Category: Uncategorized

Liberal Democrat run Stockport Council has become the first council in the country to launch an official Sewage Inquiry.

There is widespread outrage across Stockport after United Utilities dumped sewage into the river Mersey a staggering 977 times last year, lasting 3,271 hours. Across Stockport, the water firm discharged 13,372 hours of sewage discharges into local rivers.

Analysis of company house records by the Liberal Democrats found United Utilities are paying their executives over £2 million in bonuses despite polluting rivers across the North West, including the Lake District.

Local people are raising fears of dogs and children paddling in the River Goyt and the Mersey.

Councillor Lisa Smart is chairing the inquiry and last night heard the first oral evidence at a public meeting. United Utilities were asked questions by Lisa Smart on the eye watering number of sewage dumps into rivers.

The inquiry has already received written evidence from the Environment Agency which found “Achieving Good Ecological Status or good water quality at an element level in these waterbodies will be extremely challenging and will largely be predicated on Water Industry investment”.

Once the inquiry is complete, Cllr Smart will publish a report with recommendations to both United Utilities and the Government.

Chair of the Stockport Sewage Inquiry, Liberal Democrat Councillor Lisa Smart, said: “The sewage crisis risks ruining our treasured rivers forever. People in Stockport are furious that water companies are being allowed to get away with it.

“United Utilities are rewarding their executives with eye-watering bonuses whilst local people fear walking their dogs along our local rivers and streams such as the Mersey, the Goyt and Poise Brook. We also have Otters who live in the area and are being forced to swim in foul sewage.

“This is a national scandal which pollutes our rivers and puts animals’ lives at risk.

“If the Government won’t act, then we will. I am proud to chair the first ever official inquiry into sewage being discharged into rivers. Conservative Ministers have ignored local people in Stockport for too long on the sewage crisis. Now our voices will be heard at last.”

Following the recent statement made by Michael Gove, announcing wholesale changes to the rules around Local Plans and hinting at major changes to be announced about a new National Planning Policy Framework before Christmas, Stockport Council has taken the decision to pause the consultation on our own draft Local Plan once again.

Speaking after the decision to pause, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “Since 2016 the Liberal Democrats on Stockport Council have been arguing that the government’s approach to Local Plans was wrong and that their top-down housing targets were just a licence to concrete over the Green Belt. In late August, because of so many wildly conflicting statements and proposals being made by Conservative leadership candidates at that time, we decided to pause our consultation on the Local Plan and save £200k, the cost of the consultation, in the process as it was clear that wholesale changes could be made to the planning rules and we wanted to make sure we did not pre-empt a move by government which might enable us to protect our Green Belt.

Cllr Colin MacAlister, Cabinet Member with responsibility for planning matters, added: “The announcement by Michael Gove vindicates this pause and highlights the folly of opposition councillors railing against the original pause. The decision to defer has not been taken lightly, with legal advice informing it. We will issue a revised timetable as soon as we are able to do so because we remain committed to having the right Local Plan for Stockport that does as much as it can to protect our vital Green Belt.”

Stockport Council is facing unprecedented financial pressures in the face of a perfect storm of energy price rises, the impact of Brexit on care service staffing, the continuing effects of the Covid pandemic and a lack of additional support from central government.

Speaking ahead of the Local Government Settlement, the annual decision on how much funding each council will get from Westminster, Cllr Malcolm Allan, Cabinet Member with responsibility for the budget, said: “The pressures we face as a council are extraordinary. One very simple example is street lighting. Despite years of investment in low energy systems, our street lighting alone is costing us £2.5m a year more now compared to a year ago. This is just one very stark example among many.

“There are no easy answers. Westminster repeatedly ignores local government’s demands for better funding and, instead, the Conservative government seem to demand cuts to services and higher council taxes. Fortunately Stockport Council has a track record of strong financial management but, as we go into 2023, we will have to make some really difficult decisions to ensure we balance the books again for next year.”

