Election Hustings 2023

Levenshulme Community Association is delighted to announce hustings for the local elections on Thursday 27 April 2023.

This is an opportunity for anyone to come along and ask questions of the candidates. The hustings will be held at St Peter’s Church on Stockport Road (opposite Arcadia Library and Leisure Centre).

18.30 Levenshulme hustings

20.00 Burnage hustings

All candidates (listed below) have been invited to attend personally or send a representative. The hustings will be chaired by Rev George Reeves.

Levenshulme is one of the few areas that still holds hustings. We hold hustings for both Burnage Ward and Levenshulme Ward because the Levenshulme community stretches across the Ward boundaries. The LCA has done so for many years and we believe it is an important event to enable residents to hold candidates to account and hear what their ideas are for our community.

Everyone is welcome. We hope to see you at the hustings.

Remember that you must bring photo ID to the polling station to vote. This is a new requirement imposed by the government. You can find out further information HERE. A full list of which forms of ID will be accepted is available HERE.

LCA Hustings 2023 for Levenshulme and Burnage Wards
Levenshulme local election candidates 2023
Burnage local election candidates 2023

Councillor Surgeries Finally Restarted

Councillor Surgeries have restarted. They were cancelled at the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 and were never restarted even when lockdowns and restrictions were removed.

Now they’re back. The council did not advise anybody of this change but we have seen the change on the council’s website.

Drop in Advice Sessions and Surgeries 

Attended by the Ward’s three Councillors on a rota basis 

2nd and 4th Monday 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (except August & Bank Holidays) 
Arcadia Library 
Yew Tree Ave 
Levenshulme 
Manchester 
M19 3PH 

Burnage Councillor Bev Craig elected as Manchester Labour Leader

Councillor Bev Craig (Burnage Ward) has been elected leader of the Manchester Labour group this evening (5 October 2021).

It is understood that Councillor Craig won in the second ballot with 51% of the vote against Councillor Luthfur Rahman (Longsight Ward). Two other candidates were eliminated in the first ballot: Councillor Garry Bridges (Old Moat Ward) and Councillor Ekua Bayunu (Hulme Ward).

It is expected that Councillor Craig will now take over from Sir Richard Leese in December as Leader of Manchester City Council. Richard Leese ends a period of 25 years as leader of Manchester Labour and Manchester City Council.

Councillor Craig has been Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council since May 2021 (Councillor Luthfur Rahman is the other Deputy Leader). Councillor Craig has been a councillor for Burnage Ward since 2011.

Levenshulme Community Association would like to congratulate Councillor Craig in her new role as leader of Manchester Labour. We look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.

Councillor Bev Craig

Active Neighbourhood – Nothing Confirmed Yet

What’s Going On With Our Active Neighbourhood?

Councillors have confirmed the Active Neighbourhood scheme will have a new public consultation and nothing is confirmed yet.

A meeting attended by over 60 residents, including Levenshulme Community Association Secretary Jeremy Hoad, was at times tense but has brought some welcome clarity to the current status of the Levenshulme and Burnage Active Neighbourhood.

Levenshulme Councillors Basat Sheikh and Zahid Hussain attended a meeting organised by the One Levenshulme group on 20 September after the release of a statement from Manchester City Council that said:

Following the end of this trial, and reviews of feedback, all 14 filters will be made permanent.

Manchester City Council statement, 13 September 2021

Councillors say this statement by Manchester City Council about the Levenshulme and Burnage Active Neighbourhood scheme was made “out of context” and this is only a partial explanation of the current situation. The current road blocks / “modal filters” will only be made permanent if a full plan for the Active Neighbourhood is approved for implementation following a public consultation.

The next stage designs will provide a full plan for interventions well beyond the current trial of 14 road blocks / “modal filters” in Levenshulme. This is the first time our community will be provided with comprehensive proposals and and a plan for the Active Neighbourhood, three years after the project started. It is understood the plans will include measures for both Levenshulme and Burnage.

