I agree. But now Councill Adshead is the Mayor it will be even more difficult to get our full representation from Councillors. With the Tories trashing Stretford by stealth he was fighting a losing battle anyway but he kept at it. Don't give up the Tories in Trafford will be found out. It cannot go on like this for much longer it is all a shambles.

Stretford has suffered decades of neglect but councillor Adshead has done an excellent job in very difficult circumstances. Top bloke.

The council is promoting Neighbourhood Forums as a way of getting your voice heard. Time will tell if it makes a difference but the next one is 6pm 10th June at Trafford Town Hall.

Other than that if you care about what is happening to Stretford get involved in your local community, make yourself known to your local Councillor and MP. There is a lot of apathy in Stretford so do get involved and make it as hard as possible for the interests of Stretford to be ignored in the future. Good Luck!

Thank you for taking the time to write your letter Lawrence, I do take your concerns very seriously as a ward councillor.

I am sorry that you did not receive my leaflets over the past few months. As a candidate I wanted to ensure that each voter was aware of what I stood for. I certainly would not take you -or any other resident of Stretford- for granted.

For information I am a member of Friends of Victoria Park, Moss Park Action Group, a school governor at Stretford High and have started to attend both the Trees & Meadows resident associations. I will also be holding regular advice surgeries alongside Cllrs Adshead & Carter.

This is just the start and I am looking forward to serving you as councillor.

If you are able to come along to the next Stretford Neighbourhood Forum I would very much look forward to meeting you.

Cllr Adshead, Cllr Carter and myself all care deeply about Stretford and will continue to work hard on your behalf.

"How can people of my generation be expected to take an interest in politics, when the politicians themselves behave in such a disinterested manner?"

Next time, Lawrence, you should stand as a candidate. I'm sure it's entirely within your capabilities and politics needs young people like yourself with a passion for democracy, and a desire for an informed and active electorate.

Hi Laurence, we are always pleased to get feedback from residents, and I was genuinely surprised to read you hadn't got any of our literature that we put out over the past year, as other people were complaining there was too much! I am well aware that I live in Flixton, which is about 10 minutes away from Stretford, and I have continued to live there after I was selected as a councillor - a small matter of my children's schools. Can I assure him I am not in the least bit disinterested in the ward?

I am in Stretford every day, and as councillors we do our very best to reply to all residents who contact us within 24 hours, either by phone, email or visit. We hold surgeries in Stretford library every fortnight.

Unfortunately there are not enough people willing to put themselves up for political office who actually live in the area. Obviously if there had been a more suitable candidate then neither Tom nor myself would have stood or been selected. We still do that crazy thing of selecting the most competent people for the job, and unfortunately this does not always correspond with where they have chosen to live. As someone who is passionate about the Labour party and the values we stand for (yes, still) it would be virtually impossible for me to be elected in Flixton, and to be able to serve residents as I do now - and believe me, I did try twice, as Tom did in Sale. I am Chair of Governors at Stretford High School, a role of which I am extremely proud, and I'm also Vice chair of the Meadows Tenants and Residents Group. I attend every meeting of the Town Partnership, and the Neighbourhood Forums and encourage you to do likewise. I hope I have a good understanding of the issues facing residents, which at the moment include anti-social behaviour, lack of street cleaning, lack of affordable housing, graffiti, the subways, parking problems and issues associated with having the Mall as the 'town centre'. However, there are also many great things about living in Stretford, such as the beautiful parks, the excellent schools, both primary and secondary, good transport links and the quality of the houses. I would love to see a thriving 'night time' culture, with bars and restaurants, and see Stretford as a really aspirational place. There are loads of really active community groups, including one aiming at making Stretford a 'fair-trade' town, and the Friends of the parks groups, and the friendliness of the people I have met over the past four years has never ceased to amaze me. They are much more concerned about how I can help them, rather than where I live.

Can I reassure residents that whilst we are incredibly proud that Steve is going to be a 'Stretford' Mayor, he will also not be neglecting the task he was elected for. He will continue to do his case-work, and attend the meetings he can, whilst Tom and I will continue to attend all events we are invited to.

