Merry Christmas

I just wish all of you a merry christmas and a happy new year.

Fenced Off

The land at the side of yobs entering the embankment of the River Douglas the Cherry Gardens at the rear was the entrance for the River Douglas, where they would engage in anti social behaviour. This included drinking, urinating and shouting. The police would not enter the woods on the embankment as it was to dangerous for them and the youths. Residents have been fighting for this for two yrs and getting no where. A few months ago they asked myself to help and I went and did a site visit with them and agreed there and then it needed a fence. They said that would be great. Them police agreed that this would be a solution.

Two weeks ago the fence was installed and now in place so that the residents can enjoy a peaceful life now. I used my brighter borough money to fund this and this was used to pay for all of it.

One local resident said, " We know which councillors talk the talk and which walk the walk and we are grateful for all your help.

MP's Expenses

No matter what you think about the MP expenses it is not going to be good. Today the House of Parliment have published the expenses of ALL MP's. Please click on the link below and see them. Just scroll down to find your MP. View it for yourself and make your own mind up.

http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/

Proof that the Tory's voted with Labour on Montrose.

I put in my last leaflet that the Tory's voted with Labour on Montrose. I had put a motion to Full Council and here you can see that the Tory's, with the except of Tory Councillor Houlton and Cadman who both abstained, voted with Labour to start the proposal of closing the school.

Why did Tory Councillor abstain, Why did they sit on the fence. Was it because I had asked for a name vote and they did not want to be named and shamed? Why did they not want to support my motion to stop this proposal? You either with the school closure or not.

Please click on the link below and look at Minute 24.

http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/CommitteesCabinetPanels/Minutes/2009-10/200907/Council150709.htm

Fence installed

As a previous post where I had asked the Council to erect a fence at the back of the land at the side of the Cherry Gardens to stop anti social behaviour plus also stop any danger too.

Children were entering the woods which are on a steep bank of the River Douglas. The police would not go into the woods as it was to dangerous and the kids would drink smoke and everything else. The properties that back on to the land had a lot of anti social behaviour on there and their lives were being blighted by this.

The fence has now been erected and the residents now are pleased with the results.

Council close to being reported.

With all the posts on the proposed new boys and girls club I have asked a number of question on my previous post on the blog, I won't go through it all again. The Council have failed to respond and if they have not responded by tomorrow I will have not other choice but to refer the matter to the District Auditor.

A number of residents are emailing, ringing and asking a lot of good questions and if these cannot be answered I have to represent them and not the Council. What is important to remember if the Council does not have anything to hide why do they not respond to these questions?

Boys and Girls Club Pre Determination?

It has been brought to my attention about what Mr Dave Whelan wrote in his book. This is what a number of residents have brought to my attention

"As i write were entering the planning stages, but crucially the local authority is already on board with the project. They've assigned a perfect piece of real estate in the centre of Wigan and more importantly agreed to co-fund the club. Bolton's club receives forty per cent of its income from the council; the rest it makes from the private sector in the form of donations,charges or charity work. That's exactly the split we've agreed with Wigan Council. "

They say the following

If that's not Pre-Determination on a Grand scale then i don't know what is. This statement was in print appox end of March beginning of June at the latest, it was made available to the public at the beginning of august. the first cabinet meeting that discussed the youth club was on 29/9/09......

This does put the Council into a bad light as they seem to be going about things the wrong way. I have spoken with a senior officer who says that what was written is not true from the Council's point of view and nothing has been decided. Now if that is what Mr Dave Whelan has written then why would he say this if if was not true? Or is the more from the Council or the leader of the Council that has not been disclosed.

UKIP One issue Party

It has been reported today in the Times Newspaper today that UKIP offered the Conservative to disband if they called a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, which in effect would have had to been about whether to stay in the EU or not.

What I think this shows is a number of things.

The first is that the UKIP Party only has one issue and that is the EU. It might not be a bad issue as I too believe that because of all the debate on Europe the people of the Country should have their opinion heard. This should be in the form of a referendum. But should a party be set up and run on a single issue?

Secondly it shows that, as for as I am aware, the UKIP party did not even ask its members first about should they offer this deal and possibly disband. Imagine had the Tory's done the deal and then the next morning you woke up and heard that the party that you were a member of was disbanding because they had done a deal with the Tories, I guess let down is just the start.

Finally, if a party is set up on one issue and they could be disbanded so easily why were they standing for seats in Local , General and European seats that would last for years. Again just image if you were voted in a UKIP MEP and they a month later they disbanded. Would that mean that the person voted in stood down? Would you think the person you elected had done a good job.

I think this demonstrates that there are differences between pressure groups , which are fine and Political Party.

So if you ever think about voting for UKIP think will they be here tomorrow as they have thought about disbanding so easily before.

The Times article is here:- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6935779.ece

Home Secretary rejects Gary McKinnon's last ditch appeal against U.S. extradition.

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson has rejected an appeal by Gary McKinnon Lawyers to stop his extradition. Alan Johnson had said that he would review new medical evidence. He has said he has done that and he will not stop the extradition. He then gave Gary McKinnon only save days to apply for a Judicial Review when the normal time scales is 3 months for this. Why has this basic right been shortened. The whole case is a disgrace.

Whilst I believe people that break who break the law should go on trial why should we not try this person in the UK has the crime was done in his London Flat?

What I find more disturbing about all of this is the treaty the Labour signed. Three main points are:-

1, it removes the requirement on the US to provide prima facie evidence when requesting the extradition of people from the UK but maintains the requirement on the UK to satisfy the "probable cause" requirement in the US when seeking the extradition of US nationals;

2, it removes or restricts key protections currently open to suspects and defendants;

3, it implements the EU-US Treaty on extradition, signed in Washington on 25 June 2003, but far exceeds the provisions in this agreement.

This treaty should be equal both ways or ripped up!

Ongoing Work

Parking in Swinley

Received an yet another email about the parking issues in Swinley and residents passing out permits for people outside of Wigan. Whilst some problems have been resolved by this issue of introducing permits I wonder if there is a better way of doing this so we do not get all the problems that we currently have.

Elected Mayor Requisition

Also found out today that just short of 12000 names are needed to get a referendum on this and I have asked for the format needed as I feel this is probably the only way forward for Wigan as the current situation is not Democracy but Dictatorship.

Council Try to resolve the diabolical behaviour in the Council Chamber.

I believe that the Chief Executive is looking to get a meeting together of all the Leaders together and see if they can resolve the behaviour. Fit a web cast on the website and let the people of Wigan see what happens and then let them decide if that is the kind of behaviour they want from their Councillors. I wonder why Labour and the Tory's do not want this system in place?

Mesnes Playing field debate

This debate will probably rumble on and on for some time and with the application for village green status currently in as well it will be interesting to hear about all the history and how this fits in with Wigan.

What is important that we preserve this field for the people of Wigan not only today but for the generations to come as well.

Banks win appeal to charge for unauthorised Overdrafts

This has been an interesting argument that has been going on. Whilst if the bank lost this appeal they would have charged the rest of us for the privilege of having a bank account or withdrawing our money etc. But if some one is going to go overdrawn by say £3 and they refused that direct debit but then charge the customer £35 for them to send a letter to say that they have refused a direct debit that certainly seems unfair.