The statement went on to say that:

“This month [August 2021] the Highways Service presented the initial outline designs for the proposed next stage of the Active Travel Neighbourhood scheme to ward councillors in both areas. These were agreed in principle, with the plans also submitted to Transport for Greater Manchester for their review and comment.”

Manchester City Council statement, 13 September 2021

A New Public Consultation

The new plans will be released soon and go to a public consultation. Councillors did not provide details of the consultation but accepted that previous consultations and the scheme as a whole had been “…a complete mess from the beginning…” and that it had “…gone wrong…”. They stated they had been “…working behind the scenes…” to improve the plans and had rejected previous drafts before accepting the current proposals.

Councillor Hussain stated that so far the project had spent £800,000 and that the budget had been reduced for the whole scheme. The original budget was up to £700,000 for development work and to undertake a trial with a further £1.8m available dependent on a successful business case proposal to TfGM for full implementation.

When pressed by residents councillors clarified that if residents were not happy with all the proposals then the scheme would not go ahead and everything – including the current road blocks / “modal filters” – would be removed.

It was also stated by councillors that the road blocks / “modal filters” would not be retained or made permanent until or unless problems on all roads were addressed, something councillors had insisted on for the scheme to progress. No scheme would be approved before that. However, councillors were confident that the community would welcome the final plans when they saw the designs.

Where’s the Data?

Councillors were also asked “Where’s the data?” as the whole scheme was claimed to be evidence based and data driven as well as community led. Councillors explained that the filters had been left in place so that the project could gather more data after the trial had finished [in June 2021] as Covid19 restrictions were lifted. Monitoring, managed by Manchester Urban Observatory (based at the University of Manchester) had taken place throughout the trial. Doubts were raised by residents about how accurate, useful or comprehensive this data was as well as the placement of monitoring equipment.

What will the final plans look like?

More comprehensive, inclusive and balanced, it seems. Reference was made to traffic calming, chicanes, crossings, pavement improvements and speed tables (large raised flat areas on the road). These are the sorts of measures residents, businesses and community groups (including Levenshulme Community Association) have been calling for throughout the project.

Unfortunately the attitude previously of the Project Team (with Sustrans and Levenshulme Bee Network before they were removed from the project in 2020) was dismissive of this more balanced approach and focussed primarily on installing road blocks / “modal filters” to create a “Low Traffic Neighbourhood”.

Residents also raised concerns about a number of related issues: dangerous driving in the area which was getting worse; problems with HGVs; speeding; anti-social behaviour around the road blocks; ongoing issues with emergency services and problems for carers and other service providers needing to easily meet residents’ needs. These reflected concerns that had consistently been raised by the LCA, residents and businesses that the approach throughout the project had been limited and did not focus on solving the problems we faced as a community or prioritise the aims of the project to actually make our roads safer and encourage walking and cycling.

Councillors stressed that the scheme was “…not about cycling…” but about “…Active Travel, creating shared space and provision for walking, cycling and drivers getting around.”

What happens next?

The final Active Neighbourhood plans should be made public in the next few weeks. The council has already indicated there will be a public engagement meeting in late September / early October.

Serious concerns were raised about how the consultation would be run. Residents made clear that they were dissatisfied with previous consultation and engagement and councillors accepted this had not been done well. Residents at the meeting highlighted the exclusive, biased and insecure nature of the online Commonplace system and the limited and ineffective information available.

As yet it is unclear what changes will be made to the consultation process, when it will start or how long it will run for. It is also unclear how decisions will be made, what criteria will be used and what attempts will be made to ensure the whole community can get involved and have their voices heard effectively.

Councillors Sheikh and Hussain were thanked for their attendance at the meeting and it was made clear by residents that this ongoing discussion was very welcome. Thanks also to Mark at the Bluebell for hosting the meeting.

Levenshulme Community Association will continue to provide updates and announcements as they are available to enable residents and businesses to be fully involved in this next stage of what has so far been a frustrating and difficult experience for many people.

