SALFORD CITY LABOUR PARTY
PRESS RELEASE
2011/03/006 Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Salford Tories were accused of ‘backsliding’ on a key regeneration scheme after complaints that the plan will make it harder for commuters to get through the city into Manchester.
Work is due to begin next Monday on a £10 million scheme to refashion the Chapel Street area of the city which will bring in £500 million of private investment and thousands of jobs.
At the heart of the scheme is a vision for Chapel Street to become a ‘tree-lined boulevard’ with wider pavements and a new square.
Labour planning lead member Cllr Derek Antrobus said: “The fact that Chapel Street is a major thoroughfare makes it unattractive for residents and for business investment.
“By reducing the traffic along the street we will pave way for a future street lined with shops, bars and restaurants, new homes and new offices while preserving some of the splendid old buildings there.”
The scheme evolved from the biggest ever consultation in Salford when 3,900 people took part in producing the Central Salford Vision.
The detailed planning guidance, an outline planning application and highways orders were unanimously approved by the Council and its planning committee.
But despite earlier support, Tories called for the scheme to be withdrawn because it would lead to delays for commuters.
During a heated debated at today’s Council meeting, it emerged that Tory Cllr Robin Garrido had expressed concern that it would take longer for him to get into Manchester.
Labour’s Cllr Roger Jones insisted: “You should be thinking first about the people who live and work in Chapel Street. This is a Salford scheme for Salford people.”
And Cllr Antrobus said: “The bus lanes will be better so it will be quicker for commuters using public transport.
“We are just finishing off work to the Crescent to make it easier for drivers to use Albion Way and then Liverpool Street or Regent Road where junction and signalling improvements will create the capacity for the diverted traffic.
“We know that while the work is going on there will be delays and diversions. That is inevitable and we apologise for the inconvenience. But that temporary disruption is no reason to give up on the plan.
“We have given a pledge that we will reclaim Chapel Street for the people and businesses of Salford. We will keep our pledge in contrast to the Tories who seem to be backsliding on this.”
Issued on behalf of the Salford Local Government Committee
Press Officer: Derek Antrobus, 4 Temple Drive, Swinton, M27 4EB,
Tel: 0161 793 7713
E-mail: SalfordLabourPress@hotmail.co.uk
The City Party – officially known as the Local Government Committee – decides Labour’s manifesto, chooses candidates and runs election campaigns to win seats on Salford City Council. It consists of delegates from the Party’s 20 branches in the city – one from each ward – as well as delegates appointed by the three Constituency Labour Party organisations. Labour Group leader Cllr John Merry and Labour Group secretary Cllr John Warmisham are also delegates.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
LONG SERVICE AWARD
Presentation by The Mayor of Salford Cllr George Wilson.
Can't believe it's 20 years since I first became a councillor.As a born & bred Salfordian I feel proud and privileged to serve on the council and put something back into the city I love.
Monday, 14 March 2011
The price of opportunism
The Lib Dem Spring Conference has been an absolute joy to follow - if you are of a vindictive cast of mind or enjoy watching people suffering the consequences of treachery, betrayal and political opportunism.
Because what this conference has revealed is a party torn asunder, with no credibility left at all - even with its own members.
It's not something that the Lib Dem leadership can claim was not foreseeable, either. Even a very stupid politician could have expected painful and unpleasant consequences from getting into bed with the Tories, and that means that it certainly wasn't beyond the Lib Dem great and good.
But what goes around comes around, as they say. The Lib Dem leadership abandoned any claim to principle and any right to call themselves democrats by rushing gleefully into an illicit relationship with Cameron's unattractive mob for just a vicarious taste of parliamentary power, leaving their principles behind them in a tangled and discarded heap on the political bedroom floor in their haste.
So now they are paying the price for such unseemly behaviour. Party president Tim Farron probably put it as well as anyone could when he pinpointed Cameron as wrong in claiming that multiculturalism had failed and wrong in advocating NHS privatisation.
And the conference backed that simple analysis, damning Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's vicious attack on the health service.
Lib Dem grandee and former Cabinet minister Shirley Williams warned that the "accountability proposals of the new structures are lousy" and private firms would "cherry-pick" any profitable services, while St Ives MP Andrew George claimed that the Lib Dems risked becoming "architects of the NHS demise."
With no hint of irony, the benighted Mr George insisted that "joining the coalition does not mean we have to turn into forelock-tugging automatons," which, it has to be said, is precisely what the Lib-Dems in Parliament have become already.
The conference organisers had, in the week before conference started, lived in fear of an angry demonstration outside its doors and they certainly got it.
But they need not have concerned themselves so much, because the anger inside almost exceeded the rage of the protesters outside.
