May 21st, 2008
Housing in East Manchester and Regeneration POSTED AT 10:47 PM in General as a stickied, favorite post
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The area is undergoing massive regeneration in 2008, this should bring about prosperity and new investment for the area, improved housing and jobs, why am I not entirely happy with this. East Manchester has undergone regeneration in the past, and that went horribly wrong, If anyone remembers the seventies, and some of the atrocities that happened regarding building design, then you would have hoped that lessons were learnt. Does anyone remember the flats, especially the Crescents in Hulme, Fort Ardwick and Fort Beswick also known as Legoland, they were horrendous. In fact this is one of many blunders by our inept council, did you know that debt from the flats, which was from borrowed money that we should still be paying for even now, was paid off with taxpayers money. The flats because of there height and many levels created excellent vantage points, with which you could survey the area, and give you early warning of any policemen coming after you. And if you did get close, it would have been very difficult to catch anyone. It wasn't the peoples fault, it was in the design, they looked horrible, cheap and had construction faults. The fact is the council got regeneration wrong again, the communities fell into decline and suffered long term effects, eventually the flats were demolished but the damage was already done. Even today, we are still suffering from them mistakes, East Manchester will take a lot longer to heal and prosper than many people think.
Come to East Manchester, look around, and tell me what you see, have we really learnt anything. Houses are being built by the bucket load and are put up extremely fast; I call some of them shoeboxes, because developers try to build as many houses as possible on the smallest bit of land. We have different developments going on that all have the same look, and appear to use the same materials in pretty much the same way, brick, wood, metal, render or tiling, so all the new builds will appear orange, white/beige, brown and grey. Can using wood as an external decoration really stand the test of time in our climate, I don't think so. Render is another of them cover up ploys, it can look great until wear and tear sets in, the same with tiles or terracotta they look nice until they break or crack. Flimsy looking metal cladding have been on houses and flats as well, roofs look just as flimsy and like something from the fifties, remember corrugated iron. The seventies brought us town houses, basically a house consisting of 3 floors, yep there back in fashion, now you have run down stairs to get something to eat, it that progress. Developers know if you build up you can squeeze more out of the land. You will also see apartments a plenty, some have been up 2 years already, and they appear dilapidated and in need of a facelift, developers say its seasoning. We have older flats and houses that are given facelifts, with bits of cladding stuck on to make them look new and appealing, when really; money should have been spent rebuilding them to give people a proper home built to the new standards.
And this is my problem when I travel around East Manchester; I keep thinking 5-10 years ahead and wondering what I would see. The present new builds look like renovation will certainly be needed, and careful thought went into what materials could be replaced easily and cheaply. Its being called new and innovative the way some of the developments have been designed, sorry to disappoint you, come and see for yourselves, its an absolute mess yet again. Someone seriously needs a new career, how can most of these new builds create a sustainable community. I am sure there are people out there who feel cut off from their neighbours, the feeling one gets by walking around the new estates is one of coldness, nothing seems right, not like it used to be. There are many examples in towns of places where communities still thrive and these houses have been up a long time, the outskirts or more rural areas of a city were better designed with green spaces, in fact we talk about needing green space, and yet all the way up Ashton old road from the city centre all the current green space has gone to development.
And that is exactly why I believe someone got it horribly wrong, nothing looks like it will stand the test of time. People would not expect to buy a house and have bits start falling off after a few years or need repairing, and yet that is exactly what may happen in the near future. We are settling for substandard housing that can easily be patched up in the future, no other way of looking at it. People will still buy them because of the shortage of houses, better to have something than nothing, and this is where they have you over a barrel. The speed in which an estate can be built is phenomenal, and this brings with it another problem, people get a house that probably needs some kind of repair the moment they get the key. Another issue is the actual land, I have tried to get certain people to admit that some houses are suffering from subsidence from all the mining activity or the unstable coal seam to no avail, they say its the old cellars settling. I am told they did not mine in parts of East Manchester, this may be true, but what they did not tell me is why, it was because the actual coal seam was too unstable. Now can that not have some impact on the land and buildings, I believe it can and there is some evidence of buildings being demolished because of subsidence in the past where no mining took place. Hang on a minute, are there not new builds in East Manchester now with cracks appearing, if you find a crack in your new home seek a surveyor immediately. With all the previous buildings in the past being demolished, could it not also be that we are building too quick without giving the land time to settle properly. The single biggest regeneration issue for me concerns how our elderly people are treated, not a lot of thought has gone into catering for them. I recently visited towns outside Manchester, and noticed areas still exist where the elderly were catered for. It's a bit like creating a community within a community, I am quite sure if we asked the elderly their thoughts, they would tell us they would prefer to be surrounded by people of their own age group, have bungalows, but not totally segregated from the wider community. I believe it is a fact that most elderly people have difficulties dealing with stairs, so why is no one understanding and doing something about it. When I look at all the new builds going on, this has not entered into the minds of the people in charge. I have talked to many elderly people, and find that their excitement at all the regeneration has now turned to dismay, they were expecting bungalows to be built. All they find are token gestures here and there, with only a few being available. In fact it