I see that this can go back to the houses of Parliament, if the MP's want it to so let's watch this space.

Tory's help Labour not to allow Councillors scrutinising yet another school.

At last week's Cabinet meeting there were two potential school closures, Montrose special school and also Hesketh Meadows Secondary school. It had been decided that both the Labour Mayor and Tory Deputy Mayor had decided to not let the decision of cabinet be called in. The Mayor felt that Hesketh Meadow was to close to him and the Deputy Mayor Cadman decided that Montrose was to close to him and therefore Tory Deputy Mayor Cadman blocked Hesketh Fletcher from being called in and Mayor Aldred decided that Montrose could not be called in. What a disgrace and goes to show and demonstrate that Labour and Tory's are in bed together. Why are the Tory's helping Labour by blocking any scrutiny on these issue?

Where has Democracy Gone in Wigan?

Where has Democracy gone in Wigan? Last month a small number of people took part in whether to have an elected Mayor in Wigan or not. 81% said to have an elected mayor 19% said to keep the current system of Cabinet and Leader.

Tonight, the Labour cabinet has done it again. Last Week the Children's Scrutiny committee decided to keep Montrose school open. That decision went to the Labour Cabinet today and they voted against the Committee and shut the school. What on earth is going on? This just demonstrates that these talking shops of Scrutiny committees have no matter what they say or do the Cabinet will do what they want to I thought Labour kept saying we are listening to the people. Well if they are they don't care for what they are saying.

Cllr Gareth Fairhurst, said tonight "What a complete disgrace. Where is democracy in Wigan gone, two decisions in two months and the Labour Cabinet just ignore them both and also the people. The Labour Cabinet just do what they want with no regard to what other people say. It is about time that we have a complete overhaul of democracy in Wigan and that should begin with the leader of the Cabinet resigning. Is he for democracy or dictatorship because it sure looks clear to me which one he prefers."

Village Green Status

Last week an application for Mesnes Playing Field to be turned into a village green. If this application it will not only stop the boys and girls club being built on the site but it will also stop anything else being built on it. This would be a tremendous success for the site and more importantly for Wigan.

I will help this application all I can and will support it too. But I think it is also important to continue with having a look at the new boys and girls club to be brought into Wigan if all is okay with it. With this I mean how the Council will fund and the commitment that the Council will need to make.

Elected Mayor debate, if that is what you call it that.

At last night Full Council Special meeting of the elected mayor or cabinet with leader situation the leader of the Labour and Tory's both agreed together, bless, that it was important that we have cabinet and leader situation. Did they both agreed, did they get together first and agree their talks? Interesting thought but I think they did. However they both agree that it would lessen the position of a Councillor. I disagree. I think that it will focus the Councillors on their Wards and to make sure that their Wards are being worked and represented rather than letting party politics getting in the way.

I believe that the Labour and Tories both want to keep the current system as it is a political party machine and I believe in my humble opinion that there is no place for party politics in Wigan local issues. Lets have councillors that represent their ward with no barriers and no restrictions.

Jobs of the day

I have also been looking at a number of jobs that need doing that have not yet been carried out.

First there is the fence at Cherry Gardens. I have been chasing this up every day this week and today the Council now decide that the area is in a Conservation area and the Council need to look at the fence to make sure that it fits in with the area. To my knowledge this already been done and addressed but we will see ho long it takes to do this.

Also I have chased the alley way resurface in Romney Way, Whelly. I was told this would have been done asap in June and it has still not. I have chased this today also and I await an answer. I will post the update on this in the next few days.

The day after the Day Before.

What a day yesterday with such a great reception from the children of a primary school in my ward. With some fantastic questions but equally impressive was the knowledge and understand that these children had already really good. What was so relevant that we all did not realise was one child said, "my dad says that Councillors get paid to argue." How true is dad speaks.

At last Council meeting was an absolute disgrace. Whilst it is true that I can give as good as I give it certainly true that I will not sit in a room and be personally attacked. The Council meetings are there to discuss and debate. Whilst there has to be a tolerance of political differences there is no need to be personal, disrespectful or discourteous about it.

Our group have asked for a meeting with the Chief Executive and head of Legal Services. With regards reporting members of the council chamber to the standards board for their actions.

School Visit and 2 Fulll Council Meetings

It's all in a days work. I was going to have a meeting this morning with council officers but with my new medication as kicked in so I had to cancel that. This afternoon I will be visiting a school giving a visit to children that have asked me to go in. This was in the I'm a councillor get me out of here, so they wanted me to visit in person which I will be doing.

After that I will be off to the Town Hall with a meeting with the Chief Executive and the Deputy Chief Executive of the Council over a complaint that I have put in as I want some answers to some very serious question.

Then back home for a quick bite to eat and spend some time with the Kids and then back to the Town Hall for the 2 full council meetings after each other.

The first is about the Elected Mayor and if we should have one, given that 81% of the people that were in the consultation survey replies say that we should and 19% say not so the Labour Council supported by the Tory's will opt for not having an elected mayor. What was the point of having a consultation?

Elected Mayor - Facebook page

I have posted a fun item on face book relating to elected mayors. At present Wigan Council has to think about if they want to go down this route or stay with the same system that they have Cabinet and Leader.

So this page is if you were the Elected Mayor in Wigan what would you do?

The link is below so why not click on and say what you would do.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=165322714930&ref=mf

Busy Week

It has been a relative busy week hence no daily updates.

I have been involved with the Mesnes Playing Field where a Super Youth Club is being proposed. Like I have said I have met with Martin Ainscough the person who had the idea if this Club in Wigan and also Dave Whelan, who is also a major person behind this scheme. I like the commitment these two individuals with Mr Bill Ainscough have shown towards this but the location I have a problem with as as one resident has said this area is Wigans' Garden! I have proposed that the charity that has been set up to open this club look at and evaluate the old Town Hall Site.

At last week Overview and Scrutiny meeting it was declared that a decision had only been made in principle when the Council said at that same meeting no decision had been made as it could not have legally have done this. With this in mind I will be referring this to the district auditor next week so he can have a look at this.

Also I have been helping residents over trees that have over shadowing their property in Scholes and the Council are setting things in motion to get these trees removed all together and I will be speaking with the Council and the residents next week to finalise this issue.

All the damage bridge in Leyland Mill lane. This is were the tops have been damaged and are missing and I have asked the Council to get a quote to repair this and I will look to pay for this work out of Brighter Borough Fund.

Finally I have been putting the final steps in place to get the fence put up at the side of the Cherry Gardens and have the land cleaned up in the next beat it clean up which is in the next week or two.

Barbara Nettleton Leaves Township!

A hard working member of the community Barbara Nettleton has resigned from the Wigan North Township as chair. In a statement read to the meeting she said that she was disgusted at the way the Council has worked and how it has used her, her residents association and others for their own end.

This is because the Council have dismissed a member of staff, the town ship manager and Barbara is disgusted that this witch hunt has been allowed to go on the way that it has.

