Cllr. Steve Cooke

So, Salford Community Leisure (SCL) want to run a city-wide programme of summer sporting activities. The Lead Member of Culture and Sport describes this programme as ‘vital’, but states that has not budgeted for it and expects it to be funded from devolved community committee funding. The programme is run, and apparently instigated by SCL (SCL are ‘a membership organisation owned and controlled by the people of Salford’ set up by the council to run its sporting and leisure facilities to open up greater avenues to seek grants and loans) – although I’m currently seeking clarification as to whether the council asked it to run the programme whilst simultaneously refusing to fund it.

Yet another major programme of sporting events which the Lead Member for Culture and Sports affirms is run by someone other than him.

I have requested the Lead Member’s personal work programme so that I can get an indication of what it is exactly that he does do (or doesn’t do as the current evidence indicates), but so far have received nothing. Perhaps it doesn’t exist?

One wonders whether cabinet posts are assigned by Labour in Salford on the basis of competence or as either reward for loyalty or means of keeping internal factional interests happy? Certainly Cllr. Warmisham is proof positive that a cabinet position isn’t always an indication of competence (two directorates he has been put in charge of so far have gone from 3 star to 2 star ratings under his ‘leadership’ and one got so bad that the government came within a whisker of taking control of it away from the council).

At council yesterday I asked Labour’s lead councillor for ‘Culture and Sport’ what level of losses would be deemed acceptable for the Proms in the Park and the Ice Rink, which between them have cost the tax-payer many hundreds of thousands  of pounds.

His response was to say that none of the items on a recently published list of cultural and sporting activities ‘are anything to do with him’. They are all part of the Chief Executive’s programme of events.

I’ve just now seen an email in which the same member responds to question from another councillor asking about the new Community Sports Stadium where he says that that too is under the Chief Exec and not him, and that he has ‘not had any involvement in this project’.

Here’s a list of things that the Lead Member for Culture and Sport (paid £23,320 last year) has nothing to do with and no involvement in:

1. Salford Community Stadium – sports stadium which will host the Salford Reds rugby team
2. Zapcat Racing: proposed opening City Championship catamaran powerboat race.
3. Great Salford Swim: large scale mass participation open water swim.
4. Salford 10k Run: 10k run for up to 500 competitors around The Quays.
5. Proms in the Park: an 8,000 capacity Proms in the Park event with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and a headline act
6. Salford Music Festival: one day outdoor music event in Buile Hill Park as part of a bigger music festival and to be delivered in conjunction with the Proms event.
7. Salford Food and Drink Festival: Food Fayre to be held on the Civic Centre lawns as the opening and main highlight event of the sixth festival which will run at various venues across the city
8. Bonfire Night Events: annual large-scale traditional bonfire and firework shows at Buile Hill and Prince’s Park, Irlam.
9. Salford Film Festival: Annual film festival
10. Slave: World premier play to be held at The Lowry and produced by a local theatre company profiling the true story of a girl kidnapped in Sudan and forced to live as a slave in the 1990s.
11. Ice rink: Ice rink to run during December and the early New Year period

Just what is Cllr. Warner being paid to do, because from where I’m sitting it looks like absolutely nothing? It’s about time he justified his councillor’s allowance.

Edit: I’ve just looked through last year’s cabinet work plan and there are zero mentions in it of culture, sport, or leisure. The picture gets worse.

Victoria Park in Swinton is lucky enough to have an active and dedicated Friends group, who each year organise a program of fantastic events in the park. Why not come along to some of those listed below?

Friends of Victoria Park Summer Progam

Also going on will be the following events:

Wednesday 25 May 10.30am – 2pm: Coffee Morning for Barry Gordon (Victoria Park’s retiring resident gardener who has given so many wonderful years of service to the park and the community)
Saturday 14 August 12 noon – 4pm: Friendship Day
Friday 24 September 10am – 2pm: Macmillan Coffee (and don’t forget – I’m swimming the Great North Swim in aid of Macmillan this September - sponsor me here).
Saturday 25 September: Tai Chi in the Park Time and detail TBA

Ranger Jill Tyson will also have the summer activities programme for young people including ‘Oceans Alive’

Come and join us – bring the family

Great news – after months and months of persistence work has started today on the installation of a CCTV camera on the Valley Estate. A huge thanks to our local neighbourhood team for helping push this through. Persuading the budget group to fund  the CCTV was not an easy task, but I’m glad that I managed it – residents have lived in fear long enough.  Hopefully funding will be found for a second camera to provide better coverage in the area (talks between the council, City West and police are ongoing).

City West will also be completing the installation of side gates along Coniston Road and fencing at the back of Dorning Road.

These are just part of a package of measures aimed at improving community safety in the area.

Together I’m confident that we can drive crime down and make life difficult for the bad elements who’ve been making the lives of the many decent people who live on the estate miserable.

For several years I’ve been working to get traffic and speed calming measures on Enfield Drive and West Meade where drivers use the two roads as cut-throughs and rat-runs from the East Lancs Road. Enfield in particular has a dangerous sharp bend and cars often speed round it. We’ve already got traffic calming measures for Thorn Road (and now news that it looks to be on the resurfacing program), and last night the work finally paid off and Community Committee approved £18,000 to be spent on speed/traffic calming measures for Enfield and West Meade.

Residents asked for it – and now residents will get it. Great news.

A huge thanks to everyone who came and and voted on May the 6th. We had pretty rough time of it in Salford – losing a couple of local seats as the bost in turnout really helped Labour and led to surpise results for all the parties. On the plus side, ‘cheque-book’ Blears had her majority slashed, with Lib Dem Norman Owen running her very close.

The local Lib Dem council group are obviously disappointed, but we’re philosophical; our local results have been mirrored across the country. Labour did badly in the General Election, but took loads of council seats as turnout in the places they managed to hang  on to increased. We’ve learned a few things and everyone’s determined to come back stronger.

Onwards and upwards.