A few days ago I gave an interview at Salford University where I was asked my views about community policing in Salford. A four and a half minute extract of the interview edited by Kat Middleton is below where I talk about how well our local neighbourhood policing team are doing and how they can improve. The interview briefly touched on the council’s partnership with Greater Manchester Police and I explained how the council could be doing more to promote anti-crime initiatives.
I live very close to Buile Hill Park in Salford and use the park every day (to walk Dexter, my dog). It’s a beautiful park and I consider myself extremely lucky to live near such a great open space (in fact, luck had little to do with it, I specifically moved here because of the proximity to the park).
Over the last few weeks, without any consultation or notice to Buile Hill Park’s regular users, work began to tear up a large section of the grass seen in the picture below to install a cricket pitch. A 20m long section of natural grass was cut out and replaced with artificial grass.
Many of the park users were surprised when the work started, firstly because we knew nothing about it until the work had started. Secondly, many of us thought it was an odd location for the cricket pitch. The crease was mere centimetres from one of the goalposts that make up a set heavily used by local youths. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen local kids playing cricket in Buile Hill Park (once), whereas there are lads playing football almost every day it is dry. It seemed impossible for a game of cricket and a football match to be played at the same time, given the proximity of the crease to the goalpost.
On Thursday afternoon I noticed the goalposts have disappeared. Who has stolen our goalposts? They belong to the park and were installed for the benefit of the users of Buile Hill Park. Nobody has any right to take them away without asking us first.
I have brought this up with Langworthy’s Lib Dem Councillor Drake who has started to probe the council for answers. I fear we won’t know who is responsible until after the election.
I have nothing against cricket (regular visitors to my blog will know I am a big football fan) and if both cricket and football pitches can be accomodated in Buile Hill Park I would be happy to have them co-exist, but damaging the park and making wholesale alterations without notifying it’s users is just not on.
Salford Council needs to learn that consultation with it’s residents over important changes is vital and necessary. My fear is that if Labour wipe out opposition members off the council at the local elections in less than 2 weeks time, this kind of totalitarionistic approach will be all to common across our great city.
A new planning application has been received by Salford City Council to erect a 4-bedroom house on the vacant land at the junction of Liverpool Street and Derby Road in Langworthy. The plot is adjacent to the Moorlands Sports and Social Club.
Application number: 11/60734/FUL
You can read the full application and view maps and illustrations of the proposed building at Salford City Council’s Planning Portal by clicking here and using the search facility for the above application number.
Navigate to the ‘documents’ link and all the details are accessible in PDF format.
Langworthy residents may wish to note that the applicant wishes to close off part of the public footpath (on Liverpool Street).
I would be interested to hear the comments of both Langworthy and Weaste residents with regards to this proposed development – comments can also be submitted to the planners via Salford City Council’s planning portal (link above).
I would expect the council’s planning panel to consider the application in the new year.
Earlier this autumn the Boundary Commission published its proposals for reducing the number of MPs in England from 650 to 600 while equalising the size of most constituencies.
While some of the new boundaries the Commission is proposing are sensible, many more needlessly tear the heart out of the communities they serve and will make effective representation in Parliament much more difficult.
We are now in a period of consultation and as a local party – supported by our colleagues in the Liberal Democrat North West regional office and National Headquarters – we have put in a series of counter-proposals.
These back the Commission where we feel it has got it right; and put forward better solutions where we feel it is necessary, using the expertise of our members from across the region.
We know our plans are better because they have been produced by people who live and breathe in the communities affected.
However, to stand a chance of persuading the Commission to adopt our counter-proposal, we need your help.
You can see here what the Boundary Commission have proposed for the North West (which affectively wipes Salford off the map and puts Langworthy into Manchester).
Below you can see our counter-proposal for the existing Salford area constituencies:
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Boothstown and Ellenbrook
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Little Hulton
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Walkden North
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Walkden South
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Winton
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Worsley
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Barton
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Eccles
Worsley and Eccles Constituency Swinton North
If you could take a minute to add your voice to the consultation via the commission’s website (here), we stand a far better chance of persuading them. There’s just two weeks before the deadline on December 5th. Please add your voice to ours in explaining why you feel they better serve your community.
