Keep up to date with the latest news from around Denton & Reddish

This week in Denton & Reddish
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** Dear Constituent,
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Welcome to the latest edition of Denton and Reddish Weekly News.

It's been a busy week with some very good news on the Bredbury Parkway expansion and bus franchising.

As you'll be aware, we are still under a national lockdown. Here is the Government guidance setting out the current rules:
Lockdown restrictions ([link removed])
You will probably also have seen that the Government have now published a "road map" out of lockdown, which sets out what might reopen and when. You can see the details here:
Roadmap out of lockdown ([link removed])
These are the changes due from Monday (29 March):
Take care and stay safe.
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Headlines


** Gwynne celebrates rejection of Bredbury expansion
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Responding to the decision of Stockport Council’s Planning Committee to reject the controversial Bredbury Parkway application which would have seen the industrial estate extended deep into the Tame Valley on the Stockport-Tameside border, Denton and Reddish MP, Andrew Gwynne, said:


“This is absolutely fantastic news and a brilliant, common sense decision. It was great to see the overwhelming majority of the committee set aside their party loyalties and come together to save our Tame Valley.


“It was quite clear that the proposal to extend the industrial estate deep into the v of the Tame Valley would have had a massively harmful impact on the openness of the valley, on traffic and air quality and on visual amenity. It would have destroyed the ambience of the adjoining Haughton Dale and Hulmes Wood Local Nature Reserves in Tameside.


“Not only was the majority view that ‘exceptional circumstances’ had not been met by the developer, the ludicrous suggestion there would be a ‘net biodiversity gain’ from the concreting-over of the Tame Valley, or that a new bridleway at the back end of an industrial estate is an acceptable inducement was resoundingly rejected by the committee.


“This has been the best example of politicians working together in the best interests of the local community. I’ve worked with my Conservative MP colleague, William Wragg, as well as with my Denton South Labour Councillors, George Newton, Claire Reid and Jack Naylor. Likewise at committee, some Labour, the Lib Dems, the independent and the Tory councillors all united as a bloc. I’d like to especially thank Cllr Bagnall, Cllr Corris, Cllr Meikle and Cllr Harding for the powerful cases they made.


“And let’s be clear to the developer. Appeal if you like but you’ll lose. There are no exceptional circumstances to destroy our valley. Your development is not welcome here and if you choose to, we will fight you all the way. Our Tame Valley is not up for grabs.”


** All aboard for better buses
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It won’t be news to any of you that bus services in Greater Manchester aren’t good enough. Journeys are too expensive, buses are too infrequent and routes keep getting cut. This leaves most of those who don’t need to use the bus, avoiding it and those with no choice paying over the odds for a poor service.


The reason for all of this is actually very simple and it goes back to the Thatcher Government in the 1980s. As part of their ideological drive to sell off anything that wasn’t nailed to the floor (and even some of that) and to “let the market decide”, they deregulated bus services across the country.


But not quite all of the country. London was spared from these reforms, which gives us a useful insight into what might have been in Greater Manchester, had deregulation not been pushed through. London buses are more frequent, cheaper and fully integrated with other methods of public transport across the city. For just £1.50, you can swap buses as many times as needed within 90 minutes, all on the same ticket. Similar services would be an absolute game-changer for Greater Manchester.


Obviously, that could never happen overnight. There is something of a vicious cycle whereby poor bus services mean fewer people taking the bus which leads to even poorer bus services and so on. It’s vital that we break that cycle and build our bus services back up to something that people choose to use rather than use because they have no choice.


For me that means ending this failed model of deregulation once and for all and move towards a new system, which is run for the public good, rather than to maximise private profit at all costs.


There has been a lot of campaigning on this issue, largely led by the fantastic Better Buses for Greater Manchester, and a widespread acknowledgement that what we’ve got at the moment just isn’t working.


9 out of the 10 councils in Greater Manchester are (please forgive the pun) on board, with only Tory Bolton looking to stick with the current broken system, and our Metro Mayor Andy Burnham is due to make an announcement this Thursday, so watch this space! We may finally be heading towards the kind of bus system that we deserve.

