Chimney Pot Park is the place to be this Saturday where there will be plenty of entertainment for all the family. From 2pm-3pm, there’s a talent showcase – where you can get involved. Call Linda on 07534 969007 to book your place.

From 3pm-5.30pm, there are top Salford bands, live on stage – Girl Peculiar, The Planets, The Harpbreakers, Out of Order and Glam 69.

f you want to enter the Bake A Cake Competition just bring it along to try to win in the Best Tasting or Best Decorated categories Junior, Senior and Adult.

There’s loads more happening too including kids crafts, face painting, bowling and dance displays.

To all you Salford City FC supporters that were planning on travelling to Hyde United for the FA Cup, that match has been cancelled as Hyde United have been wound up by The High Court today – so get yourself down to Chimney Pot Park instead.

Unfortunately, I will be in London all weekend listening (and watching!) the wife sing at The Royal Albert Hall as a part of Sing Live, so if you’re going to Chimney Pot Park this weekend – take some pictures and let me know how it went in the comments below.

It was great to see so many residents at last night’s Langworthy Forum meeting at the British Legion on Langworthy Road. The Forum is always well attended and gives local people the chance to learn about events happening in the area and ask questions on a wide variety of subjects.

We were fortunate to have council officers on hand from Salix Homes and the regeneration department who briefed us about the current HMR (Housing Market Renewal) programme going on in Seedley South. While the answers were a little vague, it was at least appreciated that officers were open and honest with us about the future development of our area.

Ros Munro (Headteacher of the new Glendinning Primary School currently being built) was on hand to introduce herself and explain that she was already in-post and working from the Cornerstone on Langworthy Road. Should prospective parents have any questions for Ros, she is available most days at the Cornerstone. Quite a few questions and comments related to the over-subscribed position of the new school, which has not exactly come as a shock to many people such as myself. While Ros herself is not directly involved in admissions criteria, she did confirm that no temporary classrooms or portakabins would be located on the school site – as there were exciting ideas for developing the school grounds into planted gardens and allotments etc.

This left a huge hole of unanswered questions with the room demanding to know why ward councillor (and Lead Member for Children’s Services) John Warmisham was not in attendance. As the Forum meeting date is planned months in advance, I do feel that Councillor Warmisham should have made time in his schedule for this important meeting with his constituents.

Lastly it was exciting to learn that Langworthy in Bloom has won another award this year – but we don’t know what yet! Jenny Sowerby who I have seen many a time on Langworthy Road tending to the flowers revealed that the Mayor has been invited to the awards ceremony, so we’re hopeful it’s another win for Langworthy in Bloom. Watch this space!

During the Open Forum at the end of the agenda, my favourite topic of potholes was raised. Regular readers of my blog will know I have been campaigning for years to get a proper, scheduled maintenance plan in place for the roads and footpaths in our ward. A resident particularly complained about the dire state of Derby Road – and how his whole house shakes due to the heavy traffic driving over the deep potholes. Derby Road and Seedley Park Road have been the subject of numerous letters and emails between me and Urban Vision over the last year.

It is therefore fantastic news to report that today and yesterday, Urban Vision have been doing a great job of cutting out the damaged sections of Derby Road and re-laying large portions of the road – a far more professional job than we have seen in the past. I spoke with the workers this morning and they confirmed they were scheduled to work on the entirety of Derby Road for the rest of the day.

If you are looking for a good family day out this Bank Holiday weekend why not go over to Buile Hill Park on Eccles Old Road Salford for The Salford Show. The attractions include Circus Workshop, Horticultural Show, Lancashire Hawks and Owls, Tug of War, Dog show, Art & Music Workshops, charity & community stalls, tombola & raffles, rugby display and of course all the fun of the fair.

There will be a car boot sale from 8.30am on both the Sunday and Monday.

MANY THANKS TO CLAREMONT/WEASTE & LANGWORTHY/ORDSALL COMMUNITY COMMITTEES FOR THEIR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION WHICH HAS HELPED THE FRIENDS OF BUILE HILL PARK TO FUND THE EVENT.

A Lands Tribunal has found that the District Valuer acting on behalf of Salford Council had undervalued a compulsorily purchased (CPO) property by 40%. The landmark case, brought by Jimmy Griffiths also showed that house prices on which the original compensation figure was based were“selective to a considerable degree” and that other valuations for CPOs in the area were based on an “arbitrary reduction”…

Mr Griffiths became the first person in the country to be forcibly evicted from his home as a result of the Government’s ill fated Pathfinder programme. He has now won his long running battle with Salford Council over compensation for the now demolished house.

