A new direction for Bury South

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas.  Usually a quiet day in the Wiseman household so my daughter Dani together with a friend of hers and I decided to volunteer to help serve meals to those who find themselves homeless at this time of the year.  Those who turned up appreciated being served with a hot three course meal and food and toiletries to take away with them.  Thanks must go to the other volunteers who also turned up to help.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah the Jewish festival of lights and I wish everyone a happy Chanukah.  It was wonderful tonight to be able to light the candles with all my children, as two are now away at university, making it a wonderful family occasion.

Christmas time unity abounded in the Council Chamber last night when all present agreed that we need a local newspaper after the Bury Times’ owners have decided to move it to their Bolton operation.  This agreement came shortly after a debate on local sustainability focused mainly on Post Office closures.  Let’s hope we manage to keep our local newspaper but things do not look too hopeful at the moment.

Residents in all 10 Councils in Greater Manchester voted no to congestion charging.  The results of the referendum were announced today just after noon at Manchester Central.  Over 75% of Bury residents who voted NO to yet another tax, a tax on driving to work, taking their children to school or going shopping.  Everyone would welcome the investment in public transport, promised to us all those years ago in 1997, but not at any cost.  The average turnout across Greater Manchester was 53.3%.   I must thank all my colleagues and helpers who spent many hours delivering literature and campaiging for the NO vote.

On Sunday night I attended the memorial service at Stenecourt Synagogue held in memory of the victims of the massacre at the Jewish Chabad House in Mumbai.  A 2 year old boy who was lucky to survive has been left orphaned by this terrible tragedy and we must not forget all the other victims and their families of this senseless loss of life.  The service was a moving tribute to all those who died.

This week has been a busy week helping residents who have had difficulty on their road with ice and snow.  Bury Council’s gritters and other staff have been working all hours to try and clear the roads as much as possible.  I was relieved to hear rain at 3am this morning rather than the snow that was forecast and as I write this the roads and pavements do appear to be clearing.  Last Saturday afternoon I went along to the switch on of the Christmas Lights in Radcliffe Town Centre – there were many people there on a cold, windy afternoon.  I have managed to get out and about to meetings this week which have included the Conservative Group Meeting on Monday night and Six Town Housing training meetings as a new member of the Board.