Well it’s a fresh start for 2009, so I’ve had another trawl through my blogroll and removed a handful of sites which no longer seem to be updated. As always I welcome suggestions for new sites to add to my blogroll although of course I can’t promise to add all suggestions made.
You wait ages for a meeting about public transport, and then…
The Friends of Walkden Station hold their next scheduled meeting this week. It’s on Wednesday January 7th at the usual venue of the Royal British Legion on Wilfred Road in Walkden. The meeting starts at 7pm and all local residents and rail users are welcome to attend.
Hope to see some of you there!
Greetings from a snow-covered Walkden! We seem to have had the optimum amount of snow today - that is, enough to create a nice picturesque wintry atmosphere but not enough to grind the entire world to a halt.
Anyway I’m off out to see in the New Year with friends shortly, so I thought I’d make a quick post here to wish everyone all the best for New Year, and here’s to a successful and happy 2009!
There’s a poster on Walkden station for the upcoming GMPTA Transport Forum, which is a drop-in session for local residents to discuss their concerns about local transport. I thought I’d post the details on here to (slightly) widen the audience.
The next Salford meeting will be held on Friday 16th January 2009 at Swinton Library on Chorley Road (opposite the Civic Centre). The drop-in runs from 10am until 1pm.
There is also a meeting at Manchester Victoria station next week, Tuesday 6th January from 4pm until 6pm. I’m sure that commuters from Walkden and across Salford would be more than welcome to attend that session if it is more convenient.
Simon Renwick is a fellow Conservative Councillor and blogger. He represents Medlar-with-Wesham on Fylde Borough Council and is the prospective Conservative candidate for the Fylde Rural East division on Lancashire County Council.
Simon has recently set up a new “guest blogger” section of his website and has asked me to write a short piece. My guidelines are as follows:
Whatever you want as long as it isn’t rude, offensive or contains swear words
Very strict as you can see! So, dear readers, any suggestions?
I’ve just upgraded the site software to the latest version of WordPress (2.7). They’ve changed the administration area entirely and it’s going to take a bit of getting used to! As always, if you spot any problems with the site that have arisen after the upgrade please leave a comment and let me know - thanks!
One thing I notice every month is that a large number of local residents get to this site by doing a web search for Tesco in Walkden. Some of those people will simply have been searching for store information (opening times) but I know many people in the local community are concerned about the future of the Tesco store and indeed the (poor) state of the centre of Walkden as a whole.
I’ve decided that I will write a detailed post sometime in the next few days with as much information about the future development plans for Tesco as I understand them to be, and my views about the current state of Walkden town centre, but before I do that I thought I’d just open the debate out to the floor to hear what readers think. If you have any comments about Walkden town centre, please leave a comment, and more importantly if there is something you’d like me to address in my more detailed post please let me know!
For new visitors and to remind old hands, I thought I’d do a quick end-of-year recap of what this website is for and one or two house rules.
About
I’m Iain Lindley and this is my website. I won’t bore you with a long biography (although I will be adding an updated one to the site soon) but I’m one of three Conservative Councillors for Walkden South Ward in Salford and I’m the Deputy Chairman of the City of Salford Conservative Federation.
I’ve been blogging for around four years now, although unfortunately to my great regret and due to some technical issues outside of my control (outlined here) the archive for the current incarnation of this blog dates back only to September 2007.
I was one of the first Councillors (of any political persuasion) to blog, and my reasons for doing so now are no different from what they were four years ago. I think it’s important to keep local residents as up-to-date as possible with what is going on in the local area, and I try to do that where possible through this website. It’s also a platform for me to let others know what I’m up to and what I think about various issues.
I make no apologies for the focus on local issues in Walkden, Salford and Greater Manchester - that’s what this blog is about - but I do also make more general comments and I hope that there is enough here to interest visitors to this site regardless of where they come from.
I’d like to thank everyone who has visited this site over the past four years, and particularly those who have contributed to the discussion or linked to this site from their own blog or website.
House Rules
I welcome debate on this blog and regular visitors will testify that I am more than happy to allow political opponents to come onto the site and debate. I’m particularly keen of course to hear from local residents in Walkden and from across Salford.
If you’ve posted a comment recently you will be aware that all comments are now held for moderation until they have been viewed by me. I did this in response to a glut of spam comments which had evaded my spam protection. I do not remove many comments, but whilst I believe in free speech please be aware that this is a private site and as site owner I feel responsible for what is posted on it. I have not and never will delete comments simply because I disagree with them, but if I feel they are offensive, distasteful or potentially libellous they will be removed. Please keep it clean too, boys and girls!
Just a quick reminder that you can follow me on Twitter. As you may have noticed, my Twitter updates are also posted in the right-hand sidebar of this website.
Just a quick message to wish a very Merry Christmas to all readers of this blog and local residents in my ward of Walkden South and across Salford!
Thank-you to everyone who has read this website over the past year, and particularly to those who have contributed to the debate (even when I’ve disagreed vehemently!) or linked to this site from their own blog or website.
I’ll be posting sporadically over the festive period but I will be back to full strength in the New Year for what promises to be an extremely interesting 2009.
Your Chance To Quiz Cameron
David Cameron is back in Greater Manchester on Tuesday - the latest in a long series of visits to the region - and he has agreed to take questions from Manchester Evening News readers while he is here.
To take part in the debate, email debates@men-news.co.uk with your name, address, job, contact details and your question. Questions should be short, direct and relate to economic issues.
I understand that Channel M will be broadcasting the session live from Noon on Tuesday - should be well worth watching!