What is interesting about this is the fact that Barbara also used to be a member of the Labour Party and quit that too. It goes to show that people are having enough of Labour in Wigan and one of the main reasons is because of the way this Councils operates and works.

Victory for parking in Charles Street

As another post on the blog I was fighting the ridiculous situation with the parking in Charles Street. This was where two parking bays were opposite each other and causing obstruction. I have had word today from the Council that the parking bay on the north of the road will be removed and double yellow lines put in. Good news.

Call in date

The call in for the Youth Facility on Mesnes Playing Field is set for 22 October. I have requested that the Leader of the Council attend and answer question. He has not responded to the request by Cllr Officers and I have asked for them to chase him.

Also I think I am in the final stages of applying to the High Court to review the Dam situation I just need one more piece of info and then I think I will be able to apply.

Call In

Last week the Cabinet met to decide the first stage of the proposed boys and girls club on Mesnes Playing Field. I have called this decision in now which means that no further action can take place until a spacial meeting as met, including myself, where by we can scrutinise this decision and then send it back to be re looked at.

The reason why I have done this is because the report that Cabinet voted on is so vague and unsubstantial that I do not believe that any reasonable person could vote upon it. The meeting will take place in the next 2 weeks and it has been supported by a large number of Opposition Councillors with the except of the Tories as not one member of them have supported this call in and demonstrates true to form the joining of the Labour Party and Tories in Wigan.

New Boys and Girls Club.

One of the most discussed topics at the moment that residents are ringing up about is the proposed Boys and Girls club. This is on Mesnes playing fields and the people behind the scheme are Mr Dave Whelan and the Ainscough brothers, Martin and Bill. This fields was left for the people of Wigan for their use.

What certainly seems the case is that people want this field to be left alone and for Wigan Council to retain it as it is. I know of certain things that residents are doing and these will no doubt spring up in the near future.

Skips in the road.

As a local Councillor you get many varied requests and there have been a number of occasions were residents have rang up over skips, with no lights on in the road. When I have looked into this matter they also need a license from the Council and at times some operators do not apply for the license. This cheats Wigan Council tax payers of revenue but more important leaves the public and the operator at risk. As if there is an incident were people crash into a skip and there is no license then the operators insurance is invalid and the person injured as a harder time of getting any money for compensation and/ or to repair their car.

There are the majority of operators that go by the rules and this is good news but this is an area were the Council needs to make sure we come down on any rogue operators of Skips and a letter will soon be going out to all operators saying that this kind of action will not be tolerated by the Council.

You could not make it up!

After dealing with Wigan Council now as an elected member for a number of years it never suprises me whn they cock up, i.e leaving laptops out on desk with 33000 children names and details on etc.

I submitted a motion or one of a few motions on the 28 August for tomorrows Council meeting. I got told last night that it could not go forward as it was not competent. I had spoken with the Council over my motions and this was never flagged. Had it been I could have amended it and got it through but being told last night was just after the deadline. All I get is a sorry send it for the next meeting if you want.

While I accept that we all make mistakes I feel if you do it is then up to you to correct that mistake. I am sure this happens with people every day in work. But yet Wigan Council does not seem to do this. I have said I want it sorting and I await their response.

Later got a meeting over Orica site in Shevington as Cllr Bland and Fairhurst have another meeting.

Today's events

Will be having a meeting with the group later tonight about Wednesday Council meeting and preparing for that. This is looking to be a highly charged event and I would always recommend that members of the public come and view the event and see what their Councillor are doing or not doing and see how the debates go.

Also had a question from the press about my Brighter Borough and why I have so much. I have said that I do not spend just for the sake of it and I would use it when needed. I think this money should be scrapped and the Council Tax being reduced.

Also any groups need any funding please get in touch and let me know and I will see what I can do.

Also I see that the local paper has picked up about the developer issue where he might get away with knocking the two houses down on Wigan Lane without planning permission. I have attached a web link to the story. This is called Conservation or Devastation!

New option for Council to choose.

The Council has been asked to choose a new option for how it is run The two options are a leader and cabinet, which Wigan currently has or the second option is an elected Mayor, like what London has.

I would say that the second option is best as we have this system already by the back door. The Labour leader picks who he wants in the Cabinet and if they do not do what he says he kicks them out. The only difference is that he is not elected to run as an individual. I believe that the people should hold one man accountable and that would free up local Councillors to run for themselves rather than being ran by party politics. This way the people should get better Councillors as they will work more for them rather than the party.

Responses have to be in by 2 October 2009 and I would urge people to ask for them to have a choice of which system they want rather than having being forced on to them by the Council.

Take Control back!

New Option for dam.

I have received a letter today regarding the dam. A local resident of Coppull Lane has said he has been in contact with the British Waterways on this matter and they say they have never been consulted on this matter and this is possible. This information is very useful will hopefully help enormously.

Another busy old morning

Started the day with a photo shoot with a local resident over a parking issue then went to meeting at the environment agency. That was some time and then responded to emails and returned phone calls.

The meeting was very interesting. This was interesting in the sense that I have uncovered yet more questionable behaviour from the Environment Agency and they Council. I have asked the Council whether they have agreed a certain practise and await their response.

I will over the weekend be working on the legal papers for the high court

Busy old morning.

Day started off with a radio interview at Wish FM over the dam issue. They have picked the campaign up and wanted to report on it, which will help get more and more known about the issue and get more involved and support the campaign.

The facebook campaign, STOP THE DAM was launched last night and already a number of people have joined the campaign, which is re assuring.

Then the local press wanted to organise a photo shoot over the Charles street parking issue and this went back and forth between us and the residents and that has now been arranged for tomorrow morning.

After that I will go straight to meet with the Environment Agency over the dam.

Finally dealt with some emails from officers of the council wanting to arrange meetings with either myself or the group to update us over things and also to get more info on I am a Councillor get me out of here later on in the year.

Dam issue growing in strength

As previous blogs show I have been fighting this dam proposal and the growing of feeling against the dam is growing. The environment agency have asked me for a meeting with myself and this has been arranged for Friday morning whilst on route to work. Many people ask me how I can be a father, husband, councillor and also have a full time work but the way I do is to work things into things like meetings whilst driving past to work or similar ideas etc.

The public strength like I have said is growing and now a local radio station want to get on board and want to do an interview tomorrow morning, again whilst I drive past on route to work.

Some one has mention a face book group as well and I will look at this tonight, so keep your eyes open on the web.

Enviroment ask for meeting!

After much publicity on the planning application for the new dam the environment agency have asked for a meeting with myself over the possibility of a legal challenge. The meeting is now set to take place on Friday at 9.30am in their office

They want us to both sing for the same hymn sheet so I guess an interesting meeting is likely. Once the out come of the meeting is known I will post this on the blog too.

Just Amazing - You couldn't make it up !

As many will know from previous blogs on the fence issue as it is now being called I have concerns over a number of Council Officers. In have now made a formal complaint to the chief executive on Wigan Council Now she has asked a person tat is part of the complaint to do the investigation. Errrrr now I wonder what the out come will be?