Some residents who originally accepted Salford Council offers as low as £21,000 for their houses pre-2005 could now find that their properties were actually worth well over double that figure.

What everyone in the city has known for years is now official – property in Salford acquired by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) has been undervalued by both Salford Council and the District Valuer.

This case will no doubt strike a chord with former Langworthy homeowners, like Fred Beresford, who owned a terraced property on Nansen Street. He was offered £13,000, which according to Salford Council was the market value. This is despite Mr Beresford having it independently valued nearer £50,000 and having an outstanding mortgage of £25,000 leaving him significantly out of pocket once his house is compulsory purchased.

Salford’s Labour Council pushed through a lot of these compulsory purchase orders, knowing that homeowners were not only going to be significantly out of pocket, but also that many would be left with debts (mortgages) to pay even after they had lost their homes. Just over 6 years ago, Alfred Broughton (77 at the time) was offered £20,000 for his three bedroomed house, when it would have cost him four times that amount to find something similar. Mr Broughton (who moved into his house in 1932) worked hard all his life until he was 68 so that he could leave his children his home as their inheritence. Salford Council decided to take that away and rob the great-grandfather of the home he had worked hard all his life to pay for.

It would be interesting to hear other resident’s stories – I’d love to know how people’s lives have moved on (good or bad) since having their homes compulsory purchased.

Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Yesterday I attended Langworthy’s first Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting. It was great to meet our communities beat officer, PC Jo Lucock and PCSO ‘Bash ‘ for the first time. I had already met our other PCSO Richard a couple of times, who was away on holiday.

Also in attendance was Richard Carvath, a Salford & Eccles independent candidate standing at the next general election. However, I was disappointed that no ward councillors were able to attend – having only received apologies from Lib Dem Councillor Drake, who is ill at the moment. Where were our Labour councillors?

It was interesting to hear issues from other parts of Langworthy as well as having the opportunity to raise problems nearer to me. The Police were eager to hear what problems local residents have and were willing to take action immediately.

Topics covered were:

• The continuing illegal off-road motorbike problem – PC Lucock reminded residents that the Police are not able to chase these bikers, due to safety rules. If witnesses can either identify where these bikes are being stored or can provide evidence (photographs) of individuals concerned, then the Police will fine the owners and can crush the bikes.
• Anti-social behaviour – clearly one of the biggest problems across Langworthy. Contrary to popular belief, the Police do have dedicated patrols to disperse groups of individuals causing trouble (even late at night and at weekends). The best course of action is to call 0161-872 5050 and report them as normal. Also, the PCSOs can be contacted direct on 07907 341862
• Vehicles cutting through play streets to avoid traffic jams – residents should be aware it is an offence to drive through a play street and now that the Police are aware of the issue, they will be waiting for anyone using play streets to cut through from Langworthy Road to Liverpool Street. You have been warned!
• Vehicle crime – theft of motor vehicles is not a great problem in Langworthy, but theft from motor vehicles is growing. The advice is simple: do not leave anything in your vehicle – it takes seconds to smash your windows and ransack your car.
• Inconsiderate parking on and near Langworthy Road – meaning some residents are blocked in. Cars left all day are also leaving a tempting target for local criminals. Main culprits are construction workers at Chimney Pot Park and city commuters using the nearby tram stop.
• Fly-tipping – another growing problem across the ward. Personally, I am reporting instances of fly-tipping at least once a week, but I know Councillor Drake is onto Environmental Services virtually every day.

Additionally, while I was worried to discover that violent crime across Langworthy was on-par with the rest of the city, it does seem to be concentrated on the precinct. I hope that given the proximity of Pendleton Police Station to the precint, that we can get on top of this problem soon.

I will do my best to announce the date and time of the next PACT meeting here and I urge all residents who can spare the time to come along and talk about our area. The Police are genuinely interested in listening to concerns and putting immediate plans into action if they can.

As twitter seems to be down at the moment, I just thought I’d remind Langworthy residents that our first PACT (Police and Communities Together) meeting is at 6pm this evening at the British Legion Club on Langworthy Road.

I urge all residents that wish to come and discuss crime, anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, security or any other local issues to pop along and meet fellow residents, police representatives, local ward councillors and other council officers to discuss any issues.

Langworthy Lib Dem Councillor Lynn Drake is a bit ill at the moment, so won’t be attending – but if anyone wishes me to pass on any messages or questions, I’ll be more than happy to.

CORRECTION: 7pm not 6pm

Following the success of PACT (Police and Communities Together) meetings in Swinton and other areas of the city, Langworthy is to get in on the act. The aim of these PACT meetings is to help the Police better work with the local community in the area and as well as the Police they are attended by local councillors and our neighbourhood manager.

