Concern Over GP

The announcement that long-standing local GP Dr Simenoff is to retire at the end of June has shocked and worried his many patients . Many have contacted me wanting an answer to the question of where they will go to see a doctor after the end of the month . The Manchester Primary Care Trust , the part of the NHS responsible for GPs in the city , has contacted the Council and say that they are in the process of allocating all of Dr Simenoff's patients to new , local doctors and that there are enough doctors in the area to cope . Once they have done this they will write to all patients offering them a place on another GP practice's list . Obviously your three Councillors will keep in touch with the Primary Care Trust to monitor what is going on and to try and ensure that everybody in this position gets reassurance as soon as possible .

Clearly Dr Simenoff's retirement is nobody's fault but we need to make sure that nobody is left without an easily accessible local doctor .

I'm sure all of Dr Simenoff's loyal patients would also want to join us in wishing him well in retirement

BEATLES REFORM FOR CRUMPSALL TALENT NIGHT

Maybe not , but next Saturday night's Northern Air Radio talent night at Crumpsall's famous Cleveland Hotel could just unearth the next big thing . The talent night , organised by Northern Air Radio's and Crumpsall Carnival Committee's Dave Beedie , has now become an established event in its own right aswell as a great warm up for the Carnival a couple of weeks later and is a highlight of the Crumpsall cultural calender . Our skillful team have been sifting through demo CDs and promise not only a fantastic line-up but also an all new line-up . None of the acts appearing this Saturday have previously appeared in the competition . The talent night is always fantastic entertainment , is free and is always packed out so arrive early if you want a seat . I've been bullied into being a judge [ 3rd choice apparently after Con and Jon ] but at least it does guarantee me a seat . See you on Saturday !!!

.................and the sunshines on Herristone Park

The sun shone on Herristone Park this afternoon for the annual fun day . There was entertainment from the Crumpsall Comets , and other activities including face-painting , a football tournament , art activities , refreshments and a clown [ with me in the photo - joke !! ] for the younger children . All the work was done by by Chris and Gail and other local residents from the Friends of Herristone Park . I just went along to enjoy the event but got roped in to blowing up a few inflatable pirate swords - don't ask - for the Crumpsall Carnival stand . To be fair to Con , he'd been there since noon helping put up marquees [ or so he claims ] . Parks staff , Bill , Lisa , Martin , and Andrew were there to add their support and loads of local residents of all ages turned up to enjoy a great afternoon .

STAYING ALIVE !

No , not the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever but life expectancy in Crumpsall . The NHS in the form of Manchester Primary Care Trust have just published a book of statistics which amongst a whole pile of other stuff tells us that , out of 33 wards in the city , men in Crumpsall Ward had the 4th highest life expectancy and women the 3rd highest . The figures are a little out of date , covering 1999-2003 , and are on the old pre-2004 ward boundaries , but its still good to know that living in Crumpsall means living longer . However us men have got a bit of catching up to do , because our average life expectancy at 74.1 years is 6.1 years behind women's average of 80.2 years . That's one gap I definitely want to make a personal contribution to narrowing !!!

BROWN BACKS CRUMPSALL LABOUR

I've not wasted any time in lobbying soon to be leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown . I met with Gordon yesterday evening following a meeting organised by the Co-op party in New Century Hall . One of the many jobs of local Councillor is to lobby goverment for policies and resources to help us regenerate our city . It's not often you get to talk to the person at the top and as the picture shows I was getting my point over with feeling . I'm personally looking forward to a Brown led Labour government and I'm equally confident that my words didn't fall on deaf ears . However , I'm going to wait and see how successful I was before revealing the content of the discussion !

SAVE OUR PONDS !

Back in the eighties the ponds at Bowker Vale were threatened with being drained and turned into a housing development site . That threat was successfully averted and in the intervening years the wildlife value of the ponds has increased enormously . Now the ponds are under threat again with a developper wanting to drain one of the ponds and turn the other into a " feature " in the middle of a housing estate linked to Blackley New Road by a monstrous bridge over the Irk . This would destroy the ecological value of the site and destroy a green haven at the heart of the city . Crumpsall's Labour Councillors are determined to fight this every step of the way and make sure it doesn't happen !

ELECTION VICTORY - now the work begins

We've been so busy with elections that we haven't been able to post any entries over the last couple of weeks . Well elections are over now and the obvious first thing to report is the election result , a stunning victory in Crumpsall and Blackley Village for sitting Councillor , Con Keegan . Con polled 1832 votes , a 9.9% increase on the previous year , giving him a majority of 1268 . Thanks to everybody who gave us their vote this year , and if you need reminding , just remember that we are Councillors all-year round for all the citizens of Crumpsall and Blackley Village .