The consultation is open to everyone and you can be sure the Conservatives and Labour are encouraging their members to take part too. As may be expected, those parties’ counter-proposals are not designed to make our lives any easier!
In October, Urban Vision announced that street lighting across Salford City was being updated with new LED lamps, rather than the traditional filament-type as a way of saving money and becoming more energy efficient. They even listed a few streets in Langworthy’s neighbouring ward of Claremont where the LED lamps would be installed. Great!
But what about Langworthy?
About a week ago, I asked our Langworthy Neighbourhood Manager which streets (if any) would be getting LED street lights. He did not know, so forwarded my request to Urban Vision. The response? None.
I’ve since reminded Urban Vision about my query – but their silence simply raises another question. Why does Claremont get to do it’s bit and save money for the Council whilst being more energy conscious and Langworthy does not?
Langworthy has a proud community and we want to do our bit to help the city and reduce our energy consumption, which in turn protects our planet.
UPDATE 23/11/11:
Urban Vision have finally come back to me and the following streets are scheduled to receive the LED streetlamp upgrade in November/December:
Almond Close
Amersham Street
Brentwood
Citrus Way
Clementine Close
Coconut Grove
Coomassie Street
Culverwell Drive
Mango Place
Melksham Close
Melon Place
Sandy Grove
Tenbury Close
This list is different to the streets initially listed on Labour’s Langworthy ward Councillor John Warmisham’s blog here, however he has since updated his blog to the list above (presumably because he received a copy of the email I got from Urban Vision).
I note with some annoyance that Cllr Warmisham only wrote about the LED street lighting in Langworthy after I blogged about it. Langworthy ward Coouncillors were told about LED street lighting in October, perhaps Cllr Warmisham didn’t think energy efficiency was important until I mentioned it?
Filed Under (Langworthy, Roads) by Steve Middleton on September-18-2011
Regular readers of my blog and Langworthy Focus readers will remember the traffic calming campaign I spearheaded earlier this year for Seedley Park Road and Seedley Terrace. The original articles are here and here. With the help of local residents on Seedley Park Road I collected and submitted a petition to Salford Council which called for action on speeding cars using our streets as rat runs.
I’m delighted to report that our community committee has agreed to fund the traffic calming measures I campaigned for on both Seedley Park Road and Seedley Terrace, the latter gaining some new full width speed humps.
Seedley Park Road will also see some full road width speed humps as well as a driver feedback sign, which I particularly pushed for as I felt that motorists using the road either seemed unaware or simply “forgot” that we have a 20mph speed limit here.
I am incredibly grateful to Langworthy Lib Dem Councillor Lynn Drake who presented the petition during a full session of Salford Council and for supporting the campaign at our community committee.
You can see the measures that are to be introduced on both Seedley Park Road and Seedley Terrace in more detail below.
Today the Boundary Commission for England has released it’s proposals for changing the electoral boundaries that will be used in the next General Election (currently scheduled for sometime May 2015).
Amongst the North West shake-up, they propose to abolish the Salford & Eccles and Worsley & Eccles South Constituencies, instead creating a new ‘Swinton’ constituency and then splitting the rest of Salford across Leigh and Manchester. Kersal and Broughton will remain, as currently, in the Blackley and Broughton constituency.
The proposals are as follows:
Manchester Central Constituency: (For a map, click here)
Ancoats & Clayton
Bradford
City Centre
Hulme
Irwell Riverside
Langworthy
Ordsall
Weaste & Seedley
Swinton Constituency: (For a map, click here)
Barton
Boothstown and Ellenbrook
Claremont
Eccles
Pendlebury
Swinton North
Swinton South
Winton
Worsley
Leigh Constituency: (For a map, click here)
Cadishead
Irlam
Little Hulton
Walkden North
Walkden South
Astley Mosely Common
Leigh East
Leigh South
Tyldesley
Blackley and Broughton Constituency: (For a map, click here)
Cheetham
Crumpsall
Harpurhey
Higher Blackley
Miles Platting and Newton Heath
Moston
Broughton
Kersal
While I will be providing my own (alternative) suggestions to the Boundary Commission along with a combined Liberal Democrat response, I’m eager to hear what Salfordians living in Langworthy, Ordsall, Irwell Riverside and Weaste & Seedley think in particuar. Please post your comments below.
