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Yes - we said “No!” 

Very early in the discussions about a possible Congestion Charge, TraffordConservatives took a policy decision to oppose the concept. Our MP, GrahamBrady, took a similar stance. To introduce any new tax is not going to be wellreceived. To introduce one that taxes people to travel to work was crazy even byLabour ‘s record on taxation. There was never the confidence that the trumpetedimprovements to public transport would actually be delivered. In any case, manyaspects of these improvements are supposed to be on the way without aCongestion Charge coming in.In Ashton Ward every household received a copy of the leaflet opposing theCharge which was produced and funded by Trafford Conservatives. Tens of thousands of these leaflets were delivered across the borough. Much of the ’Yes’campaign was funded by public money. Trafford’s high turnout in the Referendumvoted heavily against the proposals, as did the rest of Greater Manchester.

We are now in a much more difficult economic climate for everyone. Thegovernment would do well to learn from this referendum result and start funding real transport improvementsfrom public monies and scrap their stance of ‘It’s either congestion charging or you get nothing!’.

Ashton upon Mersey

Conservatives

Meet your Ashton Councillors

Councillors’ Advice SurgeriesEvery 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month,

11am to 12 noon at the MethodistChurch Hall, Carrington Lane, Sale.

Promoted by Mike Whetton on behalf of Ashton upon Mersey Conservatives, bothc/o 99 The Avenue, Sale, M33 4XZ.

Printed by PrintSavers Ltd, 343 Wellington Road North, Stockport, SK4 4QG 

“Cross Councillors”Councillor John Lamb andCouncillor Brian Rigby took theopportunity to say a big thank youto Mrs. Heather Morris, who isone of many Children’s SchoolC r o s s i n g P a t r o lWardens. Heather, as she is

known to hundreds of localpeople, became a SchoolCrossing Patrol Warden over 38

years ago outside the former Glebelands Road PrimarySchool. She agreed to be a Warden for just one week as a favour to the local Police. Ten years later she was still there but movedto the crossing point on Glebelands Road near to Park Road whenthe Primary school closed. Heather has been there ever since.Mrs Morris said, “I agreed to be a Warden for a week but the Policecould find no one else, so I stayed on.” I thought the job wasvoluntary, but to my surprise I got a cheque for £9 for my firstmonths work.”Mrs Morris who turns out in all weathers to ensure that “her 

children” cross the road safely, really enjoys being part of thecommunity. She said, “Some of the children that cross the roadtoday are the grandchildren of pupils I first saw across GlebelandsRoad.” Next time you are driving down Glebelands Road, look outfor Heather and why not give her a wave or a quick “toot.”

It’s vital to supportour local traders

As the economic downturn biteseven deeper it is more importantthan ever that local traders get allthe support possible in order thatwe reta in the i r va luable

contribution to the community.Not everyone has easy access tolarger shopping centres and goodshops just a short walk frompeople’s homes provide animportant service to manyresidents.The vibrancy of Ashton village isin part due to its diversity of businesses. We are all wellserved in this respect and bykeeping the businesses healthy atthis time the village can remainviable as a local retail andrestaurant centre.

Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard A newsletter from your Conservative Councillors

Spring 2009

Voters give Congestion Charging a resoundingthumbs down.

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Ashton upon Mersey Conservatives 

COUNCILLOR CONTACT DETAILS

Brian Rigby 0161 912 2633 brian.rigby@trafford.gov.uk  

John Lamb 0161 928 3664  john.lamb@trafford.gov.uk  

Mike Whetton 07752 667442 michael.whetton@trafford.gov.uk  

Taking on Anti-Social Behaviour by Graham Brady MP One of the issues which peopleregularly write to me about is anti-socialbehaviour on our streets, so when I  joined police officers in Sale recently Iwas interested to find out whatapproach they were taking to tackle theproblem. A tangible sign that somethingis being done has been the erection of gates to block off alleyways in Ashton village. Previously people hadcomplained that the alleyways had been a focal point for disruption and alcohol related anti-social behaviour so

police, in conjunction with residents, applied to TraffordCouncil for permission to install the gates and, with other measures, anti-social behaviour has dropped dramatically.

