Health and Social Care

As early as possible
It is clear that preventing ill-health, both physical and mental, is best done during pregnancy and in the early years of life.  We will:

• Prioritise interventions and budgets to focus on maternity and early years services
• Engage young people and parents in helping us decide what is best for them.

As responsive as possible
Every day, thousands of patients experience the frustration of not being able to get a GP appointment when they need it.  We will:

• Use the Council’s powers and influence, through its Health Scrutiny role, to undertake a radical review of local primary care services
• Work closely with the Trafford Clinical Commissioning group to bring back the lost value of GP services: doctors who know you; doctors who aren’t just locums; surgeries which don’t just look like hospital clinics.

As local as possible
It is simply not good enough that we expect older people and their carers to travel long distances for treatment.  We will:

• Work with our partners in the NHS to require any change or development of services to pass the ‘as local as possible’ test
• Fight to make sure that only where it is clinically necessary would health services be moved further away.

As holistic as possible
Much is now known about the damage caused if our mental health is not given at least equal attention to our physical health.  We will:

• Through the Trafford Health and Well-Being Board, insist that promoting mental health, and preventing mental illness, are no longer ‘cinderella’ services
• Adopt the aim of preventing all suicides across Trafford.

As joined-up as possible
Whilst much has been said and promised in Greater Manchester about joined-up working between Health and Social Care (Children and Adults), the reality is still short of the ambition.  We will:

• Introduce a set of measures, designed by service users, patients, and their carers, to make sure that integrated working arrangements benefit them, not the organisations concerned.

As competent as possible
The mothballing of the Altrincham Health Hub has become a national scandal. Under the Conservatives’ oversight, the incompetence of all those involved has been staggering.  We will:

• Work with all stakeholders to find an urgent resolution to this mess, insist that real lessons are learnt, and fight for competent leadership of future health and social care projects across Trafford.

Transport

Prioritising road and pavement maintenance
The long-term impact of the last Conservative administration was to leave Trafford with a road and pavement network that is dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and cost highway users expensive repairs. A council administration that includes Liberal Democrats will:

• Take road and pavement maintenance and repair a much higher priority once more
• Commission repairs that are specifically designed to improve drainage – to reduce flooding and make surfaces last longer.

Making buses work
Buses should be accessible to every­one. Trafford Lib Dems want to:

• Find ways to fund subsidised bus travel for young people in full-time education
• Protect key bus services
• Restore bus services to isolated people with limited mobility.

Protecting walkers & cyclists
Lib Dems will encourage the healthy options of walking and cycling by investing in infrastructure to:

• Make cycling safer in Trafford
• Make dangerous roads like Moss Lane in Hale and Stockport Road in Timperley safer for pedestrians.

Introducing integrated ticketing
In other parts of Greater Manchester, you can buy a Metrolink ticket that is valid for onward rail travel, such as at Rochdale. Trafford Lib Dems want to see joined-up transport tickets across trams train and buses.  Trafford Lib Dems will work with Transport for Greater Manchester, so you can:

• Buy one ticket to travel on both Metrolink and National Rail, to train stations like Hale and beyond
• Use an integrated ticket on Metrolink and the buses.

Travelling to the south of the country by rail can be impracticable from Navigation Road because the connections at Stockport are badly timed.  Trafford Lib Dems will lobby Virgin and Northern Rail for:

• Better timetable co-ordination between Northern and Virgin at Stockport
• Better levels of service for commuters fed up with over-crowded, unreliable and outdated trains.

Expanding Metrolink capacity
Metrolink has become a victim of its own success. Transport for Greater Manchester’s Transport Strategy 2040 provides a blueprint for increasing capacity, which includes buying more double units. But there is a risk most units will go to other lines.  A Lib Dem led council will:

• Fight for the Altrincham line to get our fair share extra double­unit trams during rush hour
• Demand TfGM reduce the number of ‘points failures’ by upgrading the infrastructure and increasing protection against vandalism
• Demand TfGM modernise the signalling to speed up travel through Navigation Road
• Support the long-term goal of an outer circular connecting loop.

Trafford Liberal Democrats would also campaign for:

• An increase in park-and-ride spaces to make it more attractive
• Converting the old railway to Partington to a new Metrolink line to support the housing development at Carrington.

Policing and Community

Putting the emphasis on community policing
Liberal Democrats understand the importance of community policing in building social cohesion and community confidence.
In Trafford, police and community support officers work across a geographically and economically diverse area, from rural communities to the Manchester suburbs.