I am grateful to the Salford Star for once again being “ahead of the curve” and exclusively revealing that the University of Salford, located on the border of Langworthy and Irwell Riverside wards in Salford, is planning to remove the famous lion logo (opposite) and replace it with the word “Manchester”.
The current lion logo proudly states “The University of Salford” although some of their letterheads do also state “A Greater Manchester University” – which I do not have a problem with.
If the proposed logo does, as the Salford Star mockup below suggests, simply say University of Salford Manchester, then this is a backward step and they should quickly re-think the idea.
The University of Salford has proudly stated it’s home in it’s logo since it became a fully-fledged University in 1967 (in fact, Salford University can trace it’s origins back to 1896, when it was the Royal Technical Institute, Salford).
So why does The University of Salford think now is a good time to suggest they are in Manchester when their new MediaCity:UK building at Salford Quays is on the brink of opening? Perhaps it may have something to do with the fact that a recent survey of students in a poll for accomodationforstudents.com showed Salford University to be the worst university in the country in which to study. Manchester University was voted the joint second best place to study.
The University of Salford management board should think again, reverse this terrible decision before it is too late, and stick with the traditional logo.
Lastly, I call on Salford Council and all 60 of the city’s ward councillors (including all 6 from both Langworthy and Irwell Riverside wards) to denounce the decision to change the logo to “University of Salford Mancheter” and call on them to support me in arguing for return to the traditional logo we know and love.
Don’t forget tomorrow (Tuesday 24th May) there will be a residents meeting at the Moorlands Sports & Social Club (the former Weaste & District Conservative Club) on Liverpool Street at 4pm.
Representatives from Urban Vision and Palmer Demolition will be in attendance to give a brief overview of their plans for the site and to answer resident’s questions.
Langworthy ward Councillor Lynn Drake will be chairing the meeting and I will be on hand to collect questions, should residents not want to ask them personally.
The other ward Councillors have also been invited.
This is not a political meeting, it is purely for concerned residents to find out what is happening with the former school site during demolition and to learn about future plans for the site once cleared.
Filed Under (Langworthy) by Steve Middleton on May-18-2011
The Manchester Evening News is today carrying a story that Salford Council has been vindicated in it’s sale of land to Tesco, despite Salford Shopping City owners Salford Estates attempts to halt the sale by launching a judicial review.
Salford Estates complained that the Council did not get the full value of the land from Tesco but judges disagreed and said the information the council received over the cost of the deal from independent experts was ‘proper’ and was taken on board by planning bosses. The court heard there was ‘no proof’ that the land was worth more than Tesco paid.
Additionally, the judge said considerations on behalf of the council were ‘properly taken’ and bosses decided ‘rationally’ to take up the Tesco deal.
Ruling out reversing the planning permission, the judge added: “The council did not act irrationally or on an error of law.”
I blogged about this pending case back in January when I was unconvinced by assurances from the Councl that everything was above board. I was wrong when I said “a dodgy land deal was done” – is it has now been proved there was nothing wrong with the land deal between Tesco and Salford Council.
While I still find it odd how Salford Council handled a £4m “pre-payment” from Tesco (which paid for the new Willow Tree Primary School) the judicial review has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this was neither a ‘bribe’ nor involved corruption on any part by any council officer or councillor. I was wrong to suggest this in my January blog post.
I call on Salford Council’s Monitoring Officer to quickly respond to my January complaint and a issue a formal response to the above affect, as it would be my preference not to 100% rely on the Manchester Evening News for the full facts in this case.