Can I finish by endorsing what AMH says about getting involved? We really need younger people, from diverse backgrounds to have their voices heard. Tom is a change in the right direction, being the right side of 30. Unfortuntely Steve and I won't see 40 again, but it (hopefully) gives us a breadth of experience to draw on.
I think Laurence raises some valid points, but I really hope the residents are not suffering as a result of where Tom and I sleep at night.

I must agree with Lawrence; the local election process leaves a lot to be desired.

I too did not recieve anything from a single candidate in the election, nor did I at the previous one. I did not see a single candidate canvassing for support, and nor did I see anything on the internet to even give me an idea what the personal policies of the candidates were.

I don't care what the central government has done when it comes to council elections; the issues are totally seperate.

The second reason I believe most people are disenfranchised with local elections is that they are by the whole, irrelevant. If every single resident of trafford had voted labour, we would still have a council with more conservative councillors than any other party. This is because we only vote for a small group of councillors at a time. As such, your vote is not for the current council, but it is cast in the hope that should everyone agree with you now, and in the future the council will change. Clearly this is flawed logic.

The third reason; is that councillors have next to no powers. The council is run by an unelected executive, responsible for it's operations, and all the councillors do is to set budgets, and to make planning desicions. I'm unsure why being a councillor makes you qualified to make these decisions, and the budget for the current year is alrerady set; so again - voting for another party cannot change how money is spent.

As for should Lawrence stand for election: Clearly not - when independant candidates only recieve minimal support it's impossible to get their message accross, or to attract a substantial voting group. The main parties are the ones that are voted for because people treat council elections as a chance to 'stick it to Gordon Brown'. Mr Brtown didn't stand in Trafford council elections, so why anyone would place their vote based on their dislike of him I do not know.

I'd love to stand for election, but as I've already mentioned I don't think a non-single issue independant candidate would stand a chance.

I agree with what Cllr Carter says, at least about finding the right candidate for the right area. Contrary to popular belief, no party, especially in our area, has people queueing out the door to be candidates. So if it comes to selecting someone from a reasonable distance away, but has ties with the area and is willing to work hard, then you frequently have to make do. If, as a voter, you are unhappy with this, then the answer is either to join a party yourself and put yourself forward as a candidate for your own ward, or even collect ten signatures and stand as an independent. If you can't be bothered doing any of these things, then I don't think you have any business feeling strongly about the subject.

Unfortunately, 'Observer' we live in a country where we have a right to say whatever we want (within law), so anyone can complain about councillors.

Not all people would be able to campaign and win enough votes not to lose their deposit; which would make standing for election just to get the right to an opinion very expensive.

The alternative is to join a political party, which is not possible for all people - what if there is no political party who shares Lawrence's views and policies? Should he join them regardless and pay a membership[ fee just to get an opinion?

Maybe Lawrence is a member of a party and did stand for selection, but was unsuccessful.

Lastly, if not standing for election invalidates your opinion, you're saying nobody should listen to what you have to say either.

Ok Matt, what do you think is the solution then?

(and I didn't say he didn't have any right to complain about councillors - this is a free country as you say. I said he had no business feeling strongly about councillors living in their ward!)

Just a point - the only requirement to stand as a Local Government candidate is the consent of 10 votes in the ward - you do not need to pay a deposit like you do to stand for Parliament

The only solution is to abandon the party system and get back to electing people to represent you; either on the council or in parliament. Our current system is treated as a presidential election, with votes being aimed at the party of the person the voter wants to be prime minister.

Educate the public, have a 'none of the above' option, make voting compulsery, have the entire council voted in at once instead of slowly over 4 years... little changes that will help to change people's behaviour.

Or we can just say 'To hell with it' and have a president, as that seems to be what we want.

'Comment': No deposit on local elections? That's quite good then; more of us should stand as independant; at least get the public used to seeing more than three names on the ballot paper.

I certainly think that one day i might try and enter local politics to represent Stretford, unfortunatly at the moment with a full-time job which involves working away alot and extensive family commitments, it just wouldnt be possible.
Personally I dont think that local politics should be party related, it should simply be about local people and local issues, but if its true what the Cllrs said about nobody in Stretford being willing to stand at the elections, then there is little that can be done.
The problem in Trafford is one that is over 30 years old and dates back to the local government act, the borough should never have been formed, the Mersey was always a dividing line between Lancashire and Chesire and two very different places and it should have remained a municipal boundary