Week ending 21.2.16

Standish Branch AGM

An extremely well attended AGM was held this week and I can announce we have a new Chair in Adam Blackburn, and new Vice Chair in Keith Lang.  I was elected again as Secretary with our Treasurer also remaining the same.

Some fantastic ideas were raised and we look forward to the local elections and another year in Standish helping both residents and organisations.

Ashfield Park

A resident telephoned me a couple of weeks ago concerned about the state of the footpaths following the recent heavy rain. After speaking with others and having a look myself I contacted the Council.  With the ground so water-logged after all the rain we have had, horses and walkers are churning up the footpaths on the old Victoria Colliery site between Ashfield and the railway which many dog walkers and others use. 

The Council have replied to me stating that they have carried out a site inspection and following this: 

"It is planned that repairs will take place on the worst sections of footpath. In the longer term it is envisaged that enhancements can take place to improve access in the area, including through this site. This will include measures to ensure that the site is suitable for use by all legitimate users, including walkers and horse riders."

Another example of Wigan Council supporting the use of Ashfield Park for Standish and it's residents.

The Crown at Worthington

Plans have been submitted by the former owner of The Crown to knock it down and build houses.  An online petition has been started - if you feel able please sign and support them to prevent this happening.  We do not need any more houses.

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-crown-at-worthington

Inaugural Meeting of Greater Manchester LCF

The first meeting will be held this week where I will be representing Wigan Constituency Labour Party.  I will update you in next week's blog.

 

Another good and busy week

Day to Day 

Helping people in the community isn't only about the big things but ordinary day to day things that are important to residents in Standish.  I have been able to help several, here is just one response.

'I have not seen you for a while to say thank you for your help in sorting out my problem I was having with my assisted bin collection. I have not had a problem since.thank you once again,and hope to see you again soon'

Since our recent leaflet was distributed, I have received several emails and phone calls asking for help or bringing things to my attention.  Rest assured I will be working hard to help everyone who has contacted me and have already responded to some.   

Standish in Bloom

I attended the first meeting of the year of 'Standish in Bloom' lots of innovative plans to make Standish an attractive place to live.  So many great ideas and people willing to help.  Watch out for more news and dates of future meetings and opportunities to volunteer.

Owen Jones came to Wigan

Far from the 'champagne luvvie' title that some given Owen, he proved to be a true 'pie and peas' man, although living in the South he originates from the North and Wigan gave him a huge welcome.  Newtown Labour Club was full to capacity.  With Labour Membership more than doubling in Wigan since the General Election it was good to see so many there.  I was lucky to be able to speak to so many people who all gave fabulous feedback.  A truly inspiring speaker who talked a lot of good sense.

Politics with a Pint! by Adam Blackburn

Following the General Election of May last year, the number of Labour Party members has nearly doubled, and our branch in Standish has been no exception. The main strength of the Labour Party has always been the breadth of its membership, drawing on people from all walks of life; in Standish, we have a great mixture of genders, people from all sorts of jobs and professions, and ages ranging from early twenties to middle eighties. The strength of the movement comes from getting all of these people together, sharing their experiences, ideas and perspectives, and coming together to try and change the country for the better.

With this in mind, we decided to organise something a little bit different yesterday to the usual branch meeting. Deciding that if there are two things which unite Labour members, they would be a shared love of talking politics, and a mutual appreciation of doing so over a few drinks, the concept of Politics with a Pint is simple: get people in a room, order a round, and get chatting. We had a really good discussion, starting with the junior doctors on strike and somehow ending up on what would happen to British people, who had moved to Spain or France after retirement, if the UK left the EU (answer: we don’t know!).

I have to admit that I was sceptical at first, but I think everyone left the Labour club feeling like they’d learned something, and had contributed to the discussion in their own way. We had a few members who were unable to make this particular evening who would be keen to come to one in future, so hopefully we can make this a regular thing and try to engage as many of our members as possible. As Owen Jones – who recently visited Wigan – says in this article, Labour needs to do more than just hold branch meetings, and doing Politics with a Pint seems like a good place to start. We will be announcing the date and time of the next one on the Facebook page, so if anyone with an interest in Labour politics wants to get involved, they are very welcome to join us.