As of last week the ‘free’ bulky waste collection in Langworthy came to an end. Since the start of Langworthy’s SRB5 re-generation the council has collected bulky waste free of charge and this has helped to combat (but not eliminate) the fly-tipping that has plagued our ward in recent years.
All this has now come to an end in a short-sighted cut by Salford’s Labour Council.
The new charges are £24.14 for up to four items (excluding builder’s rubble, bricks, concrete, paving flags and other heavy items and gas bottles).
However, all is not lost. Salford Community Transport ‘New to You’ have been providing local residents with a free collection service for re-usable bulky waste items such as beds, suites, drawers, washing machines and tumble dryers for some time now. This will continue.
Salford Community Transport ‘New to You’ is a charity which collects good quality unwanted furniture for the re-supply to families and individuals in need and will collect any reusable household items free of charge, such as Beds, Three piece suites, Washing machines, Tumble dryers, Wardrobes, Chest of drawers, Dressing and dining tables.
Bulky waste items need to be in good condition and not flat packed, damaged or in need of dismantling for transport.
To arrange a collection of re-usable bulky waste items or for more information please call Salford Community Transport ‘New to You’ on 0161 736 8852 or email: salford@communitytransport.org.
Alternatively, you can also donate your unwanted furniture at the Lumns Lane Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Filed Under (Langworthy) by Steve Middleton on May-13-2011
Back in March I wrote about the now closed Seedley Primary School and how residents who live adjacent and nearby were worried about what was going to happen to the site.
Langworthy Lib Dem Councillor Drake who lives next door to the school building (and whose gated alley joins the school building wall) was concerned that given Salford Council’s lack of maintenance of other buildings locally there was a danger the school could become unsafe so she attempted to get assurances from the Council over the school’s future.
No information was forthcoming until a demolition notice was posted on the lampost outside on Liverpool Street indicating the school was to be demolished in May 2011.
As residents have not been consulted or their concerns allayed about the affects the demolition will have on adjacent homes, as well as the future plans for the site (both short term and long term) we are calling a public meeting for all residents concerned to talk with officers about the situation.
The residents meeting will be on May 24th at 4pm, either at The Moorside Sports and Social Club (formerly the Weaste & District Conservative Club) at the junction of Liverpool Street and Seedley Park Road or at the All Souls Church on Liverpool Street at the junction of Derby Road. Watch this space!
While 4pm is hardly an ideal time, it was the only timeslot we could get Urban Vision and representatives from the demolition company to agree to. It’s hope a further residents meeting can be held at a later date in the evening to update residents who cannot attend this one.
I’ve had a short break after the local elections and while I didn’t get the result I wanted in Langworthy (or indeed across Salford as a whole) I’m proud to have stood for what I believed in (and still do!). For those that have not seen it, the result was:
Tomorrow is polling station and the polls are open from 7am-10pm. Here is a list of polling districts and polling stations in the Langworthy ward and remember, you do not need your polling card to vote (although it makes it a bit easier for the poll clerks to find and identify you on the voting register).
QA Langworthy Cornerstone, 451 Liverpool Street, M6 5QQ
QB Fit City Clarendon, Liverpool Street, M5 4AY
QC Fit City Clarendon, Liverpool Street, M5 4AY
QD Temporary Building, Visitors Car Park, Willow Tree Primary School, Greenland Street, M6 5TJ
QE Temporary Building, Lower Seedley Road, M6 5WL
QF Pendleton Gateway, 1 Broadwalk, M6 5FX
QG St. Paul’s Primary School, Cross Lane, M5 4AL
QH Pendleton Gateway, 1 Broadwalk, M6 5FX
QI William Sutton Trust Community Centre, Doveridge Gardens / Seedley Road, M6 5NQ
QJ Community Room, 15 Springbank, Brentwood, M6 8RH
QK Halton House, 36 Eccles Old Road, M6 8RA
If you’re unsure what polling district you live in and do not have your polling card to hand, please feel free to telephone the Lib Dem Office on 0161-736 5500 and we will look it up for you.
