It’s started with a storm at Prestwich Clough and should end in glorious sunshine at Prestwich Carnival. After 35 days, 55 events, 1,000’s of visitors to events, money raised for charity Prestwich Festival puts its feet up and says goodbye for 2009 with a final 5 days of fun.

The last free archery session is today (Thursday 18 June) at The Phoenix Centre. During the festival over 100 11 to 8 years olds have already enjoyed these free session’s.

This evening also sees the Festival Music Night taking place between 7pm and 10pm. It promises to bring the some classical sophistication to The Longfield Centre with a wonderful night of music with the Bury Music Service Band, Affetside Choir and to round off the evening, in grand style Besses o’ th’ Barn brass band.

Tomorrow, there will be a Friday Night Social - Shangri La at 8pm at, Carlton Club, Bury Old Road featuring live music. And finally a bumper weekend of family entertainment will take place at the Prestwich Carnival.

On Saturday 20 June a Football Tournament organized by FC United of Manchester will take place from 9am until 4pm at St. Mary’s Park.

As well as Butterstile Fun Day which takes place from 12.00 noon at Butterstile Primary School. The friends of Butterstile will be holding their traditional fun day. As part of the fun all the children from the school will have the chance to enter a series of competitions to celebrate Prestwich, the four categories are photographs, poems, paintings or portraits.

And finally on Sunday 21 June Prestwich Carnival Grand Parade kicks off at 1pm. The Parade arrives in the park at 2.30pm with six arenas showcasing local talent.

Prestwich Festival and Carnival Organiser, David Curtis, said: “This year’s carnival is going to be special. The publicity of Love Prestwich Festival has really got out there so there’s many more stalls and attractions this year. Love Prestwich Festival was all about showcasing the best of Prestwich Come with the family and enjoy this day - I have it on good authority that the Prestwich Carnival Sunshine Team will bring the sun with them this year!”

Carran O’Grady LAP Manager said “Feedback from Preswich residents and businesses has been great about the Love Prestwich Festival and people want the Festival to return in 2010. We will look at the highlights of this our first year soon and look at making it even better for next year. All organizers should be applauded for the hours of planning their individual events which made the 55 events amazing”.

Cllr Vic D’Albert, Chair of Prestwich LAP said “Love Prestwich Festival finishes the way it started - on a high. I’ve been to as many events as possible throughout the Festival and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all. The Clough Day was fantastic, The Farmers Market sold out, Prestwich has got Junior Talent was amazing to mention just a few. I’m already knocking on the door to get more Farmers Market in Prestwich and an annual Festival. As usual I’ll be at the Carnival volunteering with my bucket which raises money for local groups as many Festival events have and then like everyone else enjoying the best Carnival around.

The Highways Agency is advising drivers using the M60 between junctions 19 at Middleton and 23 at Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester to allow extra time to complete their journeys over the next six weekends.

Starting Friday (June 19), work is being carried out along this 6-mile section each weekend until August, weather permitting.

A full carriageway closure will be in place with a contraflow on the opposite side of the motorway while the work is being carried out. Various entry and exit slip roads will also need to be closed.

The work is taking place over weekends when traffic volumes are lighter and disruption to drivers can be kept to a minimum – however some delays can be expected. Work will start each Friday at 9pm and the motorway will be fully reopened by 5am each Monday.

To ensure the ongoing safety of road-users and our workforce, a 40mph speed limit will be in place throughout the roadworks – which are planned to be completed by 5am, July 27.

Overhead message signs will be used to advise drivers of the closures so they can choose an alternative route.

Highways Agency project manager Manuelle Salathe said:
“We regret any disruption this work may cause to drivers and would encourage them to plan their journey in advance and allow for extra time to get to their destination.”

The exploratory works are taking place to assess the condition of the carriageway on this section of the M60.