Officers say their philosophy regarding anti-socialbehaviour among young people is not to move theproblem on but to seek ways to engage youngsters and toachieve something positive. They were full of praise for the Trafford Youth Festival held last summer in AshtonPark. It was run, organised and managed by a group of young people who also directed police tactics for the event.With more than 1,000 people attending, you wouldnormally expect more than a few unwelcome incidents, yet

at this event there were none at all; not even one. Therewill be another festival this year and police believe it is anexample of what can be achieved by engaging youngpeople in a positive way.

I also went along to the Sale West estate and itscommunity centre and heard more about measures toreduce crime and anti-social behaviour locally. Speakingto residents I got the impression that people feel moresecure and there is a perception that crime and anti-socialbehaviour have dropped. Police confirm this and say thatanti-social behaviour in Sale has reduced dramatically.Obviously there will still be many issues that local peopleare very concerned about, but on a local level and for one

of the problems which affects people on a day to day basis,it was heartening to see that in Sale, the police areworking together with the community to ensure thatsomething effective is being done.

Planning Matters in Ashton!Before Christmas Trafford Council’s Planning Committeeconsidered three significant applications for developments inAshton-Upon-Mersey ward. These were a proposal for aresidential care home on land at the junction of Ashton Laneand Ashlands, sheltered apartments for the elderly on thesite of the former RAFA club on Oakfield and refurbishmentand provision of ground floor retail units at an existing officeblock at the junction of Washway Road and Barkers Lane(formerly known as the IBM office).

It was an interesting evening. Allth ree app l i ca t ions were

recommended by the plannersfo r app rova l bu t a f t e r  representations made by localresidents, your local councillorsand concerns expressed bymembers of the planningcommittee only one applicationwas approved – the shelteredapartments for the elderly onOakfield. This application waswelcomed, subject to car parking

r e s t r i c t i o n sa n d a

requi rementfor a car p a r k i n greview wheno c c u p a n c y

reaches a pre-determined level. The pictures show the‘bomb site’ that is the former RAFA Club and clearly a goodpiece of architecture is going to be welcome here.

The care home proposal was rejected on the basis of thesize and scale of the proposed building for the site and theplanning committee invited the applicant to come back witha revised scheme. The developer of the former IBM officeblock has been asked to be more specific about the uses for the retail units and to ‘beef up’ the travel plan to alleviate theoffice workers’ car parking congestion on Barkers Lane andsurrounding roads.

Blogger Councillor John Lamb 

Councillor John Lamb has just setup a blog site which is updated ona regular basis. The blog containsJohn Lamb's views on variousissues and updates on mattersaffecting the residents of the ward.

The site will from time to time runpolls and you can leave com-

ments against the articles.If you want to follow the blog site of Councillor John Lambthen this can be found at:-http://councillorjohnlamb.blogspot.com or enter 'Councillor John Lamb' into the search function on Google.

Fluoride: ‘Residents overwhelmingly

opposed’ says Cllr John Lamb

In last autumn's Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard  I set out my views

on the proposal to add fluoride to our drinking water to helpreduce the incidence of tooth decay among children. Iinvited residents to let me know what they thought and alarge number of you did.

While a few of you thought that it would be a good idea toadd fluoride to the water, a huge 94% of you who respondedto the article are opposed. Government and the NHS needto listen to these views. We will get an opportunity to voiceour opinions on this important public health issue when theformal consultation commences later this year.

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Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard Raising the Standard  a newsletter from your Conservative Councillorsa newsletter from your Conservative Councillorsa newsletter from your Conservative Councillorsa newsletter from your Conservative Councillors