Press release from Mark Hunter: Local MP Mark Hunter has hailed the Liberal Democrat/Conservative Coalition’s announcement on giving local councils powers to prevent the building of new homes in back gardens as “a great success”. Many local residents have contacted Mr Hunter concerned about the number of new houses being built in gardens due to […]

From the Council: Stockport Council has beaten off national competition to secure a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £269,000 to provide work placements in the local heritage sector. HLF’s Skills for the Future programme aims to provide new training opportunities for unemployed people across the UK seeking a career in heritage. Paid training places […]

Manchester Airport are holding a series of outreach meetings at which, among other things, you can go along and have a one-to-one chat with someone from the airport about any concerns you may have (flightpaths has been the main one that’s come my way from this area). Our local one is at Cheadle Library, 28th […]

Stockport’s local election results from 1980, in my ongoing publication of the results from 1973 up to 2004. Among the familiar names, Maureen Rowles was elected in Brinnington (Maureen’s back on the council this year after a two-year gap) and Paul Porgess won in Cheadle Hulme North. Another very poor year for the Liberals too, […]

Following the annual reporting of councillors’ allowances in the press (Stockport’s councillor allowances total a little under £1 million for 63 councillors), which as I wrote a couple of weeks ago  seems reasonable to me if we want a good range of councillors able to run, and hold to account, a local authority with an […]

From the Council: Stockport Child Safety Week takes place from 21st to 25th June, bringing together a range of agencies, including Stockport Council and the NHS that are committed to reducing the number of children who are injured through accidents. More children end up in hospital because they’ve been seriously hurt in an accident than […]

We come onto the Stockport local elections for 1979, in my run through all the results from 1973 up to 2004. 1979 was the last time Stockport local elections fell on the same day as the general election, prior to 2010. It was the year Margaret Thatcher came to power and, with no serious Liberal […]

From the Council: With the help of the Stockport Boost campaign, 1047 families across Stockport have been able to take advantage of the national ‘Home Access’ scheme which provides free computers to help support learning and development. The scheme has helped around half of all eligible low-income families in Stockport gain access to a computer […]

From the Council: Stockport Air Raid Shelters has gained a prestigious award for Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Manchester Tourism awards 2010. The panel of judges said that ‘the shelters are truly unique and a great asset within Stockport’s visitor attraction offer.’ The Manchester Tourism awards were organised by Marketing Manchester, the […]

The late ’70s wasn’t a great time for Stockport’s Liberals.  Today, all 18 councillors in Hazel Grove constituency are Lib Dems.  Back in the late ’70s that number was precisely zero.  The Liberals came third in Edgeley and Cheadle Heath (the one seat the party won in ’76 at the height of the Jeremy Thorpe […]