It’s relatively quiet at the moment, but Vic’s doing well - got onto national TV and in the FeMail & Torygraph about graffiti - nice one!

Still working on some casework, but it’s slow with lots of Officers on hols so those that are here are v. busy & don’t respond back quickly (some never do anyway!)

Had an internal review and have made some positive changes to the way I propose to operate - you should see some changes from me shortly.

THe Olympics looks good in parts, but any reference to 2012 in London just winds me up - do you recall the disdain they had for Manchester when we went for it? What benefit (fleeting or lasting) will the NW receive as a rsult of the Olympics? I suggest absolutely nothing will be improved, but lots of hardship will be endured for no gain. Anyone care to bet against that?

So what happened in July, and what have I been working on?

Public Rights of Way & particular footpaths/bridleways are popping up - not actually all in my ward, but because of matters raised at Planning Committee & other associations I have, they’ve partly fallen into my lap to deal with.

Township Inequality is a big thing for me at the moment - I’ve been asking Senior Council Officers about how they measure “equality of service provision” and whether we in Prestwich are right in our assumptions, that we get considerably less £ spent upon us than elsewhere in the Borough. Needless to say, they’ve not been exactly forthcoming with any answers!

Planning matters always come up in the summer, when people want to get on with building things in the good (huh!?!?) weather. Lots of referrals have come my way, some dating back a year or two.

Town Centre regenration is big - the consultation process is nearly over, and the Consultants, Urbed, are putting forward their proposals shortly. I’m not giving anything away here, but most of it looks good, but we are still not keen on the height of proposals for Prestwich village. Tesco are not happy about it, which could make for an interesting situation in the future if they put some major proposals forward (which we expect them to!)

Roads & repairs, bus routes & vibrations therefrom, developers withdrawing from construction sites, SixTown Housing clearing dangerous sites - it’s all been going on this month!

Prestwich Conservation is getting higher up the agenda, with the St Mary’s Conservation Group having met twice recently to develop the scheme to a fully working model, like Ainsworth Village in the north of the Borough.

Graffiti seems rife again, at least we’re tackling it with the provision of clean-up kits straight away. Please contact us to let us know of any new graffiti you spot, and we’ll endeavour to have it removed ASAP.

Enough for now - more to follow soon….