School Meals will be provided over this summer holiday.
What did the Liberal Democrats do? Liberal Democrat councillors voted against the above budget. There are some good things, and obviously the Council is having to do its best in difficult circumstances, but we couldn’t not support many of the proposals.
We made alternative proposals, which were sadly voted down, to: – Bring Forwards the Prestwich Regeneration, accelerating this process but £3 million a year. – Put Recovery First – by investing in young people’s jobs and training with a massive increase in apprentices, helping out with children’s mental health in schools and with outdoor leisure and footpaths. – No Idling Zones outside Schools – provide money to enforce no-idling zones outside all schools to tackle air pollution that particularly affects children. – Common Sense Ideas – fixing the CCTV that doesn’t work in Prestwich Town Centre, more money across Bury to tackle rat runs, speeding traffic and potholes. Sadly these proposals were voted down by Labour Councillors and will not be happening this year.
You can listen to Liberal Democrat Councillors Michael Powell and Cristina Tegolo talking about this proposals here (3 hours 2 minutes in!)
Let us know if you want more information. The full papers for the meeting are here.
On 16 February 2021 was the monthly meeting of Bury Planning Control Committee. This is the meeting made up of the 11 Councillors who represent the various wards of the borough of Bury. The committee determines planning applications for certain major developments and others where objections have been received.
Shortly before the Planning Control Committee meeting one of the applications was deferred and during the meeting none of the submitted applications were refused. I commented on the following applications:
Application for Greenhill County Primary School, Greenhill Road, Bury. Ref: 66303/Full
The application proposed the erection of 2.0 metres high (on the front) and 2.4 metres high (on the sides and rear of the site) security fencing and gates around the perimeter of the school.
We had no speakers registered for this application but the Acting Head Teacher contacted the case officer to confirm a series of break ins and damage at the school. Most recently this includes a break in at the pre-school on the night of the 3rd February 2021 and broken windows at the school on the weekend of the 6th/7th February 2021. These have been reported to the police and crime numbers generated for both instances. The need for the fencing, in order to increase security at the school following these events was considered to comply with UDP Policy CF2 – Education Land and Buildings. I proposed to add an additional condition to have a landscape proposal to screen the 2mt high fence on the front of the site. My proposal was approved and the application was granted.
Application for Former Radcliffe High School, Abden Street, Radcliffe.Ref: 66307/Full
The site has laid dormant and unused and the proposed works would enable the preparation of the site for a future development, the proposal will excavate the old foundations of the school, unlocking the site for future housings. The development would be carried out as a phased programme.
The members of the Planning Committee were concerned about the access road and a condition to use the proposed entranced for emergency purpose only was added. I asked if we could have retained a high-quality tree highlighted as a tree to be removed, my suggestion was approved, and a further condition was added. The application was unanimously granted.
Earlier this week was the regular meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Corporate Issues and Reform Scrutiny, to look at the budgets for the various Greater Manchester combined/joint authorities for 2021-22. Prestwich councillor Tim Pickstone reports:
The various bodies which make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (the Mayor, the Combined Authorities, and then the joint services like transport, fire, police and waste) all have separate budgets, but are now agreed at the same time though the Combined Authority.
Mayoral General Budget and Precept Proposals There is no change proposed to the Mayoral General Precept for 2021/22 at £90.95 (Band D) comprising of £66.20 for functions previously covered by the Fire and Rescue Authority precept and £24.75 for other Mayoral General functions. This is unchanged from 2020/21;
There are no changes proposed to the crew and fire engine numbers for Greater Manchester Fire (previous proposals are now not being implemented.
Greater Manchester Transport Budgets The funding for core GM transport services remains unchanged for 2021/22, this is a levy charged to all ten local councils paid out of our regular Council Tax.
There is a very high level of uncertainty about some aspects of transport budgets in the coming year. In particular this is around Metrolink, where there are currently very low passenger numbers (and therefore low ticket income) and significantly lower usage of buses. The Government has been providing grants to cover the losses on Metrolink and other costs, but there is no certainty if this funding will continue or whether it will be high enough. A decision has not yet been made on bus reform. If the Mayor decides to proceed with a Regulated bus network then there will be significant expenditure to make this happen and revisions will need to be made to the budget.
Our Pass – the free bus pass for 16-18 year old will continue into 2022 to enable it to be properly evaluated under more ‘normal’ circumstance.
Supported Bus Services will continue to be under significant pressure during 2021/22 due to a combination of inflationary pressures, lower income and the risk of further commercial services stopping. Paper E sets out the proposed waste budget for 2021/22 for the nine GM Districts Councils who are part of the GM waste contract. The report highlights the 2020/21 position being breakeven, taking account of a refund of levy of £20m to Districts approved by GMCA in July and September 2020.For 2021/22 the report recommends:
Greater Manchester Waste The Waste Authority has made a refund of £20million to the nine districts that make up the authority (everyone except Wigan).
The waste budget for 2021/22 make a charge to the nine councils of£162.4m, which represents an average 2.9% decrease over 2020/21. This saving is a result of a cheaper contract with the private sector contractor who deals with the disposal of rubbish.
Greater Manchester Police The Greater Manchester Police, Crime and Fire Panel approved an increase of £10 per year for a Band D property. This equates to the equivalent of 325 new police officers.
Capital Budgets The Combined Authority has a very large capital programme (around £1/2 billion) the largest part of which comes from Government grants. The capital programme pays for:
The Greater Manchester Transport Fund (‘GMTF’);
Metrolink extensions;
Metrolink Trafford Line extension;
Other Metrolink Schemes;
Transport Interchanges;
Bus Priority;
Other capital projects and programmes including Transforming Cities, Active Travel, Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) Early Measures Investment Funding (EMIF) , Clean BusInitiatives, OLEV-EV-Taxi, , Smart Ticketing and Cycle City Ambition Grant (CCAG 2);
Transport Major Schemes;
Minor Works (including schemes funded by Integrated Transport Capital Block andGrowth Deal);
Capital Highways Maintenance, Traffic Signals and Full Fibre;
nvestments including Growing Places, Regional Growth Fund and Housing Investment Fund; and
Liberal Democrats in Greater Manchester have chosen Trafford resident, Simon Lepori, to be our candidate in in the Greater Manchester Mayor elections in May.
Simon has lived in Stretford, Greater Manchester with his partner for the past 15 years. He joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015. He stood for Trafford Council in 2016, 2018 and 2019. He stood for Parliament for the Wythenshawe & Sale East constituency at the 2019 general election.
He worked in the health and social care sector for 17 years from 2002-2019 and returned to the NHS frontline during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He now works for the Liberal Democrats.
His priorities are:
– building a healthcare system fit for the 21st century in Greater Manchester
– refocusing policing back into communities, with well funded youth services from local councils to help stem the tide and cycle of crime and disorder
– a transport system that works for Greater Manchester not against it
– a housing plan that puts people first, not developers.
“Let us rise up from the ashes of Covid & recession and rebuild Greater Manchester together”
Find out more here. Simon is currently asking Greater Manchester’s residents for their views on policing – take this short survey here.
