At our councillor group AGM – I became the link Cllr for young people in Prestwich as well as Lib Dem representative on the Youth Cabinet, which meets at Bury town Hall. I’m also on Environment, Economy and Transport Scrutiny Commission, with the brief for the Environment (Donal to have Economy & Transport). I’m also on an Equality working group for the Council.
This week has been catch-up – case work and marking. I’ve been liaising between two residents about an overly large tree between their gardens, finding out about disability support for ramps for a resident, lobbying for pavement repairs – where a lovely resident fell and has had plastic surgery to stitch up her face (she’s had a really horrid time and is in a mess as well as really shaken-up) – and asked why after spending over 1 million £, our road re-modelling at the Bury Old Rd/Scholes/Sheepfoot junction …. has a huge dip ….. to the point that residents feel its dangerous ….
Tonight is Richard and Tamzin’s house warming party and tomorrow, Prestwich Village Clough Day … see you there?
Both house and garden have been blitzed this weekend – as well as contacting BT about nuisance text messages being sent to my ‘phone. This morning it was just before 8am, the dirty message un-repeatable and the service now cancelled! My answer machine can also skip messages – so I don’t have to listen to the rude ones on that, either. Both of my brothers, who live and work oversees in different countries, ‘phoned and it was great to catch up. They’ve been following the election results through the web and BBC - it was good to talk with them, I didn’t know they were so interested in politics! I’ll be able to catch up with one and family, whilst they are back in the UK for a few weeks over the summer and need to find time to go visit the other.
Next week is for supporting my students, their coursework marks go to the exam board shortly. Fed up and tired, they need huge amounts of patience and TLC; others some need a shove or two, to ensure that I get them to complete with the best possible opportunity to do well.
Politically, we have our Group AGM on Thursday eve. I’ve just talked with Tim, with my wish list of which committees I’d like to be on for our Area Partnership and Council Scrutiny Commissions. I also have phone calls to make and residents to see – to catch up with case work that I’d not been able to do last week. There seems to be an array of tree issues … fence problems and Council House Roofers leaving a messy trail behind them …
I’m frustrated with my tree issue too or at least with my inability to remove the base of the huge overgrown shrub (Cast Oil Plant) that was far too close to the fence at the bottom of our garden. The woody branches have been sawn ready to dry out and use on our log-burning stove; the roots are really stubborn. I’ve dug around and hacked with an axe but run out of energy. I’ve got a fir tree that I grew from a seedling, ten years ago, ready for the spot. Hopefully my son will feel sympathetic and put his youthful energy and muscles into it, next week (as well as cut the grass!).
Liberal Democrats at Bury’s election count last night:
Here’s our new team of Councillors in St Mary’s Ward - Donal O’Hanlon, Mary D’Albert and Richard Baum…… Labour MP Ivan Lewis sneaks past behind.
Lib Dem Councillors elected last night Mary D’Albert, Vic D’Albert and Ann Garner with some of their group colleagues Steve Wright, Wilf Davison and Donal O’Hanlon.
Liberal Democrats have continued to move forward on Bury Council making another gain from Labour and holding off a challenges from the Conservatives. This is the fifth election in a row in Bury where we have made gains.
Full results to follow, but in our key wards in Prestwich the results were as follows:
Holyrood Vic D’Albert (Lib Dem) 1632 Labour 669 Conservative 852
St Mary’s Mary D’Albert (Lib Dem) 1308 Labour 1013 Conservatives 692
Sedgley Ann Garner (Lib Dem) 1488 Labour 906 Conservatives 1238
Across Prestwich the share of the vote was: Liberal Democrats - 45% Labour 26% Conservatives 28%
The Liberal Democrats now have ALL NINE councillors in Prestwich. We’ll be doing our best all year round to stand up for the local community.
Across the motorway Lib Dem candidate Julie Baum put in a stunning performance to move into second place with a 50% increase in the Lib Dem vote. Besses Julie Baum (Lib Dem) 614 Labour 1084 Conservatives 584 Others 354
Well done to all our candidates, but particularly to re-elected Councillors Vic D’Albert and Ann Garner, and to new Councillor Mary D’Albert. A huge thank you to the whole Lib Dem campaign team for a stunning result. Full results to follow.