In the press article I say how hard can it be to erected a fence and there has been so much political bias and obstruction from the Council it is un real. We are not talking about a mayor issue like closing speacial school or anything like that but a fence. Now people can see why I get so mad over things. Wigan Council needs to remember that they have to be unbiased and treat ALL elected members with the same degree of help and not get drawn If they get drawn into then they should expect to get a hard hitting response.

Charles Stret Parking

At the top end of Charles Street there are two parking bars. If both of these are used at the same time then there is no way a car can get through never mind a fire engine. Residents have complained to me about this and last night I went and did a site visit with them and notice the issue. I will be writing to the Council today to get this resolved and have one of the bays removed and get double yellow lines down. This needs to be sorted and this should be an easy problem to resolve.

Legal battle against the Dam

After last Tuesday Planning Committee meeting it has come to light that some of the information were not included in the plans. This meant residents and others would not be aware of the full facts and also would not have been given an opportunity to make their views known. After this has come to light a senior member of the planning dept has confirmed this and the fact that the Council could get into trouble I am now looking into a Judicial review on the application and asking the High Court to look at this and rule against it so the applicant has to put all the relevant information in the public domain. Watch this space.

Council crash head on with Cllr Gareth fairhurst

In last Friday's evening post I raised an issue about stopping anti social behaviour by putting afence up to stop youths entering into a dangerous area of some woods behind the Cherry Gardens house. The Council's response was that I did not raise this and said I have never said I would pay for the fence with my brighter borough. The official response was that I have never put this on to the members inquiry system so therefore tried to insinuate that I have not contacted the council. You would use this system if you did not know who it was to contact over an issue but seeing as I went straight to the chief executive of Wigan Leigh Culture Trust there was no need to do this as this would not be normal practise. So here is the deal ever email I ever send in will now be copied and [pasted onto the inquiry system and we will see how long it takes for them to respond and also before the system crashes. I encourage all other to do this and I guess an official complaint will follow shortly to the the Chief Executive of Wigan Council over this blatant disregard for facts to represents the truth.

Post Office License to be reviewed

Many people have complained about the post office on Wigan Lane. Many believe that this outlet has been responsible for selling alcohol to under age youths. These have then got drunk and caused mayhem whilst drunk. After the outlet has been caught by trading standards selling to under age children the license is going before the licensing committee to hear whether to withdraw the license to stop this shop from selling alcohol again.

I would urge as many people as possible who live in the area to support this review and ask for the license to be revoked. I, as a local councillor have objected to this shop having a license and I hope that the committee remove the license and this will be one step closer to removing this mindless thugs from our streets. Also I hope it sends out a message to other shops that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Dam Allowed to go ahead.

The planning committee has decided to let the planning application for the new dam to go ahead at the bottom of Coppull Lane.

At the planning meeting it was suggested that the planning dept had not notified residents of a part of the application. If this is the case I will launch a high court judicial review as the planning dept of Wigan Council can simple not rule rough shot over the law and notify people.

At the planning committee hearing the environment agency even said that if this dam was not built then people would die in Wigan when Wigan flooded. What a disgrace, how on earth could they say this when there is no evident that Wigan would flood never mind how they could prove that people would die. A resident after the meeting described the environment agency has being like terrorists. What a disgrace this government agency is acting in this way.

LABOUR, THE TORIES AND LIB DEMS VOTED FOR THIS DAM!

How hard can it be to erect a fence?

The answer to this is pretty hard if you are Wigan Council. At the land at the side of the cherry gardens there is a self made path into the woods where youths go into the woods to drink, mess about and cause a nuissance. This has been a problem for local residents for a number of years at least two. Residents have had enough now and want action.

I have visited the site with a local resident who has shown me the problem and a simple solution would be to erect a fence at the back of the fence and this would be easy a simple. I have offered to pay for the fence out of my brighter borough fund and have the backing of the police. However Wigan Leisure trust, a part of the Council, manage the site on behalf of the planning dept and they can not decide what to do. simple erect a fence! How hard can it be?

The Dam must be stopped.

The environment agency is still putting the planning application for the dam at the bottom of Coppull lane and Bottling Wood. I am against this as it will have an irreversible effect on the wildlife and also the area.

Also the bleachwork area of Haigh/ Standish also suffers from flooding and this dam will make that issue worse. The Environment Agency must make the whole situation for everyone better and think the problem through, rather than spending money just for the sake of it.

I have objected to the planning application and will continue to fight all the way on this matter.

Wigan Council Trying to take back land

Some years ago a piece of land at the side of a house in scholes was a site for fly tipping and other rubbish. The residents who lived next to the site tried to get the site cleaned up but the Council refused saying that it was not their land so they did not need to do it. Even the local residents association tried to get it cleaned up but no success. After years of trying they had enough and cleaned the site up at their own cost. Now the Council say that they want the site back to how it was and also for them to remove the fence that they put up to stop more fly tipping and they did make their garden bigger. I got involved with this over 14 mths ago and got the Council to lease the land to the residents to resolve the issue they agreed that this was a good way forward and I thought all was okay until just before the signing of the lease the Council planning dept wrote to the residents saying that they needed planning permission and then said that this was most likely to be refused.

The Council have now said that they plan to take the land back and use the law to do this if needed. This is ridiculous as the cost of this will far out weigh the legal cost and maintenance cost. Given the confusion at the beginning where the Council was saying this was not their land I feel that the simple thing is to let the residents lease the land and the Council to retain ownership. But the Council want to retain their cake and eat it.

How hard can it be?

Before yesterday's blog I had sent an email about erecting a simple fence at the back of a piece of land. I stated that I would use my bb fund to pay for it so that we did not go round in circles in who owns what and who will pay what.

But today I have had an email saying that ownership is complicated. They say that the land is owned by the Planning dept but managed by the leisure trust. HELLO! Someone strike me down but I always thought that both we owned by the Council!

Just goes to show how stupid and ridiculous the Council is.

2 Yr of anti social behaviour and why

Residents on Leyland Mill Lane and at the some parts of Wigan Lane near Woodfield School have been experiencing 2 yrs of anti social behaviour. Yobs have been going on to the land at the side of the Cherry gardens and accessing the woods behind whilst drinking swearing urinating and a whole manner of other vile things.

One resident has been lobbying the Council, the Police, the leisure trust, the conservative Councilllor and got no joy. All have blamed some one else and say we don't own the land and it is nothing to do with us.

I have seen the problem and it is quite easy to fix. Put up a fence at the back of the field and that will stop yobs accessing the woodland . This will stop them. I have emailed the Council and said I will use my brighter borough money to get this resolved. I a wait their response. But this is easy to fix. Time will tell how hard the Council make it.

Labour and Tory vote to continue to close Montrose School

At last night Council meeting I put it to the meeting that we propose to stop the consultation with immediate effect. Labour all voted to continue to close it, with Labour Cllr Jeanette Prescott, who is also a school governor, attacked me with verbal abuse and lies and smears. This is how much it hurts that I and others are exposing them for what they are. I said that any one who voted to close the school should hang their head in shame.

