Get the Tesco application called in by the Secretary of State

If the Government Office for the North West receives enough requests, they may call in the Lancashire CCC/Tesco planning application for a 166,000 sq ft store in Gorse Hill, so the Secretary of State can make the decision instead of Trafford Council, which might result in a Public Inquiry which would be very good news indeed if the results of the last Public Inquiry is anything to go by.

Please email GONW and ask them to recommend the application is called in. For help with your letter/email, follow this link: http://www.nomegatesco.org.uk/downloads/cat_view/39-planning-objection-letters and open the document called 'sample call in letter'.

You can 'Cc' your email to John Leech MP - leechj@parliament.uk - if you're in Chorlton.

Labour closes Ewing

Labour Councillors today voted to close Ewing School, ignoring the pleas of local campaigners from Parents against the Closure of Ewing (PACE), Lib Dem Councillors and campaigners and an 11,000 name petition. The Lib Dem have campaigned with parents from the start, argued against the closure, and have done everything in their power to stop it happening. However, there is a Labour majority on the Council.

I think the Labour Councillors clearly don't know about the excellent work Ewing currently does on inclusion. This is the wrong decision for local people who will see an excellent school close without any guarantees that what replaces it will be better. Labour have ignored the views of parents and pupils. Closing Ewing reduces choice for Manchester children. It is the wrong decision.

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone in Chorlton a happy and healthy 2010!

Gritting of Roads and Cyclepaths

During the recent cold spell it became quite clear that the Council's current gritting strategy is not sufficient (especially for sustained periods). Gritting was limited to main roads and even then they were still very icy. I don't think the gritting trucks came to Chorlton very much, as I didn't see any and nobody I have spoken to saw any during the icy period. The more minor and residential roads didn't receive any attention from the gritters. If gritting salt had been provided, I imagine many residents would have been happy to grit their own roads.

Conditions were also very bad for local cyclists as many cycle lanes and cycle paths weren't gritted at all. The Fallowfield Loop (pictured) which links Chorlton to Droylesden along an old railway line is a valuable bit of green space for walkers, but is also used by cycle commuters who want to stay off Manchester's busy roads as much as possible. The loop was very badly affected by the recent weather and was almost impossible for cyclists or walkers to use. I think the council should grit the Fallowfield Loop and give it the same priority as other commuter routes.

I know my Lib Dem colleague, Cllr Paul Ankers, is going to ask for all cycle paths (including the Loop) to be gritted as priority roads in future at the next Communities & Neighbourhood Scrutiny committee. Manchester Lib Dems are also asking for the Council's gritting strategy to be reviewed during the committee.

GMP under fire as force is slammed in report

A series of crime and detection league tables comparing Greater Manchester with five similar police force areas paints a bleak picture of law and order across the region. Greater Manchester Police has come under fire from members of the region’s police authority after the area ranked either bottom or next to bottom in four national tables produced from the results of the annual British Crime Survey. The tables showed that the area suffered from a higher rate of so-called ‘acquisitive crime’ – which includes robbery, burglary and car crime – than the five other English forces judged to be most similar. It also came bottom in the proportion of these crimes which are detected.

It came next to bottom in a table of ‘most serious’ violent crime and also in the detection rate for these crimes. The tables, which compare GMP to forces in Merseyside, Northumbria, South Yorkshire, West Midlands and West Yorkshire, were presented to members of Greater Manchester Police Authority yesterday. Chief Constable Peter Fahy also revealed at the meeting that GMP still had the highest burglary rate of anywhere in the country, despite huge operations recently to crack down on house-breakers. He said the burglary rate in Greater Manchester was ‘something we need to understand’. Authority chairman Coun Murphy described the rate of burglary as ‘staggering’, adding: “There’s huge concern both here and at the Home Office. It’s something we have to put right.”

I think these figures are shameful, and the Chairman of the Police Authority should seriously consider his position. I know people in Chorlton are seriously concerned about burglary, car crime and robbery, and these figures do little to reassure our fears. The loss of police officers due to budget cuts next year will only make matters worse. Local People want to see more police on the street - not less.

Cleaning up Chorlton in time for Christmas

This last week I have been busy delivering Lib Dem Christmas Cards and John Leech's Environment survey across Chorlton. This is a picture of me delivering letters in Chorltonville while it was snowing.

Whilst I was out delivering I made a special effort to note down anything worth reporting to the Council, so that it could be cleared up before Christmas. In the last week I have reported over 125 items to the Council which need cleaning, repairing, actioning or inspecting. These have included potholes, poor road surfaces, graffiti on lampposts and other street furniture, flyposting, damaged trees and cages, overgrown vegetation, flytipping, broken walls and fences, amongst other items.

I think it is really important that we keep on top of these problems to keep Chorlton clean and tidy. If you see any problems around Chorlton, please let me know as I would be very happy to get them sorted out. My email address is victor.libdem@ymail.com or you can leave me a message on 881 4139.

Chorlton Meadows update

Yesterday the application to develop Chorlton Meadows came up before the City Council Planning Committee. All the Chorlton Liberal Democrat team attended the meeting along with about 40 local supporters of the Save Chorlton Meadows group. Local Lib Dems are actively opposed to the development and had asked for the decision to be postponed until the committee had made a site visit. I wrote to all the members of the committee asking them to visit the site. Cllr Paul Ankers and John Leech MP were prepared to make representations to the committee against the development.

I am very pleased that the committee has agreed to our request and has decided to make a site visit to Hardy Farm on the morning of 14th January 2010. This allows us more time to campaign against the development and to show the committee how valued these Meadows are. Therefore it is really important that as many local residents as possible show up on that day to demonstrate our objection to this development. I will keep you updated about the site visit nearer the time, but please pencil in the 14th. I Hope to see you there!