Comments(12) Following the failure of the Tatton’s current owners to get their plans (for a convenience store and care home) approved, the site is up for sale.
As before, the Lib Dem Council is working hard behind the scenes to get a positive outcome and I’ll report back when I’ve something firm to report.
Comments(0) Stockport Council is encouraging residents to take part in Walk to Work Week which takes place from the 26th April.
The Active Stockport campaign has linked in with the national initiative as a way to encourage residents of all ages to fit in their recommended five times thirty minutes of exercise per week.
The Council has also signed up to the Walkit.com website - www.walkit.com which allows local residents to plan journeys in the borough. They can find out how long their journeys are by foot, how many calories they’ve burnt, step count and carbon saved.
The website can be used like a sat-nav, by entering the postcode or address of the start and finish of the journey. Residents can choose the most direct or least busy route and print off maps.
Comments(0) As a governor and parent at Gatley Primary, I’m very pleased indeed to be able to report that the school was last week rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted.
I can’t do better than echo the words of Chair of Governors Stuart Foster (who deserves his fair share of the credit himself):
I would like to congratulate Ms Murray and all the staff, children and fellow governors on achieving such a fantastic report with the school being judge as ‘outstanding’ from the Ofsted team.
The ‘outstanding’ judgement reflects the commitment of the whole school community to continually strive to achieve our vision for the children at Gatley Primary School.
And to quote from the Ofsted report itself:
This outstanding school has made remarkable progress since the previous inspection due to reflective, determined and skilful leadership and management. All elements of its provision are of high quality. The curriculum, in particular, is exceptional in the way that it makes creative links between subjects and involved pupils at every level in directing their own learning.
Comments(0) As part of the Stockport Boost campaign the Mobile Advice Centre, known as the ‘Benefit Bus’, is back in Mersey Square in Stockport Town Centre on Monday 26th April to Friday 30th April, from 9.30pm to 3.30pm.
This is the third year the benefits bus has been visiting Stockport. Over the last three years Stockport residents who have visited the bus and applied for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit have received more than £88,000 in Benefits. For more information about the ‘Benefit Bus’, contact the Council’s Benefits Hotline on 0161 217 6015 or visit www.stockport.gov.uk/benefits.
Comments(0) Stockport Domestic Abuse Court has gained national accreditation. It is one of 141 courts specialising in this area in England and Wales. The court was set up under the Safer Stockport Partnership to improve the support and care provided for victims of domestic abuse. It comprises representatives of Stockport Council, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and other agencies, working in partnership with the criminal justice system and partner agencies. Key features of the courts include:-
• trained and dedicated criminal justice staff with enhanced expertise in dealing with domestic violence, including magistrates specially trained in dealing with domestic violence cases
• tailored support and advice from independent domestic violence advisers
• Multi-agency risk assessment conferences to provide protection for those most at risk of harm.
Help and support can be obtained by contacting Stockport Women’s Aid on 0161 477 4271 or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline free on 0808 2000 247 (staffed 24 hours).
Comments(0) Primary schools throughout Stockport are being urged to take steps to a healthier future by participating in the national Bike and Scoot Week campaign which runs from the 26th to the 30th April 2010.
Bike and Scoot Week is a national campaign which links with the Council’s Active Stockport campaign highlighting the health benefits of getting active.
Last year over 45 Stockport primary schools took part in the campaign and up to 3,000 children cycled or scooted to school and the Council would like to encourage even more children to get involved this year.
Comments(0) The Council Plan, 2010-11 has been published on the Council website. The Council Plan sets out the strategic direction for the Council and provides the framework for the delivery of the Council’s key priorities and outcomes.
The Council has aligned its priorities with those set out in Stockport’s Community Strategy – Stockport 2020. This decision was made to reflect the Council’s leadership role on the Stockport Partnership.
The Council’s new priorities are:
A Thriving Stockport
• A competitive economy
• A vibrant Town Centre
• An educated population
• An enterprising culture
A Safer, Stronger Stockport
• Cohesive communities
• Engaged communities
• Low crime rates
• Community pride
A Healthy Stockport
• Active people
• Empowered people
• Independent people
• People with good emotional and mental health
A Greener Stockport
• A unique built environment
• Excellent parks and open spaces
• A sustainable approach to the natural environment
• Good connections
The Council Plan also includes a suite of measures and targets together with a revised Corporate Risk Register. For further information contact the Policy and Performance Team on 0161 474 3083.
Comments(0) Last night (Thursday 22nd April 2010) was Stockport’s last Full Council of the civic year. It was the last for councillors Maureen Walsh (independent, formerly Con), Chris Blackburn (LD) and Derek Whitehead (Independent Ratepayers), all of whom are standing down. Whether it’s the last for another 20 or so of us up for election in 13 days time is down to the voters.
With the second leaders’ debate starting at 8pm, we were hoping for a quick one. We didn’t quite make it for the start of the debate, but we’ve had much later finishes (and didn’t Nick do well, though in all fairness Cameron and Brown clearly improved a great deal too).
The main topics of the meeting were:
Here’s my Twitter feed from the council chamber:
I’m hoping for a short one - there are more exciting debates to be had tonight.
Prayers over, soduko & crosswords out.
mayor telling us what he’s been doing. In official capacity…trips to B&Q not included.
