She’s won admiration in her steady opposition to Greater Manchester’s Transport Innovation Fund bid and will contest Bolton West for the Tories in the next General Election. Neil Tague speaks to Trafford council leader Susan Williams.
The debates that raged in the lead-up to Greater Manchester’s public vote on whether or not to accept a £3bn transport investment package were sometimes reasoned, sometimes ludicrous. At times disingenuous and at times deliberately misleading, it seemed in the heat of battle that no-one was going to emerge the better for it.
That doesn’t seem the case now. The proposals received such a hammering from a tax-weary, sceptical public that the driving forces behind the plans, Manchester City Council’s twin powerhouses Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein, may find themselves open to questioning more than has been the case in the years since they delivered a post-bomb renaissance programme and a successful Commonwealth Games.
But Trafford’s Conservative leader Susan Williams, already a rising star long selected to contest a key marginal in the next General Election, has seen her stock rise. In the aftermath of the verdict she remained impassive in delivering interviews while the more raucous among the anti-TIF camp yelled at Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) chairman Peter Smith. That remains the case.
“Some of the AGMA leaders will be feeling a little bruised, but we have to put it behind us and work together – the challenge remains the same – to get government to unlock transport investment, and we have to be united in that.”
It’s widely known that Williams – a councillor since 1998 – planned to challenge incumbent Labour MP and erstwhile Labour transport minister Ruth Kelly for Bolton West. Although Kelly has announced her intention to stand down, Williams remains a good bet to turn the seat blue in 2010.
What would she say her legacy in Trafford would be? “The 11th December felt like a job done,” she says. “But it stood for something larger. It’s very easy in a recession to pretend it’s not going on, which is what the government is doing now. Borrowing heavily without knowing how long or deep the recession will go on for. For us, it’s about being cognisant of the fact that we are in a recession and need to put in place appropriate measures to deal with it.”
Williams was, she says, always an opponent of the TIF proposals, but her objections were thrown into stark relief as the full effects of the credit crunch took hold. “It wasn’t the reason for Trafford opposing TIF, but the effect on low-paid workers was going to become unacceptable as time went on,” she says. “Trafford is the economic hub of Greater Manchester, home to some big employers, and we’ve always worked with our partners in the private sector.”
Trafford’s priority for 2009, she says, is what one might term keeping heads down as the economic whirlwind passes. Trafford still has the lowest council tax rate in Greater Manchester.
“We have to preserve and protect what we’ve worked for,” she says. “Job losses are in the foreground, and we’re keeping a close eye on things and meeting with key employers. Maintaining Trafford as a safe place has been a priority. We also need to maintain our leading standard of education and keep the debt burden to council tax payers as low as possible.”
It seems certain none of the banner development projects slated in the borough will come to pass before Williams takes her leave, though she insists Trafford is in good shape to overcome setbacks like the slipping of Lancashire County Cricket Club’s Old Trafford cricket ground down the English Cricket Board’s pecking order – a severe loss of revenues and prestige.
“We’re making headway with the proposals to redevelop Old Trafford and we’re involved with the masterplan for the improvement of Trafford Park, which is such a key driver of the economy.”
Although Trafford has the Trafford Centre, its other district centres have suffered compared with John Whittaker’s retail palace. What hope is there for Altrincham town centre after the collapse of David McLean, part of the vehicle set up to develop Altair?
Williams says: “We’ve been meeting with everyone involved in Altair and we’re told there’s no reason it shouldn’t proceed as planned. All schemes like this are taking longer in this climate.”
Also in: January 2009
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The world has changed beyond recognition. Government controls the financial system and the amount of companies in hock to the banks make for a year of twists and turns. Michael Taylor reports.
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A glass act
Since Pilkington Glass turned Japanese in Nippon Sheet Glass’s takeover, Stuart Chambers’ world has grown. But he’s still a North West man at heart, as Michael Taylor discovers.