Financial support is vital for millions this winter, but Greater Manchester’s standoff asks deeper questions about the legitimacy of a government which is bullying and lying its way through the Covid-19 crisis – writes Salford’s city-mayor Paul Dennett
Campaign for seventh scrutiny committee to oversee progress against climate change
Climate Emergency Manchester are running a campaign calling for the a seventh scrutiny committee to be set up at Manchester City Council, to make sure the council is sticking to its climate change commitments.
In this guest post from Stitched Up, Marc Hudson of CEM answers questions about why they started this campaign and its importance in combating the climate crisis.
Manctopia: reality TV in a journalism jumper
The series trailer and episode lead-ins for the BBC documentary Manctopia are suggestive of a series seeking to analyse the inequalities associated with Manchester’s “property boom”.
Instead, this glossy reality TV entrenches a misguided message that uncontrolled investor-driven urban development is the only possible trajectory. Its winners vs losers framing negatively impacts those communities experiencing the pressures of gentrification on a daily basis.
Salford Middlewood Locks looking to avoid planning contributions for third time
Huge Chinese and Singapore Salford development has avoided £8.3 million in fees so far.
The 25 acre Middlewood Locks development should have yielded £8.3million in planning fees to Salford City Council but in its first two phases didn’t pay a cent because of ‘viability’ issues.
Next week, the Council’s Planning Panel will consider proposals for the third phase of 189 residential units plus commercial space, and the company has submitted a further ‘viability’ report which could lead to no payments yet again – despite the previous planning report stating that “The Council’s surveyors are confident that future residential phases will make a S106 contribution”…
Define Affordable
How arbitrary definitions and a focus on ‘headline figures’ are exacerbating the housing crisis.
Wyman leads radical next phase of Manchester growth
Place North West editor Sarah Townsend interviews Louise Wyman, strategic director of growth and development at Manchester City Council, on her plans for development and placemaking in the city.
Climate Emergency one year on: what Manchester says
Happy Birthday MCC Climate Emergency! Exactly one year ago today, Manchester City Council unanimously passed a motion declaring a climate emergency. It was a warm July day and the Town Hall provided the perfect backdrop for a piece of political theatre. Over the past year, Climate Emergency Manchester has scrutinised the Council’s progress against the […]
Review: ‘Never Counted Out! The story of Len Johnson, Manchester’s Black Boxing Hero and Communist’
In this guest post, Bernadette Hyland reviews Michael Herbert’s biography on Manchester’s black middleweight boxing champion and communist, Len Johnson. When my parents moved to Clayton, a working class suburb of Manchester in 1963, it was a large sprawling council estate surrounded by engineering and manufacturing factories and dominated by two busy main roads, Ashton […]
William Cuffay, black pioneer of the Chartist movement
Working class radicals from our past are very rarely remembered within our public sphere – there are few monuments to their feats and their personal collections feature little within the official archives. William Cuffay was one of these working class radicals, preserving no diary, autobiography or papers and his lack of wealth and power leaving only faint traces of his life to explore
Marcus Rashford’s school meals victory praised by Wythenshawe community
Marcus Rashford’s campaign to urge the government to extend free school meal vouchers over the summer holidays ended in victory following a government U-turn this week, and has been praised by sports groups and food poverty campaigners across Wythenshawe. Guest article from Wythenshawe Reporter. The Manchester United forward, who campaigned to keep the scheme which […]