Labour Listen's

Every week all three Councillors or members of the Labour Party post leaflets through people's doors in a particular part of Crumpsall or Blackley Village. The leaflet has information on it stating when we will be in the area, and that if anyone has any problems the leaflet should be displayed in the window for us to see. We will then knock on the door and listen/help with any problems or issues.

Myself and Councillor Con Keegan met a number of residents who raised several concerns of a number of different natures. For obvious reasons I will not go into those concerns. However, 'Labour Listen's' allows local Councillors to meet people in their own homes and listen to any problems or issues of concern. We will always try to meet with local residents and try to do whatever we can to help.

Back home in Blackley Village

This Monday Con and I attended the quarterly meeting of the Blackley Village Local Plan steering group . I suspect even most residents in Blackley Village will be wondering what's that . The Council , Councillors and Blackley Village Residents Association [ BVRA ] have been working together for several years now , firstly to produce a regeneration plan for the village and secondly , through the steering group , to oversee its implimentation . Items for discussion on Monday included the reclamation work that is taking place on the Old Blackley Works site . This is causing some nuisance to local residents , and as Councillors we made sure both the contractors and the Council's Environmental Health department improved the quality of information provided to residents . Hopefully the work of removing foul smelling chemicals will be completed in the next week or so . Also discussed was the detailed planning application for developping unused land on the Avecia site . This is a key component of the regeneration plan so there will be a public drop-in and a special meeting of the steering group in April . Residents have 4 representatives on the steering group nominated by BVRA .

Manchester goes to parliament

One of the jobs of the Leader of the Council is to lobby parliament for the money and powers the city needs , so I have spent the last 2 days in London [ thankfully I'm now safely back in Manchester and civilisation ] talking to ministers , M.P s and members of the House of Lords on a range of issues including transport , worklessness and the proposed destination casino . Improving Crumpsall and the rest of Manchester means working effectively with National Goverment and that means talking to them . Our local M.P , Graham Stringer and other Manchester MPs , Tony Lloyd , Paul Goggins and Sir Gerald Kaufman help enormously in this work , as do Manchester based peers like Keith Bradley . Spending a couple of days there has allowed me to cram in literally dozens of meetings and being in Parliament also meant I bumped into a range of people it was useful to talk to about Manchester , including 5 cabinet ministers .

Daleks come to Manchester

On my way outside the town hall today I was surprised to bump into an old friend. As usual Manchester is attracting all sorts of people/machines to this great city.

Surgery and Residents Meetings

Attended a surgery tonight, dealing with resident issues and concerns. My colleague, Councillor Con Keegan also attended Parkhill Residents Association. Having spoken with Con he said that the meeting was really well attended.

Cllr.j.Pritchard

A photo from the not too distant past really just to experiment with our new communication channel but also I suppose to show off hanging a few metres from the top of the City { previously Sunley Building } tower . That's me in the white helmet

Leader of Manchester City Council and Crumpsall Ward Councillor

Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council

Councillors Richard Leese, Con Keegan and Jon-Leigh Pritchard