I’d pretty much forgotten about the Total Politics blog awards, so it came as a complete surprise to find this morning that this blog has been voted the 29th top blog by a councillor.

Ninety percent of the stories on this blog are very local, mostly relating just to my ward, so I’ve no idea who might have voted for me, but a big thank you, whoever you are.

Having been named Greater Manchester’s second most influential political tweeter last month,  it may be downhill from here, but I’ll do my best to continue to improve communications with residents by all the means at my disposal.

From the Council, though I certainly add my congratulations:

Congratulations to John Schultz, former Council Chief Executive, who has received a CBE for Services to Local Government in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

John Schultz joined the Council as Chief Executive in May 1994 and retired in March this year. He was also President of SOLACE, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, in 2006-07. John Schultz has said: “It’s a great honour but it’s not just about me, it’s a tribute to the work of everybody at the Council.”

The Editor of the Stockport Times, Paul Harrison, will be out and about on Thursday 1st July so we, his eager readers, can let him know what we want to see in the paper.  He’ll be visiting five locations, each with the local reporter responsible for covering that area.

• Brinnington Community Centre, 9am-10am with Jennifer Williams
• Offerton Parish Centre, 11am-12pm with Alex Scapens
• Cheadle Library, 1pm-2pm with Matthew Davis
• Romiley Community Centre, 3pm-4pm with Katherine Vine
• Reddish Life Centre, 4.30pm-5.30pm with Cheryl Latham

The Met Office has issued the following warning for the Cheshire area for Wednesday 13th January:

“There is a moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of Northern Ireland, southern and central England and North Wales.

A band of snow will move slowly northeastwards overnight and into Wednesday, gradually easing through the day. Accumulations of 1-3cm are likely in many places, perhaps with 5cm locally. The strong east to southeast wind is also likely to lead to drifting of snow.

Issued at: 1109 Tue 12 Jan”

January 2010

Dear resident,

First of all, Happy New Year! I hope that you had a relaxing and joyful time over the festive period and were lucky enough to spend time with loved ones.

Sadly, as my mother passed away just before Christmas, it was not such a good time for me this year but as ever I did enjoy the chance to spend a little more time with family and friends. Thanks to all of you who have been in touch with messages of sympathy – they are much appreciated.

With a New Year comes new challenges and let me start out by saying that I am just as determined as ever to continue to deliver results for our community and overcome the many obstacles we face. Let me begin by bringing you up to date with some of the things I have been out and about doing recently:

• Just before Christmas I was delighted to welcome Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg to join me at Stepping Hill Hospital after inviting him to come and see for himself the new world-class neo-natal unit and childrens’ services. I am proud to be the MP for an area with such outstanding health services on offer: http://bit.ly/7O6fXa

• I am spearheading the national campaign, now backed by over 100 MPs, to stop bankers from abolishing cheques in Britain. The proposal will have serious repercussions on the country’s most vulnerable – particularly elderly, disabled and housebound people – not to mention many businesses. Consumer group Which? have backed my campaign along with the country’s leading Business organisation, the Federation of Small Businesses, and I have heard from people all over the country in full support. It is surely about time the bankers that taxpayers bailed out put the interests of customers before their own - learn more here: http://bit.ly/6Hxxxs

• I’ve been pressing Gordon Brown to keep his promise to abolish prescription charges for people with long-term health conditions. I have signed a special parliamentary motion putting pressure on the PM and am determined to see the Government deliver on this promise: http://bit.ly/5T4nsg

• Along with a cross-party delegation of MPs, I met with Defence Procurement Minister Quentin Davies to try to retain jobs at Woodford for as long as possible. Unbelievably, it looks as if the Government will give extra orders to the US instead of local workers: http://bit.ly/4TuuOT

• Stockport Council continues to be short-changed by central government and is now face a funding shortfall of £3.5 million from government over the next two years. In a special Commons debate I challenged the Local Government Secretary over the injustice taxpayers in Cheadle are facing: http://bit.ly/82CV1n

• Revealed: I uncovered the scandal behind the Government’s glib promises over Stockport Railway Station – Government headline grabbing has meant that we have all been misled over our local station: http://bit.ly/6C5wNR

• Gatley Youth Group were the latest of many groups that have made the trip to Westminster for a tour round the Houses of Parliament and the opportunity to put me on the spot in a Question and Answer session. It is always a pleasure to welcome local groups to parliamentary and I’d encouraged others who are interested in doing the same to contact me directly: http://bit.ly/4N0LAE

• My research into official figures showed that a quarter of drink drivers in Greater Manchester have previous convictions for drink driving – I am calling for stronger action to combat this problem and protect drivers and pedestrians alike: http://bit.ly/7fq8Mf

• I invited Transport Secretary of State Lord Adonis to come and see for himself the poor conditions at Cheadle Hulme Railway Station and how we need to see the station improvements, particularly to allow disabled access: http://bit.ly/8oCaZH

• Wolstenholmes law firm in Heald Green, established in 1818, has been closed down and five solictors have had their licenses suspended. Many local residents have money and/or documents held by the firm and are extremely distressed. My battle to deliver justice for those people: http://bit.ly/6j3ir7

As always I am eager to hear your views and if you have any new issues that you would like me to take up either locally or in Parliament please get in touch. You can contact me either by email; telephone on 0161 486 1359; or write to me at Hillson House, Gillbent Road, Cheadle Hulme, SK8 7LE. I also have twice-weekly advice surgeries on Mondays and Fridays, and can make home visits when requested. Please just call to make an appointment at your convenience.

Again, a Happy and successful 2010 to you and your family!

Best wishes,

Mark Hunter

Stockport Council have a new website up and running - simple, lightweight and giving you key information (currently which schools are closed tomorrow and what’s happening with refuse and recycling collections).

The website is www.stockportalert.org.uk

This is in addition to the standard Stockport Council website, which will also carry the information (but went down earlier this evening under the weight of traffic).

There’s a tradition amongst some bloggers of publishing statistics - how many people visited the blog over a month, quarter or year.

My blog is a local one - most of my posts are (I would expect) only of interest to residents in my Cheadle & Gatley ward or, at most, Stockport Borough.  Looking at the geographic spread of visitors, whilst the biggest proportion are local, there’s a surprising number from across the country and even abroad.  Many of those, I’m sure, have arrived in error, but perhaps a few found what they were looking for.

