Election statement to readers of the Bury Times:

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.

Liberal Democrats have announced a full team of candidates to contest the elections for Bury Council on Thursday 1 May 2008. One third of the seats on the Council are up for election, with one councillor to be elected in each of the 17 wards.

Two Councillors are seeking re-election - Vic D’Albert in Holyrood and Ann Garner in Sedgley.

Liberal Democrat candidates are:
Ramsbottom, Tottington and North Manor
Ramsbottom - Janet Turner
Tottington - David Foss
North Manor - Ewan Arthur
Bury West
Elton - Robert Sloss
Church - Tamsin Thomson
Bury East
Moorside - Nissa Finney
East - Emma Davison
Redvales - Paul Jenkins
Radcliffe
Radcliffe North - Lynne Molloy
Radcliffe West - Joanne O’Hanlon
Radcliffe East - Mike Halsall
Whitefield and Unsworth
Unsworth - Theo Tzymcyca
Besses - Julie Baum
Pilkington Park - Wayne Burrows
Prestwich
Holyrood - Vic D’Albert
St Mary’s - Mary D’Albert
Sedgley - Ann Garner

The Lib Dems have claimed to be the “practical” party of local government at the launch of their campaign for council elections in England and Wales. Leader Nick Clegg said the party’s record was a “success story - quality services, and value for money”.

Speaking at the campaign launch in Sheffield, he accused Labour of failing on crime and the Tories of having “no stomach” for addressing green issues.

The party currently controls 29 local authorities across Britain, and is defending 700 Council seats on May 1st. We also hope to make other gains in Bury, including of course in St Mary’s.

Today, Nick Clegg said the party had come up with local solutions to problems including housing, crime and the environment.

“The Liberal Democrat record in local government is a success story - quality services, and value for money. And we are ready to apply the lessons that we have learned to councils throughout this country. “ He said: “We don’t promise to fix or solve every problem, but we do promise to give people a say, to give them the opportunity to fix things for themselves.”

People in Bury are being given the chance to raise public transport issues face-to-face with the managers responsible for running their services next week.

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) is hosting a Transport Operator Surgery at Bury Travel Shop on Saturday 29 March between 11am and 1pm.

Representatives from First Manchester and Stagecoach Metrolink will be attending, along with officers from GMPTA and GMPTE.
The event is the first of four to be held in Bury this year.

Councillor Andrew Garner, GMPTA spokesperson for Bury, said: “We want to hear more about people’s public transport experiences and any suggestions for improvements. “When we held more formal meetings in Bury we had low attendance, but I’m sure these new surgeries will give us the chance to speak to a much broader range of passengers. “I’d encourage anyone with something to say about local public transport issues to come along on Saturday – and let us know how we can improve the services they use.”

Four surgeries a year will be held at bus stations, key transport interchanges, and other suitable locations in each of the ten Greater Manchester districts.

GMPTA also holds regular Greater Manchester-wide transport seminars. Its website – www.gmpta.gov.uk – is also being developed to allow online consultations and a dedicated ‘tell us about your local transport issues’ section.

Liberal  Democrats in Bury have accused Ivan Lewis MP and David Chaytor MP of failing to support local services after they voted to support the Government’s massive post office closure programme.

The Government has ordered that one in five branches be closed. Opposition MPs tried to stop the closure programme on 19th March when a motion was proposed in the House of Commons demanding the Government halt their plans to make 2500 branches shut up shop.

But enough Labour MPs rallied around the Government’s closure plans to reject the motion and ensure the closure programme can continue unhindered. Two of those voting to close post offices were Bury’s MP.

Disappointed local Liberal Democrat campaigners are calling on Ivan Lewis and David Chaytor to explain why s/he voted to close post offices.
“Our MPs have let down people in Bury by voting to allow the closures to continue,” said Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Vic D’Albert. “In May the announcement will be made as to which branches here will be put forward for closure. This was an opportunity for Ivan Lewis and David Chayor to make a stand on behalf of residents. I am disappointed they have backed the Government rather than local people.

