Last week, Councillor Tim Pickstone met with Greater Manchester’s ‘Metro Mayor’ Andy Burnham. Two of Greater Manchester’s Lib Dem Group Leaders (Bury and Stockport) met with the Mayor as part of a six-monthly series of meetings between Lib Dem councillors across Greater Manchester.

Obviously at this first meeting we were unable to raise everything we wanted to raise, but focussed on four issues:

Greater Manchester Strategic Framework
I asked how realistic the Mayor’s aim of ‘less green belt land to be built on’ was going to be – a hugely important issue for people in many parts of Greater Manchester. The Mayor was clear that the position was ‘less’ green belt, not ‘no’ green belt, but that there would still be difficult choices and decisions that had to be made. I also asked about his previous support for increased housing in some of our town centres, particularly smaller town centres, and he said that he was keen to do this as part of a bigger plan to bring ‘life’ back into town centres where these are struggling.

Metrolink and Transport
We asked about Metrolink, and noted the current capacity issues especially on the Bury line. I raised with the Mayor the issue of early morning and late night travel – particularly an issue for people who have jobs that start very early, or finish very late (often some of the less well paid positions) and whether we could look at extending the operating hours of Metrolink or of bus routes. (Metrolink already operates in the night on the airport line.)

Andy Burnham said that there were opportunities with the potential for bus re-regulation to achieve an improved bus network for the county and that there was potential for growth, particularly given that bus usage has fallen by nearly a third in ten years.

Crime – 101 Number Delays
We asked about the significant delays that had been experienced by many people who ring the non-emergency policy number 101. Information secured through Freedom of Information requests had shown that almost a quarter of calls are ‘given up’, with average waits at the time of asking over 12 minutes. It was confirmed that action was being taken to address this.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority
With the new Mayor a lot of new systems are being put in place, with new arrangements for ‘scrutiny’ the Mayor and other bodies being set up at a Greater Manchester level. We called on the Mayor to have transparent process on how representatives of different political parties were included in this process. We also said we were keen as Liberal Democrats to play our full role in the Combined Authority where we can, for example if all-party representation to Government was needed.

If you have any questions, please get in touch.