The fight will get stronger and we will work to get this overturned. A Mere Oaks type situation should never be allowed again in Wigan. You would have thought that the Labour and the Tory would know this but they sit there behind the doors of the Town Hall and hope that no one will find out. I will fight to keep this school and also expose the filth that these Councillors are.

Boards repainted.

I raised the issue that a developer on Wigan Lane had put some boards up whilst developing the land behind it. This is not unusal but what was that the boards were painted bright pink. I raised this with the Council and said I wanted them to take the case on and get the developer to re paint the boards.

I am pleased to say that I have had a successs in this matter and the developer has now re painted the boards blue. A lot better than the bright pink that they were.

Alley Way to be re surfaced

The alley way from Romney way to Westfield Grove in Whitley is been a mess for years. With local residents trying for years to get this sort no one admitted to owning the land. However after a number of residents contacted myself over this I made enquiries and found out that the Council does own it and they have now agreed to re surface the alley as soon as possible.

This will be a welcomed by all that use it to make it safer. This work will be carried out soon.

Crossing Gets Refused

A some of you know I have been fighting for a zebra crossing on Mesnes Road.. This is where the Brockett Pub house is. What is happening people phone taxi's and then the taxi's come up from Wigan and do a u turn and wait for the people. The problem is that they wait on the road blocking the road island where people cross. By doing this it makes crossing more dangerous.

I was told I could not have a pedestrian but could have a zebra crossing. I have now been told that this is not going to go ahead. I have asked for all the details why this has not been approved and will be fighting for it to be given the green light.

Law is a joke

The us Government is trying to extradite British citizen Gary McKinnon. He has been accused of hacking into NASA and the Pentagon's computers. He said he did this to see if there was any proof of alien life. Gary suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. The home office and minister Alan Johnson could stop this from happening. But they refuse too. What really gets me is the fact that while the British taxpayers are paying for the USA dirty work and get people like Gary the UK cannot deport Abu Qatada for example. Where is this great British justice that I hear the politicians talking about . The law is a joke and we must deport the people that need deporting, regardless of their human rights. We must do this because the many people that they have helped to kill also had their human rights too. An eye for an eye etc.

I urge people to go to the daily mail website as they are also fighting this extradition and sign the petition. Web site is www.dailymail.co.uk/gary

Tax Payers money for Labour Clubs.

I raised this issue some time ago with Ex Labour Councillor George Davies used some of his brighter borough money for Standish Labour Club. This in my opinion is just wrong and should not be allowed. But here we are again. I believe that Labour have used more tax payers money has been used for another Labour Club in Wigan.

This practise is wrong and tax payers money, in my opinion, should not be used for private members club. If they are struggling that is a sign of the times but other are surviving and they should learn from them rather than using tax payers money for Labour Club.

College buildings to yet more flats

Wigan Council planning committee have given approval for a planning application to turn the old college buildings on Bridgeman Terrace, Wigan. I objected to this application has we do not need more flats in Wigan. With more and more of these flats getting repossessed and laying empty the demand for these type of homes are not required to the number that Wigan have. With more and more lenders with tight lending criteria for new build flats even if they were obtaining money on them is harder than if some one were buying a house. So why does Wigan Council continually allow these to be built only to lay empty.

At the planning committee Wigan Independent Conservatives Councillor George Fairhurst said that this would cause gridlock round Wigan with people having two cars per unit if they were sold like the developer says. He also said that there was no demand for these type of dwellings and recommended that the committee refuse the application. Labour voted this through.

Mayor goes into hiding!!

Just when you think Wigan Council and labour could get any worse well think again. The Mayor, a person who is meant to be Wigan's first citizen has decided that his programme of events should not be published so people of Wigan , including councillors would not know where the Mayor is or what he is doing. What a joke! I have written to Wigan Council complaining of this. Wigan Council state that this has been done for security reason. But yet the Queen publishes her movements before events. If it is good enough for the Queen it should be good enough for anyone else.

I will be raising this at the next Full Council meeting. It will be interesting to see what they have to say. I was going to publish a picture of the Mayor unfortunately I could not find him to take a picture.....lol.

Planning Committee a joke?

Whilst discussing the meeting of the planning committee with the mesnes conservation action group a common theme was coming through that they all seem to think that the Labour members had dicided the out come before they even got to the meeting.

In the morning they had been to see the mesnes park on a site visit. Whilst the officers of the Council was explaining the application and where things were some of the Labour Councillors just went off on a walk about with out listening to the points. How could they come to an informed decision.

Next the controversial decision that husband and wife duo Labour Councillor Paul and Jeanette Prescott sit on the committee together. Whilst members of the opposition wanted to speak Cllr Jeanette Prescott said move to the vote and then Paul did without the members of the opposition being able to speak. Was this a planned decision?

The Mesnes Area Conservation Action Group members that attended that Wigan Independent Councillor George Fairhurst asked some very questions and was the only one that moved to reject the application.

Councillor door knocking

I have taken being a councillor back to it's root. This last week I have been knocking on doors listening to the people and finding out what is important to them. What seems to be a reoccurring theme is that they want their councillors to work for them and make sure that they work for them. They are not bothered about party politics at a local level.

I have heard about a few more issues which I will be working to resolve for them and hopefully this will be sooner rather than later.

Labour and Tories vote together to ruin Mesnes Road

At today's meeting of the planning committee phrase one of the planning application. This is the start of the end of Mesnes Park. They will ruin this Victorian park. I will be meeting with the action group tomorrow's night to look at the next stage to see what they think and what they want to do next.

Now that the first part of the application is through Labour have to show their hands if they want their new entrance and make a new car park within the park. I believe that a car park should not be in a park. By doing this you turn the park into a car park and I do not know of anyone visiting a car park for a family picnic or to have fun.

Council refuse special meeting

With Labour refusing to stop the possible closure of Montrose school. I asked for a special meeting but Labour feel that it is not important to discuss this. Therefore I will be moving a motion at the next Council meeting. I have new information but yet Labour do not want to know they want to continue to rail road their closures of yet more schools.

I will continue to fight this all the way and continue to keep going.

Special Council Meeting

Now the Council are looking to close Montrose Special School. The Council are looking to go for a formal consultation to close the school. With that in mind I am calling for a special council meeting to discuss this matter. I have now got the right number of supporting councillors and I am hand delivering the requisition to the Mayor tonight.

If he does not call a special meeting then I will ask the Chief Executive of Wigan Council to call this. This matter is important as new evidence as come to light and we need the right decision for these children. This is not a matter that can be taken lightly.

Is it a Million or more?

Wigan Council has said that the cost of Councillor's expenses is more than a million pound. Cllr Gareth Fairhurst thinks that it is more than likely that this figure is more than double this figure. With Councillors taking degrees and other courses on the taxpayers money and also many councillors signing up to the pension scheme as well that all these figures if disclosed would be more than double.

I think that this is a disgrace when many people cannot afford to go to university to get degrees we have greedy Councillors getting free degrees. They say that this is so that if and when they get kicked out of office they can prove to would be employers what they have achieved over the last years etc.