I’ve done a bit of research into how many hits blog of this sort get, and have concluded that I’m probably nudging the top quarter of councillor blogs in terms of hits.

Now it gets technical.  I use the Lib Dem MyCouncillor blogging service - free for all members of ALDC.  This has two built-in statistics which don’t seem to bear much relation to the more standard ones.  In addition, I now use StatCounter, which produces very similar numbers to Google Analytics, and should be the number used in the wider world when comparing different blogs.

The visitor numbers for December 2009 were about 5% up on November:

MyCouncillor Hits: 26596

MyCouncillor Hits Mk II: 5243

StatCounter unique  visitors: 1994*

StatCounter page loads:  3061

 * This is roughly the number of different people who visited the site.  In reality, it’s the number of different IP addresses, so ten people from the same office may appear as one IP address and one person could look like several if they access the blog from different computers.  It also doesn’t include anyone access the blog via feedreaders or similar.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg today visited Stepping Hill Hospital and then came to lunch at the Village Hotel in Cheadle.As the Stockport Express reports:

Mr Clegg, himself a father of three young children, praised the way the new unit involved families, especially fathers, in the birthing process.

He said: “This neonatal unit is cutting edge. I would like to see units like this in every hospital up and down the country.

“Speaking not only as a politician, but also as a dad of three, it is fantastic to see the way children are catered for here.

“The maternity centres keep families involved from day one in the child’s life, which will benefit the child in every way as it grows up.

“By having families involved from an early stage, this hospital in Stockport is leading the way.”

Millions were invested in the maternity service to cope with the increasing number of births at the hospital.

The new unit, which has received the highest rating in the country, has three en suite parent bedrooms, a full kitchen, play facilities, two breastfeeding rooms and a transitional care unit for babies to stay with their mothers until they are fit enough to go home.

Stockport Council’s Revenues and Benefits Team won the ‘Quality of Service and Innovation Award’ by creating extra capacity for the department through working more efficiently. Instead of cutting jobs the spare capacity was offered to other Local Authorities and Benefit processing work taken on. This brought in extra income for Stockport Council and enabled jobs to be retained that would otherwise have been lost.

The success of this scheme meant that the Revenues and Benefits team were able to create Apprenticeship posts for 12 local young people to train as Benefit Assessment Officers. There are plans to further increase the work done for others to create more long term jobs in Stockport.

The judges were impressed by the innovative way the team used spare capacity to help other Local Authorities at the same time as boosting the local economy. Alongside this innovation, the quality of service for Stockport residents remains high. By retaining and expanding its Revenues and Benefits team, the Council has the expertise and capacity to cope with the impact of the economic downturn.

The Stockport Express today has a story about how the Lib Dems and Conservatives are neck-and-neck in Cheadle when it comes to the betting odds.

I guess it goes to show how quickly these things can change.  Perhaps it’s the admission from the Conservatives that they don’t think they can win Cheadle, but the odds are now favouring a Lib Dem victory in the General Election with Mark Hunter favourite to hold the seat.

Odds change over time, and you can see the latest for all UK parliamentary seats here.

Today the new way of assessing councils has been launched by the Government and the first reports are all online.

Unfortunately, they aren’t comparable to the old star ratings: they measure totally different things in totally different ways and have a different scoring system too.

Stockport’s reports are here (if the site is back up).

My one-sentence summary is that Stockport is healthy, green, safe and economically strong compared to others, but needs to do more to improve our poorer areas.

As with all assessments, there will be long arguments about whether it’s measuring the right things and whether it’s getting the right answers - both questions on which it’s too early for me to draw any conclusion.

People might also be confused by what the green and red flags mean.  “Green” is does not mean good.  It means that a service is exceptional and something special and different is being done that other Councils need to learn from.

In other words, many councils will be running good services, performing well and meeting the needs of local people without getting green flags (as is the case for Stockport).

The Conservatives have already said they will abolish the website if they come to power.

Today The Federation of Small Businesses officially announced their full support for Mark Hunter MP’s “save the cheque” campaign.

The organisation, as stated on their website, is ‘the UK’s largest campaigning pressure group promoting and protecting the interests of the self-employed and owners of small firms. Formed in 1974, it now has 215,000 members across 33 regions and 230 branches.’

Top consumer group Which? have already given their backing to the campaign, and with the support of such an established business organisation, pressure is mounting more than ever on banks to give up their commitment to scrapping the cheque.

Stephen Alambritis, Head of Public Affairs at Federation of Small Businesses said:

“The Federation of Small Businesses strongly support Mark Hunter MP’s “save the cheque” campaign, backed by Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum.

“Cheques are vital to the way many people and organisations operate. With over 4 million cheques written each day, many small businesses will be disadvantaged if banks decide to scrap the cheque and there could be a big knock on effect on the economy.

“When there is no viable alternative payment method for many people out there, we should not be thinking about cutting corners by eliminating the cheque in Britain.

“That is why FSB strongly oppose getting rid of the cheque.”

Following the launch of the national annual ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition, Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell has urged teenagers living in the Stockport area to get involved and say what they think about bankers pay and bonuses.

The banking crisis has had wide ranging effects on the UK and much has been said about the huge salaries and bonuses enjoyed by City bankers but up until now voices from younger generations have been left out.

That’s all set to change with the start of this competition which is open to all UK school and college students aged between 14 and 19 and enables them to test their writing skills by inviting them to come up with a 1,000 word article with the headline, “Bankers rewards - asking for trouble?” As well as the title “ifs Young Business Writer of the Year”, the winner will also receive a £500 cash prize.

Commenting, Andrew Stunell said:

“This competition offers teenagers a fantastic chance not only to hone their writing skills and get them thinking about banking and finance issues but also to have their voices heard on a wider level.

“I strongly urge bright and engaged youngsters from across the Stockport community to grab this opportunity with both hands.”

Rod McKee, Head of Financial Capability of the ifs School of Finance, said:

“We are pleased that Mr Stunell has highlighted some of the benefits of this popular competition and urged his constituents to submit an entry. Issues relating to bankers rewards can be complex and contentious so it will be interesting to read local teenagers views.”