would be nice to find out from Manchester City Council and Housing Associations etc, just how many people want bungalows, as opposed to how many have been built. What other disasters could I mention; it is great to talk about bringing people and business into East Manchester, but what about getting from A to B. In the seventies there were plans to change the infrastructure and bring the motorway right into the city, just like the Metro link in East Manchester, it never materialised. The plan was to link the city with the M67, and through to M60, but for some reason it stopped and ended up going nowhere. Can you see the link now with the Metro link, that had done exactly the same, the only difference is now after much embarrassment the money is available and it has been given the go ahead. So you can guess what I think of that word Regeneration, not a lot, in fact it has done nothing, but break up perfectly good sustainable communities. I have a few words of my own that sum up what I believe goes on, I liken it too ethnic cleansing, (Ethnic cleansing is a well-defined policy of a particular group of persons to systematically eliminate another group from a given territory, often based on economic principles, or nationalist claims to the land) in other words gets rid of the riff raff and moves them to another area. This should lead me nicely into another problem area that changes communities and creates tension. I have seen a massive change in areas like Openshaw with the influx of immigrants for instance, you would not recognise it now, immigration is a massive problem. The council don't bother to consult with the community that is already in place, instead they are told to embrace, integrate and have an understanding, how does that create a sustainable community. All it does is gets the peoples back up and many will probably move out of the area, the community know rules are bent to suit these people, the council can deny it all they like, we have all seen it. In most areas of East Manchester you will find a steady rise in racism and hate crime, the figures speak for themselves; we can even tell when this rise started. The council got it sadly wrong in the way they went about integrating different cultures, consultation and educating communities would have reaped more benefit. I shall leave it that for now, there is a lot more on this subject, the problem is we are not allowed to openly discuss how we feel, for fear of being called a racist, how else are we to find a solution that benefits everyone without discussion. I just hope that someone like Sean McGonigle (Director of Regeneration for New East Manchester) is reading this and prepared to do something to rectify the situation, after all he is the man resonsible for what you see and the only one who can ultimately effect change, and right the many wrongs I believe have already been done. Perhaps it is too late, the damage is already being seen around East Manchester, and it is not a pretty sight. Lessons have clearly not been learnt, the same mistakes happen time after time, won't be long before we will be in need of regeneration in the near future, East Manchester is getting a bit like Dr Who, he needs regenerating fairly regularly. I hope that I am completely wrong and East Manchester will once again flourish, only time will tell. The pictures I have included in this post should give you some idea of what to expect when you visit us in East Manchester.
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May 21st, 2008
Let's Have an Entertainment Complex like Belle Vue POSTED AT 10:38 PM in General
It is strange sometimes how thinking about one thing like the Casino, brings about a memory of something else from the past, and how sorely missed it is. The Casino should have come to East Manchester, instead someone decided otherwise, and the excuse is they believe they are lookng after our interests. I remember years ago, people also had a chance to apply a bit of foresight and invest money in a developement that could now be on a par with Disneyland, perhaps on a smaller scale, I'm talking about Belle Vue. As a child growing up in an environment like East Manchester, Belle Vue provided a welcome change, people would look forward to the weekends activities. Belle Vue was for many years a premier attraction, it had everything, a Zoo, Amusement Park, Dance Halls, Bars, Speedway, Stock Car, Boxing, Wrestling, Greyhounds, Bowling, Exhibitions, Concerts, Circus, etc. What a fantastic place, and in Manchester, all it needed was sand, and you would not have needed to go to Blackpool or anywhere else. If we look into the background how such a fantastic place could disappear, we will find people who had no vision, were not prepared to reinvest money and especially move with the times. Instead Belle Vue was left to become rundown and badly in need of regeneration, pretty much like East Manchester. There must have been another agenda, why else would you do this to something that meant so much to so many. We will probably never know the real reasons, but what it does illustrate, is that we have people with the same attitude, no vision looking after the interests of East Manchester. I like the way our american cousins invest money and resources and take a chance, to create something spectacular. The americans certainly know how to give the people value for money, and they go the extra yard for the customer. Why can't we do it, the people running East Manchester have an opportunity to bring investment, jobs and give the people something back that was taken away from them, an entertainment complex. Why do we have lots of sporting facilities in the area, what about leisure, it seems no one is giving that a second thought. Perhaps it is just me, if people want to be truely remembered for bringing prosperity back to East Manchester, then take a chance, and give the people something to proud of once again. I have travelled to theme parks, zoos etc and I think to myself, we had all of this and more years ago. Just think where Belle Vue could have been today, we might have been talking about it in the same breath as Disneyland. It was a very sad day when Belle Vue closed. visit http://manchesterhistory.net/bellevue for more about the history and pictures, this website will certainly bring memories flooding back for many of you. Access the Belle Vue archives at Chetham's library http://www.chethams.org.uk/belle_vue.htm Today the only surviving remnants of Belle Vue are the Greyhounds and Speedway Greyhounds http://www.bellevuedogs.co.uk/ Official Speedway http://www.bellevuespeedway.co.uk/ Unofficial Speedway http://www.belle-vue-speedway.co.uk/
Below are some rare videos about Belle Vue A day in the life of Belle Vue Zoo Manchester, 1976 Part1
A day in the life of Belle Vue Zoo Manchester, 1976 Part2
Belle Vue Zoo Park Manchester, Summer 1976
Belle Vue Circus Manchester, Christmas 1979
Belle Vue BOBS roller coaster Manchester, Dec 1970
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