Bury’s NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) used a verbal update reported through several Twitter posts to inform residents that the two Walk-In Centres in bury (Bury and Prestwich) are not closing on 31 March 2018. Residents may recall that the consultation on the closure of both centres was ‘paused’ earlier this year by the CCG,…
After a long break from writing on the website and in the Unsworth e-Focus newsletter, I am delighted to announce a return to regular publishing here. A combination of needing permission from work to stand and campaign in elections as well as the time and effort I have spent attempting to gain my private pilot’s…
When thinking about private pilots who fly themselves around the country, most people conjure up images of millionaire playboys, movie stars or high flying businessmen (no pun intended) jetting around in high-tech luxury learjets. However, flying an airplane purely for fun does not have to be solely the hobby of the rich and famous. Last…
Last year I began learning to fly. I am working towards my private pilot’s licence and as well as the significant amount of flying time required to qualify, there has been a fair amount of studying and exams to pass. This has inevitably meant that something else had to give and as a result there…
Not content with demolishing three perfectly good cottages to make way for 20 “customer car parking spaces” LSH Auto Properties (UK) who own the dealership on Manchester Road have submitted a further planning application for 22 “staff car parking spaces”. This is before the original planning application for customer car parking spaces has even been…
Back in March I wrote here about the refusal of a planning application by the Unsworth Smile Clinic to extend above their existing property located at the Unsworth Pole. Since then, the applicant has appealed to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate and the decision to REFUSE has been upheld by the Government. I am sure local…
On Monday evening, 22 people were tragically killed and dozens more injured after a bomb exploded at the Manchester Arena. Many of them were children. Manchester City Council has launched the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, an appeal in partnership with the British Red Cross, to support those affected by the attack and their families.…
I recently attended the consultation event held at Castlebrook High School where the plans for a rebuild of the new school were showcased. The Shaw Education Trust have now submitted their planning application to Bury Council and the plans can be viewed by following the link below. I would be interested to hear what local…
The Liberal Democrats have become the first major party to commit to ending the “national scandal” of rough sleeping across Britain, including across Greater Manchester. The latest figures show there were 189 people sleeping rough in Greater Manchester in 2016, many are young people and many believe these figures to be only the tip of…
At full Council Meetings councillors have the opportunity to ask questions to the ‘Joint Authorities’ which operate at a Greater Manchester level. At the most recent meeting the Liberal Democrat team of councillors asked three questions to Transport for Greater Manchester: Question – Using less Diesel Buses Following the announcement in London, that no new…
Posted on behalf of the Hollins Conservation Group: Hollins Conservation Group would like the support of the whole community. Over the past twelve months we have been working hard to improve Hollins Village. Clearing litter, removing weeds, planting flowers and shrubs in public spaces. Our new sponsored green litter bins have been springing up everywhere.…
In February I mentioned a planning application on Hathaway Road which received a number of objections. The application has now been significantly adjusted and re-submitted to Bury Council, as I suspected it might be. The details can be viewed on Bury Council’s planning portal by clicking on the link below. Detached games room and new…
Proposals have been announced by Castlebrook High School that they intend to re-build the school main building on a new, adjacent site and demolish the current building. Citing the need for newer and more modern facilities, the plans include a new building, new car parking but retaining the existing sports block, construction centre and all-weather…
I reported some very bad potholes on Langdale Drive (especially the really terrible ones at the junction with Randale Drive) back in March. I’ve been meaning to post and update on the repairs for the past couple of weeks, but my time has been taken up with work and helping out in the Besses by-election…
Very few people will be unaware of the upcoming General Election which is due to take place on June 8th 2017, but there are a couple of other very important elections which are due to take place on 4th May 2017. In Besses ward, which encompasses parts of both Whitefield and Unsworth, one of the…
The Bury Times is reporting today that the cabinet of Bury’s Labour-controlled council met last night to rubber stamp a £10 million pound loan, to be repaid over forty years. The money will be used to fix potholes and resurface roads across the borough. Regular readers of my blog will know I have written often…
Less than two years ago I blogged here about how Bury’s Labour-controlled council had planned to reduced the Township Forums across the borough from six meetings per year (on average, once every two months) to four meetings per year. They brought these changes in from January 2016 and just 15 months later the council are…
A new planning application has been submitted to Bury Council by the owners of the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Whitefield. LSH Auto Properties (UK) Ltd via their Agent Terence O’Rourke Ltd have submitted a proposal to demolish two cottages on Manchester Road (numbers 853 and 857) which adjoin each other and are located next to the…
I wrote about the increase in missed bin collections across Bury here in September of last year and I am sorry to report that the problem does not seem to be getting any better. While new figures have not been released yet, I am hearing about some real problems on Rufford Drive and surrounding areas.…
I am pleased to feed back that the pothole I reported to Bury Council two weeks ago on Randale Drive has been repaired. It looks quite a good job, so I am very grateful that the Council’s highways department has acted so quickly and professionally. Unfortunately, there are still many potholes across Unsworth ward that…