Anyone aged between 14 and 19 who wishes to enter the competition simply has to e-mail their article (which must not exceed 1,000 words) to ybwy@ifslearning.ac.uk between now and the competition closing date of Monday 26 January 2009.

For more information please visit www.financialcapability.co.uk

As reported in the Manchester Evening News:

 only 749 people have made an appointment to enrol in Greater Manchester for an ID card.

That is around 0.04 per cent of the total eligible population of 1.8m in this ‘pilot’ area for the ID card scheme.

When will the Government admit they’ve got it wrong and stop wasting our money on this daft scheme.

From Mark’s website:

Cheadle MP Mark Hunter has launched a new campaign to “save the cheque” after growing concern over news that high street banks are planning to stop the use of cheques.

Yesterday (26 November) Mr Hunter tabled a cross-party Parliamentary motion which, just two hours after calling on other Members to sign it, had collected the signatures of over three dozen MPs including that of Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable.

Mark also challenged Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman, at Business Questions yesterday to remind the banks of their role in serving customers, and asked her to hold a debate on the issue.

Commenting, Mark Hunter MP said:

“Abolishing the cheque will cause great inconvenience to many people who rely on cheques as a means of payment - particularly many elderly people.

“This development is most unwelcome in its own right but taken together with the news on bank charges I think they amount to nothing less than a two-fingered gesture to the British public.

“What a way to say thanks after what we’ve done for them!”

Sometime in the next few days, Stockport residents should get the latest copy of The Stockport Review through their letterboxes.

It may be something that usually spends little time between doormat and blue recycling bin, but take a quick look this time.  OK, I don’t expect you to be very excited at it being the first Review issue with my picture, but there’s lots of useful information in there, not least the back page with the full A-Z of Council services.

I’m interested in the Financial Review of the Year - on pages 12 and 13.  Or, more specifically, how understandable and useful is the  information is in the way it’s presented.  Please take a look and return the feedback slip - or comment here, of course.

Christmas has come early for Stockport’s shoppers as the Council, in conjunction with town centre partners, announce that parking will be FREE in Merseyway car park from the 12th December up until Christmas Eve. The free parking at Merseyway runs all day from Saturday 12th December up to and including the 24th December. This is in addition to the free parking already offered by the Council in the run up to Christmas, as well as the bank holiday’s on the 25th and 28th December 2009 and the 1st January 2010.

 This is your chance to reward and recognise people who make a difference in Stockport by entering them in the borough’s citizens’ awards: Proud of Stockport.

The Awards are now in their third year, celebrating those who do exceptional and extraordinary things to support our communities. Do you know an individual or a group of people going out of their way to make Stockport a better place?

Is there a residents’ association or community group, which has greatly improved things for local people? If so, this is the chance to give these people their spot in the limelight by nominating them for specific awards.

Ambassador for Stockport

Rewarding someone who has helped to give Stockport a good name and improve its reputation.

Best Street

Rewarding the residents who help make their street a better place to live.

Children’s Champion

Rewarding a person or group of people who influence children’s day to day lives in a positive way.

Citizen of the Year

Rewarding adults who help their community in lots of different ways.

Community-spirited Business

Rewarding the Stockport business that puts a lot back into the community, be it through fundraising, caring services or staff initiatives.

Good Neighbour

Rewarding those people who go out of their way to be the best neighbour possible.

Green and Glorious

Rewarding a group or person that is responsible for a great community clean-up.

Life Changing

Rewarding someone who has turned their life around against the odds.

Sports Personality

Rewarding those involved in sport in Stockport.

Volunteering Champion

Rewarding individuals or groups of people who make a real difference to Stockport, such as resident associations and community groups.

Young Citizen of the Year

Rewarding young people under the age of 18 that help their community in lots of different ways.

You can submit a nomination online here - the final date for nominations is Thursday 17th December 2009,

Dear resident,

The last two months have been as busy as ever, both in Parliament and in the community tackling the issues that really count.

I have decided to make my email updates more concise and so they are easier to digest, but I have made sure there are links to different news stories on my website and as always any feedback would be gratefully received.  

One issue that has dominated Parliament and the country as a whole in recent months is that of MP’s expenses. For those who aren’t already aware, I publish my expenses on my own website on a quarterly basis. In addition I can confirm that I have not been asked to repay any money after the recent independent Legg enquiry into MP’s expenses. I have never made any claims on my family home in Bramhall and I do not employ any relatives. I will continue to campaign for greater openness, transparency and accountability – it is after all, public money we are talking about.

Recently, Sir David Kelly has produced a report about the expenses system with recommendations to restrict MPs’ allowances and improve the system - all of which I have welcomed - and I am now pushing the Government to implement these recommendations as soon as possible. It will be a difficult process to rebuild trust in politics, but we must start now.

Here is a summary of my activities in Parliament and in our community in recent weeks:

BAE Systems Woodford closure date announced; Prime Minister quizzed over battle for jobs in Woodford; consultation on site’s future is launched:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000542/bae_systems_woodford_to_close_in_2012.html

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000552/hunter_blasts_brown_over_bae_blunder.html

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000549/consultation_crucial_over_woodford_future.html

Stepping Hill Hospital Car Parking Charge campaign update – opposition to massive hike in car parking charges:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000546/nhs_parking_charge_announcement_is_a_move_forward.html

Giving my support to the Royal British Legion in their campaign for better conditions for our troops:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000544/local_mp_pledges_to_do_his_bit_for_british_armed_forces.html

Joining forces with Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell to raise awareness about Breast Cancer:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000554/stockport_mps_wear_it_pink.html

My reaction to the MP’s expenses scandal – and why the Government must put its House in order:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000562/government_must_put_its_house_in_order.html

Official opening of new college development at the Seashell Trust (formerly Royal School for the Deaf):

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000550/seashell_trust_students_celebrate_college_redevelopment.html

Why I am backing the National Autistic Society’s campaign for better access to employment for people with autism:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000555/harman_declines_opportunity_to_back_autism_campaign.html

Latest on the Equitable Life fiasco, and the fight for justice for local policyholders:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000556/government_fails_equitable_life_victims.html

Huge increase in rail fares criticised - and how rail services could be improved:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000564/189_rise_in_rail_fares_ridiculous_says_hunter.html

