The massive earthquake hitting this morning is yet another disaster for the world to help deal with. The concerns for a possible tsunami to follow, fills me and millions of others, with dread for further potential horrors.  With Haiti struggling to recover from its disaster and now this, leading charities and the UN will be overstretched to cope. 

Dundee Univeristy’s Botanical Gardens and cafe was our haunt this afternoon - superb - although plants are largely getting ready to launch themselves for spring (bit like us getting ready for elections at this time of year), we had a superb visit.  The green houses took us on a journey through plants, bushes and trees labelled - which is brill - as you have much more of an idea what everything is - so I now know what a Palm Oil tree looks like and what the superb plants, bushes and trees look like that it replaces (ie rainforest), without visiting a real one and having to negotiate flies and other creatures in reality!  It’s a huge pity we don’t have gardens like this near to where I live - its amazing!

Dear Postbag (I’ve submitted the following letter to local newspapers),

I’m against the Goals Soccer application to build on over 8 acres of quiet Heaton Park green belt land, next to the Commonwealth Bowling facility. There’s still lots of undeveloped ex-industrial land to use in north Manchester, instead of using open parkland. I am also against this private soccer development at the Prestwich end of Heaton Park (St Margaret’s) as we don’t need more 5 A-Side pitches in our area. As a local Council Tax payer, we have contributed towards the building of local soccer facilities for out-of-school hire by the public at Parrenthorn High School (by Heaton Park) and Philip’s High (Whitefield) as quality sports centres. If Goals Soccer with their bar and wide screen TV open in our Heaton Park, our local schools will loose bookings and revenue. What a waste of public money!

If I wanted to build a house or business or sports complex, I’d have to BUY the land to build on not be able to ‘rent it’ from Manchester Park’s department! Is this the thin end of the wedge and all Manchester Parks are there for hire for developers? I believed that Heaton Park was the green lungs of Manchester and free space for the public to enjoy, not a cut-price building plot for the City Council!  Heaton Park’s fate will be decided on 11th February by Manchester’s own Planning Committee.  See our Web Site  If you don’t have access to a computer, may I recommend that you ask for help from staff in your local library to access it ASAP to find out how you can help our campaign?

You forget how cold you get talking to strangers, trying to get their interest to sign petitions and letters!  We had such a warm response today – I did a 90min stint – its not often that people are coming up to you to sign things either!  Folk just don’t like the Soccer Centre’s proposals at all!  Please click to follow this link for details of how to object to an application to put a 5m high fence around 8 acres of our loved Heaton Park and charge people to play football, where we now roam freely.  Our next meeting is 7pm, tomorrow (Monday) in St Margaret’s Church Hall.

Before my stint and afterwards, I enjoyed our fabulous Prestwich Farmers market.  I’m spent up on fresh produce curly Kale, parsnips and beetroot to roast with lamb that’s grazed our north of Bury hillsides.  I’ve even bought goat for the first time and goat’s cheese for my Dad who is having to eat a low-fat diet and adores cheese! 

Although there has been a huge public outcry, Goals Soccer Centres are still planning to present their plans to Manchester City Council’s Planning Committee. It’s up to us to stop them.  They have tried and failed in other parks. We must continue fight them every inch of the way.

Goals have been stopped before

Regents Park - REJECTED
Mordern Park -REJECTED

Lets stop them in Heaton Park and make it three nil for all those people who love open parkland.


The new planning application from Goals includes raising the level of the pitches by 80 centimeters which is almost a metre higher than they were originally planned. Making this blot on the landscape even more obvious.

Additionally security fencing is also planned. This physical and visual barrier will effectively cut off this area of parkland and thereby detract from the special character of this area of the park.

You need to send your objections to Manchester City Council by 3rd February 2010 If you have already sent in an objection during the last consultation period you will still need to send in another objection.

Here’s the link to the petition to send to a friend in an email.

Sitting looking out onto a greenish garden, after ages of snow, I wonder why the lids off the compost bin.  A job for next weekend will be clearing away debris and looking for signs of spring!  There’s little green shoots showing from the onion patch and the garlic appears okay.  Before wading in to pull things up – I’ll see what’ll recover first.  Today’s chores are weighing and bundling political messages ready for dispatch as well as finally rid my home of a leaflet I started to deliver when the snow came and I gave up skating up and down steps when I almost went through a glass door of somebody’s porch.

Much of this Sunday morning has been spent with the Observer.  As hubby left for a London bound train at 7am, I didn’t have to share and had time for a good read!  Reading reports and Twitter feeds about Haiti after moaning about icy pavements for days, I feel so guilty that we have homes, power, fresh water and our lives!  I was also a little perplexed about plans to distribute a new guide for fathers about their role and with advice about their partner’s pregnancy.  I agree with plans for helping Dads get their heads around how to give breast feeding support.  Separate Dad sessions for anti-natal classes so they can ask things they might not in front of pregnant partners is very necessary.   Why produce separate books for both parents to read?  We read things together and discussed/planned what we’d do – why treat both parents as individuals when patenting means together? 