Stockport Liberal Democrats have again made clear their opposition to building houses on Green Belt.

After a pause at the end of summer because of central government uncertainty over housing targets, work has continued to develop a draft Local Plan which delivers better outcomes for Stockport than those presented by the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) – including more housing on previously developed (or ‘brownfield’) sites whilst seeking to protect Green Belt.

An eight-week public consultation will be launched on the 23rd January to give residents the opportunity to have their say and inform the design of the final Local Plan, which councillors will vote on in the summer.

Ahead of that consultation, all groups will receive confidential briefings this week (containing commercially sensitive information) about the approach the council is taking to continued uncertainty over government housing targets. The draft plan will be published before Christmas and will be examined in detail at a special Scrutiny Committee in the new year. After hearing the views of the Scrutiny Committee, the Council Cabinet will formally decide on the way forward.

Speaking today, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall, said: “The launch of the consultation is the next major milestone towards developing the right plan for Stockport. This is in the face of continued confusion from the Conservative government, who will not come off the fence and tell us whether their top-down targets are mandatory or whether we can act to protect our Green Belt for future generations.

“We all agree on the need to build the right homes in the right places, but that must not be a license to concrete over the Green Belt. The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight to protect our Green Belt. It’s part of what makes Stockport the special place it is.”

Cllr Colin MacAlister, Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration, added: “Since the scale of Green Belt release required under GMSF to meet the government targets became clear back in the autumn of 2016, the Liberal Democrats have consistently argued that we should develop our own plan and tell government what housing Stockport needs and where, not the other way around. The approach we are going to take is novel but we hope will give us the maximum flexibility, whatever the government finally decide to do.

“Councillors in other political groups will be briefed this week ahead of the formal publication of papers before Christmas. I am sure they can be relied upon to respect the confidentiality of those early briefings and avoid any further delay that leaking inaccurate information might cause.”

Speaking ahead of Small Business Saturday, Cllr Colin MacAlister, Cabinet Member for Economy and Regeneration, said: “On Saturday 3rd December, we promote our local independent businesses in Stockport at Small Business Saturday.

“It is essential that we all continue to support small local businesses throughout the
borough, as they have faced a series of unprecedented challenges over the last few years including Brexit, Covid-19 and the rising cost of energy, causing many independent businesses to close and others to really struggle.

“Our message is simple, shop local this Christmas and throughout the year!”

Cllr Grace Baynham, Cabinet Member with responsibilities including parking, added: “Stockport Council are providing free parking in all council-owned car parks in the District Centres’ on the four Saturdays in December leading up to Christmas, including Small Business Saturday.

“This is part of our plan to further invest in our district centres and to encourage everyone to get out and support local independent businesses across the borough.”

After detailed assessment of the Autumn Statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer last Thursday, more bad news has been revealed for Stockport residents and the Council as it struggles to balance the budget and protect public services. Town Hall Chief’s already knew they had a very difficult and challenging task this year, but it has just been made even more difficult by deliberate decisions of central government not to help protect essential local services.

Instead, the Chancellor has indicated even more money will have to be raised by increasing council tax and asking local people to pay more for less.

Leader of the Council and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Mark Hunter, said: “The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement was very disappointing news indeed. We had hoped that central government would help local people as we all grapple with the cost-of-living crisis, but – not a bit of it. After crashing the economy due to their own incompetence, it now seems the Conservatives want to blame anybody but themselves and expect local residents to foot the bill for their mistakes in government. It beggars’ belief they think they can get away with it!”

Cllr Malcolm Allan, Cabinet member for Finance & Resources, added: “Although no final decisions have yet been made and details are still being worked through, it’s already clear that this Statement was tougher than we’d hoped and has no good news for local authorities and the services we provide. In particular, the Government grant takes no account of the last two years inflation. As Liberal Democrats, we want to protect front line services and give value for money but the approach of this Conservative Government means we now have difficult and challenging decisions that will force us to look carefully at our ambition not to raise council tax.”