Also with many Councillors taking up the pension scheme this would double the money that the Council says Councillors cost the Taxpayers.

Meetings

Last night saw me rushing round to a couple of residents meeting. The first being the Swinley Residents Group that are organising a community safety day in July. This will be at Penson Street Centre and it seems the group have got a lot going on with a climbing wall and the Rock bus coming with face painting too. It is good that they are doing this whilst trying to get more people involved with themselves also promoting community awareness on safety. Go along and have a look.

Secondly it was over to the weekly Mesnes Conservation Group that was talking about the Mesnes Park restoration that the Leisure trust are trying to do. Whats seems odd to me is why the Council and Leisure trust do not be more open and want to work with people. They always seem to be we are right you are wrong go away attitude. I am working for this to change and will continue to support the group and residents on this matter.

Developer shows disregard for area

Developers have shown some high disregard over the years in Wigan over recent years but now a developer is showing more of a high disregard in one of it's developments on Wigan Road. As many of you know Wigan Road near Boars Head has been destroyed over the last few years with many developers buying the larger properties of Wigan only to knock them down to build flats. When they start the building work the developers normally screen the developments of. These have often been of plain white boards or they might have pictures of the new design that is currently being built on that site.

But now in Wigan Road a developer has screened their site off with bright pink plain boards. Not only are these boards hideous but they are unwelcome. I have written to the Council over this matter and to see what can be done in this area.

Alley Way needs to closed off

Last year Wigan Council drug unit was re located to the Coops buildings at Dorning Street, Wigan. As part of the deal Wigan Council was going to ask the owners of the BT building to put a new fence round the BT building and also have a CCTV camera at the corner of Dorning street to view the Coops building but also could view the street down to the alley way that leads to Spring Gardens. This alley has caused a number of problems over the years for local residents. The issue is it is not a proper alley the land is owned by the owners of the BT building and can fence it off very easily. But have not.

The alley way is suffering from people doing drugs and drink and is close to the Deanery High School. I have contacted the Council to get this resolved and they have written to the owners to get this resolved. I am waiting their response but this needs to be resolved sooner rather than later to make sure we resolve the anti social behaviour in this alley way.

Junction need looking at

Many drivers will know that more roads are needed to be built. Standish, Shevington, Orrell and Wigan all suffer because drivers cannot get where they want to be. Drivers going to Wigan coming from the North come of at Junction 27 and travel through Standish and Shevington. The roads cannot cope. The same can be said coming from the south and theycome off at junction 26 and travel through Orrell and Pemberton.

One major road that needs to be look at is either a new junction between Junction 27 and Junction 26. This could run behind Heinz factory and come out at Martland Mill. This would ease lorry's of local roads and get them to the industrial units quicker. It would also benefit the football and rugby teams as the supporters will come off there too and again ease local roads including Saddle Junction.

Also a major headache is coming of the Junction south bound on the M6 to go onto the M58. There is often miles of queues for this and if a new junction is made a sweeping slip road could be made too to run straight from the M6 to the M58. Again easing roads.

All this investment would bring more business into Wigan and help and it would help the environment as cars and lorry's would not be sitting there with their cars in idle gear.

We have refer this to the Council and will continue to fight for this as the benefits to Wigan are massive.

Partial Victory on Cycle Lanes

At Wednesday Night's Environment Committee the issue of bike lanes came up and how the Council wanted to do more of them. I raised the issue about how when I was on my bike the other day riding down Wigan Lane when you get to the Cherry Garden the cycle lane goes on to the pavement and then goes back on to the road later down. I said this was ridiculous. When I was at school the police came in and did a cycling course. That informed us how we should ride and they set basic test.

I was supported by a number of other Councillors and as a result the Director of that Dept said he would get involved personally and re look at all lanes with the issue of taking the cycling Lanes of the pavement.

I also raised that with more and more cycle lanes the actual roads are getting narrower, which in my opinion creates more of a hazards.

Fire Works at Enviorment Committee

At last night Environment Committee fireweorks flew when Labour got their new poodle to try and do their dirty works. Many times Labour have tried to stop Cllr Gareth Fairhurst in a number of ways last night at the new meeting Tory Councillor Richard Clayton told Cllr Gareth Fairhurst to shut his laptop up. This was as he was the only one with a laptop. At these meetings reports are printed out and circulated but Cllr Gareth Fairhurst has gone paperless 12 months ago. Cllr Clayton got a firm No from Cllr Gareth Fairhurst saying that this how he works and given that we where at a environment committee maybe others should follow suit. After a length discussion including Labour Cllr Turnock complaining about my power supply lead saying that she could fall over it, not sure how you can do this when you are sat down. But after 15 minutes of discussion and after legal advice Cllr Gareth Fairhurst won the argument and carried on with his laptop use.

This just demonstrates that not only can Labour not win the argument with Cllr Gareth Fairhurst but now the Tories are cannot neither and are just going down the route of personal attacks for the sack of it. What was the point of starting an argument for the best part of 15 20 minutes over some one using a Laptop rather than paper reports? In my opinion the were more important things to discuss.

River Douglas path needs a clean up

The path at the side of the River Douglas needs a clean up. With graffiti on bridges and under growth now growing over the sides and blocking the paths or making harder for people to walk past. Also a residents points out about the litter and if there was litter bins down the path then this would help resolve the problem. With that in mind I have pledge to get the side of the River Douglas cleaned up. This area that I talk about is near Tesco. I have battled for Tesco to get rid of the Trolly's in the River Dougy. Now I will get the graffiti cleaned up and hedges and trees cut back. I will also get bins located in a number of locations along the path. These will be metal ins so and not the rubber bins that have been set on fire previously.

Council not helping

I have always said that in a large number of cases Wigan Council does not help people. One of the people I am helping at the moment is \some one that had a piece of land at the side of their home. This land became notorious for dumping on and also was left to become overgrown and looking a mess. The residents contacted the Council to ask to tidy it up they said it was not their land but the people complaining about. So they set a foot to clean the area up and fence it off to make sure people did not dump on it no longer. They spent a lot of time and money on this so that it was a whole lot nicer than what it was. Then once all the work was complete pop up Wigan Council legal dept saying that they did not own the land but it was the property of Wigan Council and they had to take down the fence and return the land to how it was.

After going back and forward for 12 months I have helped broker a deal where by the residents leave the land as it is and they lease the land of the Council. This was all agreed and just as they were about to sign the lease another letter turned up from the planning dept saying that they had to pay a hefty fee and get planning permission or return the land back to how it was. Did no one in Wigan Council think of this in the last 12 months while we were sorting this out?

One of the things that I say Wigan Council should do is to communicate between depts better.

House Demolished

Last Week two houses on Wigan Lane were demolished. These houses had been empty for some years and had been given permission to be knocked down to make way for flats. However shortly after that Wigan Council put the area into a conservation area. This now meant the they could not knock down the houses without permission.

The previous owner was obviously frustrated by this and sold the houses and the new owner has now just knocked the houses down. I have written to to the Council and said that I am sick of these people that do work, that is not allowed, at the Weekend, knowing that the Council is shut. This is underhanded and I have therefore asked the Council to make an example of this person and go for the full hit an hit him with the maximum penalty and if he has any more applications in we refuse to work with him on the grounds of un trust worthiness or lack of it.