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000547/longer_franchises_will_put_stockport_on_the_right_track.html

Demands grow for action on climate change as Copenhagen Summit beckons:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000557/lib_dems_lead_the_way_on_1010_climate_change_campaign.html

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000559/letter_about_copenhagen_climate_change_summit.html

My recent visit to Auschwitz:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000558/local_mp_returns_from_harrowing_visit_to_auschwitz.html

Celebrating our local voluntary sector – why it’s a great asset to the community:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000560/local_mps_and_celebs_get_behind_national_volunteering_day.html

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000561/hunter_hails_stockports_free_advice_sector.html

New Cheadle & Gatley Councillor Iain Roberts elected as Lib Dems achieve another convincing win:

http://www.markhunter.org.uk/news/000541/hunter_hails_great_victory_for_new_councillor.html

As always I am eager to hear your views and if anybody has any new issues they would like me to take up either locally or in Parliament please get in touch. You can contact me either by email; telephone on 0161 486 1359; or write to me at Hillson House, Gillbent Road, Cheadle Hulme, SK8 7LE. I also have twice-weekly advice surgeries on Mondays and Fridays, and can make home visits when requested. Please just call to make an appointment at your convenience.

Across the Granada region, which covers the whole of stockport and most of the North West besides, the analog signal for BBC2 will be turned off tomorrow, in most cases at 6am  (some will be turned off later in the day).

If you still have an analog TV just picking up the signal from the aerial with no satellite, cable, freeview or freesat, you will no longer be able to view BBC2.

You then have a month until all the other channels are turned off, on 2nd December.

For more information, and for help on going digital so you don’t lose all your channels next month, visit the DigitalUK website.

If you travelled along Wilmslow Road or Cheadle Road in Cheadle this afternoon and wondered what all the commotion in Park Lodge Close was about…they’re filming a commercial for a company called Cottages For You (or, more likely, Cottages4You or Cottages4U - I haven’t checked).

Mark Hunter has had his letter from Sir Thomas Legg and has not been asked to pay anything back.  Mark has published his expenses on his website for some time and will continue to do so.

This was introduced at the Cheadle Area Committee last night (and all the other area committees over the week).

I’ll just quote from the Stockport website.

Have you a ‘Big Idea’ about how your local area can be improved?

What would make your community flourish and do well? If you had the power, how would you make this happen?

However  big or small your idea might be Stockport Council wants to hear from you.

For your ‘Big Idea’ to be successful it has to improve your local area in one of the following ways:

• Improve your local economy.
• Improve the local environment.
• Encourage people to get more involved in society.
• Encourage people to get involved in the decisions that affect their lives.

Councillor Sue Derbyshire, Executive Member for Communities, said: “We really want to hear what residents think could be done to improve their neighbourhood and I encourage people to send us their ‘Big Ideas’. I look forward to reviewing these ideas and making as many improvements as possible.”

To submit your ‘Big Idea’ for your local area, visit the Council’s website www.stockport.gov.uk/haveyoursay

Alternatively, send your idea, to FREEPOST CE/CorpPol/ EM, Stockport Town Hall, Edward Street, SK1 3XE.

More information on the Council site.

A poll of over 34,000 people in over 238 marginal constituencies predicts that Mark Hunter and the Lib Dems will not only hold Cheadle constituency, but that the Lib Dems will hold off the Tory challenge pretty much everywhere outside the South West.

The neighbouring constituencies of Withington and Hazel Grove are also predicted to be held by the Lib Dems.

From Cheadle Village Partnership meeting:

The current aim is for Tescos to open in Cheadle by the end of November, but it may be couple of weeks earlier as work is currently ahead of schedule.

The Church, which owns the site and is developing the upper rooms, is looking for feedback from the community on what could go into the upper rooms (more than you might think, apparently).  There will be open days on Fridays and Saturdays in October and a section should appear on the Church website where you can find out more information.

An item from Cheadle Village Partnership:

For some time, the Cheadle Green Focus Group have been looking at how to improve the Green and make it, once a again, more of a focal point for the village.  This has had full backing from the Area Committee (i.e. the local councillors).

There is now a detailed plan which  Cheadle residents are being consulted on.  Click on the thumbnail images for more details.

See what Stockport’s doing for Black History Month, October 2009.

Manchester Harriers and A.C. Primary Schools Cross Country League

All meetings start at 10am on William Scholes Playing Fields, Gatley.  There are about 300 runners at each race meeting.  For more information contact Ian Burnett on 0161 485 2155 or email i.b.burnett@googlemail.com.

Saturday 10th October 2009

Saturday 7th November 2009

Saturday 16th January 2010

Saturday  6th February 2010

Thursday 25th February 2010 (Walter Hesketh Trophy Cross Country Relays)

Saturday 6th March 2010

I was very pleased to attend the official opening of the new pavillion on Scholes Field.  It’s a great resource that’s taken a lot of time and effort to bring about.

The pavillion includes a room that we hope will be available for booking by community and private groups - the details are still being worked out but we should have more information soon.

There are also three pairs of changing rooms (home and away), each with toilets and showers, plus kitchen, office and storage areas.

The running track on Scholes Field has fencing round it, but there’s still a problem with dogs being walked inside the area.  Dog mess causes a particular problem when the area’s used for athletics.

A sign will soon be put up on the gate politely asking dog walkers to keep their dogs away from the fenced area - hopefully that will do the trick.  I know most dog walkers are responsible and will observe the signs.

The other outstanding piece of work for the pavillion is having marked parking bays in the car park.  This should have been done, but if you visit the site, you’ll see right away that the current surface isn’t suitable for painting.

We may end up with painted bays over a properly bonded car park surface, or with studs to mark the bays, but this will be done one way or another.

Great news - Gatley’s butchers is opening again.  The new owners already have a butchers in Cheadle.  Best of luck to the new owners.

Perhaps because I gave a fishmongers as an example in the election hustings of a shop Gatley was missing and people might want, I’ve been sent an advert for Sea It Fresh, the Cheadle fishmongers who will sell at your door - call them on 0161 428 1113.

One of the things I’m trying to do is keep people informed about what I’m doing as a councillor and what the Council’s up to as well.  This blog is one way I try to do that.  I’m now going to try it through Twitter too.

