Council Crackdown on Irresponsible Dog Owners

Councillors Ann Smith, Sue Deryshire and the local Lib Dem team have thanked local residents for the excellent response to their recent Resident’s Survey in Stockport.

One of the recurring issues that residents’ reported as a blight on our neighbourhoods was dog fouling.

The Council’s Dog Warden Service receives approximately 600-700 complaints about dog fouling every year and the winter months see the biggest rise in these complaints.

For every complaint where irresponsible owners have failed to be identified, one of Stockport Council’s dog wardens patrols the affected location and ensures that an anti-fouling sign is in place.

During November an irresponsible dog owner was witnessed allowing their dog to foul on Offerton Road, and was issued with an on the spot fixed penalty fine of £50.

Another was taken to court for failure to pick up and dispose of his dogs faeces and was ordered to pay a fine of £457.94.

Councillor Shan Alexander, Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Leisure, said: “The Council is committed to keeping the streets of Stockport dog foul free. The vast majority of dog owners dispose of their pets waste in a responsible way, however we will target those who fail to do so.”

Residents can report any known offenders to the Council’s Dog Warden Service on 0161 474 4207, or text 07624 805 662 specifying the time, date and location of a fouling offence witnessed and a brief description of the dog and owner.  Texts cost the standard network rate.

If you want dog foul to be removed from a public place, contact 0161 217 6111 and let the Council know about the problem.

Residents (and Labour!) invited to use Stockport Budget Calculator

Click to be taken to Stockport Council’s Budget Calculator

Stockport Council has published a novel ‘ budget simulator‘ tool on its website.

Users have to try to make the necessary savings in the Council’s budget for the next year, while making sure the Council still provides an “Excellent” service throughout the borough and protects Stockport’s most vulnerable children and adults.

The simulator gives a real insight into the challenge of preparing Stockport’s local budget.

Lib Dems on the Council have published their budget proposals for Stockport and invited public consultation on it. Details have been made available in Stockport’s libraries and on the Council website.

Residents can have a full say on the Lib Dem budget plans, which include another freeze in council tax.

This is in stark contrast to Stockport’s opposition Labour group, who continue to refuse to let residents see their budget plans for Stockport.

Stockport’s Labour councillors fail to deny claims that they would make savage cuts of the kind that have been made by next door Labour-run Manchester City Council.

Manchester sacked thousands of public sector workers and closed libraries throughout the City, despite £100million it had sat in its bank account it could have used instead.

This caused fierce criticism from across the country, with government ministers describing Manchester’s cuts as a “cynical move by a Labour council, which is intentionally cutting front-line services and playing politics with people lives.”

“Labour Councillors cutting services just to play politics with the coalition government is reprehensible,” said Sue Derbyshire.  “Labour councillors in Stockport must not be allowed to do the same to services in Stockport.”

“I challenge Stockport’s Labour councillors to publish its budget proposals and show residents in Stockport that they have nothing to hide.”

Edgeley campaigner Alan Livingstone challenged local Labour councillors to come clean on their budget plans.

“The budget simulator shows how hard it is to balance the books in a fair way that helps residents,” he said. “Maybe Edgeley and Cheadle Heath’s Labour Councillors should give it a go for themselves and come up with a plan residents can see, instead of keeping their plans secret from Stockport taxpayers.”

Labour’s Attack on Stockport Criticised by Sue

Manor Councillor Sue Derbyshire has slammed Stockport Labour for misleading local residents.

The criticism comes after a Labour councillor distributed a leaflet in Manor ward claiming that there had been no new houses built in Stockport.

This is despite people moving into new homes on Bideford Road this summer – right in the heart of his own ward!

Homes on Bideford Road Labour claim don't exist

The same councillor wrote to the Stockport Express describing Merseyway as a “Ghost Town”.

But again the facts tell a different story.

Merseyway has experienced a 20% growth in footfall since the opening of the new Primark store, outpacing the national average.

Mark Rawstron, senior Director of  Managing agent GVA told Insider magazine that “The town centre is actually bucking regional and national trends as footfall is up and vacancy rates are lower than average.”

“There’s a very strong story to be told about the town centre,” he said.

While the Council is working hard to ensure Stockport’s town centre recovers from the recession, Labour’s ‘rock throwing’ strategy has helped no one.

“There is nothing wrong with showing pride in Stockport,”  said Sue Derbyshire.  ”But instead, Labour councillors present the town as somewhere no one would want to live or do business in.”

