Author Archives: Damien Greenhalgh

Working Together Saves Footpath

An important footpath in the centre of Glossop is receiving a much-needed make-over due to the close co-operation of three Glossop councillors.

The footpath links Market St with High St West and follows a pleasant route along the river through Harehills Park. It is heavily used by people as a route to and from the town centre as well as dog-walkers and other leisure walkers.

But the path has only a compacted shale surface which it lost a long time ago and any rainfall creates long stretches of mud.

HPBC Cllr Godfrey and County Councillors Damien Greenhalgh and Ellie Wilcox speak with the DCC workmen on the path.

HPBC Cllr Godfrey and County Councillors Damien Greenhalgh and Ellie Wilcox speak with the DCC workmen on the path.

High Peak Councillor for Howard Town Ward, and Executive Member for Regeneration, Godfrey Claff, took up the story. ‘For much of the year, especially in winter, the path is impassable without the right footwear.  The Borough Council owns the path but two years ago the County offered to re-surface it with an all-weather surface. I was asked if the Borough could contribute but budgets were so tight due to Government cuts that it was not possible. So the County Council did half the re-surfacing work in 2012. I was determined that this work should be completed and this year the Borough found the money for most of the remaining work if we could get the County to finish the job. That is when County Cllrs Ellie Wilcox, Damien Greenhalgh and I started talking about a joint approach.’

County Cllr Wilcox said, ‘This is work that really had to be completed. Cllr Greenhalgh and I talked to County officers about how much it was needed and we have managed to get the footpath team onto the site and we have found the rest of the cost. It is a really good example of what can be done when Borough councillors and County councillors work together.’

Cllr Greenhalgh added, ‘This may not be a large project but it is often the small improvements that can make a real difference and this is one of those. People will be able to walk right along the river without any difficulty in future.’

The work is due to be completed on Friday.

Councillors dig deep for Women’s Aid

A charity supporting victims of domestic abuse in Glossop and the High Peak has received a £1,000 from Glossopdale’s three County Councillors.

The money provided by Councillors Damien Greenhalgh, Ellie Wilcox and Dave Wilcox from their community leadership funds is to help with the charity move to more suitable accommodation.

Glossop-based High Peak Women’s Aid which provides counselling, support and accommodation to children and adults who have suffered from domestic violence and controlling behaviour in their relationships, has welcomed the generous donation.

The cheque was presented at the charity’s Annual General Meeting held in Bradbury Community House where supporters heard about the roller-coaster year for the support organisation. From the financial crisis after losing their service’s tender to the way the community rallied around raising £100,000 in a short few months.

Glossopdale County Councillors Dave Wilcox, Ellie Wilcox and Damien Greenhalgh hand over their cheque to Chair of HPWA, Linda Rundle and Service Manager, Pam Whittle.

Glossopdale County Councillors Dave Wilcox, Ellie Wilcox and Damien Greenhalgh hand over their cheque to Chair of HPWA, Linda Rundle and Service Manager, Pam Whittle.

Cllr Greenhalgh said: “High Peak Women’s Aid has been providing a vital service for 30 years, a service which our community and we value highly”

He added: “We’re extremely pleased to be able to help towards their costs of relocating to more suitable accommodation with rooms for the volunteer counsellors, group work and office space.

Pam Whittle, Services Manager for High Peak Women’s Aid said: “High Peak Women’s Aid is delighted to accept the generous support from Damien, Ellie and Dave”

“The money will help us relocate and which will make a huge difference to way we are able to deliver our vital services for women, men and children experiencing domestic and help us produce positive outcomes for them.”

Pam went on to add “It has been an extremely challenging but successful year, as we have continued to keep our services open and have developed new areas of work. The community and councillors have really supported us. However the next 12 months will be even more challenging as we now have to raise much more money to keep our Harmony Project going at a time when two other funding streams come to an end. We welcome all donations, no matter how small”.

To support High Peak Women’s Aid, call Pam on (01457) 856675, or visit www.highpeakwomensaid.org.uk which offers easy-to-follow links for people willing to make a pledge.

Spreading the word during reading week

Pupils at a Chesterfield primary school have been enjoying extra storytimes as part of a week dedicated to the written word.  Whitecotes Primary School invited me to visit on Monday at the start the week to read the children a story.

Me reading to children at Whitecotes Primary School as part of their reading week.

Me reading to children at Whitecotes Primary School as part of their reading week.

I had the great pleasure to read ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark‘ to the Toucans (a year 1 class) – you’ll be happy to know that little Plop overcomes his fear in the end!!

Reading is so very important for children. It improves their language skills, develops their vocabulary and their imagination. And put plainly children who can read do better at school.

As well as my visit, author Daniel Blythe, whose work includes Doctor Who novels, popped into the school.
Children will also be dressing up as a favourite book character, pupils from different years are to buddy up and read to each other, and a local book shop has donated cash to buy new library books.

Labour Cllrs say no to allowance rise

I am please to annouce that at yesterday’s Full Meeting of the County Council that the entire Labour Group agreed to not take the automatic 1% rise in allowances which occurs as result of a rise for all public sector workers, Derbyshire CC staff amongst them.

My email to staff renouncing the 1% rise in Member's Allowances.

My email to staff renouncing the 1% rise in Member’s Allowances.

Furthermore we announced that this saving to the Authority – which roughly equates to about £7,500 – would go into a newly created Derbyshire Challenge Fund which will be used as seed-corn money to finance new and innovating ways of working particularly in partnership with other organisation such as the NHS in these financially challenging times. In addition to these immediate savings, the Fund is to be kick started with £2million from smarter purchasing, a £35,000 saving on the civic cars and £45,000 from our Chair/Vice-Chair not attending the civil council junkets.