You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CheadleGatley

The loose paving stone in front of Ladbrokes on Church Road, Gatley, has now been fixed down.  Didn’t have a chance this afternoon to check the others (between Elm Road and Gatley Green) but I’ll do that later today.

Update: I checked the others yesterday evening.  Five or six were marked up and all seemed to be fixed.  I’m really pleased we’re now getting these sorted.

After a very long day with all the parties working hard to get their supporters out to vote, I was declared the new councillor for Cheadle and Gatley with a majority of 620 votes over Julie Smith-Jones, the Conservative candidate.

I’d like to thank everyone who came out to vote, whoever you voted for and everyone from the five political parties who gave up large chunks of their summer to give the people of Cheadle & Gatley a real choice, plus the Returning Officer and the Council staff who ran the polling stations, counted the votes and made sure everything went smoothly.

I’m under no illusions that I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of me, representing your interests and getting things done - I’m looking forward to it.

The leaflets have been delivered, the doors knocked on, the arguments made.  Now it’s time for you, the voters of Cheadle and Gatley, to make your choice.

Remember

• Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 10th September
• You don’t need your polling card to vote - just go to your local polling station and tell them your name and address.
• If you have a postal vote and haven’t filled it in, you can hand it in at a polling station.

Congratulations to the Girl Guide movement on its hundreth birthday.  My daughter will be at Bruntwood Park with the Brownies for a special celebration picnic.

And just a quick plug: we’d love to have more young people in the Scout and Guide movements. The single biggest factor holding us back is not having enough adult volunteers.  Training programmes are excellent these days, you get piles of support and it’s great fun, so why not consider it.

If you have a postal vote, it probably arrived today.  Please remember to vote and return it - your vote counts!

Just wanted to say thank you to the Bowmen of Bruntwood.  I took three kids along this morning for their training session.  The four of us had good tuition and successfully fired six arrows each into the targets.

Then the kids had a great time playing in the play area - and all on a day that looks this morning like it would most likely be rain all day - fantastic.

Busy day today.  My son’s off watching Stockport County (not over yet but not looking good when I checked a few minutes ago).  We’ve been delivering our latest leaflet, with more news of what I’ve been up to.

Good news: the pothole on Gatley Road opposite Springfield Road has been repaired after I contacted the Council to move things on last week.

More potholes I’ve reported have been marked up for repair, including one in Acres Road (just down from the Prince of Wales pub).

The positive response to our work on traffic problems around Schools Hill and Broadway in Cheadle continues - lots of good ideas, so please keep them coming.

Lots more to come…

(Update: looks like County snatched a draw with a penalty five minutes into injury time - will hear the whole story soon).

Hot on the heels of our success with the study into a new Cheadle railway station comes news of High Speed Rail to Manchester.

I have to say that this is even earlier in the process: the Government haven’t given their view and there are probably all sorts of barriers in the way of the estimated £34 billion to build the high speed line from London to Scotland, via Birmingham and Manchester.

But we can dream!  Maybe in a few years time I’ll be able to step onto a train in Gatley or Cheadle and be in London an hour and  a half later.  That’s about as long as it takes to get from Gatley to Liverpool by train today.

Manchester to London in 1 hour 6 minutes - it would be nice.

A few days ago I reported some graffiti to the Council: on the BT junction box at the end of Old Hall Road and on one of the stop signs in the same area.

I was really pleased this morning to see that the graffiti has been cleared off - good news.

Had a leaflet through the door advertising a farmers market in Heald Green that sounds well worth a visit.

Promoted by the Lions and Beefeater, the market will be at The Beefeater, Finney Lane, Heald Green from 9am to 1pm on Sunday 30th August.

Following the move of the florist to Massie Street, there’s now a planning application (DC/042668) to convert the old premises at 19A High Street to an Ice Cream Parlour.

You can see the plans online here and leave your comments, for or against, here.

A few days ago I reported several potholes along Gatley Green.  Glad to see these have now been marked up for repair.

Going around Gatley in the last couple of days, I see that lots of houses have received the flier for the Heald Green Theatre Company.

No one in Gatley is more than five minutes drive from the theatre, just off Styal Road and literally a stone’s-throw from the ward boundary (Yew Tree Grove is in Cheadle & Gatley, Pymgate Lane is in Heald Green).

The programme for 2009-10 looks excellent and at £7 a ticket you can’t go far wrong - why not pay a visit; I will be.

 A few bits and pieces around South Park Road in Gatley:

I’ve reported a couple of potholes - actually sections along the side of the road where the tarmac’s in very poor condition.

I’ve also asked the Council to look at the path between South Park Road and Belmont, both to cut back foliage and clear away litter.

Just been reading on the BBC news that Ryanair is dropping or moving nine of the ten routes it runs from Manchester Airport from 1st October, citing high airport charges (if they’re anything like the parking charges, they may have a point!).

According to the BBC article:

The nine routes from Manchester that will close are those to Barcelona (Girona), Bremen, Brussels (Charleroi), Cagliari, Dusseldorf (Weeze), Frankfurt (Hahn), Marseille, Milan (Bergamo) and Shannon.

The airline said passengers affected by the changes would be e-mailed and, “provided with a full refund, or the alternative of flying to some destinations” from East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Liverpool.

So if you have a flight booked from Manchester to one of those destinations after 1st October, I guess you need to contact Ryanair or at least keep a very close eye on your emails.

I was asked to post a 100-word candidate statement on Gatley.net, which I was happy to do.

Here’s what I’ve said:

As a father of two children at Gatley Primary, school governor and Cub leader, I care deeply about our community and believe I’ve shown a willingness and ability to help improve it over several years.

If elected as a local councillor, my priorities will be to tackle the traffic and parking problems we face and to work with residents, traders, businesses and others to develop Gatley and Cheadle into the villages we want and need them to be in the coming years.

Iain Roberts, Liberal Democrat candidate

Very enjoyable afternoon as a guest of the Cheadle Muslim Association at their annual open day.  The kids enjoyed the bouncy slide, football and cricket, not to mention several trips to the chocolate fountain and burger bar.  I went for something a little spicier.

Great event in a very good cause - all the money raised is going to St. Ann’s Hospice.