Remember to vote STEVE MIDDLETON for Langworthy, an all-year-round hard worker who lives locally.
Local community website SalfordOnline have asked all candidates standing in this year’s Salford local elections three questions. As it’s taking them a while to post the answers, I thought it’d be worthwile me posting my own answers on my blog:-
1) Why have you decided to stand? As a resident of Langworthy I really care about my neighbourhood and feel that we are under-represented in the community and on the council. I want to make a difference to the quality of our lives in Langworthy, by ensuring that Salford Council are more pro-active in helping to reduce crime and finishing the regeneration of our ward. I would vote to ensure that taxpayer’s money is not wasted on marketing spin, glossy magazines and consultants and instead spent in our community to provide services to local residents. Somebody needs to stand up for Langworthy and it’s clear to me that if our elected representatives do not live in our area, they cannot understand the problems we face and what we want – I see the problems for myself every day and my neighbours tell me what issues they face every day.
2) What do you see as the main problems affecting your area?
Salford Labour have failed to complete the promised re-generation of Langworthy and, like many other parts of the city, we are left with tinned-up houses and fenced off grassed areas where good, solid family homes used to be. While the Lib Dems in government have backed the PFI project for Pendleton, which will give the area a much needed facelift, it comes years later that it should have. Labour have forgotten Langworthy and allowed many of the council-owned and maintained buildings in the area rot to the point of collapse, two examples of which are the Langworthy Hotel and the shops on Liverpool Street. Drug farms are becoming an increasing problem across the ward, along with anti-social behaviour which is usually alcohol-related. Finally, our roads have deteriorated to such a state that last year Labour’s leader admitted the council had a £100m backlog of road repairs with no possible way to reduce that backlog.
3) How would you go about solving those problems?
The Liberal Democrats in government have approved the Pendleton PFI project which is a welcome start to begin the regeneration of the area, but there are still many homes and streets across the whole ward where improvement is needed. Salford Lib Dems will be pushing for improvements to homes across the area so that they reach the decent homes standard and insisting that council-owned property is properly maintained and looked after. Many of the drug farms that have been closed down by local Police teams have been inside socially rented council houses and the Lib Dems on the Salford Council are committed to evicting tenants who allow their homes to be used to cultivate drugs, something Labour seem hesitent to do. Anti-social behaviour should not be tolerated and many occurences have been fuelled by alcohol – as Langworthy has far more licenced premises than any other ward across the city, we would put a temporary hold on granting of any further licences to sell alcohol and immediately order a review of those premises currently selling alcohol in the area. Alcohol retailers have a duty to their neighbours and we would encourage them to work with the council to ensure that alcohol is sold responsibly and legally. Finally, I am happy to report that Lib Dems in government have recently granted Salford over £608,000 to immediately tackle road repairs across the city which comes on the back of £100m which was earmarked for potholes in February. Lib Dems in government have recognised that potholes and poorly maintained roads are a danger to all road users and brings the total extra funding to £200m since the election.
From today, Tuesday 12 April 2011, your blue and brown bin, recycling collections will be changing from a fortnightly to monthly collection schedule.
Under the new scheme:
Your blue and brown recycling bins will be collected once a month (instead of once a fortnight) on the same day as your black bin.
Collection of all other bins will not change with your general domestic waste (black bin) collected weekly and your garden waste (pink lidded bin) collected fortnightly.
All households in Salford should have received a new calendar sticker attached to your blue and brown recycling bins which detail your new monthly collection dates. Please make a note of the calendar dates showing your new sequence of recycling collections.
Because I live in Langworthy, I’m frequently checking planning applications to see if any potential development could cause problems for my neighbours and this evening I have come across a troubling application from Tesco, in relation to the Pendleton Store.
Late last year, Tesco were controversially granted planning permission for their new “eco-store” in Pendleton (despite nothing about the building being eco-anything) and to protect local Langworthy residents from noise and being disturbed in the early hours, a restriction was put in place on the times that Tesco would be allowed to deliver their produce to the store.