Active Neighbourhood Update & Community Engagement Event

The Levenshulme and Burnage Active Neighbourhood Project Team are planning an event. The Project Team has stated today (9 September 2021):

“We are hoping to hold a community engagement event around Late September/ Early October, in which people can give their thoughts and feedback on the Active Neighbourhood plans in person.”

The intention of the meeting is to provide:

…an opportunity to give thoughts and feedback on the existing filters and any future measures that may be put in place.

No date or time has been set for the meeting / event yet.

It is intended to hold the event “for Levenshulme” at Arcadia Library and Leisure Centre on Stockport Road. This suggests the Project Team might hold a separate event for Burnage. If this is the case Levenshulme Community Association will promote both events.

After Manchester City Council took direct control of the project and removed Sustrans and Levenshulme Bee Network in 2020 the project was split into two – Phase 1 for Levenshulme and Phase 2 for Burnage. No clear explanation has ever been provided as to why the project was fragmented in this way and changed along political ward boundaries.

Councillors have previously stated that a final plan for the project would be released in September and then put out to consultation. The Project Team has stated any final plan would not be released until it had been signed off and agreed by local councillors and Transport for Greater Manchester. Whether this community engagement event in September or October is to consider a final plan or is an opportunity for general discussion is unclear.

MEN Article On School Traffic “Chaos”

Levenshulme is in the news with an article in the Manchester Evening News about traffic problems around schools.

“A community campaign group [Streets For People] is urging local councillors to take action on dangerous parking and increased school traffic in south Manchester.”

Extract from MEN article

Streets For People is hosting a Zoom meeting on Sunday 20th September 2020 at 3pm. The group says:

We are organising a public meeting on the issue of what’s happening with the Low Traffic Neighbourhood proposals, and especially the council’s inaction on the dangerous situation outside schools caused by motor traffic.

We challenge the Levenshulme and Burnage councillors and council leadership to attend this meeting and explain to residents what is happening.”

Streets For People

Read the full article HERE

You can view the Streets for People video below or on their website HERE.

Statement From Levenshulme Councillors

Levenshulme councillors have released a statement regarding the continuation of the “Levenshulme Bee Network” project.

Levenshulme Station Improvements

An update on improvements to Levenshulme Station from Afzal Khan MP

Thanks to pressure from Afzal Khan MP together with Levenshulme’s Labour councillors and local campaigners, there is now a start date for work to improve Levenshulme station. For many years, passengers have been subjected to flooding, poor lighting and an overall lack of cleanliness at the station, and it is hoped this work will dramatically improve passenger experience.

Earlier this year, local MP Afzal Khan visited Levenshulme station with representatives from Northern and Network Rail and walked through planned upgrades. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the upgrades due to start in Spring 2020 were significantly delayed. This week, Network Rail informed Mr Khan that works are now due to start in September 2020.

Afzal Khan MP said,

“I am delighted to have a new start date for the work. Levenshulme Station is a critical transport hub for the local community. Community groups, councillors and I have been campaigning for station improvements for many years and I am pleased that our hard work is starting to pay off.”

He continued,

“Despite this good news, I will be continuing to campaign to make our station accessible for all Levenshulme residents. It was incredibly disappointing that we were not awarded any Access for All funding from the Department for Transport in the last round of bidding, despite submitting a strong bid backed by a great community campaign. The truth is that the Tory Government has not allocated enough money for this work, and at the current rate it will take over fifty years for all of Greater Manchester’s stations to be made accessible.”

Cllr Bernard Stone said,

“Levenshulme’s Labour councillors – Dzidra [Noor] , Basat [Sheikh] and I – welcome the long overdue work being undertaken at Levenshulme Station. Local residents and Councillors have been pushing for this to be done for a long time. It is good to now have a definite start date.”

Councillor Advice Surgeries Suspended

Please note the following announcement from Manchester City Council:

“To protect the health of residents the Councillor’s advice surgeries have been suspended until it is felt it is safe for them to resume. This page will be updated when that happens. Until then, please use the email and telephone contact details.”

Councillor contact details are available HERE.