4 people in public gallery - hi there, hope you enjoy the evening.
cllrs bodsworth & white answering public question on how we achieve energy saving targets
chief supt rebekah sutcliffe presenting on policing in stockport.
Haven’t met rebekah before but I’ve heard good things.
Crime falling substantially across stockport, but more to do.
Burglary detection up from 6% to 18% since 2004. Over 45% violent crimes detected.
Impressive crime detection rate of 103% for march. Possible that’s a typo.
Police aiming to get better at spotting & dealing with repeat victimisation.
New police cust service desk calls people back after they’ve reported a crime, gets feedback.
New spotlight unit works with 197 offenders, has seen 36% cut in reoffending levels & big savings.
Now just 1 person in public gallery - hope leaders’ debate gets better viewing figures.
Hi to matt from stockport express - your dedication in reporting dull meetings is appreciated.
excellent q from cllr richard coaton (lab) - when families are evicted, do police monitor them
Chief insp sutcliffe doesn’t know where evicted family went to, but police should monitor.
Cllr whitehead (ind) asks value of electronic tagging (he took out 1st patent on it 40 yrs ago)
No-one has elec tag stats to hand. Cllr whitehead 1,police 0
Cllr porgess (ld) saying stockport police performing well, but vehicle crime is problem.
Expertise that’s improved burglary detection rate now being applied to vehicle crime.
cllr foster-grime makes point of information disguised as question - the excitement may be peaking.
Cllr verdeille (lab) wonders if cllr foster-grime (ld) has cracked vehicle crime single-handed.
Very competent performance from chief insp rebekah sutcliffe.
Local development framework very briefly proposed & seconded.
Cllr leck (con) saying something about woodford. May be very wise, but I’m struggling to hear.
cllr hogg (ld): cllr leck scaremongering on woodford aerodrome - nothing ruled in or out.
Cllr hogg: when lib dems run the country, business confidence will return (laughter all round)
Leader pays tribute to 3 cllrs retiring: chris blackburn (ld), maureen walsh (ex con), derek whitehead (ind)
agma has released extra £3.5m to continue feasibility study for a555 bypass.
Leader hopeful stockport county coming out of administration on 10th May.
1437 new jobs created in stockport 209/10 - target was 500. Unemployment down again too.
Cllr foster-grime (ld) stockport crime lowest for 6 yrs due to partnership working.
Stockport safest place to live in greater manchester, crime down by 16% in last year.
cllr verdeille (lab) & foster-grime (ld) clash over something or other - not quite sure what.
Labservatives thrilled at andrew stunnel getting parking ticket - really getting grip on major issues.
Cllr foster-grime (ld) says she’ll be brief on police funding motion. timers out.
cllr porgess (ld) all parties supported 11p/week on council tax to pay for 104 new police.
…govt blocked it, so we still have too few police in Greater Manchester.
5 min recess to read amendment from cllr peter scott (lab). This had better be good.
Nope, it’s 4 pages of lib dem bashing the daily mail would be proud of. Labour scared.
Labour dropping any attempt at addressing issue in favour of political point scoring. Sad.
cllr bailey (lab) throwing insults across the chamber. Come on, I’ve better things to do.
Cllr Bailey singing praises of gordon brown. That was the high point, now it’s getting silly.
Cllr bailey appears to be admitting failure of lab sentencing policy.
tories abstain on nasty, false lab amendment - enjoy sitting on the the fence guys.
Cllr foster (lab) trying to get most mentions of word ‘panic’ into his speech. Not bad.
and we’re done. Last full council of year, whether it’s my last is up to the voters.
Comments(6) Update 20th June 2010: this planning application has now been withdrawn.
Planning application DC/044096 has been received by the Council - to turn Abney Hall from offices into a school. The application can be viewed online, at Cheadle Library or at Hygarth House in Stockport.
For those interested, this document on the Council website seems to me to give the best overview of the proposals.
Comments(2) Over the last few months, the Lib Dems have been repeatedly attacked by Stockport Conservatives over the level of Council Tax.
The Conservatives say it’s too high and want a tax freeze. Fair enough - I’d like Council Tax to be lower too, but to do that you’ve got to say what you’ll cut.
The Council would need an additional £5 million in cuts to freeze council tax. So far, the Conservative “fully costed” plan is to get a few hundred thousand by reducing the communications budget. OK, so what about the other £4+ million? Doesn’t sound fully costed to me.
Stockport is already the lowest spending borough in Greater Manchester. Lower spending that Conservative Controlled Trafford and Bury. So where would the axe fall to freeze council tax or make the even bigger cuts the Tories have called for?
Cutting the roads budget is an obvious one - it’s what some other Tory-controlled councils are doing. We could save money by repairing fewer potholes and pavements, but people tell us they want them fixed.
A Council Tax freeze would save residents less than £50 a year. In contrast, Nick Clegg’s plans to make the first £10,000 of our income tax free would see most people better off to the tune of £700 - a working couple would be £1400 better off. And that’s fully costed - the Lib Dems have said exactly how it would be paid for.
So which is it to be? A Conservative promise of tax cuts if £50 with no idea how they’ll be paid for, or the fully-costed Lib Dem plan to put £700 in your pocket?