These restrictions were no HGV movements/loading/unloading outside the hours of 9am and 9pm and no other loading or unloading outside the hours of 9am and 9pm.
Tesco is now seeking to remove these planning restrictions by way of planning application number 11/60166/FUL which is a variation of their original application number 10/59130/FUL which has already been granted permission.
All local Pendleton and Langworthy residents should immediately write to Salford Council’s planning committee quoting planning application number 11/60166/FUL. Langworthy and Pendleton residents have an automatic right to quiet enjoyment of their homes without being woken by deliveries on a Sunday morning before 9am.
Tesco’s reason for removing the above loading/unloading restrictions are “to enable the foodstore to operate more efficiently with regard to deliveries to the store” which is a nonsense reason. Tesco takes no account of it’s neighbours and the store is fully capable of operating just fine with loading and unloading between the hours of 9am and 9pm.
You can comment on this planning application by going to http://publicaccess.salford.gov.uk/publicaccess/ and searching for planning application number 11/60166/FUL and then clicking on ‘Make a Public Comment’
Filed Under (Langworthy, Roads) by Steve Middleton on April-11-2011
I took this photograph in June 2009 a few months after construction began of the new Willow Tree Primary School on Greenland Street in Langworthy. As you can see from the state of the road, contractors heavy goods vehicles that delivered and removed building materials completed wrecked the road.
We were promised this would be “looked into” by Urban Vision and the state of the road has regularly been reported to Community Committee with a view to insisting the building contractor return the road to the condition it was before they started their work.
Today the condition of the road on Greenland Street is no different (ok, it’s slightly worse). While the school has now opened and the HGVs have gone, the potholes and uneven surface of the road remains.
My neighbours and I are sick to death of having to drive down roads like this – and I cannot imagine what is must be like to cycle down it!
What really annoys is that they “forgot” to paint the yellow “no parking” lines outside the school entrance and had to come back and do it after the school has opened. The even painted the lines through the potholes!
Unfortunately, as a mere resident (and community committee member) I have reached the end of what I can do to remedy this problem. If I was a Councillor, I could speak directly to Salford Council’s Highways Department and Urban Vision themselves, perhaps even with the school building contractor, to reach a resolution to this 2 year problem.
Our Labour Councillors in Langworthy have failed us. If you elect me as your Councillor in Langworthy on May 5th I promise to do everything I can to have Greenland Street resurfaced out of the extra “pothole cash” provided by our coalition government.
It’s now under a month until the Salford local elections on May 5th and I am proud, to once again, be selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Langworthy.
My main reason for standing again is simply because I enjoy helping people and solving problems. Being a Councillor allows me to do that in an official capacity and offers me an opportunity to put resident’s concerns and problems direct to council officers.
While party politics is important, I see myself more as a local champion than simply “the Liberal Democrat candidate” – the Lib Dem way of getting a pothole fixed, a broken street light repaired, an illegal off-road motorbike reported or graffiti cleaned up is no different to the Labour way. There are only the differences between good Councillors and bad ones – Councillors who respond to calls for help and stay in touch, and ones who don’t. I hope people vote with that in mind, and that they think I am worth their vote.
Living in Langworthy (unlike all my opponents in this election, apart from the UKIP candidate) means that my wife and I are a part of this community and we want it to thrive.
I hope that people feel I am worthy of their vote. I would be happy to speak to anyone about any issue, large or small, at any time. Just drop me a line on 07870 444 235 or email me at steve@stevemiddleton.info
People can also read this blog which I have updated often over the past couple of years to give people the chance to hear my views and engage in debate. A few Salford Lib Dems from my party have sites like this in Salford and I am proud of this as a tool to keep people informed and engaged. You’ll also notice that many of my opponents in Labour and the Conservatives have commented on my blog posts – I actively encourage them to do so, as I am not afraid to debate my points, I welcome the opportunity to do so.
Over the next few weeks I’ll talk about the issues and why I think I am worth your vote more than my opponents. I hope I can convince enough people. If you’re unconvinced, let me know why and I’ll see what I can do.
I am grateful to the 