“The loss of post offices will hit communities hard in Bury. They are vital assets for many local people and closing them will cause many difficulties for older people and others with mobility problems, in particular.
“Despite the decision of our MPs to help the Government press ahead with closure, Liberal Democrats are continuing to fight the demolition of the post office network.”

A new door-to-door transport service for people with access and mobility difficulties is off to a flying start in Bury. Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) extended the popular Ring & Ride service at the end of January when it added nine new minibuses to provide extra trips across the conurbation.

In the first few months, 246 passengers journeys have been made from Bury on the new ‘cross boundary’ service into neighbouring districts. And 2,355 journeys have been made across the conurbation.

Councillor Andrew Garner, Bury spokesperson for GMPTA, said: “Ring & Ride makes a real difference to people who find it difficult to use ordinary public transport to get out and about. “It has always been a very popular service for making trips in Bury but we’re always listening to users’ suggestions for improving it. “We surveyed passengers and they said they would be prefer to keep on paying a fare rather than travelling for free - so long as we invested in this new cross boundary service. “So I am delighted to see so many people finding it useful. It is clearly giving Ring & Ride users in Bury a lot more choice about where they can travel.”

Ring & Ride is run by Greater Manchester Accessible Transport Limited. Managing Director, Bernard Rowen, said: “I’m really pleased to see the new cross boundary services get off to such a good start. “Previously we could only offer local district based services but the new minibuses are allowing us to take people that bit farther afield into neighbouring areas. “The investment has clearly been worthwhile and I’m glad to be able to offer such an improved service. I’d encourage anyone who might want to give Ring and Ride a go to call us and register to use the service.” Passengers must register their details before they travel by calling the Bury depot on 0161 764 1999.

The service currently runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. Journeys can be booked from seven days in advance up to one hour before travelling.

To book a journey on the cross boundary service call 0845 688 3989 (lines open between 8am and 4pm, Monday to Friday). Fares are set at £2 for a single journey, and £1 for a single journey for GMPTE concessionary permit holders. For more information on Ring & Ride visit www.ringandride.info

Children in Bury will be able to save £1 a week on the cost of school travel from next month.

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority is introducing a new £6 weekly ticket for three of the school bus services it provides in the borough. It currently costs 70p for a single child ticket.

The School Saver ticket will be valid on the 799 service to Derby High and the 797 and 798 to St Monica’s RC High.

Councillor Andrew Garner, Bury’s spokesperson on the Passenger Transport Authority, said: “The new School Saver ticket could save families in the borough nearly £40 a year on school travel costs.

“I’m pleased we’ve been able to provide the ticket on three of the school bus services we provide in Bury. Unfortunately, we’re not able to extend the offer to commercial services.

“However, we will continue to keep child fares relatively low on all bus services in Greater Manchester by paying the bus operators for part of the cost of journeys.

“The System One Bus Saver 7 ticket is also good value for money and will carry on being available across Greater Manchester. It costs £7 and allows children to travel on bus services anywhere in the county for one week, including at weekends.”

The new School Saver ticket will be on sale from Monday 31 March in newsagents, supermarkets and garages across Bury with the Pay Point sign, as well as from the GMPTE Travelshop in Bury Interchange. The System One Bus Saver 7 is also available in the same locations. A list of the shops with the Pay Point system is available online at www.paypoint.co.uk/locator.

Pupils will be able to buy the School Saver ticket up to three days in advance of its start date and will need a GMPTE Under 16 membership card. The card is free and application forms can be picked up from Travelshops or downloaded from www.gmpte.com/under16.

Last night the Council’s consultants for the Regeneration of Prestwich hosted a workshop to engage residents views on the issues regarding the development of Prestwich.

The event at the Longfield Suite was well attended with about 100 people - residents, Council officers , Councillors, local businesses and school representative present.

Amongst other things we were asked to highlight the best and worse features of the Town Centre, highlight towns that we would like to see at least attributes of introduced into plans for Prestwich and what we would like to see Prestwich be like in 15 years time.

We finished by highlighting areas that we would like to see developed across the town centre - with the reasons why.

All in all a very successful event that certainly got me thinking and focussed on the future of Prestwich - a Prestwich I hope we can all be proud of when the plans eventually come to fruition.

Well done Urbed - it’s over to you!