“This is a policy that helps no one when everyone else in Stockport is working hard to get our town back on track.”

Welcome to the City of Stockport?

First Class Stamp for a First Class Borough – can we make it a City?

Stockport’s Lib Dem Council has launched an ambitious bid to promote Stockport to ‘City’ status.

With a population of more than 284,600, Stockport is bigger than cities like Derby and Sunderland.

Lib Dems on the Council feel it is about time Stockport got the recognition it deserves, but critics of the bid claim the bid is a distraction we can’t afford.

But if successful, the potential income to the ‘City of Stockport’ could be half a BILLION pounds.

And the cost of the bid was just a 250 page report and 50 photographs, with a first class stamp to post the report.

“We’re proud of Stockport and we think we have what it takes to achieve City status,” said Sue Derbyshire.  ”But some Labour and Tory councillors seem to have such low opinions of Stockport that they act as if they hope the bid will fail.”

Expressions of support have come in from not only all over Stockport and elsewhere in the UK, but even from elsewhere in the World with dignitaries from France, China and Sri Lanka that have visited the area all supporting city status.

The mayor of Heilbronn, in Germany, said that Stockport was “an exciting place of contrasts,” with ”bustling modern shopping and leisure centres, its unique heritage attractions, and flourishing business and economy.”  He said that the could not imagine a more suitable candidate for City status than Stockport.

Stockport Council leader Dave Goddard said “This is a big opportunity for Stockport. We will use this bid to make everyone proud of Stockport. And we will make sure that costs are kept to an absolute minimum. The bid will put Stockport on the national and international map. We want as many people as possible getting involved – as the support we have had so far has been overwhelming.”

You can see more on the bid on the relevant section of Stockport Council’s website and discuss the bid with the local team on our contact page.

Stockport Recycling Victory

Dave Goddard celebrates Stockport's Recycling achievement

Stockport is once again top of the league table for recycling performance in Greater Manchester.

Since the Council introduced its new recycling system last year, recycling rates have gone from 35% to in 2007/08 to 53% in 2010/11. They have gone up even further in the first quarter of this year, with Stockport’s rates soaring to 67%.

As well as creating a greener place to live, the success means Stockport has saved millions of pounds that would have been spent sending rubbish to landfill. It costs £107 more per tonne to dispose of “black bin” general waste compared to the waste from green, blue or brown bins.

Thanks to residents who have embraced the scheme, Stockport has avoided £2.3million in waste disposal costs in the last year and will now receive a rebate from Greater Manchester Waste Authority.

Stockport Lib Dem Councillors Sue Derbyshire and Ann Smith praised residents for the effort they have made to recycle correctly.

“Residents wanted a better recycling system and their efforts to put the right thing in the right bin has made all the difference,” said Sue Derbyshire.

The rates are a massive improvement on what other areas near to Stockport have achieved, like Tory Trafford or Labour Oldham, Salford and Manchester.

Manchester City Council performed half as well as Stockport, despite receiving much more government money and having £100million sat in its bank account.

Manchester has been fiercely criticised for laying off thousands of staff and closing libraries, leisure centres and public loos instead of turning to these funds.  

Their cuts have been described as a “cruel and cynical” ploy by Labour as they play politics with peoples services.

But Lib Dem Stockport has been getting on with the job, and residents support for the new recycling scheme has brought enormous benefits to Stockport.

Campaign Victory for Davenport Station

Ann welcomes the u-turn by Transport for Greater Manchester

The battle to stop a potential reduction in the number of trains stopping at Davenport station has been won, after a campaign led by local Lib Dem Councillor Ann Smith.

Hundreds of residents of Davenport, Adswood and Cale Green signed Ann’s petition after she alerted residents to a potential threat to our local rail service.

The report, which was written by Transport for Greater Manchester, suggested that trains between Manchester and Buxton would “skip” Davenport and Woodsmoor stations once an hour.

Ann Smith described any reduction in service to Davenport as “unacceptable” and wrote to TfGM expressing her strong opposition.

Lib Dems at the Council forced TFGM to withdraw the claim that they were not responsible for the report, and they have since confirmed to Stockport Lib Dems that they now do not intend to cut the service and that they will push for More services to Davenport.

“I am very pleased by this u-turn from TfGM, after first claiming they had not written the report and then being forced to backtrack by Lib Dem Councillors,” said Ann.  “But I am still worried that the report looked like TfGM were trying to smuggle a change to Davenport’s service without consulting residents or the council.”

