MANCHESTER Ship Canal owners Peel Ports should paint the swing bridges at Warrington as their contribution to the national “Clean for the Queen” campaign.
That’s the view of local Liberal Democrats who have gathered more than 1,500 signatures on a petition calling for the work to be done.
The petition calls on Peel to “clean and paint the swing bridges over the Ship Canal in Warrington and show support for local people who take pride in the look of the area.”
Cllr Bob Barr, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the borough council, said: “The more pressure we can put on Peel the better.
“We started gathering signatures at our street stalls and from our Focus leaflets well before Christmas.
“When we asked people on the street to sign, nearly everyone did which shows that people care about this issue. We then asked one of our activists, Denis McAllister to supplement the hard copy petition by also setting up an on-line ‘change.org’ one.
“So far Peel has refused to paint the bridges. This is most disappointing and shows little respect for the communities in which they operate. They have a chance to redeem themselves by painting them as part of the national ‘Clean for the Queen’ campaign.
“As the Environment Minister rightly says, ‘Everyone has a responsibility to keep their community tidy. This campaign provides us with a great chance to improve the quality of our streets and public spaces.’
“Let’s hope Peel will rise to this challenge.”
Cllr Barr says he was disappointed with the response he got when he raised the issue at a meeting of the borough council.
Cllr Hans Mundry, lead member for, said as Peel was a private company there was little the council could do.
Cllr Barr added: “This may be true – but the more pressure is applied, the more likely it is that Peel might do something.”
You can add your name to the petition by visiting www.tinyurl.com/swingbridges”
Knutsford Road swing bridge
1 Comment
1,500 Signatures in four months! Painting the bridges is obviously not that important to most people then!
When Marks, Barr & Co tried to sell off Walton Hall the protests were in thousands within weeks – and they completely ignored the protesters! Like they completely ignored the thousands of protesters that didn’t want the beautiful old school to be demolished. A beautiful school rated excellent was replaced, thanks to them, with cheap tack which was in special measures for years.
So if they don’t take any notice of public opinion what makes them think Peel will pay any attention to their petition? Cllr Mundry is right, Peel can’t be forced to do anything and it’s unlikely they will.
This isn’t about getting anything done, it’s merely an excuse to stand in the public’s view looking like they are doing something – just prior to the elections!
Painting bridges in Stockton Heath would be like putting icing on a burnt cake anyway. The traffic congestion is so bad you can taste the petrol whilst shopping, there are no public toilets, business rates are so high the shopkeepers can barely survive and where is the community centre? Why don’t they try to solve some of the real problems?
If they want to do something that will actually be constructive re the bridges, get the ancient law granting use of the MS canal to Peel overturned – then openings of the bridges can be regulated and congestion / pollution improved. Also, do something about Peel’s and other companies ‘off shore’ £millions tax evasion. The extra money into the treasury would mean less cuts to local councils, WBC could then afford to paint the bridges themselves and a lot more besides!
At present the cuts faced by local councils have resulted in cuts to much needed public services. Rather than cut these services perhaps it would be wiser to cut the number of borough councillor’s. Paying them to stand en masse in the street collecting signatures for useless petitions is not money well spent.