Langworthy’s first PACT meeting is on Thursday 6th August, at the British Legion Club on Langworthy Road at 6pm.

I would urge anyone with crime, environment or other local issues to attend and speak with local officers about your concerns.

This morning I attended an Ordsall & Langworthy L.P.D.G. meeting (my first), where representatives from the Police, council officers, ward councillors and residents come together to discuss issues affecting the local area. As the only resident in attendance I was able to participate in the meeting a good deal more than at, for example, our community committee meetings – where many more people are often vying for time to air their views and grievances.

The agenda, and therefore majority of the discussion, was focused on crime reduction measures in the Ordsall & Langworthy area; some Langworthy specific issues were raised –

• Burglaries & Robberies both fell in June (compared to previous months)
• 92% of residents in favour of alleygating on Lyndhurst Street (planning to go in 21^st August)
• It’s hoped that alleygating on Edmund Street and Lower Seedley Road can be approved, following more consultation
• It is also hoped that alleygating on Nadine Street will be agreed, so as to reduce crime alongside the British Legion club on Langworthy Road
• ASBOs for persistent illegal use of off-road bikes on the public highway

It was also encouraging to discover that if photographic evidence of any offenders caught in the act of committing a crime is provided by the public, the Police will act on this intelligence and can often identify and deal with them.

I found the meeting extremely useful and informative – hopefully I will be able to attend more of these L.P.D.G. meetings in the future and report back here.

Whilst I’ve no doubt drug usage is a big problem across Salford, I admit to rarely seeing any direct evidence of it – but today was a shock when I came across the left overs, discarded on a pavement at the top end of Nansen Street, Langworthy. Those that know the area, will be all too aware that Nansen Street is a couple of feet from the new Glendinning Primary School (currently under construction).

Fast forward to September 2010 and this syringe would be within reach of hundreds of primary school children. I dare to think what disaster awaits if we do not get on top of this problem well before the new school opens.

On Liverpool Street, I noticed the road sign (top image) has been leaning at this precarious angle for some months now. If, as Urban Vision often claim, there are regular inspections of our roads and highways (and not just when residents report problems) – why hasn’t this sign been repaired by now?

As I recall, I reported a similar road sign in Irwell Riverside leaning at an equally precarious angle; that was repaired (twice) in record time.

I will be reporting this one on Monday, let’s see how long it takes to repair now that we are not in an election month!

I’ll be reporting this fly-tipped waste to Environmental Services first thing on Monday morning. I came across the first lot (top-image) on Greenland Street, which runs alongside the new Glendinning Primary School currently under construction.

I noticed the remains of a fireplace on Exeter Street, which is a side street just off Seedley Park Road.

Both instances of fly-tipping are at the entrances to gated alleys – which seems a common theme across Langworthy. Unfortunately, as well as causing an obstruction to residents wishing to get access to their alley, dumped waste is not collected by the bin men on normal collection day. This means that the waste tends to sit and rot until it is reported to Environmental Services, who will then send a specialist team to remove the fly-tipped waste.

Fly-tipping is a growing problem across Salford, especially in Langworthy – which is otherwise looking particularly fantastic at the moment thanks to the In Bloom team’s efforts. It is a real shame a few small-minded individuals wish to blight our area with their thoughtless dumping of their rubbish.

Taken from the Salford Advertiser website:

Closure fear over Tesco plan
by Neal Keeling

A TESCO superstore planned for Salford could force a hundred businesses to close, it is claimed.

The owners of Salford Shopping City in Pendleton say it is facing ‘decimation’ if a vast stand-alone Tesco is built next to it.

Previous plans had ensured that both the shopping centre and the proposed Tesco store would be developed in partnership to guarantee the two sites were fully linked.

But the supermarket giant has announced plans to build a store on the site of St James RC Primary opposite the shopping mall.

Les Rylance, manager of Salford Shopping City, said: “We have been in discussion with Tesco and Salford council for over six years and have spent a lot of time, money and enthusiasm working on these plans.

“An integrated scheme would create a much more vibrant shopping experience making Salford an important retail centre.

“Our proposal would create many more permanent jobs in the area, reduce crime and improve car parking and road safety.”

He claimed Tesco and the council had decided to put ‘profit before the needs of local people’ by developing an enormous 140,000 sq ft Tesco Extra which would include a wide range of non-food goods such as clothing, electrical appliances and homeware which would compete directly with existing sm

aller retailers at the shopping centre.

Mr Rylance said: “An integrated scheme had been the aspiration of Salford wh

o now seem to have made a u-turn. The council’s own planning guidance for the site states that any proposed store must facilitate links with Salford Shopping City.”

