16 June 2026
The first action of the meeting was to elect a chair for the new municipal year. The agreement regarding chairing the committee for many years is that this role is allocated to a councillor from each ward in turn on a two year rotation. Cllr McCann was the chair last year, so our expectation is that Cllr McCann will be chair this year. However, a councillor from another ward has requested the role this year; the vote to decide this ended in a stalemate. For this meeting Cllr McCann chaired, with the final decision deferred until the next meeting as a number of councillors were not present.
Announcements
Heald Green Festival takes place on the Village Hall Field, Outwood Road Saturday 27 June 2026, 12pm – 7pm
Gatley Festival takes place Sunday 5 July 2026, with the parade starting at 12pm at Foxlands – the event is at Scholes Park until 5pm, there are a whole range of events, including a comedy night at Heald Green Theatre on Friday 3 July 2026.
Open Forum
A question was raised in the Open Forum section by a resident from Gatley ward about the vape shop there and issues around illegal sales.
Neighbourhood Team – GMP
Inspector Lutman gave an update on crime trends from 13 April to 14 June 2026. The approach taken for burglaries recently has tended to be unsophisticated – breaking windows, forcing doors and there were two lock snaps in the local area. Using a small blow torch to burn the lock has been another method. Crime prevention work is prioritising the target hardening of the victims of burglary.
Motor vehicle thefts have been opportunistic, the theft of number plates has reduced with only two recently.
Shop lifting continues to be a target for the police, and has been contained. Finney Lane remains a hotspot, one person has been apprehended and remanded – which has had some impact. The police will seek a Criminal Behaviour Order for this individual. Cheadle Royal is being particularly targeted there has been a slight decline, there is ongoing work on crime prevention with John Lewis and Sainsburys. Shop lifting figures remain high (120 crimes reported in the area).
To tackle ASB and off road bikes, a new approach from Manchester, which shows promise is being implemented in Stockport. Police are seeking to use a stinger to tackle off road bikes – they have submitted a funding bid for equipment.
Police continue to patrol religious buildings for reassurance, due to heightened tensions
Heald Green has seen seven burglaries, two were business burglaries and the figures include two parcel thefts, which fall under this crime log.
There had been a robbery in Scholes Park where a young person was threatened by a group of on bikes with machetes, stealing his bike. This crime is very unusual, there have been no other bike thefts like this across the Stockport area. This is generally a safe area, and the risk of this happening is very low. It is, one incident too many, though. The fact it is unusual makes it more difficult for the police to intervene and disrupt the thieves as there is no pattern of activity. They are launching Operation Hurricane across Stockport to tackle the issue.
This type of crime is more prevalent in the school holidays, we should encourage young people to stay in groups to stay safer. If they are threatened they need to dial 999 straight away and speak to the police. The police will attend. There have been incidents where young people have phoned their parent or waited until they get home. Obviously, the police can undertake a scene search if they are informed straight away, helping the investigation. It’s believed that people are travelling from far afield into the area; and will likely target higher value items, these are not random attacks. If you spot anything suspicious you can always report it online to GMP.
The issue of police parking on the double yellow lines outside Jim’s was raised by Cllr McCann – Inspector Lutman advised that senior officers had made all local teams (including those at the airport and Wythenshawe) aware of the incident and that it was not acceptable. This follows Cllr Charles-Jones raising the matter with Chief Superintendent Natalie Dalby at a meeting recently.
Ward Flexibility Funding
For ward flexibility funding, £300 was granted to Gatfest CIC, Heald Green’s councillors agreed to increase the proportion that they fund to be more equitable; all wards have been requested to fund £45 towards Stockport Pride, which was granted.
Highways
Funding was approved for bollards outside of Jim’s takeaway to address parking issues, also funding was approved for improving fencing at Bruckshaw Meadow, off Outwood Road.