So, the political shenanigans season has started early this time!

Politicians are sticking oars into oily black seas, where no such oars should be placed! Time to put them back into areas where no such wooden object should be placed!!!

No details this week - let’s see what materializes (maybe you can decipher it at a later stage!)

I`ve been blogging for a couple of weeks now, and recognise from cryptic conversations about paint drying and grass growing that it’s a bit weak on the sensational side. I could be nasty, and that would be fun, but I’m sure that the blog would get pulled farily quickly. Maybe I’ll try it in a couple of weeks!

This blog is being written on a Swiss computer, so the letters are not all in the same place, and nor are the punctuations (apologies in advance! - see if zou can guess what letters/punctuation are different+). Iäm back in the morning to complete mz constituencz ward duties.

This week we had full Council, and the Leader, Cllr. Bob Bibbz (known to manz as Bib Bobbz for his tendencz to get things muddled) managed to have a go at me for asking him what the hell has happened to accountabilitz, when the Council doesnät even know where it left the benches it places around the borough for Pensioners to rest their wearz bones upon after a hard morningäs shopping+

Bob is obviouslz becoming more confident, and certainlz managed to keep the rather war-wearz Labour group well in control.

Bob didnät reallz know what question I was asking, and so tried to cover everz base with “how it was everz Councilloräs dutz to contribute to the well-being of the Borough+” for mz preliminarz question, but he tried weasling his waz out of the supplementarz question with some bland response and having a personal dig.

Labour were biyarre. Gasillions of questions about anzthing thez could think of, with no rhzme or reason connecting them. Mostlz it was a whinge-athon, whilst trzing to score minor political points from the various Councillors thez have up for re-election this zear (Cllr. Boden asked 6 - practicallz unheard of from the whole Council, let alone one Cllr+++)

What did I do?

I asked about Gtr Manchester Wasteäs attitude to Prestwich tip and the Forestrz Commissionäs approach to manage it. Peter Ashworth, the jovial Torz Cllr on the Waste Authoritz Board gave a good answer, but it did not correspond with the info. I had, so I asked him to check the facts and confirm in writing. Iäll chase that over the weekend in writing. Itäs important as it forms a vital wildlife corridor, as well as integral to the LIVIA urban park project being managed bz Manchester & Salford Councils (who are woeful at keeping us informed+).

I also asked a question about Gtr Manchester Fire & Rescueäs commitment to Fire Sprinklers. Kent F&R actuallz have a grant szstem to contribute towards sprinklers, zet we donät even insist upon them in schools zet!! The Brigade fullz favour sprinklers, and criticise Labour Govt. for failing to grasp the nettle with recent legisaltive changes. It would be great to see Wales & Scotland take the lead, and show England how our sillz Govt. szstem does not benefit the people of the land, onlz the politicians (think NHS & education in Scotland, for example!)

The one thing that I reflected upon this week is that I have been keeping mz elevction promise of using mz mouth in proportion to mz ears. I listen more, and talk less, which makes people occasionallz listen when I have something to saz (whatever tzpewriter or computer I use+) If onlz all politicians would follow suit!+

This is not the onlz precendent I have set of late. I hear that the FA are now considering a rule Iäve been applzing since I became a referee 6 zears ago. This is that Captains can speak to me on the pitch, all others will go in the book or off, if thez speak to me. If thez swear (at anzthing or anzone other than their own stupiditz) then thez at least go into the book. If thez swear at me, itäs straight off+. I didnät think it was revolutionarz then, but when I hear Hansen & Co. on MOTD, thez think itäs the best thing since sliced bread!+) (How manz times can he saz “Time and time again” on one program?)

Talking of which, itäs big match at the weekend. Will thez be silent for the 50th anniversarz of Munich? ……Come down to Hough End and see!!! (or are zou a couch fan, watching two slightlz more expensive teams at the weekend???)

Treesà

Vale Drive - land ownership is being determined, before thez consider whether the Council can prune the trees.

Lowther Close - same situation as above.

Longfiled Cleaningà

Richard asked questions of the Leader, Cllr Dot Gunther answered on his behalf, with no real answers being given. I know that from questions Iäve asked of Officers, thez want to wait until after the wall is engraved, and I said “bugger off”. It needs to be done Zesterdaz, not in a couple of monthsä time+. See Richardäs link from the left side, to read more. I will press harder at the TCR next week.

Roadsà

Butterstile Lane was repaired (well done) and Sandz Lane has been noted but not zet done. Iäll chase this again over weekend.

Hilton Lane junction with Burz New Road (BNR) is to be raised (AGAIN++++) at TCR next week.

If zou have anz further road issues, give me a call and Iäll raise them to the top as much as I can.

Traffic Crossingsà

St Annes Rd is still not top prioritz, see Richardäs recent post about this. Weäve both been chasing Council officers frequentlz about the dangerous crossing/lights on BNR. Should be started in the next couple of months though+

At Council I took the opportunitz to tell the top guz responsible about the sunken crossing opposite the Knowslez pub in Burz, just outside the bus station and probablz used bz hundreds of Council staff each daz. Thereäs a massive puddle where it should be raised, so visuallz impaored people know there is a crossing bz the raised bobbles on the pavement. Itäs in Burz not Prestwich, so letäs see how long it takes them to fix it - a bit of an experiment?

