Commenting on the result, leader of Bury Liberal Democrats, Cllr Tim Pickstone said, “The Lib Dems in Bury campaigned hard for a “No” vote in the referendum, and I am glad that the idea of an elected Mayor has been rejected by local people.”

The “Yes” campaign suggested that the voting for a Mayor would help defeat plans for a congestion charge. Cllr Pickstone rejected this view,: “The idea that a Mayor could stop the congestion charge was always false, and I always thought that local people wouldn’t believe it. Bury Lib Dems continue to oppose the congestion charge, and the Council is now free to carry on working hard to get improved public transport for Bury without this additional tax.”

Cllr Pickstone added, “The issue of the Mayor was always about more than the congestion charge. A Mayor would have meant a less democratic system for local people, and would have cost a small fortune every year. Liberal Democrats believe that decisions should be taken in local communities, not by one person at the Town Hall. We also believe that tax payers money should be spent on better services and lower taxes, not on a big car and a big office for an elected Mayor. The rejection of the Mayor gives us the best chance to continue fighting for real power for local people, and better local services for everyone.”

In the wake of the announcement that dozens of post offices in and around Greater Manchester, including 5 in Bury and 11 across the Stockport Borough, are scheduled for closure, Liberal Democrats from across the area have launched a petition to ‘Save our Post Offices’.

Hazel Grove Constituency MP Andrew Stunell, Cheadle Constituency MP Mark Hunter, Manchester Withington MP John Leech and Rochdale MP Paul Rowen, along with Lib Dem Councillors and activists launched the petition today in central Manchester by holding a demonstration to oppose the plans and asking local residents to sign up in support of the protest.

Speaking after the launch Mr Hunter said: “It’s not too late for action on this issue. I hope local people will speak out and sign our petition to save their local post office. Many are under threat now and many more will surely follow if the Government gets is way.

“Post Offices are a vital part of the community; they often help to keep local other shops afloat and are relied on by a very wide variety of people particularly the elderly and young mums. It seems to me that Labour is fast becoming a Government that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. The Liberal Democrats are committed to the future of the Post Office and we will keep up our campaign to show the Government that local people want to keep their Post Offices open.”

Mr Stunell added: “We lost a lot of Post Offices in this area when the Conservatives were last in Government, and now we are faced with a Labour Government that does not understand how strongly people feel about their local Post Office.

In fact the situation could soon get even worse - the Post Office Card Account that many pensioners rely on for drawing their pensions and benefits is being reviewed and if that work is lost by Royal Mail than even more Post Offices will surely be closed in the future.

The Liberal Democrats have a viable plan to prevent further closures and help to sustain the network; a plan that wouldn’t cost the earth that would invest in our local Post Office network not chop it up. Post Offices should be local and should be supporting our communities and we will continue to fight with our local community to save them.”

Prestwich Option 1 - using an expanded Tescos to anchor the centre

Prestwich Option 2 - Anchoring the centre in the south

Prestwich Baseline Report Draft Baseline Report May 2008 Prestwich Consultation Report Report of proceedings of the Prestwich Roundtable Workshop in the Longfield Suite 13th March 2008 Prestwich Options Report Options Report for Prestwich May 2008 Prestwich Masterplanning Options

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

Yellow School Buses are proving so popular that they were used for nearly 20,000 school trips in Greater Manchester last year.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority already pays for the buses to take pupils to and from Bury Church High School. But schools across the borough are also hiring them for trips to museums, sports centres and theatres.

Councillor Andrew Garner, Bury’s spokesperson on the Passenger Transport Authority, said: “I’m pleased that schools are hiring the buses for trips as it means they’re being put to good use and not standing empty during the day.
“The Yellow School Buses are all fitted with CCTV, seatbelts and a lift for wheelchairs so it makes sense for schools to use them for trips out. All of the drivers have also had criminal records checks and have been specially trained to look after children.
“The buses have helped to cut antisocial behaviour on journeys to and from schools by 75% since they were introduced, and teachers have also praised them for improving attendance levels. I’m sure local schools will continue to benefit from them in the future.”

There are now 36 Yellow School Buses in Greater Manchester, which take more than 2,000 pupils to and from 22 schools. Children who travel on the buses sit in the same seats every day, have regular drivers, and have to sign up to a code of conduct.
The Yellow School Bus drivers have taken part in a special training programme, which includes customer care, first aid, disability awareness, health and safety, and conflict avoidance.

Another 120 Yellow School Buses could be introduced at schools across Greater Manchester over the next few years if the bid to the government’s Transport Innovation Fund is successful.

More information about the Yellow School Buses, including a full list of services, is available at www.yellowschoolbus.info.

MPs and local people are trying to persuade the government to intervene, to protect the route so that it could, in future, be re-opened and provide much-needed passenger and rail-freight services connecting the east and west sides of the Pennines.

See recent article in the Guardian Please act quickly as the National Grid work is scheduled to start in January 2008.

We need MPs across the country to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 459 calling on the Government to intervene and help safeguard the Woodhead Tunnel for future rail use. Campaign for Better Transport have set up an easy e-action form on their website.

Click here to write/send an e-mail to your MP asking them to sign EDM 459:

Plus there’s a petition online calling for the railway to be reopened: Visit the Save Woodhead Tunnel website.