The Stockport Express is reporting the arrest of 21 year old Milad Finn and another 21 year old on suspicion of possessing ammunition, following a fatal shooting in Oldham last month.

The problem is, it identifies Finn as living in “Lauriston Close, Gatley.”  Which is fine…except Lauriston Close isn’t in Gatley, or even very near.  It’s about a mile from the edge of the village - one of the roads off Freshpool Way in Sharston.

Have reported a couple of bits of graffiti on Old Hall Road in Gatley - on one of the no-entry signs by the triangle and on the newly-painted phone junction box.

Also reported the pothole around the manhole cover outside 3 Pendlebury Road.

With thousands of grids in Cheadle and Gatley, I soon realised that checking them all for blockages wasn’t realistic.  This morning offered a great opportunity: we had a bit of rain last night, so mostly it was just looking for puddles and being on my bike makes it much easier to spot them and to stop and take notes.

I reported the following bloced grids in Cheadle and Gatley, along Gatley Road, this morning:

1. Several grids on north side of Gatley Road between Gatley Station and Torkington Road

2. Grid outside 79 Gatley Road, south side.

3. Grid outside 103 Gatley Road, south side

4. Grid outside 149 Gatley Road, south side

Having been critical of the lack of action on getting gullies cleaned out, I think some credit is due.

Three roads in Gatley - Belmont, Dunmore and Norwood - are due to have their gullies cleaned on 19th August.

Very positive response out canvassing with Mark and Pam yesterday evening - really great to meet so many nice people, and to pick up a few issues too.

Today I’m taking the day off and walking in the Peaks with my wife.  Another reason I love our area: 15 minutes away from the centre of Manchester on the train, and I can be half way up some Derbyshire peak in an hour or two as well.

Residents in Greenbank Avenue have contacted me, concerned about planning proposals to convert the (now closed) Threshers off-licence on Stonepail Road into an Indian Takeaway.

Where planning applications are concerned, councillors who want to be involved in making the decision (generally helpful if you want to represent your constituents) need to remain neutral until the meeting.

But there’s no problem listening to people and advising people on how best to approach it.

In this case, you can read the full application online here.

Local residents can also, until 11th August, put in a comment (for or against) on the website, or by writing to:

Director of Environment and Economic Development
Environment and Economic Development Services
Hygarth House
103 Wellington Road South
Stockport
SK1 3TT

I’ve been told that councillors will consider this planning application at the Local Area Committee meeting on 8th September.  Residents are welcome to attend that meeting and should be able to speak on this issue.

The Local Area Committee meetings are normally held in Cheadle Hulme - I’ll post details when they’re confirmed.

Full story on AboutMyArea.

Mark Hunter, MP for Cheadle, has been named ‘Parliamentarian of the Month’ by national road safety charity Brake and Direct Line for his work in campaigning for life-saving road safety measures to tackle the issues of drug driving, uninsured drivers and speeding in the UK.

From Mark’s website:

Mark Hunter MP has pledged to fight for the future of newsagents across the Cheadle constituency.

Mr Hunter’s commitment came after it was revealed by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) that traditional independent newsagents are being forced to shut up shop at a rate of more than one every day. Latest figures show that 510 such newsagents were forced to close their doors in the last year, an increase on the 482 newsagents who shut the year before.

Consolidations in the news distribution industry - the businesses that deliver newspapers and magazines - have left most newsagents with no choice over who supplies them. Shop owners fear that the lack of competition will leave them with no alternative supplier and vulnerable to increased costs.

Last week almost 800 newsagents delivered a petition to the Office of Fair Trading demanding urgent action to protect competition in the news distribution industry.

Mark Hunter MP today threw his weight behind the campaign to save Britain’s newsagents and said, “Traditional newsagents are the backbone of our community. They deliver a vital service and are a friendly face that many people rely on every day.

“Many people rely on their local newsagents not only to pick up their papers and magazines but also for contact with their local community. Local newsagents are a vital part of the local economy, and having a local newsagent encourages people to use their local shops.

“It is unacceptable that so many newsagents face an uphill struggle to survive. The Government needs to take action to ensure that there competition in the news distribution industry so that newsagents can avoid increased costs and avoid closure. I am therefore happy to pledge my support to newsagents in Cheadle and across the UK.”

Following the sad death of my friend and colleague Cllr Brian Millard a month ago, I am honoured to have been selected to represent the Liberal Democrats in the by-election to take place on 10th September.

I’ve been active in our local community for some years - currently as a school governor at Gatley Primary and a leader of 1st Gatley Cubs in addition to my political campaigning.

I would very much like to carry  on Brian’s good work, representing the people of Cheadle and Gatley and doing what I can to make our village communities better and stronger.

Over the next five weeks I’ll be speaking to as many people as I can around Cheadle and Gatley, campaigning on the important local issues and hopefully convincing you that I’m the best candidate for the job and deserve your vote on 10th September.

If you’ve got something to say to me, whatever your politics, just get in touch - my address, email and phone number are on the right and I’ll be happy to hear from you.

My thanks to Neale Hayward-Shott, one of the trustees of the Upper Room charity which owns the building where the Cheadle Somerfield used to be. Neale has kindly send me a copy of the press release about Tesco and some additional comments, both of which are below.

Tesco to complete £600,000 community facilities refurbishment in Cheadle

Tesco today announced that they are to carry out an extensive £600,000 extension and refurbishment of the Upper Room building, on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle. The building work due to start this week will be completed alongside the conversion of the former Somerfield on the building’s ground floor into a Tesco Express.

The Upper Room, which is run by the Upper Room Trust and is linked to St Mary’s Church in Cheadle will benefit from a number of major improvements including; a new two floor extension to the rear of the building, a new roof, a lift to make the building accessible to everyone, a new staircase and a separate entrance.

Juliette Bishop, Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager said:

“We are delighted to be able to use our expertise and resources to help the Upper Room Trust provide a modern and functional community space for the benefit of the local community. The extension and refurbishments will make a significant difference to the building uses, both in the short and long term.”

Neale Hayward-Shott, Trustee of the Upper Room Trust said:

“We are delighted that Tesco has agreed to provide an extension to the Trust’s building, which will bring an increase of floor space of approximately 3,000 sq ft and a much needed new roof. In addition to its primary use by the church, the building will also be available for use by local groups.”

