The Council will soon be working on the Edward Drive pavements and carriageway.
The works are programmed to begin during on Tuesday 1 September 2009 - weather permitting The Council will begin by rebuilding the pavement and replacing the kerbs.
This work is very welcome because the state of the pavements on this estate has been poor for a long time now.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Maintenance on the M6
Starting late August and lasting through to July 2010 the Highways Agency will be working on various sections of the M6 between Junction 21a (M6/M62 interchange) and Junction 26 (Orrell). The works are hard shoulder maintenance and improvements and although they are only working on small areas at any one time, they will, over the course of the contract cover most parts of the hard shoulder on both the north and south bound carriageways.
Because of the high traffic volumes carried by the M6, they will be restricted to night time working i.e. between 10.00pm and 5.00am and they will be required to close lanes 1 and 2 of the motorway whilst carrying out the scheme.
Because of the high traffic volumes carried by the M6, they will be restricted to night time working i.e. between 10.00pm and 5.00am and they will be required to close lanes 1 and 2 of the motorway whilst carrying out the scheme.
Another reason to be cheerful
Once again Labour have a resounding win in a recent by election in Stockport Reddish North despite everything. The result is as follows:
Bennett P. (BNP) 195
Beverley N. (Lib Dem) 303
Butler G.J. (Con) 403
Price G. (UKIP) 342
Wilson D.S. (Lab) 1,218
Majority 815
% Poll 23.5%
Result Lab Hold
Bennett P. (BNP) 195
Beverley N. (Lib Dem) 303
Butler G.J. (Con) 403
Price G. (UKIP) 342
Wilson D.S. (Lab) 1,218
Majority 815
% Poll 23.5%
Result Lab Hold
Skateboarding in Ashton
In my first term as a Councillor from 2000 to 2004 I wanted to see a skateboard facility for young people in Ashton which would save them having to go out of the town or skateboard in areas like Aldi car park which are unsuitable and not purpose built. I was so keen on the idea that I put £5000 of Brighter Borough money into a pot that would go towards the creation of a skateboard park on Jubilee park.
This plan was very strongly resisted by the then Community Action Party Councillors. And in response to this opposition young people of Ashton organised a campaign for the introduction of skateboard facilities in the town.
Gradually the idea has been accepted that we need these facilities on the park and I was glad to see that the Friends of Jubillee park have as one of their aims the establishment of a skateboard park. The big sticking point has been the cost of building the facility - over £100,000.
Clearly this issue has not gone away as was highlighted at the meeting to discuss Aldi car park. The young people are still asking for a skateboard park. They were very surprised when I told them the cost. They believed that they could have one built for a lot less which would suit their needs. As a result together with a Youth Worker they are looking at costings and will present these to the Friends of Jubilee Park and the council for consideration later this month.
This plan was very strongly resisted by the then Community Action Party Councillors. And in response to this opposition young people of Ashton organised a campaign for the introduction of skateboard facilities in the town.
Gradually the idea has been accepted that we need these facilities on the park and I was glad to see that the Friends of Jubillee park have as one of their aims the establishment of a skateboard park. The big sticking point has been the cost of building the facility - over £100,000.
Clearly this issue has not gone away as was highlighted at the meeting to discuss Aldi car park. The young people are still asking for a skateboard park. They were very surprised when I told them the cost. They believed that they could have one built for a lot less which would suit their needs. As a result together with a Youth Worker they are looking at costings and will present these to the Friends of Jubilee Park and the council for consideration later this month.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Aldi car park
I have had a lot of complaints from residents regarding anti-social behaviour on Aldi car park in the centre of Ashton. As a result of these complaints I held a meeting with representatives of the police, local residents, Wigan Council and young people who use the area to skateboard.
One of the problems with this area is that it is private property which belongs to Aldi so the police have few powers to stop this behaviour although they do move large groups of young people on. At the meeting various suggestions were made to put a stop to the behaviour which is so upsetting local residents. These included a request to Aldi management to turn off a light that is on during the day and night, a request to the the security personnel to also move the young people on more frequently. A suggestion was made to fence off the area but this would have been far too expensive and impractical.
