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!

Last night’s meeting of Prestwich Local Area Partnership (LAP) was the final meeting of the municipal year, and contained some great news for local organisations to whom we were able to award thousands of pounds in grants.

The LAP controls a number of grant funds and can allocate them to local groups throughout the year. Already this year for instance, we have allocated £10,000 to the Rainsough community centre, with more to follow for Children’s Centre outreach both there and in Carr Clough.

Last night the following awards were made:

- Prestwich Carnival were awarded £2,125, which will ensure the continuation of this excellent community-wide event for the next two years. This money was awarded from the Kickstart Community Initiative fund, which is to benefit the entire community.

- The Prestwich Clough Centenary group also received £2,125 so that the Clough Day which has taken place for the last two years can continue for the next two as well. This too is a wonderful Prestwich event, and we are proud to provide the money to keep it going. This money also came from the Kickstart Community Initiative fund.

- £1,500 was given for the provision of a sensory garden for disabled children at Butterstile. This money came from the Kickstart fund, which is for small projects.

- Heaton Park School applied for money for fencing around the school, which will be an asset to the local community and which we were happy to provide £5,000 towards. This grant was made from the Cleaner, Greener, Safer capital fund, which is for capital schemes benefitting the local environment.

- The Cleaner, Greener, Safer capital fund was also the source of money for the Downham Tenants and Residents Association, for whom the LAP has given £500 towards the cost of creating a “wildlife corner” for communal use on land that is currently an eyesore.

- And the Cleaner, Greener, Safer capital fund has been made available for refurbishment of the Parksway ginnel in Sedgley ward, where £1,000 will be used for essential security work.

- A ball zone will be created at Parrenthorn school, with £5,000 coming from the Community Development fund for projects in the community.

- In addition, a further £5,000 has been made available from this fund for a new under 5’s play area in Polefield.

Altogether last night there was over £22,000 of money invested by the LAP into much needed community projects. This is a massive investment, and we have secured major projects like the carnival and much-needed play facilities, as well as smaller things like the Downham wildlife corner.