“Working with Tesco’s project team has been a really good experience, and they have understood our desire for a balance between an interesting building design and value for money. As well as developing their Express store, they have been keen to help us extend our building for the benefit of the people of Cheadle. We are really excited that work is about to start.”

Once Tesco has completed the building shell, the Church will start the task of fitting out the new areas for use. The building will become a meeting place for the young and old, with a number of rooms and catering facilities for different sized groups

A Tesco Express is a small neighbourhood convenience store about the size of a tennis court designed to bring choice, quality convenience and value for money as well as more fresh food. They are designed to give local residents who want to walk or cycle to shop, access to really good daily shopping and a wider range of goods. This is an excellent opportunity for a Tesco Express form part of the good mix of businesses in Cheadle.

Tesco will complete all the building works over the next few months and plan to be able to open the Express before Christmas, creating 20 to 30 new jobs for local people.

Further to the press release, Neale also commented:

 The trustees of the building, who are the Rector and Churchwardens of Cheadle Parish Church, have been trying to get a new supermarket into the building since Somerfield left due to the fact that it wasn’t making them money. Initially all seemed in place to get Marks & Spencer in but after 18 months they lost interest as you may have seen in the financial press M&S seem to have lost interest in smaller food stores in general. Fortunately Tesco were interested and contrary to popular belief have been really easy to deal with and very helpful in getting their supermarket in and also building an extension to the the upper floors of the building which is, in essence, the church hall.

Had several interesting discussions in the last couple of days about the blocked drains in Gatley, of which there seem to be many.  Still don’t feel I understand what’s happening and why getting them sorted seems to be a problem, but am getting there.

Worst places seem to be the lake outside the Gatley Green Co-op, the junction of Church Road and Styal Road, Old Hall Road and parts of Gatley Road, but there are simply far too many blocked drains around the village.

Hope I can have a positive update soon.

Good news from Tesco - at last.  We’ve been told that work on the old Somerfield site in Cheadle will start any day now, with a new Tesco Metro scheduled to open by the end of October.

The planning issues have been resolved, so we could really be there this time.

I’ve been a supporter of the “Axe the beer tax” campaign for a while now - far too many pubs closing across the country.

So I pass on the latest request,

HELP STOP NEW THREAT TO PUBS - SAY NO TO NEW CODE Click Here to Make Your Opinion Heard

With 50 pubs now closing every week across Britain as a result of the recession and record tax rises, landlords are now facing a further threat to their livelihoods under Government plans to impose a new costly and bureaucratic “mandatory code”. Home Office Ministers say the code is needed to tackle anti-social disorder. But, as ever, it is the decent, responsible majority that will have to pay for it. The cost to the British pub industry of implementing these new regulations would be an estimated £58 million in the first year and £38 million in subsequent years - costs that will hit landlords and consumers alike. While one or two parts of the code may be sensible in themselves - stopping bars and pubs holding irresponsible promotions like “all you can drink for a tenner”, for instance - using the law in this way is like using a hammer to crack a nut. It is yet further evidence of the nanny state going too far not least because local councils and the police have the powers they need to tackle alcohol-related disorder already. Pubs provide a good environment to be able to supervise and control drinking and encourage responsible behavior - and the vast majority of pubs work closely with local police and councils to tackle anti-social behavior where it occurs. So hitting pubs with more and more costs only helps to undermine the best solution to the problem of excessive drinking. The Home Office is now asking the public for its views on its plans as part of its “consultation process”. So the good news is that you, the responsible majority of decent, law-abiding consumers and landlords concerned about the future of the Great British Pub, do have an opportunity to make your views heard by Government Ministers. We are therefore asking that you click here to answer the questions posed by the Government in the way that we think will best minimise the cost to British pubs and stop the present record pub closure rate getting even worse. But hurry, you have to get your response to the Home Office by Wednesday 5th August for it to be considered. Thank you so much for your ongoing support in helping us oppose threats to a great British institution. Click Here to Make Your Opinion Heard Axe the Beer Tax info@axethebeertax.com http://www.axethebeertax.com/

Despite scouting in Gatley not being quite the size of our friends in Cheadle, we’ve been going for 80 years this year, lately based at the Scout Hut behind Gatley Hill House.

We’d like to celebrate our 80th anniversary by speaking to cubs and scouts from years gone by.  It would be brilliant to give today’s kids (and leaders!) an insight into what the scout group got up to years ago.

If you’re an old Gatley cub or scout, please get in touch (iain@axiomtech.co.uk).

We’ve reported the litter problem on Oakwood Avenue in Gatley, alongside the railway line, both to the Council and Network Rail.  I think some cleaning has already been done, should be more soon.

Very encouraged by people I’ve spoken to on Oakfield Avenue in Cheadle.  Parking’s a big problem there. I saw it with Mark Hunter and Pam King earlier this week, and I’ve paid two cisits since - on each time, seeing the cars parked at the top end of the road.

The Council did come up with a scheme a while ago and put it to residents, but it failed to get the 51% support required.

I’m confident that residents can come up with their own scheme that fits the rules and will win local support - then we’d just need to get that 51% support on the standard petition to get it taken to Local Area Committee and from there hopefully get the work done.

I’ll make sure that everyone has the chance to have their say.

A good meeting of Gatley Scout Group’s committee last night.  The main issue we discussed was making better use of the Scout Hut as a community resource  - and making some money for Scout Group in the process.

Expect to see an improved scout hut being hired out at sensible rates for parties, meetings etc.

Meanwhile, we’re pleased to now have good teams in place to run Beavers and Cubs.  We take boys and girls aged 6 to 10 and there’s a (currently fairly short) waiting list, so drop me a line if your child would like to get into scouting.

We noticed a few days ago that the light on the north side of Gatley’s clock tower (facing the Horse & Farrier) had  broken, so the light had fallen down and was obscuring the clock.

We called it into the Council and, I’m pleased to say, it’s now been fixed - good job, guys.

Back from a moving funeral for Brian Millard at the Stockport Cemetary and Crematorium this afternoon.

Several people have told me they’d like to pay their respects.  This was a fairly small funeral but I’m told there will be a memorial service later in the year

I thoroughly enjoyed Gatley Primary’s end of year concert last night.  Congratulations to everyone involved - the guitar, percussion, violin and brass groups.