We will forge a stronger relationship between police and residents by:

• Lobbying central Government for increased police spending, with an emphasis on community policing
• Promoting regular meetings and ‘Community Planning Boards’, to be attended by local police officers and members of the public.

Making Metrolink safe for everyone
Metrolink is one of Greater Manchester’s, and Trafford’s, most valuable assets. Unfortunately, crime and anti-social behaviour continue to pose a challenge to staff and police, blighting thousands of journeys each year. Liberal Democrats believe that everyone has the right to feel safe and travel without intimidation on Metrolink.

We think the best way to achieve this is to:

• Set up an urgent Task Group, with membership from local people, Metrolink, Police, and other relevant bodies, to find solutions, and agree a comprehensive strategy to tackle Metrolink-related crime, from antisocial behaviour to violent offences.

Tackling youth and violent crime
Knife crime is harming communities and spreading fear across Britain. Trafford is not immune.  Youth offending more generally is also a concern in the Borough, not helped by cuts to services for young people. Trafford Liberal Democrats will work with local police, other authorities and our communities to systemically tackle violent and youth crime.

We will:

• Implement the ‘Glasgow Model’ for violent crime; by treating knife crime as a public health issue. Strathclyde police have dramatically reduced the number of stabbings and other violent offences in Glasgow. We believe Trafford can benefit too
• Develop a community outreach and youth engagement strategy for Trafford, giving young people positive spaces and role models.

Planning and Development

Raising affordable levies
Trafford is divided into three residential zones, each with their own guidelines for affordable housing. Trafford Lib Dems will:

• Raise the ‘Moderate Zone Levy’ from 20% to 30%
• Raise the ‘Cold Zone Levy’ from 5% to 15%
• Ensure a minimum 30% Levy for the ‘Future Carrington’ project, which sits in a ‘Cold Zone’.

Closing legal loopholes
Despite efforts from local authorities to enforce affordable levies, many developers do not adhere to demands because legal loopholes -such as Viability Assessments – allow them to prioritise profits over affordability.  Liberal Democrats will work to close these loopholes by:

• Commissioning a Trafford­wide assessment of housing developments, which will highlight where and how developers are falling short of targets
• Pressuring Government ministers to close legal loopholes, which stand
  in the way of affordable developments.

Prioritising sustainable developments
A key obstacle for many would-be homeowners is sustainability and fuel efficiency. There is now strong evidence that new build properties with solar panels drastically reduce the cost of bil Is, help tackle fuel poverty and allow homeowners to ‘sell energy back’ to the national grid. We will lobby government for more national investment in solar energy. Trafford Liberal Democrats will:

• Prioritise proposals where developers have committed to the provision of solar panels
• Make the provision of solar panels a ‘red line’ for any development proposed on a ‘Greenbelt’ site.

Consulting local residents
We will make sure planning applications are more visible and increase consultation with residents. We believe there is a place for local authorities to promote public meetings and online forums, to enablecommunity engagement.  Trafford Lib Dems will:

• Enable decision-making at the lowest possible level to be effective and fair
• Promote a two-way open debate between residents and developers
• Fight to protect our libraries during all stages of planning
• Prioritise developments which provide greater energy efficiency
• Plant more street trees to mitigate the risk of flooding and climate change
• Create more online forums to engage residents and increase community notice boards.

Improving Recycling Performance
So much more can, and needs to be, done to continually improve Trafford’s performance in recycling. We support the Four Rs of waste management – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and we will:

• Increase the range and types of plastics collected by Amey, from both household bins and collection points
• Introduce an effective monitoring scheme, to ensure that Amey is genuinely recycling materials correctly.

Green campaigning
We have a long and proud history as a Party that campaigns effectively on the environment. We will:

• Campaign, at a national level, for the law to be changed, requiring all new-build houses to incorporate solar panels
• Support initiatives to ensure all new houses conform to Passivhaus standards
• Enhance our green spaces by planting more native trees to increasing biodiversity.

Looking after our Greenbelt
No issue is likely to cause more concern for local people than this.  On the one hand, we need to build more houses – especially affordable ones. On the other hand, our diminishing greenbelt is a precious asset, for which we are the custodians, to hand on to future generations.
We will:

• Extend the range of affordable housing for people in our area, including empty housing in Trafford
• Listen carefully to the views of local people, and all other stakeholders
• Look to brownfield sites first, for housing development
• Oppose any building on the Timperley Wedge Greenbelt
• Apply transparent and consistent tests to each proposal, so that our position is clear.