I was very impressed with the attitude of the skateboarders present. They clearly did not want to cause annoyance to local residents and were very amenable to suggestions made by local residents including finishing their activities in the early evening. Unfortunately as usual it was other less responsible young people who were causing the problems.
One of the main issues that came from the meeting was that there was nowhere for young people in Ashton to skateboard - see above article
One of the problems with this area is that it is private property which belongs to Aldi so the police have few powers to stop this behaviour although they do move large groups of young people on. At the meeting various suggestions were made to put a stop to the behaviour which is so upsetting local residents. These included a request to Aldi management to turn off a light that is on during the day and night, a request to the the security personnel to also move the young people on more frequently. A suggestion was made to fence off the area but this would have been far too expensive and impractical.
I was very impressed with the attitude of the skateboarders present. They clearly did not want to cause annoyance to local residents and were very amenable to suggestions made by local residents including finishing their activities in the early evening. Unfortunately as usual it was other less responsible young people who were causing the problems.
One of the main issues that came from the meeting was that there was nowhere for young people in Ashton to skateboard - see above article
Fake £20 notes - beware
A local Newsagents have now had 2 fake £20 notes attempted to be passed as real. These notes will not be detected through the machines that are aimed at detecting fakes.
The main sign is that the ink on the note is smudged. The person trying to pass the note may say that the note has accidentally been through the washing machine but this is a scam and these notes are fake.
The main sign is that the ink on the note is smudged. The person trying to pass the note may say that the note has accidentally been through the washing machine but this is a scam and these notes are fake.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Meeting at Stubshaw Cross Labour Club - LDF plans
Last night I arrended a meeting organised by M.A.D. (Makerfield Against Development) to hear residents' views regarding the LDF plans for the Stubshaw Cross area. These plans include:
a. the building of industrial units on the land behind Stubshaw Labour Club
b. the building of a new high school with sports field to replace Cansfield and Byrchall High School
c.both a and b subject to the southern section of a relief road for Ashton from A58 Bolton road to Bryn via Lockett Road - see map below.
The vast majority of those present were against this proposal and the only person who spoke for it was Cllr Donald Hodgkinson.
I oppose this part of the LDF plan for the following reasons:
1. I do not believe that building industrial units on this land will give many employment opportunities. I have visited large warehouses which are run by very few staff. Furthermore as was pointed out in the meeting, there is a lot of spare capacity in the existing warehouses on the South Lancs Industrial Estate
2. The building of industrial units and a new school is subject to an agreed masterplan and delivery of the southern section of a relief road for Ashton.I do not believe that this will bring traffic relief to Ashton and there have been no traffic studies to prove this. However there is a report in existence, entitled Ashton in Makerfield Northern Bypass commissioned by Dr John Holden of the Highways Agency which came to the the conclusion that this road would do nothing to relieve the traffic in Ashton. He also concluded that an all ways junction at junction 25 would not help matters. One of the reasons the last development proposed by Patrick Properties failed was because the road suggested in the plan would have done nothing to relieve the traffic problems in Ashton
3. The plan mentions a new school. At the time of writing there is no new school or plans for one. Ashton secondary schools will be part of the Government's Building Schools for the Future plan which is at present at the first stage of consultation. According to the consultation document produced by the Council Ashton schools will be in the third stage. Local Councillors, the MP and the public have not been shown options regarding what will happen to secondary schools in Ashton, so to talk about a new secondary school in the Stubshaw Cross area is very premature. Ths has been acknowledged by the Education Department in an e-mail to me
4. If phase 3 of BSF comes about and a new school is to be built in Ashton (which I will emphasise again is far from certain) I would not want to see it built in the Stubshaw Cross area. I would want to see it in a much more central position on a campus with other facilities for the community such as can be seen in Platt Bridge where a new school, a new library and health facilities have been built close to each other and which have also contributed to the regeneration of the area.
I would be happy to discuss these matters with anyone who wishes to contact me.
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