What remains to be seen is whether the other Political Groups follow our suit?
They couldn’t be drawn on it yesterday.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

 

kevinMany congratulations to the Deputy Guv’na and my Cabinet Member, Kevin Gillott, who today has won the selection process to become Labour’s PPC for Amber Valley.

The constituency is number 11 on the Party’s hit list for 2015, so we have high hopes for him; and I know Kevin will be a fantastic and hard-working MP.

 

Lights, Camera, Action!

Thursday evening saw me and Jim – the other Deputy Cabinet Member for Children and Young People – attend the DAFTAs which was great fun. The children’s films were very good – many were pretty fun too.

And it has to said that the children from St Philip Howard School who were Masters of Ceremony for the evening were a credit to the school and the town.

 

Victory in Derbyshire

Countywide Labour did fantastically well gaining eleven seats to take back control of Derbyshire County Council with a two-thirds majority (43 of the 64 seats) meaning we can act on our promises to the people of this county to bring a #FairDealForDerbyshire despite the huge Governmental cuts we must preside over.

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LABOUR WIN: Some of the new controlling Labour Group on the steps of County Hall.

The dale turns Red!!

The results are in and well what a result!!

All three county councillors in Glossopdale are now Labour – with Ellie and I joining Dave at County Hall – and me topping the poll to add that little cherry on the top.

Full results below

2013 Results - Glossop and Charlesworth

Glossop and Charlesworth electoral division results

2013 Results - Etherow

Etherow electoral division results

Glossop Gazette Questions

The Glossop Gazette  as part of it’s coverage is asking every candidate three questions. Please find these along with my answer below.

 

1. Is the loss of 1,400 jobs an inevitable consequence of the savings that must be made in the DCC budget?  How would your party’s cuts differ from those of your opponents?

It is a sad reality that job loses at the County Council would have to be considered by any new administration in Matlock of any political colour.

The Council’s budget has been cut by one third which is difficult enough but added to the increasing cost of care for the elderly and those venerable members of our society whom have had their lives made even harder by Government cuts, and some very painful decisions lie ahead.

The 1400 figure is the current Conservative administration’s calculation but we aren’t able to see what informed that decision. Not until a new administration takes over and has the opportunity to look over the books will we know if those assumptions are correct or not.

Labour values people as being the greatest resource of the Council and we will always try to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies, but at the moment assurances are unfortunately impossible. 

 
2. If you were on the DCC planning and control committee would you have approved the application to demolish the old St Lukes School and build a new library?  If not please suggest an alternative.

The plan to build an inappropriate new library in Glossop will not see the light of day if Ellie and I are elected. The hastily put together application will be withdrawn.

I, like many residents I’ve spoken to, do not buy into the false argument used by currently county councillors that the Victoria Hall cannot be become a library and community resource fit for the 21st century.

Therefore a consultation to assess the needs and requirements of the people of Glossop will take place after the election, with proposals that will focus on a sympathetic internal refurbishment of the Victoria Hall with the funds available; if people have an unexpected and unlikely change of mind then we would of course look again at this.

 
3. Is immigration an issue in the DCC elections? If so, why?

Immigration has long been used by political opportunists seeking someone to blame all the country’s ills. Migrants by and large contribute to society and have added great social, economic and cultural value to our nation – their looking after our elderly and unwell in the NHS is the exemplar.

The overwhelming proportion of them come to this country to work, create wealth and pay taxes, not to live off benefits or seek NHS treatment as is often portrayed. 

The problem is not immigration but our globalised free-market system which denies us the tax base to invest properly in people and places. It’s not a new immigration policy we need, but a reformed system where the likes of Google, Amazon, Vodafone and Starbucks pay their fair share of taxes.

 

New Library Plan Pledge from Labour Leader

Ellie Wilcox and Damien Greenhalgh start to shred the new library plan.

Derbyshire County Council Labour Group Leader Anne Western has today confirmed that the planning application for a new Glossop Library “will not see the light of day” in the event of Labour being elected to run the County Council in May this year.

In a message to the people of Glossopdale, she confirmed that Derbyshire Labour will consult on the best ways to sustain library provision in the Victoria Hall and make best use of the “campus of buildings” that cluster around the library, following suggestions that the planning application for a new library would be reconsidered in the near future.

She has already given an assurance that the £2,000,000 which Labour set aside more than five years ago, will still be available for a fully-costed, value for money project that can enhance both library and adult education provision.

“If, after consultation with Ellie Wilcox and Damien Greenhalgh, the people of Glossop have an unexpected and unlikely

change of mind, then we would look again. But whatever we propose will be complementary to the work we commissioned when we renovated the adult education centre, rather than the unsympathetic modern structure that the local Conservatives continue to confirm they support.”

Padfield and Hadfield Councillor Ellie Wilcox said that discussions need to focus on a sympathetic internal refurbishment of the Victoria Hall Library.

“From visits to the Royal Exchange in Manchester, and from the refurbishment that is taking place on the Central Reference Library, people in Glossopdale know that older buildings can be retained and modernised sympathetically,” she says.

“Of course, we won’t be able to afford enhancements of that scale, as £2million can quickly disappear on a listed building, but it is nonsense to suggest that the Victoria Hall cannot provide a 21st Century library and community resource.   The idea of the proposed supermarket-type design has met such strong resistance from locals, it would be reckless to still go ahead, especially since there have been no formal consultations surrounding library provision.’

Labour’s other County Council candidate Damien Greenhalgh has said that he wanted to be part of a mature discussion with the community on the way forward.

“One of the biggest mistakes of the present incumbents has been their failure to consult and listen. People need to know what the money set aside could buy. We hope to make discussion and dialogue with the wider community our basis for future policy, helping to properly address the needs of local people.”