WISHING YOU

PEACE, HEALTH

AND   HAPPINESS

IN 2010

David Cameron’s Christmas message has called on Lib Dems to back the Conservatives as there is between Lib Dems and Tories  ”now a lot less difference than there used to be on how to create a fairer Britain”.

He then goes on to give the game away by saying that a hung parliament would be bad for Britain - despite his apparent belief that there is not much between us and the Tories.

Mr Cameron, not for the first time, is talking double-speak and rather in bad spirit for the season og goodwill trying to put a rather distortive spin on the Lib Dems and the Tories and for that matter the next election. So let me translate this double-speak into plain english.

When Dave says there is “now a lot less difference than there used to be on how to create a fairer Britain”, what he actually means is the Conservative party can’t win the next election outright unless Lib Dem voters drop their principles and vote Tory.

When Dave says a hung parliament would be “bad for Britain”, what he means is that it would be bad for the Conservative Party.

There are many and varied policy differences between the Tories and the Lib Dems and for that matter Labour. The Tory interpretation of the word “fair” would seem pivotal in this argument.

When we talk of fair taxes, we mean for all not just millionaires, when we talk about fair green policies for a sustainable economy we mean polices that will commit to real changes to maximise our contribution to halting climate change - and it doesn’t involve pr visits to the north pole to pose with polar bears. And the Lib Dems want to see a fairer society that recognises the value that we can all contribute to society not just the privilaged few.

If David Cameron really does want a clean fight at the next elect he would do well to start applying a bit more honesty and a lot less spin.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy

Christmas

p.s. Don’t forget the Bury Council Emergency Out of Hours Phone number is:0161 253 6606

Last night I was privileged to have been able to attend the first Prestwich community carol service. The event was held at St.Mary’s Parish Church in Church Lane and we were delighted to been able to welcome the Mayor of Bury, Cllr Sheila Magnall. Over 300 braved treacherous ice and snow to attend the event, making it a great success.

What was particularly special was that it was a collaboration between local churches and St.Mary’s welcomed Father Allen from Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church, who read from the Gospels. In addition there were many from local community and voluntary organisations as well as many local residents, some of whom hadn’t visited St.Mary’s before.

A collection of carols, familiar and less familiar were sang with accompaniment from the Eccles Singers and Bury Music Service Wind Ensemble. The carols were interspersed with readings telling the story of the coming of Jesus.

Following the carol service refreshments and mince pies were served by local councillors in the newly refurbished Church Lane Community Centre.

All in all a magical festive evening. Special thanks should go to Cllr Mary D’Albert, David Curtis and Carran O’Grady and of course Bryan Hackett, Churches Together, the management and volunteers at Church Lane Community Centre and the Prestwich Area Partnership who sponsored the event.

Due to the atrocious weather conditions, the waste and recycling collections have had to be suspended for the remainder of today (Tuesday). A decision on collections for Wednesday and Thursday will be made in the morning.

Bury Council has informed local councillors that reluctantly, they have been forced to take this decision to protect the health and welfare of collection teams, who are finding it impossible to navigate through some of the borough’s streets.

The Statement from Bury Council goes on, “We understand any frustration that residents may have, but the weather has left us with no choice. We will endeavour to clear the backlog as soon as the conditions allow.Our gritting teams, however, will continue to grit the roads.”

In the meantime residents are asked to reduce and recycle their waste as much as they possibly can.  Plastic bottles, metal cans, glass bottles and jars can all go in the blue recycling bin. Paper, cardboard boxes and packaging can be recycled in the green recycling bag.  If cardboard won’t fit in the green bag, it should be flattened and left in a neat pile under the green bag.  Plastic carrier bags can be used instead of the green bag.  For details of household waste recycling centres and local recycling centres go to www.bury.gov.uk/recyclingcentres

Also, again due to the worsening weather conditions, Bury Council has decided to close adminstrative buildings with effect from 1pm today (Tuesday Dec 22). This includes Bury town hall, council offices, leisure centres, and libraries, which will re-open on Tuesday, December 29.

Staff supplying emergency services will be working as normal.

Local Councillors have received an update on the Gritting and Refuse collection service as they continue to battle against the snow and ice etc.

The Councils Head of Waste Management has confirmed that Gritters were out all weekend and 535 tonnes of salt were spread on Sat and Sun alone.

Today all Street Cleaning staff are employed on gritting duties including in town centres and refilling of grit bins. All 5 gritting vehicles are also out at the moment (as of 9.30am).