6am leafleting this morning whilst most folk slept, little was on the road and birds flew freely around gardens hunting for breakfast, was great fun … now its late - I’ve just got home from the election ‘count’ at Bury Sports Centre.
I’m relieved that I will be able to continue as a Sedgley Councillor, we have held Sedgley by around 250 votes (close call again). Mary D’Albert is our new Lib Dem Prestwich Councillor, for St Mary’s Ward. So, at long last, I’m not the only Lib Dem Woman councillor with 7 men!
The Tories now hold Bury firmly - so our lobbying and sticking up for Prestwich begins again, in earnest! Thank you for the help, support, cups of tea and warmth on the doorstep, there’s much to do - as ever! I’m going to bed - my students will expect me to be bright and bubbly for their lessons …
Please don’t forget to vote in the important local elections on Thursday 1 May 2008. These elections will decide who will represent you at the Council for the next four years.
Ann Garner, our hard working local councillor for the last 5 years is the Liberal Democrat Focus Team candidate on Thursday.
Important Information - Polling Stations are open from 7.00am - 10.00pm - You don’t need your polling card to vote - If you have a postal ballot, but have not yet sent it in, you can complete it as normal and take the completed envelope to your local polling station on the day.
Polling Stations in Sedgley Downham Crescent/Meade Hill Road areas - Mobile Van on Meade Hill Road Park Road and Brooklands Road areas - Mobile Van on Castle Hill Road Kings Road, Bishops Road, Sedgley Park Road areas - Sedgley Park Primary School, Bishops Road George Street, Bland Road areas - Mobile Van on Portugal Road Whittaker Lane and Bent Hill areas - St Hilda’s Primary on Whittaker Lane Recory Lane, Park View and Deyne Avenue areas - Park View Primary
If you need any more information, or need a lift to the polling station call our helpline on 0161 798 0117
Liberal Democrats across Bury have had a brilliant response from local residents. People are telling us that they are fed up of Labour closing post offices, taxing poorer people and watching the economy slide. People are uncertain what the Conservatives stand for, and haven’t noticed any improvement since they took over last year.
Liberal Democrats in Bury have three clear priorities:
We want safe, thriving communities across Bury. People must feel safe in their own streets and communities. This isn’t just about tackling crime, it’s about stronger, united communities. That’s why we’re opposing Post Office closures and why we secured massively increased funding for children in the Council budget. It’s also why we have always opposed the unfair and divisive congestion charge.
We want Bury to be the greenest Metropolitan Borough in Britain. Last year Lib Dems secured blue recycling bins for every house, and this year more money for parks and cleaning. We cherish Bury’s beautiful environment. We will work hard to protect it.
We believe in giving power to local people, not keeping it at the Town Hall. This means that decisions should be made locally in the six towns that make up Bury. It means local people making decisions at the most local level about the services that effect communities.
On May 1st we have a choice - A return to the 21 years of neglect under Labour’s rule in Bury, uncertainty under the Tories, or a clear vision for a better Bury from your local Liberal Democrats.
Went straight from teaching to King’s Road playground for a quick swing, awaiting interviewer and camera man, for today’s 5-7pm news programme. The feature is the local elections and issues in different council wards, through interviews with candidates and residents.One of the main issues in our ward is traffic: speeding, rat runs, amount of and air pollution because of.So I talked about encouraging parents to walk their children to school – but to do more of that we need doggie-dooh free streets and safe places to cross roads, too!What I’m hoping for is the power of this piece to get our Council Officers to put more resources into our area to tackle poor, dirty pavements and improved crossing points (including the Bury New Road/Hilton/Scholes Lane junction)!We’ve been lobbying for an improved school crossing for Park View on Bury New Road – for 17 years – this year with the help of lobbying parents and the local press and Channel M – it was partly improved …
