Last week kicked off with a visit to Manchester Waters, situated at Pomona. This area was once home to a Pleasure Gardens, before becoming Pomona Docks. It is now one of Trafford’s major regeneration sites with a masterplan being put in place by Peel. It’s always exciting to see progress on projects that will bring new homes and jobs to the area. These developments aren’t just about bricks and mortar – they’re about creating communities that work for everyone. Regeneration also provides an opportunity to celebrate what has come before, using past heritage to shape the future.
Later that day I joined my colleague Jane Slater on the doorstep in Stretford before heading to Gorse Hill to join my other ward colleague, Steve Adshead, along with my colleagues Aidan Williams and Fianna Hornby for the launch of a new electric vehicle charger on a residential street. We’re expanding our EV infrastructure in Trafford and hope to have 20 chargers installed by the end of this year. It’s timely as EV charging infrastructure has been raised on the doorstep in recent months- particularly in areas with terraced housing.
I spent much of Tuesday at the Town Hall, attending meetings and catching up on emails. Later in the day I joined colleagues next door at Trafford College for a very special exhibition curated as part of Parliament Week. It was a celebration of Sir Tony Lloyd’s contribution to politics and the communities he served for many years. It was great to join my colleague and friend Judith Lloyd at the exhibition. It was also good to see the contribution Trafford College’s students made to the exhibition.
Following this I headed back to the Town Hall to join the Mayor and Cllr Eve Parker as we hosted Sale Central Brownies- another event linked to UK Parliament Week. This was another special event. I love giving tours of the Town Hall, all the brownies asked lots of questions and I hope they enjoyed the evening as much as I did.
Wednesday started with an interview with the CQC as part of their visit to Trafford. I was interviewed in my capacity as Co-chair of Trafford’s Locality Board, so much of the conversation covered local health needs and services. Following this I chaired what felt like a marathon meeting with some of my colleagues at the Town Hall.
Thursday was a real highlight and an antidote to quite a demanding set of meetings the day before. I attended the Graduation Event for the GM Civic Leadership Programme and met our fabulous Trafford cohort -Martina, Aliya, Jackie and Beatrice, once again. It was wonderful to hear them reflect so positively on their time with us and hear about their ambitions for the future.
In the evening, I joined the Trafford Youth Engagement team and a group of young people at TalkShop in Sale. I was there to hear about the residential trip they took in the summer, and how much they enjoyed and gained from it. The team at TalkShop are amazing and a reminder of the vast range of important services Trafford Council provides.
Friday started with the GMCA meeting in Bury, where leaders from across Greater Manchester came together to discuss Greater Manchester’s Good Growth Fund. Every Borough in GM will benefit from this fund and I referenced the support we will receive in Trafford.
Later, I headed back to the Stretford to do some more doorknocking, followed by the Friends of Stretford Public Hall AGM. This was a great AGM- a celebration of the building, its people and the importance of this community hub. It was an honour to say a few words and present long service certificates to some of the Hall’s amazing volunteers.
I rounded off the week at the Ramblers Greater Manchester and High Peak AGM. I was there to present an update in my capacity as Honorary President. In my presentation I was able to reference the rambling (of the walking kind) I had done during 2025 and how the Greater Manchester Local Nature recovery Strategy supports walking for leisure in both urban and rural settings. I was delighted to be re-adopted as President for another year and made sure I finished my weekend with a 18km urban walk from Stretford to Ashton-under-Lyne!