Star date: 12th August 2019

PETITIONS TO SALFORD CITY COUNCIL GO UNSIGNED

An official petition to Salford City Council to "clean up and survey the stretch of walkway along the Pomona Docks" has been signed by no-one in the two weeks it has been up on the Council's website. Not even the bloke who initiated it.

Neither has anyone signed a petition for traffic calming on Canal Bank, near Monton, and only two people have signed a petition to move the Ellesmere Monument to the RHS Garden in Worsley. During 2019, only nine people have signed five different petitions.

Full details here...

"Anyone who lives, works or studies in Salford can submit or sign an e-Petition" states Salford City Council's website "E-Petitions are part of the Council's ongoing commitment to listening to and acting on the views of the public..."

...Which is great, except that few people know where to find them on the Council's website, and the three that are currently live have only two signatures between them.

First up is an e-petition from James Burns, started on 30th July and ending on 30th August, relating to the Salford side near Pomona Docks...

"The council needs to hire more agents to clean up and survey the stretch of walkway along the Pomona Docks, install lighting that works, improve current benching areas and add more bins, fix fence barriers alongside the water" it states.

"...If the Council fail to clean up the area alongside Pomona Docks i.e. the walkways and paths, the water etc, then the wildlife within this area will suffer as a result, there already is oil floating atop of the water which birds and there chicks have to swim in and nest in, there are tyres and refrigerators, bikes within the water and gunky slime" it explains.

"The lighting that needs fixing is a matter of importance because this makes the walkway pitched black during the night which is a risk to the public and prevents any legal action against criminals if any unfortunate incident should occur along this route due to lack of evidence" it states "Surveillance should be installed also along this route to prevent and deter and fly tipping."

No-one has signed it, not even James Burns himself.

Next up is an e-petition, begun on 30th July by Michael Sawczuk and running until 30th August, to "add traffic calming measures to Canal Bank due to the excessive amount of traffic exceeding the speed limit....

"With the additional housing now present around Canal Bank which brings an increase in pedestrians, Canal Bank road should be revised to include traffic calming measures to reduce the risk to pedestrians and other road users" it adds "Furthermore a crossing allowing people to cross to Canal Side to access the doctors, canal would also be ideal."

Again, no takers.

Finally, two people have signed an e-petition begun on 14th June by Philip Schofield to re-locate the Ellesmere Monument, currently at the back of houses on Leigh Road, to "a suitably prominent position within the RHS Garden...

"The Monument is intrinsic to the history of the area, built in 1859 to commemorate Francis Egerton, the 1st Earl of Ellesmere" it explains "In another time the monument was a popular local attraction, but has simply become forgotten mainly because it is in an obscured and inaccessible position.

"With the RHS intending to bring local school children onto the garden site for educational purposes what better occasion might there be to kindle an interest in local history than having an impressive 132 foot high monument of Worsley's irreplaceable architectural heritage within the grounds" it adds "Much of the equipment that might be required to re-locate the monument is likely currently on-site at the RHS Garden development, there will probably never be a more cost-effective time if this impressive folly is to be saved from being lost forever...."

This e-petition runs until 18th September.

Surely more than two people in the whole of Salford give a toss about these three 'live' issues?

To view and sign them, or to start your own e-petition – click here

Altogether for the whole year there have been five petitions, including the three above, drawing a paltry total of nine signatures...

An e-petition in January asking the Council "To rethink their decision to end the Salford Healthy Communities Prevention of Long Term Conditions Project at the end of March and to continue the work they do to help save lives" drew four signatures, despite running for three months.

An e-petition petition to get "the Council to remove the double yellow lines on Station Rd Irlam, between the station and Cromwell Rd" drew three signatures, despite also running for three months.