The hum of traffic, the smell of smoke from exhausts, an ambulance with sirens screeching towards Stepping Hill Hospital – it is of course the ever-busy A6 in Stockport.

It's a road which physically splits the borough in half and causes misery for some of the residents and commuters who use it at busy times of day.

In February, the Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to residents along the A6 in Hazel Grove who complained of the 'horrendous' amount of cars and 'gridlock' traffic.

They added: "What infrastructure are we getting to deal with all this?"

The A6 links the very edge of the borough, from High Lane near Cheshire, all the way to Stockport town centre and then the suburbs of south Manchester.

It's a filter to Stockport's towns and villages, as well as major sites such as Stepping Hill.

But alongside causing headaches for Stopfordians, issues of traffic, congestion, and availability of local services are all on voters' minds ahead of the local elections next week.

With thousands of new homes being planned around Stockport in the future, some residents are worried that the borough's roads and services could struggle to cope, leaving existing communities in a tough spot.

On the other side of the issue are the 9,000 people on Stockport's social housing list, who are desperately trying to find a home in the borough where average house prices jumped up 5 per cent in the last 12 months according to government data, to £312,000.

On May 7, 21 of the 63 council seats in Stockport will be up for grabs, one in each ward, in an election which could influence who controls decisions made at the town hall.

The borough has been under no overall control since 2011, flipping between Lib Dem and Labour minority administrations.

Since then, the council chamber in Stockport has been a place which depends on cross-party support to get anything done – and sometimes a place of fiery disagreement.

The Lib Dems have been in charge since 2022 and are looking to break the no-control deadlock on May 7.

The party holds 30 council seats out of 63, two short of an overall majority.

They are targeting key battleground wards such as Offerton, where they hope to win the seats they need to do just that.

But their efforts are in the face of Nigel Farage's resurgent Reform UK, who are riding high in national election polls and have won two council by-elections in Greater Manchester in April, with victories in Salford and Bury.

Stockport Labour group, the biggest opposition party in Stockport, hold 19 council seats, mostly in urban wards which sit closer to the town centre.

The rest of the council chamber is made up of smaller political groups and independents, including five councillors in the Stockport Community Group, three Greens, three Independent Ratepayers, two Bredbury and Woodley Independents, and one Conservative councillor.

So how are voters feeling ahead of the crucial vote next week? What issues are on their minds?

"It's this road [the A6], it's ridiculous really," said 50-year-old Matt Hanson, in Offerton.

"There's two massive lanes of traffic, I don't ride a bike but if they made bike lanes you'd get loads of people on it.

"There's the space for it, you could do it all the way to Manchester. It would make a big difference.

"It's not very pleasant to be around here, that's the big one for me."

This part of the A6 falls in the Offerton ward, which is usually a tight race between Labour and the Lib Dems.

In the last local elections in 2024, Dan Oliver won the race for the Lib Dems with 1,512 votes, just ahead of Labour who received 1,487 ballots.

On May 7, a Labour seat in Offerton held by Councillor Helen Hibbert is up for election. If the Lib Dems were to win the ward, it would be a major part of their push for a majority at the town hall.

Matt points out that he doesn't live in Offerton, he's based further up the A6 north of Stockport town centre.

Asked how he's going to vote on May 7, he said: "I'm traditionally a Labour person, but I think in Stockport, Labour and Lib Dems spend too much time arguing and not working together.

"I think I'm going to vote Green this time to be honest, I think more places could do with some Green representing them.

"We'll see what happens, they had a good by-election win recently [in Gorton and Denton], I suspect they might do pretty well, as long as we don't get any Reform councillors I'll be happy."

He wasn't the only one to bring up congestion in Stockport.

Further along Buxton Road, 31-year-old James Mason was walking home on his lunch break and stopped to chat.

"What I really want to see is improvement in parking, we've got the hospital around the corner, the roads are always really chock-a-block.

"Coming in and out of the drive sometimes can be a bit precarious because of the traffic going along."

James says he plans to vote Labour at the election, after being impressed by the candidate.

He added: "It's most likely going to go Lib Dem, so I think they probably need some checks and challenge in that respect from an opposition party."

Offerton residents Pat Sharpe, 85, and Imelda Jenkins, 71, have also decided how they plan to vote in the local elections next week – but they won't say what that is.

Asked who they think will win the race in Offerton, Imelda said: "The Lib Dems, or it could be Labour, but you never know with Reform, some people are starting to support them – not me by the way."

Pat added: "You get a lot of people who vote for the Lib Dems in this area."

Another potential battleground in Stockport this year could be Woodley.

The suburb is based on the eastern edge of Stockport bordering Tameside, close to Bredbury and Brinnington.

Councillors Rosemary Barratt and Joe Barratt, mum and son, were previously Labour members but quit the party last year saying Sir Keir Starmer was 'sleepwalking to Reform government'.

The other seat in the ward, which is up for re-election this year, is held by the Lib Dems under Councillor Sue Thorpe who is stepping down.

It's a seat the Lib Dems will be hoping to hold if they are to go on and win a majority in the council chamber.

They may be feeling confident because of the fact that they've got the support of the Bredbury and Woodley Independents who have decided to back Lib Dem candidate Niki Meerman this year, rather than their former party Labour.

But Reform could be in the mix too, making it a tight race.

At Woodley precinct, voters were unsure about who would get their ballot.

Lee Hamilton is a local resident who has lived in Woodley all his life.

"There's a lot of litter and pot holes," he explained, adding that it is a 'lovely' area in general.

"I think the council needs to get on the estates, I'd like to see more litter picking, better upkeep of local parks for the children, having the grass cut more often."

On the local elections, Lee said: "I'm from a trade union background, I consider myself to be just left of centre, but I think the central Labour Party is letting people down really, I think they are going to get a bit of a hammering at the local elections.

"In this area the Liberal Democrats usually do well, but we all know there's going to be a big challenge from Reform.

"When it comes to local issues, as long as they do well for the local area, I don't really care. I've not made my mind up yet."

Asked about why the Lib Dems tend to do well in Stockport, Lee said: "They tend to get things done a little bit more than the other parties.

"I do notice that people think they do a better job locally, it's an assumption, but that's not to say we've not had good work from Conservative and Labour councillors in the past.

"There just seems to be that feeling locally that Liberals get things done a bit more, Reform are the new kids on the block and I think they're going to do well this time, we'll have to see."

Another Woodley resident, Liam Richards, 29, who served in the army, was more downcast about the local elections next week.

He said: "I haven't voted ever in my life, because since being in the army and coming out, I've seen people saying they will do this and do that, but nothing is going to change.

"I think the council and the politicians have just stopped caring, that's my personal opinion."

Outside of Offerton and Woodley, could it be Reddish or the Heatons where an upset happens?

The Reddish South ward is held by three Green Party councillors – Reddish North is held by two Labour councillors and an independent.

After Hannah Spender's victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election, could voters in Greater Manchester who are turning away from Labour be inclined to look Green instead – or perhaps give their backing to the Lib Dems?

In Stockport, everything is in play.

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