Back from walking in French mountains with my hubby, I’ve been catching up with my job as well as political hobby (if you can call the work of a Councillor as a hobby). Today I’ve been trying to paint my kitchen and get help for a resident whose care help has now been absent for a week – so I did little painting and a lot of emailing and phoning – of which I began on Friday evening! She has been caring for her twice the size of her hubby, whose foot has been amputated, with an imaginary support service! I am hopeful that things will now get moving. The gentleman’s false teeth were lost when he was in hospital and we now have a date for a home visit so he can have teeth for the first time in almost a year. What is wrong with our social care services? Are they inadequate or under funded or do they just not communicate effectively? If I’d been at college teaching this week, I don’t know how I’d have managed to do the phoning needed to try to help them.

The agenda for our meeting last night was the right size and partners were there and actively engaging with new members representing Churches Together and Elders Forum, too. Richard Baum (see link to his blog to your left) presented the plan with Carran (LAP Manager). It was a positive meeting and we’ve lots to do. I also raised the issue of the Bury Old Rd/Scholes Lane/Sheepfoot Lane Junction – asking who is going to pay the cost to getting rid of a huge lumpy bump as the tarmac road levels are wrong to the extent that cars bump the bottom of their vehicles! We need to find out who let the project go astray and at whose cost!

This morning Andrew and I went to visit another resident who has tripped on uneven paving. She’s broken her new glasses as well as gashing her knees, writs and is bruised. All she was doing was walking her dog on a nice evening. Another resident has been so badly hurt from her recent pavement trip, that nerve damange over one eyebrow may never recover – she’s lost feeling in her scalp and when she’s blow-drying her hair, she cannot feel if her skin is getting too hot! People’s lives are marred by these experiences which are preventable if our pavements were improved.

Why are our pot holed pavements in such a state? Why can’t the Council see that by having safe places to walk and cross roads, more people will walk and not use their cars? More people will be fitter, too! Huge amounts are spent on glossy council reports and in staff time, measuring performance against target indicators as well as preparing for inspections when necessary funds would be better spent on real services that benefit people.

Whilst I was on my final study day and return journey from Athens, Bury residents were voting whether or not to have an elected Mayor and change the way our Council is run.

We have welcomed the public’s decision to vote “No” to an elected Mayor for the Borough. The referendum was called for by congestion charge protesters Manchester Against Road Tax. This whole situation has been a ridiculous waste of the tax payers’ money.

The overall average turnout was 18.25%.

10,338 people voted yes and 15,425 voted no.

There were 28 spoilt votes.

Commenting on the result, leader of Bury Liberal Democrats, Cllr Tim Pickstone, said “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 has 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 continue working hard to get improved public transport for Bury without this additional tax.”

The issue of the Mayor was linked to the congestion charge by the ‘YES’ campaigners. A Mayor would have meant a less democratic system for local people, and would have cost a small fortune every year. We believe that decisions should be taken in local communities, not by one person (a Mayor), at the Town Hall. 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.”

I’ve been on a teacher IB (International Baccalaureate) training course in Greece this week. Athens is a superb venue for a study week although hot and expensive. I couldn’t find much traditional Greek food and was shocked at the pot holed roads, pavements and graffiti! Our puffy ankles, dicey tum and mossie bites are recovering. It’s been a break from politics to study with five colleagues and almost 800 other teachers who are from and work in schools all over the world. The training course was superb and I’m full of ideas and new approaches as well as an international network of contacts for us to start organising trips and events with.

The highs were the teaching, ideas for next year, company, high winds of Greece which cooled our hillside classrooms and partly shielded us from the heat and a tour of ancient Athens (which cost me €50! but well worth it). The lows were the toilet facilities (holes in floor with cold water to wash with) and catering which caused many of us to be ill. Due to bad weather in Munich, our return flight connection was in doubt and we had minutes to get off one plane and run the concourse to our connection. Unfortunately many our colleagues didn’t make theirs to Milan, Birmingham and Colne and faced an overnight stay at the airport (Borris had been wishing that he hadn’t got to teach Fri morning but I don’t think he’d wished for this!). Back at Manchester we were amazed that in just twenty minutes from our plane landing, German efficiency had managed to transfer our luggage and we could take it away with us.

Today polling stations are open in the referendum to decide whether Bury should have an elected Mayor.
People should vote at their normal polling stations (that we used for the elections in May). The polling stations are open from 7.00am - 10.00pm. You do not need your polling card to vote.
If you have a postal vote which hasn’t yet been returned, you can fill this in in the normal way and take it round to your local polling station.

The local Liberal Democrats are urging everyone to vote NO in the election because we believe this to be an undemocratic waste of public money. Lots of people have questions about this important issue, the local Lib Dems have produced this factsheet
to answer some of your questions.