Recently, I’ve been talking a lot about the new plan we’re putting together at Trafford Council. It’s called the Corporate Plan and it aims to set the strategic direction for the Borough over several years. You can read more about our plans here in a recent Messenger article I wrote. Many of the activities I was involved with this week touched on the five areas that form our new plan for Trafford.
Addressing the Climate Crisis is something we can influence at a very local level. One example of this is promoting ‘School Streets’ and encouraging people to consider more active ways to do the school run. School Streets also reduce the volume of vehicles with idling engines outside our schools. On Tuesday, I spoke to BBC Radio Manchester about the schemes and other measures we’re taking to make the areas around our schools safer. Reducing the number of vehicles, as well as the number of car journeys, makes a positive difference to our local environment and air quality.
On Wednesday, it was a privilege to be at the launch of our annual Pride in Trafford festival. Pride allows us to celebrate diversity and showcases our talented team at the Waterside Arts Centre located in Sale. Culture is an important part of our plan for Trafford and our Pride festival is centred on promoting new and emerging LGBTQ+ talent. It was a pleasure to attend the opening night with so many of my Trafford Labour councillor colleagues.
On Wednesday, I also visited our own Trafford Council Wellbeing Open Day. Promoting Healthy and Independent Lives is another core part of our strategy and it’s important we lead by example in the council. This included a series of information stands covering areas that help to support physical and mental wellbeing and I was really pleased to see so many people engage with what was on offer. Having a healthy and independent life can mean many things, including access to our Library Service or our local leisure centres, along with the support provided by our health and social care teams.
On Thursday, my most important meeting of the day was the Council’s Corporate Parenting Board. Being a Corporate Parent is one of the most important parts of being a councillor- we must ensure our looked after and care experienced children and young people have the very best start. This meeting brings together local health, education and council services, along with foster carers and councillors, so that we can all review, praise and challenge the support in place for the children we have a collective responsibility for. The most important part of the meeting is when we get to read and hear the voices of our looked after and care experienced children. Hearing those voices has a huge impact on me and keeps me focussed on what more we need to do to support our younger residents of the Borough.
On Friday morning, it was great to visit our Stretford regeneration site once again as we aspire to support a thriving economy and homes for all. The town centre regeneration is well underway and over the course of the next few years plans for a range of new homes at the site will progress. During the visit we went to the top of the multi-storey car park to look down at the site and it was amazing to see the changes underway- from the new King Street retail area to the transformation of Kingsway.
Over the course of the week, I met with many of my Labour councillor colleagues as we prepare for the new municipal year that will begin next week. And I suspect the next year will be as busy as this one has been. There is certainly a lot happening across Trafford!
Have a great weekend.
Tom.
