Sunday 24 February 2013

The Week ending...........24 February 2013

Well, finally my cast came off my arm on Thursday morning so getting back using it again.

At the beginning of the week I attended the Himor Consultation at the Unity Club.  This consultation was to show their plans for a part of the Bradley Hall Trading Estate. On the right hand side of the site as you go in they are looking to develop this into a housing estate.

On the idea of more housing in Standish I simply do not know where a couple more hundreds of cars would go, as the roads are already congested enough.

I also attend a Councillor Service Group meeting at the Town Hall. Nothing to much to report back on apart from Councillors will be probably be getting keys for all the notice boards in our areas.

One area that I am disgusted with is that the Council are allowing the St George's Day parade to be cancelled in Wigan. This is due to the Police not being able to steward the event. I believe that the Council should be doing more to get this event back on track.

I have been helping a number of residents with an allotment project that some residents are hoping to achieve. I have also been helping others residents too with various issues.

One big news is a Council Official has said that they are aware that someone will be contacting me with regards another consultation. They would not tell me what it was and as soon as I have information I will let you all know.

One final point is that it increasingly likely that the Council will be stopping free swimming from the 1st April 2013. This will be confirmed at the Budget meeting next month. This will save £106 000 per year. The Council saus it didn't work. If it didn't work why did they keep spending the money? Just another example that Labour can't be trusted with the purse strings!

Monday 18 February 2013

The fortnight that ended.......17 February 2013.

The first thing to mention as many of you will know that a few weeks ago I fractured a bone into my right wrist. Given that I am right handed this has been the reason why there have been fewer blogs, tweets and posts on my facebook page.

However, I have continued to do Council work including helping residents on parking matter, Library fees and other matters.

A couple of residents want a new bin in a location in Standish, which I am currently working on. Some students, who are completing their gold Duke of Edinburgh awards, have asked for some funding for equipment. I have agreed to help fund some of this from my brighter borough funds. Also good luck to them as this is a massive achievement.

Also I have been working with residents to complete the document that is being submitted to the planning inspector on the Core Strategy next month. This has been a major issue for Standish residents and many many hours have been spent on this issue and hopefully we will find out whether it has been successful.

Ashfield - although things might seem to have gone quiet I have been working on this for nearly a year now and we should be having a public hearing inquiry but the Council are hell bent on trying not to have one. The reason to me is that they know they will lose and that would be a great victory for the residents of Standish. I will be releasing more details on this matter in the very near future.

On the matter of Council Officers they are meant to deal with all Councillors regardless of their political affiliation. However, it is becoming increasingly the norm for Council Officers simply to  refuse to meet not only myself but other Opposition Cllrs from all the other opposition policital parties, so I hear. The only reason that can explain this is that the ruling Labour group are ordering officers not to help or deal with opposition Cllrs. This is wrong, not just morally, but against the constitution of Wigan Council. However, as one officer said to me, "When you are worried about you Job Gareth what would you do?" I can understand the issue from their point of view but these kinds of practises make Wigan Council one of the most corrupt Council, in my opinion!

Due to the sad news of a Cllr dying a couple of weeks ago a by-election for the Pemberton Ward. The date for this has been called for the 4th April 2013.

On Saturday there was a Bomb scare in Standish at the large Co-op store, formerly known as Somerfields. The bomb squad attended and for a few hours there was a couple of streets closed off, including parts of Preston Rd. Thankfully it turned out not to be a bomb or bomb making equipment.

Hopefully my cast on my right arm will be off this week and normal service will resume with regards tweets and posts on my Facebook page.

Sunday 3 February 2013

The week that ended.....3 February 2013.

I guess the first thing I should mention is last Saturday I went enjoying the snow with my family last Saturday morning. This included sledging. As a result I ended up breaking my wrist which has meant I have tweeted less and put less posts on my Facebook page than normal.


This week saw our surgery resume after we had to cancel our surgery last Saturday,  due to the bad weather. This saw a number of residents attending asking for help on a number of issues including planning matters and bins. In fact the surgery is between 10am and 11am but I had to extend the this to 11.40 so I could see everyone.

ASHFIELD

The Council wrote to me this week saying that they think there should not be a public hearing on Ashfield as a Village Green. Before I say why this is I think it would be right to explain a serious point. When you apply for a Village Green you are saying that you have used the the land without the permission of the owner, rather than asking the owner to use the land. This is important because what the Council are now saying is residents use Ashfield because the Council has given permission to residents.

I will now be reviewing their argument to see if I agree or not. I have written to a QC to see if he would be able to give me their opinion to the Council's argument as well.

If the Council say they want to keep Ashfield for recreational purposes why are they objecting to my application for a Village Green unless they do want to sell it off at a later date or at least keep the option to sell it at a later date.

RESIDENTS MATTERS

Bins - On the matter of bins this is because some residents are not putting away their bins after the collection of them. This leaves an unsightly mess and with the heavy winds this has blown a number of them over making the situation worse.

Parking - Some residents are complaining about people parking and blocking access or making it hard for others to use roads and/or access their property. This seems to be a growing problem as I now have a number of residents in different areas complaining about this matter.

Library Services - A number of residents rang the Council to see if it was open and say they could not get in because of the bad weather and to renew their books and/ or DVD's. This is a good idea as they are being proactive in stopping charges but now the Library are charging people another week charge for the DVD's even though they could not get in last week. I will be making representation to Wigan Leisure Culture Trust, who operate the Library's on behalf of the Council, asking them to refund customers who could not get in