The Highways Agency’s North West Traffic Officer Service will deploy extra crews for the duration of the work with a dedicated patrol to cover the roadworks area and react quickly to any breakdowns or accidents to help keep drivers on the move.

The Highways Agency Regional Control Centre will be monitoring incidents and traffic conditions from motorway cameras as well as using electronic signs to provide drivers with up-to-the-minute information.

Oasis are performing in Heaton Park on Thursday 4th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th 2009.
The event management team are distributing this leaflet to nearby residents this weekend, but no doubt the concerts will affect everyone in Prestwich.

Prestwich is going to be VERY BUSY on the days of the concert - so please be prepared! Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any information or help.

The text of the factsheets is reproduced here, or you can download printable versions of page one here and page two here.

Oasis will be playing three concerts on the 4, 6 and 7 June and on each day there will be a series of road closures in place in and around the concert venue at Heaton Park.

Road closures will come in to place on the evening of each concert from 9.30pm onwards until the audience has dispersed and the roads can safely be opened, which is anticipated to be around 1am.

The road closures will affect:
• Bury Old Road between Heywood Road and Scholes Lane/Sheepfoot Lane;
• Sheepfoot Lane, between Bury Old Road and Middleton Road.

Nick Clegg has taken a strong stand on cleaning up Parliament and leading the call for a complete overhaul of our political system. Last week at Prime Minister’s Question Time he challenged Gordon Brown to reform our electoral systems. Now even Brown’s own ministers are echoing Nick’s call.

Nick is making the case to:
- Give people the right to sack MPs
- Stop all big party political donations
- Elect the House of Lords
- Make the voting system fair - so that governments can’t just get all that power and all that money with only a minority of you voting for them
- Put an end to self serving politics and put you back in charge
- But Nick can’t do it all on his own. He needs our help.

Many residents have expressed concern over the Oasis concerts which are taking place in Heaton Park on Thursday 4th, Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June 2009. (There is no concert on the Friday).

As your councillors we have raised a great number of concerns to the event organisers and to Bury Council which is part of the event management group.

Whilst I’m sure we all wish the concerts to be a great success, we do have to live here as well! The Local Area Partnership in Prestwich has had two presentations on the plans, and what measures have been put in place to manage traffic, parking, litter, noise and local residents needs.

The event organisers have prepared this set of Answers to “Frequently asked Questions” to help local residents plan for the event.

Please get in touch if there are other issues you wish us to raise in advance of the event.

The Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto for Europe: “Choose a different, better future”

Labour’s recession is hurting people badly.

- Unemployment is rising every day
- People are worried their businesses could go under
- Every week people are losing their homes
- Ministers are too busy fighting among themselves to govern properly

The Liberal Democrats will give people the help they need.

We will cut income tax bills by £700 for the vast majority of people, and close
loopholes exploited by the wealthy

No one earning less than £10,000 will pay income tax at all
20 hours of free, quality childcare a week from 18 months to five years old
The European Parliament election is a big choice for Britain.

Labour’s arrogance has messed up Britain’s relationship with other European countries

The Conservatives and UKIP think that on its own Britain can face the economic storm, climate change, international crime, people-trafficking and terrorism

Liberal Democrats know effective cooperation creates prosperity – more than 3 million jobs in the UK depend on trade with other EU countries.

Liberal Democrats are working with our European neighbours to protect Britain and catch terrorists and criminals who operate across national borders.

Liberal Democrats know that countries have to work together to tackle climate change.

Vote Liberal Democrat and make a difference

Prestwich Festival kicks off today with the Prestwich Clough Day and then runs right through to Prestwich Carnival on 21 June. Between these two main events are no less than 55 other events that make up the first ever Pretwich Festival.

The Festival has been funded largely by the Local Area Partnership in Prestwich which brings together your local councillors with partners and community groups, together with voluntary donations and sponsorship. Its a brilliant way to celebrate the place we all live in, so why not go along to some of the events!

The full programme is available here.