I have confirmation the legal department at Wigan Council are now looking into this and will get back to me once they have more news on this.

No one is above the law or the planning regulations. It is not often I agree with the planning department but on this occasion we need to send out a strong message.

Labour start the process of closing Montrose School

At last night Children Young People Scrutiny Committee I tried to get the debate of closing this school to a Full Council Meeting but the Independent Councillors backed Labour to send the issue back to the Labour Cabinet. This means that they will do nothing new and will now start the process of closing the school, whereby if the debate had gone back to full Council we could have tried to debate this more and get more information and find out more.

At the meeting it was disclosed that the school was in spacial measures, which means Ofsted had concerns over the performance of the school, and as soon as this was order was put on the school, Labour stopped the school from taking new children. Then they argued last night they needed to close the school as there where hardly any children going to the school, well there will not be any children there if you stop any children going to it. Labour just bled this school dry. They cannot blame any one else but themselves.

Also the Council disclosed that this might not be the end to closing more special needs schools in the borough and more could follow.

Alley Gates Updates

On the 16th of April I said that alley gates had been agreed for Eccleston Street alley. I spoke to the team overlooking the project last night to ask where they were up to. I understand that the keys have now sent out to all the residents. The team also inform me that the gates have now been made and that they are just being galvanised and painted and should be installed within the next two weeks.

Since doing this scheme and highlighting it so many people have asked me to do this from cutting off the alley at Spring Gardens to a similar scheme of Eccleston street for Trafalgar Road/ Avondale Street in Wigan. This is one that I feel needs it sooner rather than later and I will be working to get this done.

Driving me mad !

One thing that drives me mad is political correctness going mad. One area that does it for me of tipping me over the edge is when Labour say we are all equal and we should treat it that way. Then say areas like Platt Bridge are areas of deprivation, which may be the case, so we have to give them more money than people in Whitley, Standish and Shevinton etc.

One of the things at the moment is for getting people to go to the gym more for example in the areas of deprivation. Labour argument is people in Whitley and Standish etc can afford it themselves and they can just go and do it. I argue against this as the people in these areas work just as hard as any one. Working long hours miles away from home. I know people in these areas working in North and West Yorkshire and travel there and back each day. That is some travelling. They simply just cannot drive for two hours and then say I think I will go to the gym.

People of all areas should be treated equally and money taken out of areas like Whitley, Standish etc should have their share of the money that they put in.

Labour Try to shut another Special School

Labour have started the move to close another Special School. Montrose in Pemberton is the school in question and Labour say there is no other option as there will be only 21 pupils there next year.

As many of you will be aware Labour shut Mere Oaks and when they said that Labour claimed that once the children get split up the other schools will be saved. Labour knew the figures there at that time. Why did they not see the problem coming?

One of the answer is that Labour stop people going to the school and that puts a strangle hold on the school. Also they get the rumour mill going and then parents then do not let their children go there as it might close. Again this helps Labour shut the schools.

If Labour are good at one thing they are good at shutting schools.

I have called this in. What this means that Labour will have to put things on hold and the issue will have to go before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. At this meeting we will discuss the issue and I will be proposing to save this school.

Blog makeover

I have given the blog a bit of a make over. With a new colour scheme that hopefully makes the different sections stands out a bit more. Also I have put in new features with web links to other useful web sites. Also what the newspaper have said about me plus a count down to the election. Why not put your cursor over the count Down Counter and see the hidden message. Also a weather forecast for Wigan for the next 5 days.

George Formby Statue to be moved

Today the George Formby Statue will be unveiled in his new home. He was unveiled a couple of years ago in the Grand Arcade, Wigan. This was in a corridor towards the back of the arcade. At the time Wigan Council was trying to stop this from happening and would not give planning permission anywhere else.

After all this time a new home in the centre of the Grand Arcade, next to the information desk has been found and he will be unveiled later today at 2 pm. Why not come down and see it all happen.

See you there.

Queen Visit

Today the queen will be visiting the North West. She is coming to Heinz factory and then going to open the Leigh Sports Village. After that she will be taking a lunch with Councillors and her guests. I have been invited to the opening, which I will be going too, but I will not be taking the free lunch at the cost of Taxpayers. Whilst many said I should have done this I believe that I should not. I did ask if I could pay for my own meal but this was not allowed so I made my mind up not to go. This is not to disrespect the Queen but to keep to my promise of not taking any free meals or drinks. I thought me paying for my own meal would have been okay but Labour tried to shove me on their Gravy Train. I will not be getting on the Labour or Tories gravy train and after another Tory MP has been found to claim his expenses for a floating duck house I cannot believe that they continue on these freebies.

Public behind Webcast

In last night's Wigan Evening post they reported how at the last Full Council how the Labour and Tories voted against my motion of recording the Council meeting and then putting it on the web so people of Wigan can see what gets discussed in the Chamber, who votes which way and everything else.

I put this to Council for a couple of reason sorting out behaviour would be one of them and also and more importantly it would encourage more people to vote, one way or another.

Most people on the Wigan Evening Post are in favour of this and I have included a link below so you can see the article and also the comments of the public.

http://www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Row-breaks-out-over-20k.5278077.jp

After all Wigan has the most CCTV cameras in per square foot in the the Town Centre but done in the Council Camber. Like many of the comments on the Evening Post web site. If Labour and the Tories do not want this what have they got to hide?

Mesnes Park Update

There has been a lot of talk about Mesnes Park. The Wigan Leisure Trust have got money to renovate the Park. But they want to put a depot in the middle of the Park and make a new entrance of Park Road. This would create a dangerous black spot where there have been a number of accidents already. It is a dangerous bend and by putting an entrance on it would risks lives.

Putting a depot in the middle of a Victorian Park is ludicrous. There have been a large number of objections to these proposals and I too have fought against them. Once this strong feeling came out then the Leisure Trust have said they would re look at the plans. They are about disclose what they propose to do and submit for the planning application, which I have made sure will go before the planning Committee rather than just get some one rubber stamping it through. There is a meeting tomorrow afternoon on this and if any one wants to go please email me and I will let you know the place and time.

Old Town Hall Site

Many will know that this sites needs cleaning up and something to be done with it. I have been involved with the developers for some time as they contacted me and complained about the Council and the lack of help they where giving to them to get this site developed. I looked into it and agreed.

The owners are looking to get the site cleaned up and then sort the planning permission sorted out for a new hotel to be put on the site. The plan is for the developers of the new joint service centre will use the site for storage etc and fence the site off plus clean it up for two years. Once that has complete the planning permission for the new hotel should be through and then they can get the Hotel started to be built.

What amazes me in this site is the fact for years the Council have been complaining about the site and the developers wanted to get it developed but getting no help from the Council. I wonder why?

More Labour Sleaze !