But the delegates really ought to accept that there's no point in damning the senior partners in the governing coalition and all their works if your own party is falling over itself to support them in blatant attacks on working people and on the whole welfare state.
What might in other circumstances be praiseworthy anger and righteous indignation becomes merely blatant hypocrisy when what you are damning is being done with your own party's imprimatur.
One protester outside held a placard informing delegates that, "if you're not angry yet, you're not paying attention." But anger in such circumstances would also mean that the Lib Dems aren't paying attention to their own leaders' misdeeds.
There's only one thing that could possibly convince the electorate of Lib Dem good intentions and that's withdrawal from this evil and malicious coalition.
And since there's little or no likelihood of Clegg and Co abandoning their Tory masters, the Lib Dem councillors up and down the country had better prepare themselves for a rough ride in the local elections and disappointment over their shoddy little AV compromise.
They've backed their leaders in a shabby adventure in expediency and they will pay the electoral price.
Morning Star Editorial.
Because what this conference has revealed is a party torn asunder, with no credibility left at all - even with its own members.
It's not something that the Lib Dem leadership can claim was not foreseeable, either. Even a very stupid politician could have expected painful and unpleasant consequences from getting into bed with the Tories, and that means that it certainly wasn't beyond the Lib Dem great and good.
But what goes around comes around, as they say. The Lib Dem leadership abandoned any claim to principle and any right to call themselves democrats by rushing gleefully into an illicit relationship with Cameron's unattractive mob for just a vicarious taste of parliamentary power, leaving their principles behind them in a tangled and discarded heap on the political bedroom floor in their haste.
So now they are paying the price for such unseemly behaviour. Party president Tim Farron probably put it as well as anyone could when he pinpointed Cameron as wrong in claiming that multiculturalism had failed and wrong in advocating NHS privatisation.
And the conference backed that simple analysis, damning Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's vicious attack on the health service.
Lib Dem grandee and former Cabinet minister Shirley Williams warned that the "accountability proposals of the new structures are lousy" and private firms would "cherry-pick" any profitable services, while St Ives MP Andrew George claimed that the Lib Dems risked becoming "architects of the NHS demise."
With no hint of irony, the benighted Mr George insisted that "joining the coalition does not mean we have to turn into forelock-tugging automatons," which, it has to be said, is precisely what the Lib-Dems in Parliament have become already.
The conference organisers had, in the week before conference started, lived in fear of an angry demonstration outside its doors and they certainly got it.
But they need not have concerned themselves so much, because the anger inside almost exceeded the rage of the protesters outside.
But the delegates really ought to accept that there's no point in damning the senior partners in the governing coalition and all their works if your own party is falling over itself to support them in blatant attacks on working people and on the whole welfare state.
What might in other circumstances be praiseworthy anger and righteous indignation becomes merely blatant hypocrisy when what you are damning is being done with your own party's imprimatur.
One protester outside held a placard informing delegates that, "if you're not angry yet, you're not paying attention." But anger in such circumstances would also mean that the Lib Dems aren't paying attention to their own leaders' misdeeds.
There's only one thing that could possibly convince the electorate of Lib Dem good intentions and that's withdrawal from this evil and malicious coalition.
And since there's little or no likelihood of Clegg and Co abandoning their Tory masters, the Lib Dem councillors up and down the country had better prepare themselves for a rough ride in the local elections and disappointment over their shoddy little AV compromise.
They've backed their leaders in a shabby adventure in expediency and they will pay the electoral price.
Morning Star Editorial.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
SAY NO TO AV
Why Vote No
AV is costly
The change to AV will cost up to an additional £250 million. Local councils would have to waste money on costly electronic vote counting machines and expensive voter education campaigns. With ordinary families facing tough times can we really afford to spend a quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers' money bringing in a new voting system? Schools and hospitals, or the Alternative Vote – that's the choice in this referendum.
AV is complex and unfair
The winner should be the candidate that comes first, but under AV the candidate who comes second or third can actually be elected. That’s why it is used by just three countries in the world – Fiji, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Voters should decide who the best candidate is, not the voting system. We can't afford to let the politicians off the hook by introducing a loser's charter.
AV is a politician's fix
AV leads to more hung parliaments, backroom deals and broken promises like the Lib Dem tuition fees U-turn. Instead of the voters choosing the government, politicians would hold power. Under AV, the only vote that really counts is Nick Clegg's. We can't afford to let the politicians decide who runs our country.
Vote NO to AV on 5 May 2011
NOtoAV is a campaign that has support from right across the country. Members of the public, trade unionists and members of several political parties are part of a campaign that has a common goal. Whilst we have many different views on what system of elections is best for Britain, we all believe that the Alternative Vote (AV) system will only damage Britain's democracy
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