Planning

A resident has requested change of use for part of a dwellnig into an office. Iäve asked for more info. as I neeed to understand all the matters before representing a constituent one waz or another. Iäm on Planning Committee which is semi-judicial, so I have to be verz clear about not making mz mind up without all available facts. Possiblz more to follow….

OK - did zou guess the different kezboard bits?

• y is z and z is y
• à is where ‘ should be
• + is an !
• _ is actually where ? should be, but I thought that was too hard
• ç is where £ should be, but I didn’t use that

See zou soon (on a normal kezboard, perhaps_+++)

Donal

Fairly busy weekend.

Friday was a little night out to some local hostelries, imbibing the amber nectar. From my simple tastes, I have to say that we have some of the best beers in the world, right here in Prestwich!
I also like the hostelries themselves, we have some of the funniest characters locally, and we mustn’t forget the landlords/landladies, who make it all mix together beautifully.
The usual take-away (although this time before I went out) and the chat with some locals about issues that the Council need to sort out (and I need to chase up!)

We got plenty of leaflets out; I had a good workout moving 6′ fence posts around the garden and lifting bags of stones around; I got a major shop done; wrote lots of emails; did inumerable piles of washing, and sought more information on holidays. (No, I’m not quite living the dream, but bI do enjoy some of the realities of modern living).

I should have gone horse riding, but let’s face it, the weather was not particularly conducive to spending your time on your back on the floor! i’ll wait until the weather is a bit better before taking it on….

What I did do was watch a good film - The Painted Veil is striking and sad, I strongly recommend it.

We have full Council this week; and I’ve put forward a couple of questions to the outside bodies (GM Waste re. the use of Prestwich tip and also the Fire Service re. their commitment to sprinklers). There’s another full Council meeting this month, where the budget is debated - now that one should be a little more interesting!

Heard a great joke about balloons, very clean too! Ask me when you next see me.

Checked my Council emails, and noted that there’s been a spate of burglaries where large plasma-style TV’s have been targeted. If you have one, keep it out of sight, as much as possible.

Time to sign off and watch some telly, for a change.

D

Most people hate Tuesdays. You’re really only getting into the stride of the working week, there’s a long stretch before you get time off (Ha!) and there’s little going on socially.

We only have one telly, and there’s nothing much to watch on that for a Tuesday (apart from Shameless), so I carried on working in my office, having a good clear through my outstanding Councillor post tray.  This is stuff I’ve skimmed through, may need (but probably won’t) and stuff I’ve dealt with and printed off, but not had time to file.

The tray is normally about 3″ thick, but yesterday was nearer 5″, and it was starting to creak under the weight, so I went through it in detail. I found some stuff of use, some post that I needed to answer (sorry Butterstile - should’ve sent that form back in early Jan!) and some useless junk in which I have no interest that should’ve been binned when I skimmed it first time.

The overall effect was very therapeutic, and whilst there is still stuff in the tray, it’s mostly a filing issue now.

Audit Scrutiny was postponed, but I’d only deleted it from my Council diary and not my personal one. Fortunately, it was one of the earlier pieces of post I found, so I didn’t waste time traipsing up to Bury for a non-existent meeting.

I went through quite a few letters about Goshen/Bury FC, and filed them with all the other”Planning committee” stuff we receive. It’s an interesting case, because it seems strange that the Club would want to move to a location that is far more inaccessible than the current site(on foot, public transport, or by car). I’m sure that selling the existing site would realise lots of cash, but if fans find it easier to go somewhere else, than the new site, then what’s the point?

Ah well, I’m sure we’ll here plenty more on this over the coming months….

Hi,

 The weekend was spent enjoying a pint on Friday with my pal, followed by a hectic Saturday where a long list of household & garden chores were achieved.

I went out for an Italian meal on Saturday night, unfortunately it was not of the usual high calibre I’ve come to expect from local restaurants: Half an hour for a drink (from a waitress who spoke no English whatsoever); minimal drinks selection; lack of attention from waiting staff; a maitres d’hotel who kept sending food back & snapping at his head chef etc. We shan’t be rushing back!

Ref’d a match at Heaton Park on Sunday, not the greatest standard, but went ok, with only 1 yellow card. A 1-1 draw was a fair result.

Delivered leaflets on both afternoons, and spent some time looking for a good summer holiday. Also picked up some photos that I took with my 35mm for the family over Christmas. Mostly of the whole group of kids my siblings have produced - I’m disappointed with the results, but this is mainly because my siblings kept coo-ing at the kids and drawing their attention away from the camera! I’ve learnt that I need to prepare better for such assignments, and get the parents well out of the way in future!

In my normal work, we often  refer to “5S” in terms od Health & Safety. As a Councillor, it’s much more like the 5P’s - “Poor preparation precedes pathetic performance” (there are more “P’s” that could be added in, but that would be guilding the lily!)

Thus, I have spent a little time since my last post reading reports, checking facts & figures, preparing questions etc. I’m not the most methodical researcher, but when the germ of an idea is there, I can usually draw it into a suitable fomat, after a bit of research. Forthcoming meetings include Audit, Children’s Services, Full Council & Town Centre Regeneration. The life of a Local Councillor is not the most glamorous of part-time occupations/hobbies, but I do feel I can put some of the skills learnt in my full-time career to good use.

(For those of you not familiar, 5S is a Japanese system for good workplace management - Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke). Translations vary, but many accept it roughly as - Sift, Sort, Sweep, Sustain & Self-discipline.

Regards,

Donal