Support Affleck’s Palace

Some of you may have already seen the news about the danger that Affleck’s Palace in the Northern Quarter is under threat. It seems unclear what the nitty gritty of the dispute is, as it seems the management of the building seem to be unwilling to agree to the terms offered by Bruntwood, owners of the property. Today we joined the protest outside the building.

Mark Littler (below) and I went along to sign the petition and talk to protesters. Its always seemed to me that Affleck’s Palace is an excellent economic model of how ‘incubator’ units can be provided to young and niche businesses, for which the Northern Quarter is well know, and its these often creative businesses that gives the area its character and provides much of the reason people like me enjoy living there.

There is also an online petition here or you can email me at robadlard@yahoo.co.uk with name and address as I shall be writing to the parties involved. There is really nothing like Afflecks that offers somewhere for a small business to start without a massive outlay, and for people to go to see such an eclectic mix of retailers, lets hope this doesn’t become another anonymous building…..

Success for residents in Jacksons Wharf protest

The revised plans for the Jacksons Wharf development have been rejected at a meeting of the plannign comittee at the town hall.

 Thanks to residents, Peel Holdings will now have to go through an appeal process, perhaps taking 6 months. The general feeling was that the plans hadn’t changed sufficiently. A number of issues were addressed, such as the fact the building’s red sandstone would be more in keeping that other buildings in the area, and the building would not be higher that surrounding buildings. The scale was still considered an issue however, and the use of land for apartments rather than open use, although aspects of the open use of the land would improve.Few would like a derelict building to remain there, as nothing degrades an area and deters investment than a boarded up building, however after feedback from residents I would propose certain conditions were placed upon development there, if apartments are to be built at all.  

If there is to be a residential building, my key requests would be:

· A significant and specific number of trees to be planted cited as a condition of approval, and significant green landscaping in front of the building that the public can use and enjoy as green space

· The use of a section of the building as a visitors centre and Castlefield museum

· A reduction in scale so buildings in Slate Wharf are not overlooked by a balcony/gallery, which many felt to be the least appealing aspect of the current scheme. 

These are simply my ideas that may be most achievable, but please contact me and tell me what you think. I shall be speaking with the relevant figures at the developers and council to pass on these suggestions.  When I spoke at the Castlefield residents meeting held recently at Dukes 92 I expressed my experience of other public spaces in other cities as being created by local tycoons, such as Wrigley in Chicago. Peel have already given over 3 acres of the 10 they own for public use and its been made clear it’s a dead-end to request more. Developers can easily cite the example of the city council approving apartment buildings on land the council owned in Castlefield (despite many public objections), and the selling off of public space to commercial interests in Piccadilly Gardens. Therefore a  better use of our energy may be to get the best out of the site in terms of ’something for Castlefield’ and the local community with the 3 basic principals outlined above, but I am happy to campaign on your behalf if there is a consensus in another direction.

We all hear about planning conditions being placed upon new Tesco stores, such as new acess roads, trees, in-store crèches etc, so why not exercise some of the same thinking here?    

Labour’s threat to Arts funding in NW

Manchester’s Conservatives have today published the most complete list to date of organisations affected by the Arts Council England’s decision to cut funding to “garbage” arts organisations. Manchester-based Queer Up North is one of the groups facing cut backs. (M.E.N news coverage here)

 

Queer Up North is Europe’s leading festival of lesbian, gay and queer arts, lists dance, music, exhibitions, cabaret, comedy and film from around the world.

 

The Arts Council have refused to publish a full list of affected organisations, but research by the Conservatives has identified 58 of the 194 arts organisations affected.

 

I can’t believe Gordon Brown’s man of spin, James Purnell the Arts Minister has referred to arts organisations as “garbage”! The Arts in this country have gone through a golden period due to the Conservatives beginning a system of funding arts through the lottery, and great things were created, such as Bridgewater Hall in Manchester before Labour came to power. What we have seen since then is creeping politicising of arts funding, as well as the massive damage done by the government unable to control the massive ballooning of costs for the London Olympics.  

 

We must support excellence in the arts, however should a regional orchestra for example loose its funding altogether (a few hundred thousand pounds) in order to maintain something like the 17 million pound grant to English National Opera in London?

 

I want to know why the Arts Council won’t come clean with the full list of organisations facing closure. This is public money and we should not have to use freedom of information to drag out the scale of the cuts being proposed.

Dispel the myth

As a Conservative seeking election in Manchester, the most regular and frustrating responses from people, although understandable in one way, are “why should we vote Conservative when the council is Labour, and Manchester has gone through such a transformation?”

The answer is that it was the Conservatives that brought about the transformation. Labour has been in power in Manchester for over 30 years, seen its darkest decline. What changed? The Conservatives brought about a massive transformation of our city, which reached tipping point just after they left power. Don’t take my word for it, pleas do your own research…..

As Ray King notes in his piece in the MEN on January 7th “Senior figures in the town hall will privately admit they got more out of the Tories than they have since prised out of Labour” Ray cites the examples of the Conservatives bringing Metrolink to Manchester, the Commonwealth Games, the regeneration projects in Hulme and the start of the East Manchester project. I’d also add to that the creation of Castlefield by the Central Development Corporation, which was from the Conservatives. This body created the Castlefield Arena, the Roman fort, the signs (now terribly poorly maintained) of historical information in the area, opening up the tow paths and waterways and stimulating city living – essentially, modern Manchester.

As Ray King notes in his piece in the MEN on January 7th “Senior figures in the town hall will privately admit they got more out of the Tories than they have since prised out of Labour” Ray cites the examples of the Conservatives bringing Metrolink to Manchester, the Commonwealth Games, the regeneration projects in Hulme and the start of the East Manchester project. I’d also add to that the creation of Castlefield by the Central Development Corporation, which was from the Conservatives. This body created the Castlefield Arena, the Roman fort, the signs (now terribly poorly maintained) of historical information in the area, opening up the tow paths and waterways and stimulating city living – essentially, modern Manchester

Sign the congestion charge petition

The congestion charge is still on the way, proving that Labour still ignore our city in terms of genuine investment, and all they have in response is the very blunt instrument of further taxes.

Please sign the official petition using this link http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Manccongestion/

Weak Manchester Lib Dems lead to first Conservative councillor

Welcome to the Conservatives Councillor Faraz Bhatti!

Today Councillor Bhatti joined the Conservatives from the Lib Dems, creating the first Conservative on Manchester’s city council for a number of years. I have spoken a great deal with Faraz and couldn’t be more glad to welcome him to Manchester Conservatives. Faraz is at the start of his political career with incredible wins so far under his belt already, and clearly has an even brighter future in politics ahead of him. The Lib Dems’ weakness as an opposition to Labour (something often mention on this blog and in my campaigns) and David Cameron’s broad appeal, rediscovering the Conservatives’ liberal roots have been the significant factors in Cllr Bhatti making his decision to join the Conservatives.

I look forward to working with him very closely in the weeks and months ahead.