The Leader's blog

Doing more for Trafford

Our corporate priorities provide the basis for our work in Trafford and I am delighted to say we are making good progress with our aims – but we are not complacent and I know we face many challenges in the economic climate.

The last 12 months have seen us build more affordable homes, prevent hundreds of people becoming homeless, made the borough a greener place to live, invested millions in our leisure centres and supported our schools to remain top of the class! As the Council is doing more for Trafford, annual report reveals.

While I am proud of what we have done, the cost of living crisis facing us all means we have to work even harder to meet our priorities of reducing heath inequalities, preventing poverty and tackling climate change.

Culture plays a massive role in the life of Trafford and is something we can all enjoy. That’s why I was pleased we have agreed a new Culture Strategy for the borough after working closely with partners to produce it.

The document sets out what we hope to achieve around culture and how we can see real tangible benefits for the borough. The last few weeks provide excellent examples of the strength of our cultural life in Trafford.

We had the welcome return of Trafford Live, the first one since Covid. Along with our partner Lancashire Cricket Club we put on a fantastic day’s entertainment which saw so many people having a great time.

We also have had tens of thousands of visitors coming to the borough to enjoy England men’s football team play North Macedonia in the Euro 2024 qualifying rounds. Thousands were also here to watch England men’s team play Australia in the Ashes cricket test match.

Not only do these major events bring much needed money in our local economy, they can also drive change and have a lasting legacy. An example was the success of England Lionesses last summer. They kicked off their Euros football campaign at Old Trafford before eventually winning the tournament at Wembley. They captured the public imagination and now we have more women and girls playing sport. Legacy of the Lionesses famous Euros victory. Let’s hope they can also win the World Cup!

Like so many of you I cherish our green spaces so I was delighted to see 11 of our parks and green spaces retain their Green Flag status. Five-star parks earn Green Flag status - again. It is so important we continue to provide outside areas where residents and visitors can enjoy, and which are good for exercise and helping people with their mental health.

Finally, if you are going away this summer then enjoy your break and if you are staying local then make sure you make the most of some of the beautiful green spaces we have in Trafford

Best wishes

Tom