UPDATE: On Thursday, Andy Burnham announced that Greater Manchester is taking back control of our buses - a huge win for campaigners and passengers!


** Gwynne encourages constituents to celebrate blossom season
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Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is supporting the National Trust’s efforts to emulate Japan’s Hanami – the ancient tradition of viewing and celebrating blossom – with its #BlossomWatch campaign.

With this spring likely to be the most anticipated ever as the UK slowly emerges from lockdown, the National Trust and Andrew Gwynne are inviting people to share the joy and hope that the sight of blush-tinted blooms will bring to help lift spirits and enable everyone to celebrate nature together.

The conservation charity launched #BlossomWatch last year when the country had just entered lockdown. Thousands of people captured and shared images of trees in bloom across social media platforms, which received four million views in the first two weeks.

A growing body of evidence suggests that time spent daily connecting with nature is vital to human wellbeing, so Gwynne is urging people to ‘turn social media pink, white and green’ over the coming weeks, to mark one of ‘nature’s greatest spectacles’.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“Over the last year, many of us have spent more time than ever in our gardens and local green spaces.


“The blossom season is a beautiful time of year, and one that makes being outside and spending time in nature even more enjoyable.


“I’d love to see the best blossoms from Audenshaw, Denton, Dukinfield, Reddish and the Heatons all over social media!”

The National Trust’s Head of Nature Conservation and Restoration Ecology, Ben McCarthy said:

“Blossom in all its guises can bring a particular sense of joy as we emerge from winter. Clocking these bursts of colour as they unfurl across our neighbourhoods as a signal of the start of spring is truly joyful.


“With the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on millions across the country – many have found noticing nature a vital way of enhancing their wellbeing and have discovered the many benefits of spending time in nature and noticing its natural rhythms as the year unfolds.


“So we urge everyone to get outdoors, safely enjoy the blossom where they live, and share their experiences with others.”

To get involved simply take and share imagery using #BlossomWatch. For further information and inspiration visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blossom-watch
Read More of This Week's Stories ([link removed])
Andrew in the constituency

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📺 WATCH: Russell Scott Primary School has been at the forefront of the campaign for clean air in Greater Manchester. The school is located near to the M67 with some of the worst air quality in Tameside. 🚛🚙🚚💨💨

🌳 That’s why this powerful message to Stockport Council ahead of their decision on Bredbury Industrial Estate expansion into the Tame Valley was so important! 💚🌳
Andrew in Parliament
Here are videos of some of my contributions in the House of Commons this week:
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📺 WATCH: The Government has just announced a new procurement strategy for the Ministry of Defence. On the face of it, it’s good news for UK industry... I ask whether previous failures in contracts will be taken into account.

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📺 WATCH: At this week’s Home Affairs Select Committee we’ve started a short inquiry into the policing of vigils following the Clapham Common incident. Today we’ve been questioning Reclaim These Streets (the event organiser) and the Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire where they allowed a vigil to happen.
Andrew in the media
📰 READ: The Manchester Evening News have been following the issue of te Bredbury expansion closely this week:
* Rival MPs join forces to urge refusal of 'damaging' plan to extend industrial estate into the green belt ([link removed])
* The schoolchildren campaigning to stop huge new warehouses being built ([link removed])
* Controversial plans for 'giant warehouses' in the green belt thrown out

Community Board

Local author Leanne Brown has started writing a fantastic series of books to promote, help and raise awareness for mental health in children. Leanne wants to bring these books to schools, parents and organisations to help promote mental health in children.

You can find out more, including how to buy the books, on her website. ([link removed])

During March Con Martin will be taking a challenge by running a minimum of 3km a day for 28 days with an aim of completing 100km (equivalent of 2 marathons) for The Anthony Seddon Fund, a local mental health charity.

You can read more about why Con is doing this and how to donate here. ([link removed])

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Andrew Gwynne
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