I’ve not known a week quite as dominated by Greater Manchester activity as this one, with several key meetings taking place within a few days of each other. On Tuesday I chaired the latest meeting of the Greater Manchester Food Partnership Board, where we discussed the findings of a School Food report. This tied in with the recent changes to school meals announced by the Government as we move to more healthier options for our children and young people. We also discussed levels of food waste- which was a topic referenced at the latest GM Waste and Recycling Committee meeting, which was held on Thursday. I attend the committee as part of my Green City-Region role at GM and there’s always a broad agenda, from finances and recycling rates to the Community Fund supporting lots of environmental projects across Greater Manchester.
Shortly after Waste and Recycling Committee ended, I chaired a meeting of the Bee Network Committee. It was my first time back in the chair for a couple of years and there were lots of new faces around the table. It was great to welcome our Mayor, Bev Craig, to the meeting and hear her set out her vision for the Bee Network. The following day I was with Bev and leaders from across Greater Manchester for our first GMCA meeting since the mayoral by-election. At the meeting I was delighted to formally take on the additional responsibility of the Bee Network under my existing portfolio. Anyone who knows me well will understand how excited I am with this prospect!
One fundamental part of the Bee Network is our active travel provision across Greater Manchester and on Wednesday I had the opportunity to speak at the Making Active Places Conference in Manchester. The focus of my presentation was how we weave good walking, wheeling and cycling routes into our regeneration projects- in this case Old Trafford Regeneration. I highlighted the importance of enhancing our canals, introducing green spaces and creating new streets that are much more accessible to walking, wheeling and cycling. It was great to share a positive vision and examples of work that has already been completed in Trafford. I was also really pleased that a delegation toured the Kingsway area of Stretford as an example of what good looks like.
At the beginning of the week, I joined other Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation board members for a catch-up session where, among other things, we discussed early feedback from local consultation events around the Wharfside Masterplan. The interest from residents and organisations is very clear and I know we are all committed to ensuring everyone benefits from such an exciting project. I also had the opportunity to visit another important regeneration area in the Borough, Trafford Waters, this week for a groundbreaking ceremony for the next phase of housing in that area. With an affordable housing phase near completion, this next phase will begin to fill out the space at Trafford Waters- enhancing the area with new homes and an improved public realm.
I spent plenty time at the Town Hall this week to, not least a marathon meeting of the Executive on Monday with a twenty-item agenda. It was inevitably one of the longer meetings I’ve chaired with a wide-ranging agenda- including the publication of our latest Annual Report.
Celebrating our rich and diverse heritage was the theme last Sunday. First, I joined our Deputy Mayor Jo Harding, Eve Parker, Barry Brotherton and Mike Kane MP at Sale Town Hall’s Heritage Open Day- where I signed up to be a member of the South Trafford Archaeology Group. Following this, Eve and I joined Waseem Hassan and the Deputy Mayor at a very special celebration at our local Gurdwara in honour of Gyani Sundar Singh Sagar and his campaigning on behalf of the Sikh community in the 1960s and 70s, which included the Motor-Cycle Crash Helmet (Religious Exemption) Act 1976.
Finally, it was lovely to be invited by Mrs Murray, who was my Year 7 form teacher at school and my maths teacher from 1993 to 1998, to address a local meeting of the U3A at Altrincham Town Hall. I was very fortunate to have amazing teachers and I’m even luckier to be able to still see some of them decades later. I spoke about my role in public life and really appreciated the warm reception I received, and I’ve been invited to do a couple more talks off the back of this one.