Council Leader highlights Middleton Priorities!
Last year was a big year for Middleton, probably the policy that will affect Middleton more than any other was the policy of devolution. The Townships have been hugely successful and a small return to the old Middleton Council that was abolished in 1974.
In 2007, the Liberal Democrats will be returning power back to Middleton, everything we can devolve we are doing. The upshot of this is that from 2007, Middleton will have MORE power than the old Middleton Council. It's important to give power to the people, for far too long your Labour Party Councillors have got away with blaming Rochdale for its troubles. This is despite the fact that until May they had run the Council or formed part of the Council for decades.
What will this new Liberal Democrat Policy have on Middleton? Well for a start - the Middleton Township will now have more power over parks, greater powers over roads, streets lights, pavements, Community Centres, Leisure projects, libraries and other things. The MiddletonTownship will also have more of a say on housing, development, refuse collection including recycling, schools and revenues and benefits. It is also planned to deliver a new focal point for access to Council Services so that Middleton people don't have to traipse all the way to Rochdale - this will be a new administrative centre for Middleton - Your Town Hall. There are also plans in the pipeline to devolve power even further down to the Middleton Community - places like Langley, Alkrington and other areas in Middleton. The Liberal Democrats spent decades striving to get a working control on Rochdale Borough Council - now we have that we are delivering on our promises.
In health news, firstly I would like to say well done to all the Health Campaigners who fought hard to keep maternity and children's services at North Manchester General Hospital. I know that over 10,000 people from the Middleton area were involved and I hope that North Manchester can continue for decades to come to provide a centre of excellence for Child Care and Maternity Services. This newspaper played a key role in the campaign and I am glad to see the Middleton Guardian continuing its fine tradition as a campaigning newspaper. Across the Borough, we weren't so lucky but we will continue to fight to retain vital services at both Fairfield and Rochdale Infirmary. It was only before Christmas that Tony Blair was telling the country that we had 'the best NHS in the world!' - Indeed Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt was telling us that the 'NHS has had its best ever year'. The reality in this Borough is that we have kept services at North Manchester General by the skin of our teeth and lost many services at the other 2 hospitals that serve our Borough.
Road Safety is one of this Council's priorities - but if one issue was shouted louder than others it was this issue especially in Alkrington. 2006 was the year of the speed hump. Residents in Alkrington stood together, led superbly by Steve Bradshaw. This is a problem that needs dealing with, fitting in with the new Council policy of devolution - this should be a priority of the Middleton Township. Yes, mistakes have been made by your Labour Councillors in the past, but please use 2007 to give them a chance to make amends.
This new Liberal Democrat has received complaints from the opposition - one of their main criticisms was our decision to look at dramatically improving how we provide services for Older People. We created a Cabinet Member for Older People to fulfil this role at NO extra cost to the tax payer. Our position has been vindicated, as before Christmas we received notice that our bid for £1.038 Million bid has been successful, make no mistake it is no coincidence that our bid was successful in the same year we took this position. This will go a long way to providing services that our Older People in Middleton have paid all their lives for and deserve.
It is our aim to keep the unfair Council Tax as low as possible, for the next 2 years we are aiming for an increase of 3.9% - the lowest rise for a decade. How we pay for Council Services has always been a bone of contention. I still remember struggling to pay the Poll Tax, Council Tax is not much better. We will however strive to keep it as low as possible, despite attempts by the Labour Party in Rochdale to hike it even further. Other issues we are tackling include to continuing to fight Government Police Cuts. Greater Manchester Police are suffering a police shortfall of £30 Million over the next 3 years - disgraceful I say and I will working with Council Leaders across Greater Manchester to get fair funding so that policing in Middleton and other areas are not affected. Crime went up 3.6% in Greater Manchester from April last year to November - at the same time funding was cut for local police. The funding cut led to 216 fewer police on the streets of Greater Manchester. Our priority is lobby the Government so that we can provide MORE frontline police officers in Middleton - NOT less.
There are many other issues that we are currently working on, not least the multi-million pound regeneration of Middleton Town Centre, this Council have worked extremely hard on this and just like Rochdale Town Centre we are committed to revolutionising Middleton. This is a real opportunity to regenerate Middleton and put the heart back and improve shopping. The work is set to start soon on the Middleton Arena after the contracts were signed, this will provide extra jobs for Middleton as well leisure and civic facilities fit for modern times. This is an excellent start for what I am sure will be an excellent 2007 for Middleton.
Councillor Alan Taylor
Leader of Rochdale Borough Council.