What disgust me with Wigan Council and especially the Labour Party in Wigan is the sleaze. In recent years they have had one of their Councillors convict of having Child Porn on his computer, he is now in jail for this and other offences. Also the Wigan Labour Chairman was given a job in Wigan Council, talk about look after your own. But this just gets better This persons name was Dorothy Abbott. Her role for Wigan Council was to advice employees what benefits they were entitled to claim. I had complained to Wigan Council to have her removed from her role as officers cannot attack elected members and vice versa. The Labour leaflets had her name on as the agent, so would not anyone with one ounce of common sense would say there is a conflict of interest here.

Anyway to get back to the bigger story was that she was convicted of benefit fraud of a grand scale. This was to the tune of over £28 000. She had to pay this money back quick to avoid jail. She must have sold her house and to pay the money back. So here she is a benefit cheat homeless what do Wigan Council go and do? Give her a Council house which is a bungalow. These are like gold dust. There are so many elderly people that would benefit from one of these rare and unique properties but yet Labour look after their own, including benefits cheats.

Steps cleaned up.

On the post on the blog on Thursday 7 May I said about the steps at bottling wood and how dangerous they where.

Each Ward in Wigan has what is called a beat it team where they come in 4 times a year. Last week was one of the weeks that the beat it team was in the Ward and I had asked them, like I requested, to clean the steps up. A lot better now and also I had requested that the engineers dept replace the hand rail. As you can see this has been done too. The next and final part of the project is the steps will be resurfaced so that they are all level.

What is really interesting about this project is the fact that some one else is trying to claim credit for it. George Davies who is the Labour candidate went into the local press and said that the dam that that the Environment Agency want to build in the valley he is in favour of this and the Environment Agency should put something back into the area by paying for these repairs. First I am against the dam being built and second the residents pay their Council Tax so why could not the Council pay for it, hence why I got in touch with the Council. What is really interesting about George Davies is that the Wigan Council Legal Dept has confirmed that he has NO power in the authority and cannot get jobs done as he is no longer a Councillor.

Thought of the Day !

The Mp's row just keep on going and now all of a sudden a sense of ethics comes to them. After days of exposure in the press they all want to give money back. How thoughtful of them. The thing that comes to me is, lets take Hazel Blears for example. Here she is saying she has done nothing wrong but just for the fun of it I am going to pay the Tax man some money back. Now that to be says I have done something wrong and because it is the tax man that she is giving the money to I would say in my opinion that it is a form of tax evasion. If this is not the case a sense or morality just does not wash with me so it's a bribe to the electorate to vote for her again.

To be fair it is not just Hazel that has done the flipping exercise and members of other party's are guilty of it has well. Maybe it is not just an overhaul of the expenses system we need an overhaul of MP's too.

Another crossing needed !

After championing the campaign for a better crossing outside the Brockett Public House. A number of people have identifying dangerous crossings around Wigan

Another crossing which needs to have a crossing is in Scholes at the Salvation Army crossing over. A number of elderly people walk from Wigan up towards Hardybutts and Darlignton street areas. When they get to this busy crossing there is no safe crossing and you have to take your chances. A number of elderly people say that they know that they are not the quickest at crossing and if they try and cross between the traffic lights signal changes they do not have enough time.

I have taken this up with the Council and they say that the road is not busy enough for a crossing. I wonder if it was one of their parents that had to cross this road if they would still think the same way ?

Tesco Trolly's cleaned up

As I report problems that I am dealing with I think it is only right to give updates and report when things have been resolved.

A couple of weeks ago I said that I was dealing with all the Tesco Trolly's that where in the River Douglas. I contacted Wigan Council and also I visited Tesco also to discuss the problem. I am pleased to say that the Trolly's have been cleaned out of the river now and hopefully we now need to look at keeping it this way.

I will be monitoring the issue on a regular basis now and keep the blog updated with whether we have been successful in keeping the trolly's out.

MP's like their Money !

I see that today See's the issue of the publishing of MP's expenses that they have been trying to hide for months in and through the courts.

I note that they say the rules need to be changed as the rules are out of date. I wonder if they are, are is it the MP's having been playing the system and they should change. For example an MP lives miles away from London, do they need a second home in London? Of course they do. But rather than saying I will be getting a second home in London they then change it to say the home in London is the main Home and where they previously lived is the second home. The only way the rules need to change is to say what is a second home and what is not.

Obviously the MP's have brought this onto themselves, they deserve everything they get in terms of bad press, as for expenses they do not deserve everything they get!

Steps to be cleaned and repaired

The steps at bottling wood have been in the paper lately. The Labour Candidate has said he is in favour of the Dam being built in Bottling Wood and he said that the Enviroment Agency, who are building the dam, should pay for the steps at Bottling Wood to be repaired. What do people pay their Council Tax for?

Therefore I have asked the Council to first of all clean the steps. As you can see their is a lot of litter on them making them dangerous. The clean up will take place this week, as the beat team are going in to clean them up.

I have also asked for the rail to be repairedand replaced and then the steps to be relaid. The Council have confirmed that they are now going to do this and work should be starting soon.

Wigan Council puts lives at risk

I have raised the issue of a dangerous sign in Wigan Town Centre. The sign is on Market Street. The sign is right at the side of the road and people walking from the market exit to the bus station are at risk. The reason for this is because when they walk from the tunnel exit of the outside market walking to the bus station the natural walk would hide them from drivers that are driving down Market street. The road is normally shut but opens at 4pm and people are not expecting cars to come down.

I have asked the Council to move this sign but they will not as they get money for this sign. Making Wigan Council more interested in money rather than peoples safety.

Cllr Gareth Fairhurst said,

" When these signs came before the Planning Committee I objected to them as I
thought this sign was a hazard. I have seen two near misses now at this
sign and unless the Council act and put people's lives first rather than bring
money in for a toilet in Leigh then I fear the worse."

Labour Candidate cheats again !

Labour Candidate George Davies found out that there is a large number of people in Bottling Wood are against the new proposed dam he did not know what to do as Labour are in favour of this project. He then found out about a petition with over 400 names on it. He asked the lady who who had collected the names if he could borrow the petition as he was going in the paper with campaign, she agreed. He then said he would, if she wanted to pass the petition on to Deputy Labour Leader Cllr David Molyneux.

When the lady in question saw the paper article she was horrifed that the story had been twisted to say that these 400 names wanted new steps to the woods and that the Environment Agency, who are building the dam, should pay for them.

She rang George Davies with her disgust and to ask for her petition back. He has never returned her calls. The lady found out about the work I was doing about trying to get this dam stopped and asked me to get involved. She asked if I could find out if the petition is in the Council, I found out it is not, and she asked me to try and get this back. After a call from me to the Cllr David Molyneux to tell him about George Davies actions he said he would try and sort it out. Within hours a letter was pushed through the Lady's door to say he had passed the petition to the Planning Dept. It had not as I had asked the planning Dept.

It is clear this lady has been tricked and this should never happen and as a candidate he can get away with all these kinds of tricks. Does nothing to me but people that trick people put the whole politics arena in question. We are not all like that ! All George Davies wanted was his picture in the paper and at any cost to the general public and at the expense of this lady's hard work. He should be ashamed of himself.