Refuse/recycling collections were severely disrupted on Friday in the Ramsbottom/Tottington area due to snow and ice. The Council have vehicles in the area today mopping up missed grey bins as best they can, but if anything conditions will be worse than they were on Friday.

Brown bin collections are effectively suspended today with contents of bins frozen solid in any case.

It was debatable as to whether the Refuse collection service should have been suspended or not on grounds of H&S.  A decision was taken not to suspend the service, however all collection crews went out late and combined with the road conditions it will inevitably mean that not all of today’s work will be completed.

Councillors have been assured by Bury Council that they are doing their very best to get all collections made before Christmas in very difficult circumstances.

I know colleagues have received a number of phone calls complaining about a lack of gritting in some areas or on some streets and I can assure residents that we will be seeking answers to these queries/complaints in due course.

Desperation amidst the arrival of Obama and other heads of state seemed to galvanise efforts in the final moments of the Copenhagen Climate Summit yesterday but do we have a deal?

Ok agreements were reached which were broadly in line with some hopes, but it is questionable as to whether any of it is legally binding. Targets also are a bit thin on the ground and there would appear to be so much dissagreement outside the US, China and India ie especially South America that you wonder whether this will hold up at all.

We should try and be positive in that reaching a deal of sorts does at least enable the commitment to fund developing countries and enable them to start adapting and making changes and meet their development targets. In addition if China and the US start taking the whole climate  and CO2 emissions thing seriously that will have an impact and will lead to further committments, of that I am sure.

The big question now is that even if countries are bound to these agreements, will they stick to them or will they eventually be watered down? And of course as the deal does not go far enough in any case, is it too little too late?

As Prestwich Town Centre regeneration plans are firmed up over the coming year Bury Council must not lose sight of the fact that one of the strengths of the local economy is the small local independent traders, some of whom have operated from the Longfield Precinct for many years.

I believe it is reasonable to expect Bury Council to place relocation and support packages high on the agenda in negotiations with the landlords/developers, Hollins Murray Group (HMG).

Successful businesses know only too well the benefits of planning ahead, and at present many of the small businesses in the centre of Prestwich feel that they are in a state of limbo, uncertain of when development will take place and what support they will get towards relocation. They need plenty of notice and we need to ensure as much as possible that they don’t suffer too much as a result.

It would be devastating to lose local businesses as a result of regenerating the town centre to make it more attractive for new businesses!

I have already raised this issue with the Council and I will be pursuing the matter in the new year. We’ve got to back our local businesses.

I am growing increasingly concerned that the semi-stalled climate talks in Copenhagen are going to fail to reach much needed major agreements.

Of course it is always difficult to get meaningful agreements out of these Governmental summits, and when they do they are almost always hard fought compromises that are often ignored or watered down further over time.

But I was hoping this time would be different. As the world fast approaches the point of no return regarding climate change and global warming, I had hoped that the growing climate crisis would start to break through national self interest and political posturing.

I had hoped that the rich developed world would recognise their responsibiities to the poor world and future generations and future life itself.

Failure to reach a milestone agreement will be a frankly damnable result that will consign the Copenhagen summit to the history books as the time that the world stood on the brink, looked around, talked about saving life on earth then stepped off the precipice.

For the sake of the planet lets hope there is a breakthrough.

If the last full council was bad tempered, apallingly managed and abused by some councillors, last nights affair  was flat, passionless and sterile.

Following a slap-on-the-wrist letter from the Chief Executive to Councillors asking that they behave better and control themselves we ended up with a non-event that achieved little if anything.

We had (by Government dictat) to approve a “Strong” leadership model constitution, which places more power and discretion in the hands of the leader of the Council who is apppointed for a term of 4 years (from next May).

We had no choice to approve this so it was nodded through. How it is supposed to provide us with a strong leader heaven only knows. Perhaps Cllr Bibby will tear open his shirt to reveal his green hulk like body before charging round the Millgate arresting wrongdoers vigilante fashion!

For me the highlight was a speech by Cllr Roy Walker about the democratic deficit that we now have at local and national level. He cited numerous erosions to our democratic process in a speech that I agreed 100% with and was eloquently delivered.

The Advertiser newspaper was also reporting on last nights non event and by way of novelty they were reporting live via twitter. Our group leader Cllr Tim Pickstone alluded to this new novelty and himself got in on the twittering act.

That was about it. Last time the meeting was a farce, this time it was more like a funeral parlour. I suspect normal service will be resumed in 2010.