The choir just gets better and better - last night’s selection of traditional African songs had everyone singing along and just sounded great.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was helping at the last Beaver Scouts meeting yesterday and so didn’t make it to the Gatley partnership.

However, you can see a report from the meeting at the excellent AboutMyArea site.

What an evening.  Pouring with rain and far too many worthy events to go to (plus the kids to keep an eye on as Thursday is my wife’s dance class night).

So we had the last Beaver Scouts before the summer holidays, parents’ evening at Gatley Primary and the Gatley Village Partnership and police meeting at St. James Hall.

I did Beavers - I make no apologies for feeling that helping 20 young people have a fantastic time was, on this occasion, the worthiest option.  My son was at the school, selling smoothies to eager parents (they sold out, he tells me).  My daughter was at Beavers (until she goes up to cubs in September).

Much to everyone’s amazement, the weather held for both the junior and infant sports days at Gatley Primary today.  All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, so congratulations to the staff.

For the record, in the infants sports day the winners were blue team, with red second and white third.

Spent a very pleasant couple of hours this afternoon delivering leaflets around Buttermere, Kendal and the roads off.  Such a shame we lost the High Grove post office down there, but still a great area and always friendly.

Then in the evening the last Cubs meeting of the summer - and my first in charge.  Not scary at all - honest.  With support from experienced leaders Jean and Bob along with parent helpers Rob and Kaye, a good time was had by all, even if some might have eaten just a little too much cake.

Here’s an odd one. Saw this tree (or what’s left of it) on the path by the railway bridge at the end of Foxland Road as I was out and about on Friday.

But where did it come from? What it cut down on the railway side and just dumped over the fence? Or did someone bother to bring it up there and dump it?

Either way, the Council have been informed.

After a morning delivering leaflets with Mark Hunter (Mark delivered Daylesford Road & Crescent, Cherington, Barcheston and Arlington; I took Schools’ Hill, Bruntwood Lane, The Spinney, Park Close and other roads around there), I dashed home to take my son to basketball.

Seems be a great idea actually - he and his mates have been going to the regional basketball centre in Reddish.  They can do training at Kingsway school on Monday afternoons if they want, and then play in a league at Reddish on Saturdays.  Just a bit of fun, and they all seem to get a lot out of it.

Then off to take him to a friend’s birthday party at Cheadle Baths (if you haven’t made a visit since the refurbishment, please do - the old school-style changing rooms are a distant memory).  The party went well and we’re now back home watching Harry Potter.

Well, finding out about the legalities of playing football in the road turned out to be more interesting (and complicated) than I’d thought.

The relevant law is section 161 of the Highways Act (1980), part 3 which says

“If a person plays at football or any other game on a highway to the annoyance of a user of the highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.”

So you can’t annoy a pedestrian or road user.  What the law *doesn’t* cover is annoying householders.  Obviously if a child playing football were to damage their property, or be making an unacceptable amount of noise or something like that it would be covered by other laws.

As far as I can see, the kids are fine playing football as long as they don’t get in the way of other road users and don’t damage any property, but it’s a legal matter and the police might take a different view.

Definitely a healthy day - delivered lots of our leaflets with the tribute to Brian (still can’t quite believe he’s gone).  Spotted a few potholes to report. Stepped on a loose paving stone and got half a swimming pool of muddy water splashing over my shoes.

Had a query about whether it’s legal for kids to play football in residential roads.  I think so (unless there’s a notice up to say otherwise) but I’m not sure.  Will check.

Gatley’s always had a bit of a problem keeping it’s scouting group going.  Others, like Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme and Heald Green, have several packs.  We just about manage one (at the moment we’ve Beavers, Cubs but no Scouts - a lack of leaders).

Along with others (Mike Wakefield, Linda and Andrew Green and Bob Caffrey, as well as some other parents) we’re working hard to get the Cub section back to rude health.

So tonight I’m off to get some on the job training at 2nd Heald Green Cubs, meeting on Brown Lane.  Hopefully I’ll come away wiser, with lots of good ideas.

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to the fantastic Heald Green festival on Saturday.

For once, the weather was on our side and along with the stalls there was a funfair, bouncy slides and castles, donkey rides, a little steam train ride and of course the parade and displays.

Lots of people came over to us to take a look at the map showing the detailed route of the A555 (you can see it online here) and we raised a good deal of money which, of course, all goes to pay those Lib Dem papers, leaflets and letters that come through your door.

Mark Hunter was there, but we didn’t see too much of him as he did his circuit of the ground.

I’ll be at the Gatley Festival next Sunday, so fingers crossed for the weather there too.

Come along and enjoy the Heald Green festival, 1pm on Saturday 27th June.

While you’re there, why not find me at the Lib Dem stall and say hello.

The Highways Agency is advising drivers using the M60 between junctions 19 at Middleton and 23 at Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester to allow extra time to complete their journeys over the next six weekends.

Starting Friday (June 19), work is being carried out along this 6-mile section each weekend until August, weather permitting.

A full carriageway closure will be in place with a contraflow on the opposite side of the motorway while the work is being carried out. Various entry and exit slip roads will also need to be closed.

The work is taking place over weekends when traffic volumes are lighter and disruption to drivers can be kept to a minimum – however some delays can be expected. Work will start each Friday at 9pm and the motorway will be fully reopened by 5am each Monday.

To ensure the ongoing safety of road-users and our workforce, a 40mph speed limit will be in place throughout the roadworks – which are planned to be completed by 5am, July 27.

Overhead message signs will be used to advise drivers of the closures so they can choose an alternative route.

Highways Agency project manager Manuelle Salathe said:
“We regret any disruption this work may cause to drivers and would encourage them to plan their journey in advance and allow for extra time to get to their destination.”

The exploratory works are taking place to assess the condition of the carriageway on this section of the M60.

The Highways Agency’s North West Traffic Officer Service will deploy extra crews for the duration of the work with a dedicated patrol to cover the roadworks area and react quickly to any breakdowns or accidents to help keep drivers on the move.

The Highways Agency Regional Control Centre will be monitoring incidents and traffic conditions from motorway cameras as well as using electronic signs to provide drivers with up-to-the-minute information.