Labour & Co-op Councillor for the City Centre Kevin Peel and local resident and campaigner Joan Davies have been working hard to secure a deal on a new residents parking scheme for several months. Dozens of residents have made representations and attended focus groups to hammer out a draft proposal. This proposal will go out to consultation before the end of the year and we hope to see a new scheme in place early in 2012.

Be the first to hear about the consultation – Get in touch with Kevin and Joan.

Long-standing city centre resident and local campaigner Joan Davies joins Councillor Kevin Peel and Tony Lloyd MP on the City Centre Labour team.

Joan – an economics teacher at Manchester College – has lived in Castlefield for a number of years and is an active member of the Castlefield Forum residents group, acting as treasurer for the forum and co-ordinating the events sub-group, working with the council and event organisers to ensure residents views are taken into account. Joan is also a Green Badge tour guide and runs various tours in the city centre, in addition to writing theatre reviews.

Joan said:

“I’m delighted to be working with Kevin and Tony to improve the lives of city centre residents.

“I look forward to meeting many city centre residents in the coming months and working with you to get things done.”

City Centre Councillor Kevin Peel said:

“I have known Joan for several years and know her to be a dedicated and hard-working local campaigner. I know she will work tirelessly to tackle local issues and very much look forward to working with her and local MP Tony Lloyd to improve our local community.”

Get in touch with Kevin and Joan.

Labour & Co-op Councillor for the City Centre Kevin Peel and local resident and campaigner Joan Davies have launched a programme of roving advice surgeries across the city centre to meet local residents and discuss local concerns.

Joan said:

“We want to hear from you about your local priorities. Come along, have a cup of coffee and give us your views!”

Advice surgeries will take place on the following dates:

Sunday 20th November
3-4pm, Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) Cafe, Liverpool Road

Wednesday 30th November
6-7pm, Nexus Art Cafe, Dale Street

Sunday 11th December
4-5pm, Richmond Tea Rooms, Richmond Street

Get in touch with Kevin and Joan for more information or to book an appointment here.

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport is currently holding a consultation on proposals to remove the requirement for a licence to host a performance of a play, an exhibition of a film, an indoor sporting event, a performance of live music, any playing of recorded music, or a performance of dance.

Proposals to remove most forms of regulated entertainment from licensing requirements could lead to an increase in noise related complaints. In theory any bar or club or anyone who wishes to put on an event could have live music without any conditions on it or any oversight from the licensing authority. This will have a massive impact in the city centre where we have lots of venues and event spaces in close proximity to residential properites.

Residents may be intersted in submitting views to the consultation, in particular asking that the provision of recorded and live music stay subject to licensing regulations and are decided by a democratically elected licensing panel and assessed against the licensing objectives.

You can find full details of the consultation, the impact assessment and how to respond here. The consultation is open until 3rd December 2011.

Contact Kevin and Joan if you would like your comments included in their representations.

Labour & Co-op Councillor for the City Centre Kevin Peel and local resident and campaigner Joan Davies are calling for local residents to join their City Centre Green Taskforce, which is set to be launched shortly.

The taskforce will look at ways to improve existing green spaces in the city centre, investigate the possibility of expanding the green space on offer in the city centre and put forward proposals for new green projects across the city centre.

Any local resident, business or community group will be allowed to join and get involved.

City Centre resident and campaigner Joan Davies said:

“We need to do much more to promote the existing green space on offer in the city centre, but we also need to look at ways of improving that space, developing new space and supporting innovative green projects such as the Northern Quarter ‘GrowBox’ scheme.”

Councillor Kevin Peel said:

“Setting up this Green Taskforce was a key promise of mine before the election and it is something I am committed to delivering.

“I look forward to working with Joan and residents, businesses and community groups from across the city centre to improve our green offer.”

Do you want to join the Green Taskforce? Get in touch.

Labour & Co-op Councillor for the City Centre Kevin Peel and local resident and campaigner Joan Davies are on hand to help you to set up a formal residents group in your block. Having a residents group means you have a stronger voice when dealing with landlords and managing agents and when trying to tackle local problems. It also means you can bid for money from the council and other sources to make improvements in your local community.

Want more information? Get in touch with Kevin and Joan.

Labour & Co-op Councillor for the City Centre Kevin Peel and local resident and campaigner Joan Davies are working with the council to bring one or more supermarkets to the city centre.

Joan said:

“There are lots of small food stores here but it is difficult to buy everything you need and so city centre residents often go out of town to buy food. We need a supermarket in the city centre that residents can access easily.”

Want to see a supermarket in the city centre? Get in touch and show your support!