Ann wrote to TfGM opposing any reduction in Davenport’s service and set up a petition  for residents to sign.

There was a massive response to this petition, with hundreds of residents in Davenport, Cale Green, Adswood and elsewhere in Stockport joining forces to oppose any reduction in service.

Millions Extra for Stockport Children

Stockport Academy will get more than £91,000 extra money for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds after Lib Dem work in Government

Millions of pounds in extra cash are coming to Stockport school children after a campaign victory for Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government.

Lib Dems want to close the gap between children from rich and poor families.  Their manifesto called for a ‘pupil premium’ policy, which would pump £2.5 billion directly into schools with disadvantaged pupils.

Scandal

The money would be used to confront the scandal that pupils from these backgrounds are three times less likely to achieve five good GSCEs than their more well-off classmates.

Lib Dems in Government have succeeded in making the premium a reality.  Now more than £2.6m of extra money will go straight into local schools here in Stockport.

Lib Dem Children & Families Minister Sarah Teather said “The Pupil Premium will benefit poorer pupils, providing extra money directly for those pupils who need it the most.

Tackling inequality

“This extra funding will help tackle inequality and enable schools to provide the extra support their pupils need to reach their full potential.”

Every school in Stockport will now get nearly £500 for every child on Free School Meals.

Stockport Academy will get an extra £91,744, Stockport School £65,880 and Adswood, Bridgehall and Banks Lane Primaries a share of an extra £115,144. 

The schools will decide for themselves how the money is spent, with options including cutting class sizes, extending school days or one-to-one tuition sessions.

“Instead of government targets, our schools will decide for themselves how the money is best spent for kids in our schools,” said Ann Smith.

“This is a great example of Liberal Democrat work at the local and national level coming together to help schools like ours in Stockport.”

Getting Ready for Winter

Stockport’s Lib Dems are working hard to make sure the Council prepares now for our winter weather.

Teams from Stockport Council are working through the night to change bulbs in streetlights older than three years old, to head off any potential problems this winter.

Lib Dems lending a hand in last years snowfall

Road repair crews are working on Stockport’s roads fixing everything from potholes to manhole covers, broken bollards to damaged flagstones.

3,000 repairs have been made to local roads, with the most popular routes targeted first to ensure disruption to travel is kept at a miminum.

The Council is also prepared for winter gritting and has stockpiles 4,500 tonnes of rock salt to make sure routes are kept clear and grit bins filled for residents to use on roads and pavements in their community.

“Residents are working with the Council by letting us know of any broken street lights or potholes so that we can prepare for winter,” said  Sue Derbyshire. “They can report these to the local Lib Dem teams and we will pass them on for attention.”

Residents can report any issues like this on our contact page.

Bollard Result for Ann

Ann has secured the bollards requested by Davenport residents

Davenport Councillor Ann Smith has written to residents in Davenport about the bollards recently installed on Kennerley Road.

The bollards are designed to stop drivers parking on the pavement near the junction with Bramhall Lane.

Residents contacted Ann because of the problems caused when some people parked on the pavement near the junction.

It made it difficult for residents in this part of Davenport to turn into the road, and had become a real inconvenience to a lot of people in the area.

“I am pleased action has been taken by the Council. I hope this will improve passage on the road and ease local congestion,” said Ann.

“I will continue to work for solutions to buses and other heavy vehicles that use the road and will update residents through our regular issues of FOCUS.”

Stopping Cars Parking on Adswood Bus Stop

Ann has scored a success in her campaign to stop cars parking in the Adswood Bus Stop

Adswood’s local Councillor Ann Smith has scored a success in her campaign to stop cars parking in the Bus Stop in the centre of Adswood.

It is illegal to park in the Bus Stop and causes inconvenience to other drivers as well as residents whop use the buses that serve Adswood.

Ann, who lives up the road in Bridgehall, is just a short walk from the shops and sees the problems cars parking in the Bus Stop creates.

“This causes all sorts of problems for everyone else and I know a lot of residents, shop owners and bus users feel quite strongly about it,” she said.

“This is why I talked to the people at the Council responsible for transportation and to the local Police. I wanted to know what could be done to stop inconsiderate drivers parking in this Bus Stop.”

As a result of her action Stockport Council has recruited six new traffic wardens.  Their job is to make sure the rules are being enforced locally.  Ann has told residents to contact her if cars continue to park in the stop.