Like many, I appreciate that in cold weather, roads are gritted in priority to keep main roads and bus routes.  After a week, gritting minor side roads to schools, churches (et al) and health centres is also necessary.  Its not happened though!  I’ve been up to see a resident at Charlton Court after work today – a residential complex for retired people, up a small hilly street – they have literally been snowed in for three weeks!  We need more communal grit bins and more minor necessary roads freeing up in prolonged cold snaps!  Come on Bury – we need a re-think!

We’ve had lots of phone calls and emails about gritting.  A link to Bury’s webpage which details gritting priorities - http://www.bury.gov.uk/TransportAndStreets/RoadAndPathwayMaintenance/RoadGritting/default.htm

Unfortunately, if your road is not on the priority list and has not been gritted previously, it may not be - there’s a grit shortage too.  Staff have been working hard, over our 6 Towns to do what they can to keep main roads open.  It’s not a job I’d like to have to do either!

My Mum was talking to her neighbour - who does motorway maintaince - he’s been out gritting motorways locally - over and over again - he was shattered.  His own van was stranded near his home so he was walking back from work after a very long shift.

So many of you are also looking after your neighbours too - getting milk/bread and clearing paths - remember to look after yourselves, too!  I hope the weather improves for us all soon!

With neighbours, we’ve dug out and rescued an articulated lorry who’d taken a wrong turning - he was on his way to a local food outlet to collect sandwiches for Asda!  The driver lives at Newton Heath - so I hope he got home after his delivery!

Reading reports of Copenhagen discussions, in the Observer whilst tucked up warmly in bed, there’s still a huge gulf between those who will most affected and ill-placed to avert and other countries who want to maintain their present lifestyle. So, what am I doing about it? Being careful about how much energy I use, trying not to over-buy and purchase locally or from locally based producers is still small fry! We all need to do more!

At the St Margaret’s end of Heaton Park, ‘Bury Old Road Camp’, where Goals Soccer want to replace quiet parkland by Astro-Turf, men trained before they went to fight in a war - from which many didn’t return. There was even a no-go area - the house by the park wall where soldiers returning after curfew would try to return to their barracks! This post card was to a girlfriend or Sister (Katie) in June, 1917. She didn’t seem to have time to write back. I wonder what happened to Jack? Featured is the Cook House - and its basic! The post-card is from local historian Craig’s collection – thanks for sharing it with us!

With a friend, we made a short trip over to Ulverston, yesterday and walked up to the Sir John Barrow monument, which is under restoration. If you compare the photos from the link to the Trustees of the monument, to the shocking floods in the area, you appreciate the challenges for so many Cumbrian residents this weekend.

Goals Soccer, has re-submitted their plans to build a commercial leisure complex on our quiet, precious park land. Details of the plans are through this link.

Can you help? See the plans and link to Manchester’s Planning Dept. We Web Site also advertises a competition to show Manchester City Council, how many people love that area of parkland!

Bury Council is gearing up to introduce new borough-wide rubbish and recycling collection routes as from Tuesday 24 November.

The new routes are part of a plan to reduce carbon emissions by cutting down on fuel usage, make better use of the collection vehicles and extend recycling opportunities into rural areas. This is the first major change to collection routes for eight years and the first since kerb side recycling was introduced. As a result 20,000 households out of nearly 82,000 are to be given new rubbish and recycling collection days.

Read the rest of this entry.

What can I say but – prompt! After planting bulbs in my garden yesterday, I decided to quickly check the drains. It’s something necessary that seems to be part of my domestic goddess role along with cleaning the bathroom…. It’s a case of clearing away this and that from drain covers and at this time of year, leaves that have managed to get into nooks and crannies.

Yesterday, I realised that there was a bigger problem. Calling for help to lift manhole covers, from a ‘Do we have to’ busy hubby, we discovered that there was something very wrong and our waste water (etc) was not getting to the main sewers in the road. So tonight, at this very minute, we have a guy and a machine that has come to clear up – after the guys who unblock the drains (that haven’t come yet). We are assured that they can sort it all out. I hope so as if we use any more water at all, our own manholes will start to overflow …… and I really don’t fancy going into work in a smelly state tomorrow!

Bury Tories have made a U-turn on their plans to save money by switching off 40% of residential area street lights at night. This is both a victory for common sense and our lobbying against this foodhardy plan.

Lots of people work shifts and they need to be able to get to and from home at night. This leaves me wondering why the Tories insisted on spending valuable time and resources researching the possibilities of this cost-cutting and unpopular measure.

Where street lights need updating and replacing, there are facilities to have lights with sensors that come on at night where needed – that’s what’s needed for busy urban areas. There’s no point switching off lights where our roads and footpaths are in such a poor state of repair that people would not be able to safely move about at night!

I’ve already had emails from cross and frustrated residents about noise levels, lack of access to their own homes. Tonight, the curfew finish time for the gig was supposed to be 11pm not later and sound levels unacceptable. Residents also were restricted in their ability to move freely in the area. We had been assured that this would not be the case.

