Free Legal Advice In Crisis Conference: Saturday 9th February 2013

2010/11 was the year in which the first round of budget cuts to local council services were announced, and when they hit, they hit hard. Manchester City Council removed £40M from its Adult Services which included closure of ‘Manchester Advice’, which provided independent and confidential advice in a range of areas covering debt problems, access to welfare, consumer issues and housing. This appears to have been a mistake. The government’s changes in legal aid, delayed for 6 months due to fierce opposition, are now due to come into effect in April 2013. The high levels of concern regarding these changes center on 3 areas the...

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Alex Park protesters take to trees to stop “Felling Vandalism"

A plan by Manchester City Council to fell over 400 healthy trees and destroy over three acres of wildlife habitat are being condemned by Whalley Range residents. The fellings planned as part of a £4.6 M series of changes to the popular Alexandra Park in Moss Side have led to protests. Chrissy Lowe of the Save Alexandra Parks Trees campaign said "This action by the council is completely unjustified and deliberately ignores the wishes of local residents. The Council has misled the public about both the extent and reason for felling the trees and park users regard this as an act of municipal vandalism by a council hell-bent on riding roughshod...

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