Happy St Patrick's Day!

Can I take this opportunity to wish all residents in Chorlton a ‘Happy St Patrick’s Day’ for Thursday. I know many residents here are Irish or like me have Irish connections. Whatever your connection – have a great time.

St John's Church is holding a number of masses throughout the day including one at St John's School at 9am. There will also be a social event at St John's Parish Centre at 8pm.

The Chorlton Irish Association Club is hosting a free St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Children’s Activities, GAA Club final games live, Live Music and Irish Stew for all; from 12:00 pm. Get there quick at there is a free drink for the first 25 to arrive!

Check out the Manchester Irish Festival website for details of what else is on today across the City www.manchesterirshfestival.co.uk

Chorlton Meadows Village Green Application

Yesterday the application to grant Village Green status to the Hardy Farm Playing Fields was rejected by Labour Councillors.

The Application which would have preserved the Meadows for future generations; and which was supported by hundreds of local residents, was thrown out by just 5 Labour Councillors.

Earlier this year I supported local residents who submitted the application to grant Village Green status to the Hardy Farm playing fields because I recognise how valued this land is by local people and its importance to the environment. I’m proud to have fought to preserve these Meadows for the future alongside hundreds of local residents and my Lib Dem colleagues, John Leech MP and Cllr Paul Ankers. Unfortunately yet again the Manchester Labour Party has ignored Chorlton’s residents and failed to take steps to protect our environment from development.

At the Committee I spoke up in favour of the village green application. I told the Committee that by rejecting the application they would be disregarding the views of hundreds of Chorlton Residents. Unfortunately despite a strong Application and widespread support, the Application was rejected by Labour Councillors 5 votes to 3. We are pleased to say that all the Lib Dems at the Committee voted in favour of the application. I feel this judgement echoes the Labour decision last August to grant permission for harmful floodlights at WDCAFC Grounds, which is next to the Meadows.

Whilst my colleagues and I are incredibly saddened by the decision Labour councillors have made we will continue to fight to protect Chorltonville Conservation Area, Chorlton Meadows and the Mersey Valley from development. I would also like to thank the local residents who put so much time and energy into producing the Application; and all those residents who supported it.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss this matter further or if I can be of any assistance with another issue.

How Will Chorlton be Affected by the Council Cuts?

Many of you will have followed stories about the Council’s cuts, which go to the Executive committee next Wednesday.

There is some good news for Chorlton. Both the Leisure Centre and the Library stay open. In the past Chorlton Liberal Democrats have fought for Sunday opening at the Library and improved facilities at the Leisure Centre and it is good to see local services being protected at this difficult time. I lobbied the City Treasurer Richard Paver on these alongside my colleague Cllr Paul Ankers. We emphasised how good these facilities are and how needed and valued they were for the Chorlton community.

However, we are likely to see the toilets at the Bus Station close and possibly lose the extra parking attendant we fought for lost. Parking is already a massive issue in Chorlton and this could be a real blow. Local people often raise concerns about parking when the Metrolink starts, so this could make it worse. Unfortunately the Council has also announced that it intends to shut the Barlow Moor Library on the Merseybank Estate.

Interesting news about Surestart & Youth service - both are being outsourced. Surestart works well so I am most worried about that. It is popular and providers need to be as good as currently on offer. There are options, grounds for optimism, but it will require hard work to ensure Chorlton gets the best. Manchester's Youth Service is not currently upto standard so outsourcing may actually provide a better serivce for the CIty's young people.

These are difficult times and we need to continue to fight to protect our public services; but I am confident that the Chorlton Lib Dem team will be able to do this. If you have any questions or comments to make about the Council's cuts feel free to send me an email at victor.libdem@ymail.com.

Snowy Chorlton

Chorlton looks fantastic with all the snow and it's looking like we may have our first White Christmas in many years. However with the snow comes a lot of disruption and I know a lot of people have been finding it difficult driving and walking around Chorlton.

This is a map of all the gritted roads in Chorlton ward:



That's Barlow Moor Road, Manchester Road, Wilbraham Road, High Lane, Edge Lane, Egerton Road North, Buckingham Road, Brantingham Road, Oswald Road, Kensington Road, Longford Road, Beech Road, St Clements Road, Chorlton Green, Ivygreen Road, Kingshill Road, Brookburn Road and Claude Road.

There are also seven grit bins across Chorlton:

Oswald Road near the junction with Claridge Road
Brantingham Road / Buckingham Road
Beech Road near to sheltered accommodation.
Chorlton Green (on the path next to the cemetery)
Vicars Road / St Clements Road
Brundretts Road / Brahbam Close
Hampton Road / Wilbraham Road

I think this is woefully inadaquate for a ward of Chorlton's size. That one grit bin for every 2000 people! In the Summer the Labour Council prommised Chorlton an additional 11 grit bins. However they have only installed an additional four bins. Furthermore the Council has not ensured they are regularly topped up. I have been inspecting them regularly and have requested empty bins to be restocked. However if you come across an empty bin please let me know and I will get it refilled. I will also continue alongside Cllr Paul Ankers to press the Council to give us the 11 bins we were prommissed and ensure we are preppared for the Winter Weather.

Please also let me know if you are aware of anyone who may need additional support during the cold and icy weather.

Lib Dems saving our Post Offices

New Lib Dem plans will protect our local Post Offices after years of Labour cuts.
Your Focus Team is pleased that the Liberal Democrats in government are delivering on another one of their promises.
Under Labour 5,000 Post Offices were closed.
The Lib Dem plan will see the Post Office:
 Becoming a One-stop shop.
 A central point of our community life again.
 Investing £1.3 billion into the Post Office Network, protecting the 11,500 remaining Post Offices.
 Having more services.
 Offering information for jobseekers,
 Access to over 80% of bank accounts including RBS and NatWest.
 Longer opening hours.
 Post Office services being offered at the shop till.
 Small, local shops providing some Post Office services.

Age UK Mobility Shop

This morning I attended the grand opening of Chorlton's Age UK Mobility Shop by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Hackett.

Beech Rd Halloween Event

Friends of Beech Road Park are celebrating after over a hundred people turned up to celebrate Halloween at the Park last Saturday.

The Halloween event aimed at small children included traditional apple bobbing (with organic apples donated by the Unicorn), a scary story tent, face painting, drawing and competitions to find the best Halloween costume and Pumpkin.

Chorlton Lib Dem Councillor Victor Chamberlain said afterwards "This year's Halloween event was a great success and all the children looked like they had a lot of fun. I was delighted to judge the Pumpkin competition, I really liked Evie's wining Pumpkin [pictured] because of its eerie expression!"

Jenny Slee, a friend of Beech Rd Park said "All the organising was so worthwhile when so many turned up and had such a good time."