The park may be huge but the complexity and density of the residential area surrounding it does not marry with such huge events. Concert visitors were allowed to drink alcohol on the streets outside the park, too.

I’d be not doing my job as a local councillor, if I do not make a lot of noise about issues created for our residents today.

Cycles queued, specialist Bike Doctors were on hand at the Phoenix Centre this afternoon. It’s really important that we encourage cycling and the Prestwich-based National Cycling Academy’s commitment to locals, mending bikes, maintaince advice as well as giving cycle maps to both adults and youngsters has been a fantastic plus for Prestwich residents. Our local PCSOs were also on had to tag cycles incase of theft, too.

I’d promised to support the National Cycling Academy’s event and had to hunt out a cycling hat as well as pump up the tyres of my bike, I don’t use it enough. I’d not cycled for a few years and I must admit to being a little nervous of cycling on main roads again. But I was fine, with only a few wobbles.

So many youngsters needed advice on how to maintain their bikes today. Parents have also valued the reassurance that their kid’s bike is safe to ride too. The event was perfect to also encourage cycling ahead of National Cycling Week (13-21st June). Manchester FoE have a great web site to support and encourage cycling with safer cycling routes, too.
Did you know - Cycling makes sense - because:
 30 minutes of cycling 5 times a week will burn off the equivalent of 11 kg of fat per year (sounds like I need to cycle more)
 Regular cyclists enjoy a level of fitness equivalent to someone ten years younger
 Get there quicker – than walking

Like many, I value quiet spaces where I can go when I need to walk and think. As parks go, Heaton Park is where I can go for a half hour walk after work and occasionally in the day when I need to, too. Yesterday we introduced our Lodger’s Dad and little brother, who are over from Spain for the weekend. They were amazed not only by the greenness but the way that all of the different parts of the park work together so well. Some of it’s in need of improving, where paths and lakeside are worn but they both agreed that we’re so lucky to have it on our doorstep. Where they live, public parks like our Heaton Park, don’t exist. There are children’s play areas and sports complex but nothing on the scale of our park. The most special thing about H.P is that no matter which entrance you go through, you are in the park – you don’t have to go past anything – you are there immediately. There is nothing spoiling the views of the trees and the open space is in front of you. We walked for two hours. I’m backing the campaign against the sports complex proposals. The plans are great – we need a sports complex like this – but not at the expense of park land’s breathing spaces.

This issue has split residents into two camps – those who are desperate for more football pitches (and need more) and those who want to keep Heaton Park as it is and not carve bits up for this organisation/business and that. I am still in the camp of developing sports and facilities to keep mind, body and soul healthy as well as the protection of precious open green spaces.

It’s the most reported issue this month. You’d think that with better weather, people might start to get fitter and walk rather than drive. One resident was telling me about a neighbour who spent ages putting her pushchair into the car and then fastening the children into car seats when she’d have been able to get their far quicker if she’d walked – to the school that is five minutes drive from her home.

AHHH but that brings me back to poorly maintained pavements (we have the worst in greater Manchester) & Doggie Dooh! It’s no wonder that parents prefer to try and navigate over-loaded roads for the school run.

Another resident is a childminder and at her wits end. Her residential road(Bishop’s Rd), is also home to a Church, primary school, children’s centre and health centre with a dispensing pharmacy … we’re hoping that Bury Council Officers will be able to get down soon to assess this problem and start defacing the roads with yellow lines. What an expensive and eco-unfriendly solution. We’re also hoping that residents will report cars causing obstructions to the Police as a health and safety issue so close to the school.

We’ve been sticking labels onto leaflets today – for ten hours! Before that I’d already stuffed 200 or so leaflets into envelopes for the post – so this posting is an avoidance tactic to walking down the hill with a box of envelopes to the post box – before cooking….

This week was strange and busy with an exam board quality inspection, students actually finishing coursework (some I’d been after since before Xmas!), discussions about Tourism and Bury (I lobbied for family tickets linked with Visit Manchester to encourage people to explore the region by public transport). I almost lost my temper with the same sub group later in the meeting as they were both considering switching off 40% of street lights at night to save money AS WELL AS CHANGING from their present GREEN SOURCED ELECTRICITY to the cheapest they can get. How immoral can you be, when balancing the Council’s finances is more important than championing sustainability and green energy? Unfortunately as it was after 9pm and I had lessons to still prepare for my classes, for next day, I had to leave the meeting (it’s a ridiculous 6.30-10pm slotted meeting). So comments were made as to my commitment to the meeting! Sorry but the students I teach require time and attention from a teacher who still has sustained energy for them, too!

Today I won two competitions for leaflet labelling – against Carmen – I won by a fraction each time. So apologies to residents who get leaflets with a wonky address labels – but play-offs bring out your competitive edge! So tomorrow is a deserved relaxing read of the Observer (in bed with lots of fresh coffee), followed by visit to our community allotment shop before 11.30 (when it closes) and leafleting (to catch up as we have leaflet helpers who are ill/on holiday) then we need to stock our cupboards … then mark the wayward coursework …. all this activity has made my fingers thinner ….