My latest article for the Stockport Express
Posted by Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, at 17:21, Thu 10 August 2006:
Thank you for showing an interest in local issues via 'HearFromYourMP'. Please find below a copy of my latest article for the Stockport Express and Stockport Times, which circulates in the Reddish part of the Denton and Reddish Constituency.
I hope you will find it of interest. I will keep you updated with issues from both the Tameside and Stockport parts of my constituency in the future:
ANDREW GWYNNE MP
Labour MP for Denton and Reddish
(including Audenshaw, Dukinfield, Haughton Green, Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris and Lancashire Hill)
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Litter, graffiti and fly-tipping are a bugbear of mine. Certainly as I go around speaking to my constituents in Reddish, Lancashire Hill and the parts of Heaton Chapel and Heaton Norris in my constituency, it is a major bugbear for them too.
Of course it is an anti-social minority of people who cause these problems, but the quality of the local environment really matters to a lot of people, which is why the Labour Government introduced some strong powers for local Councils to use in its Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act. For example, one of the new powers makes it much easier to gate off problematic alleyways using ‘gating orders’. In Tameside where there has been a very successful alleygating scheme in place for the past six years, it has led to a massive reduction in crime, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping in those areas. In Reddish, many of the back alleyways could not have been gated because they had been formally adopted in the past, and so were technically designated as ‘highways’ – but this new law now makes that possible.
In relation to litter and graffiti though, I am not sure whether Stockport Council has used any of their new powers since they were introduced in April this year. Certainly parts of Reddish remain quite filthy and in need of a good sweep… It can be quite frustrating being an MP because a common complaint is that local councils do not have enough powers, yet when they do get new ones, they seem very slow to use them to any great effect.
On other matters of local interest, Reddish Vale Technology College has expressed an interest in becoming one of the first of the new ‘trust’ schools in the country, using the powers in the Education and Inspections Bill, which is currently going through Parliament. If Reddish Vale’s application is approved by the government, then it will give the school many of the extra freedoms it needs to build on its recent successes as a specialist college and help to build a centre of educational excellence for north Stockport children. I have been fully supporting Reddish Vale’s bid and, with Ann Coffey MP, have actively lobbied Ministers to make sure it succeeds. We should hear sometime after 7th September whether their bid has been successful – fingers crossed!
Finally, I will be popping along to South Reddish Park for their Sports and Bowls event – celebrating the recent work to some of the facilities in the park, including the work around the bowling green. Let’s hope the remainder of the restoration plans can be secured soon for the park. The community event is on 2nd September between 12 noon and 4pm, so why not come along too?
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