This week has felt like a change of seasons- and I’m not talking about our unpredictable weather! Pre-election period is almost upon us, and as public committee meetings ease up at the town hall, election preparation ramps up. A lot of planning goes into an election campaign- from preparing nomination papers to agreeing campaign messaging, a lot of this week has been working to deadlines so that we’re ready for the weeks ahead.
However, business as usual continues with several meetings at the town hall as well as a few enjoyable events.
Monday started at Waterside Arts in Sale, where I joined students from 11 of our local secondary schools and three authors for the Trafford Young Readers’ Award Celebration Event. The students had read a shortlist of books and selected their winner on Monday. It was clear how much the students had enjoyed this project- and they had loads of questions for each of the authors. A huge thank you to our library service, school librarians, teachers and support staff for inspiring the children to get involved. The school theme continued later that day with a governors’ meeting at Victoria Park Junior School- a school which also boasts a lovely school library!
Prior to this I had the great pleasure of officially opening Irwell Valley Housing Association’s new offices in Sale town centre. I’m proud of the relationship Trafford Council have with Irwell Valley- we work together to increase the supply of affordable housing and we have also been working closely with a shared aim to increase the supply of temporary accommodation. I look forward to us doing more to meet the challenges of the housing crisis.
It was a week of openings and launches. On Wednesday I returned to Move Altrincham 6 months after it re-opened its doors. I joined the Mayor and colleagues for the formal opening and got to hear about how successful the centre has been. Membership is running 77% ahead of expectations and I got to hear some wonderful first hand accounts of social prescribing in action. Almost 300 people have been referred from local health services into Move Altrincham- which demonstrates why our public leisure centres remain so important.
Trafford’s heritage is also important, which is why I was delighted to say a few words at the official launch of our Heritage Framework at Stretford Public Hall this week, it’s well worth taking some time to watch this video explaining how the framework was put together and why we should be proud of our diverse heritage in Trafford.
On Thursday I had a trip to Oldham to speak at Oldham Council’s Green Summit- I was there in my Green City-Region capacity and spoke about achievements we’ve had across Greater Manchester in recent years before setting out the aims of our current Five-Year Environment Plan. I then returned to Stretford to join a doorknocking session before covering our councillor advice surgery at the library.
I also enjoyed a return to see my friends at Altrincham & Sale West’s latest Labour Party meeting. I provided an update on what’s been happening at the council, before listening to a great update from Connor Rand.
On Friday I was back in Oldham for this month’s meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. It was a good meeting- with discussions around the impact the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund will have on places in each Borough (including Stretford, Carrington and Partington in Trafford). We also demonstrated how well we work as a GM family under the leadership of Andy Burnham- through a package of support for us in Trafford. We secured access to an interest free lending facility, which is significant progress on the interest-bearing loans usually associated with Exceptional Financial Support. The GMCA has also returned more money to the 10 districts than previously. I cannot underestimate how grateful I am to Andy Burnham and our wider GM family for this support- it reduces our projected budget gap whilst we continue to have dialogue with government officials regarding our long-term financial situation.
Finally, on a lighter note, StretFest returned on Saturday. This is a wonderful celebration of the town- bringing so many people together. It helps our businesses to thrive and celebrates the community spirit Stretford has in spades. As with last year, the event attracted huge numbers to the town and I enjoyed spending Saturday afternoon seeing the huge variety on offer. Thank you to the small team of volunteers who pulled off another successful day- you did Stretford proud!
This will be my last weekly review until after the elections- although keep an eye out for lots of updates from our candidates across Trafford over April and early May!