Robert Gubbay, from PCP, the owners of Shopping City, said: “The council be

lieve they would be saving money by going ahead with a standalone Tesco store because this would enable them to sell the land to Tesco for a little more money. In reality, it would be the most expensive option due to the hugely negative impact on local businesses – many of which will have to close.

“If the council permit the store to be built as a standalone development it would be repeating the mistake it made in Eccles by not integrating Morrisons within the town centre. The effects in Salford would be much worse as the proposed Tesco is far larger than the Morrisons store in Eccles.

“Salford council has a responsibility to its residents and tax payers. Ensuring exiting businesses have a future and remain viable should be a priority.”

There is a lively discussion going on in the comments thread over on the Salford Advertiser website, I would be interested to hear resident’s views – both positive and negative – on the proposed plan.

As exclusively revealed by the Salford Star here, Salford Council’s £3 million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been rejected on the grounds that “a hotel within a park would impact on its character”. This all relates to the fact that last year Salford Council sold the mansion to a private invester who wanted to turn it into a four-star hotel. Lib Dem Claremont Councillors fought this decision every step of the way on behalf of residents and the local community.

Lib Dem Councillor Mary Ferrer, who led the opposition to the hotel, is pleased that the community’s arguments were taken on board.

“I am actually glad that somebody has listened to what the people of Salford wanted” she says “We didn’t want a hotel in a park, but because the Council wouldn’t listen to other options we have now lost the Lottery bid. If we would have worked together we wouldn’t be in the situation we are in today.”

Against local public opinion, Wilkinson was given planning permission for the hotel. And Salford Council submitted the bid to restore the park with the hotel at its centre.

Critics argued that the restoration would merely enhance the hotel from which the public would be excluded, and letters and petitions were sent to the Lottery urging it to reject the Council’s funding application. Now the Lottery has accepted the arguments put forward by critics, including Claremont Community Association.

Now it’s hoped that Wilkinson will back away from the project and the mansion will be given back to the people of Salford as a community resource.

Meanwhile, in a report to the Lead Member For Environment, dated 30th March 2009, Salford Council estimated that it would cost £72,685 in fees and surveys if the bid failed.

So basically, Salford Council have spent £73,000 of taxpayer’s money – YOUR MONEY – and received nothing in return. I was previously critisiced for asking the question “What has Salford Council’s leader, Councillor John Merry done to deserve a CBE?”, I now wish to pose a different question and ask “Why is Councillor Merry still the leader of the Council?”

With other recent failings of our council (Demi-Leigh Mahon case, moving a Youth Offender Service into a residential cul-de-sac with one of the highest crime rates in the city) Councillor Merry should take the Lead Member for Childrens Services (Langworthy Councillor John Warmisham) and the Strategic Director of Childrens Services (Jill Baker) with him.

All three have failed Salford and they should voluntarily step aside so that we can start to fix our broken Council.

Yesterday and today I have again been plagued by the mystery off-road quad biker, who seems to think it’s a good idea to roar past my house at speeds of over 50mph, despite the speed limit being only 20mph. The speed bumps are simply “exciting targets” and the paths merely an incovenience he enjoys ignoring.

15th May 2009

When I last saw him on 15th May, with a hood pulled up over his head – he was travelling at such speed that I was barely able to get a good look (or picture), although he certainly looked at me worriedly as I took his picture from my front yard.

Yesterday he virtually fell off onto my car as he lost control navigating through the central bollard in the middle of my street, but this time did not seem to be bothered in the slightest as I again captured his details using my phone’s built-in camera.

The quad-bike carries the number plate YN07 TDX, which the insurance database shows is not currently an insured vehicle – but this bike couldn’t possibly be road legal anyway, since it’s missing some key features that would make it safe and legal to ride on the road (i.e. tax disc, lights, indicators etc). Seemingly the rider isn’t bothered about his own personal safety, since I have never seen him wear any protective gear.

22nd June 2009

These off-road bikers are a plague on Salford’s streets and more needs to be done to capture and punish the offenders – if it was up to me, illegal off road bikers would have their bikes seized and destroyed, at the owner’s expense.

Worsley Labour MP Barbara Keeley introduced a bill in parliament at the end of 2006, calling for the registration of off-road bikes to be made compulsory and retrospective, but nothing seems to have been done about it since then. I think this is an excellent idea and the registration of off-road bikes would give the Police a valuable aid in tracking down and punishing such offenders.

For the record, I have again reported the owner of YN07 TDX but I doubt that’s a valid registration number and as far as I am aware, the rider is still at large.