Service Charges: Hulme Green Party reaction

In reaction to the service charges concern, Hulme Green Party candidate Ruth Bergan issued this statement

"These plans are an outrage. The Labour Council said it would uphold City South's promise not to introduce further charges, they must stand by this. Mary Murphy claims to be a voice for Hulme residents, so why is she even considering this proposal? Hulme residents deserve good, affordable housing. It is a terrible reflection on Labour that, at a time when everyone is facing money problems, they are part of plans to introduce new charges."

No reaction has been forthcoming from local Labour Party candidates.

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MMU Campus Plans begin to concern Hulme organisations

Local Hulme campaigners opposed to Manchester Metropolitan's plans for £120 million super-campus recieved a boost recently when social landlord 'Places 4 People' wrote a letter of concern to Manchester City Council's Planning Department.

The Housing Trust, with over 250 properties in Hulme, outlined the main concerns of its residents.

The commentary on the Birley Fields website, also pointed out the lack of support from the local Hulme councillors, all of whom are Labour, "And forget about asking the local councillors, they don’t seem to have a clue outside of the party line on this issue."

Hulme Green Party candidate, Ruth Bergan said "Birley fields is an important green space for local residents. The scale of building proposed will take all this away, residents will see traffic increase on roads that can already be difficult to cross, and they will have reduced sunlight coming into their homes. The Green Party thinks it's healthy to have a diverse community and students have a place in that, but the scale of this development is not justified. We need to preserve our green spaces for both the environmental and the health benefits they bring".

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Shock Service Charges Planned by City South Manchester Housing Trust

Stunned tenants fear extra charges

Along with a letter telling of rent increases, tenants of City South Manchester Housing Trust (CSMHT) were shocked to also get letters on their "Rights and Obligations" under Service Charges.

CSMHT promised NOT to introduce services charges for the work it’s doing now, in its offer document when it took over council property. That was only 4 years ago. The document, called ‘Your Future, Your Choice’ says (on page 28):

“The rent after transfer would pay for the full range of services you now get from the City Council – managing the estates, repairing your home and maintaining the landscape.

“There would be no services charges for any of the planned improvement works described in this booklet. In the future, if you want City South Manchester to provide extra services, these would be paid for by a new service charge, but this would not happen without a full consultation with all tenants affected by the change.

“So, there would only be a new service charge for a new service, not an improved service.”

What is written in this offer document is LEGALLY BINDING as it is part of a contract between CSMHT and Manchester City Council. Page 18 of the document says,

“City South Manchester would be independent from the City Council. However, Manchester City Council would have a legally binding contract with City South Manchester, through which the City Council would make sure that the promises made in this booklet are kept.”

This means the promise not to impose this proposed service charge is legally binding.

Residents are angry that this is even being considered, despite promises made, and massively disappointed that 2 labour councillors, including Hulme’s Mary Murphy, the Vice-Chair, are on the board that have agreed it.

Leaked papers from the Trust show costs will vary between £10 and over £1000 per year, with the higher charges being aimed at tower block tenants.

Residents have called upon the Housing Trust and Councillor Mary Murphy to confirm or deny that

• A service charge for new tenants was introduced on April 1^st
• service charges for existing tenants in flats and multis will follow at a later date
• the offer document promised no services charges for current services
• the offer document is a legally binding document that was guaranteed by Manchester City Council.

Because depending on the answers given, there are implications for the Trust, the City Council and the Councillors involved.

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The Arch Bar: Hulme Icon

The Arch Bar (later Zar Bar) was the troubled but iconic Hulme pub that was based on Stretford Road. Persistent disorder led the bar to be closed by the police and eventually it was torn down and more student flats are currently being built in its place.

Despite problems, local residents were hoping that the building could remain, and used differently, as a café or other community resource, especially as the building had a restrictive covenant on it.

In a recent angry exchange between Mary Murphy and local green activist, Nigel Woodcock, more information came to light.

On the public Hulme-Residents-Online-Group, Nigel argued that the local councillors at the time had removed the ‘restrictive covenant’, which gave the company that wanted to build flats “a green light to destroy the Arch building”.

Surprisingly, as part of her response Councillor Murphy replies “it was I who set up a meeting with our Deputy Chief Executive to discuss the removal of the covenant" … "At time of the removal of the covenant Myself and Nigel (Murphy, another Hulme Labour councillor) were representing our constituents.”

But which constituents? Not the hundreds who campaigned with petitions and direct action to keep the building open.

It was eye-catching and could have been a useful community centre resource for Hulme with a little bit of creative thinking.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of creative thinking from our local councillors. And with the closure and removal of services from Hulme, that is not good the area, not good for me and you.

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Hulme Newsletter March 2011 Online edition

The online version of the Hulme Green Party Newsletter: March 2011 is now available featuring

• Manchester City Councils Cuts: Is there no choice
• MMU Birley Fields Campus Plan: Low Marks for Consultation
• Salutation Park: Whats happening?
• Hulme Local Business

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Hulme Newsletter March 2011 Online edition

The online version of the Hulme Green Party Newsletter: March 2011

http://tinyurl.com/5uqckrs

featuring

• Manchester City Councils Cuts: Is there no choice
• MMU Birley Fields Campus Plan: Low Marks for Consultation
• Salutation Park: Whats happening?
• Hulme Local Business

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Hulme Green Party Alternate Budget

Hulme Green Party believes the budget proposals suggested by Manchester City Council starts in the wrong place. Cutting frontline services and creating unemployment only adds to the problems created by this Coalition Government. This Council should not be scaring their staff into unemployment by forcing unfair redundancy packages on them.

Below is an idea about how the budget could be approached.

* The figures are units of millions.

Years	2011/12	2012/13	2014/15
Details				Total
CUTS
Staffing and efficiency (1)	10*	10	10	30
First Street Cultural Facility (2)	9	10		19
Football Museum (3)	7			7
Subtotal	26	20	10	56
INCOME
Mcr Airport (4)	27	27	27	81
Birley Fields (5)	7			7
Mcr City Stadium (6)	15	15		30
Subtotal	49	42	27	118
Total	75	62	37	174

We believe that by looking at cuts AND assets, jobs and services can be safeguarded in Manchester.

The CUTS section of the table shows areas where spending can be reduced. The INCOME section shows where money can be raised from council assets.

1) We in the Hulme Green Party believe that if cuts are to be made, jobs should go by a recruitment freeze along with voluntary redundancies. The Council is already planning to reduce costs through efficiency savings.

2) The planned ‘Cultural Facility’ (page 18) should be a lower priority than jobs and services.

3) The planned spend of nearly £7 million by the Council when the 2 richest football clubs in the country are in the city does not seem a good use of money.

4) Manchester Airport repayment of the debt to the Council it owes over 3 years. The amount owed is £83 million

5) A repayment in cash from MMU for the land acquired from the Council for its planned campus development. The land is estimated to be worth £10 million. The council gave the land away for free.

6) The Council owns the City of Manchester stadium at Eastlands, where Manchester City Football Club play. Selling a portion to fans of the club will raise a significant amount of money. If the council were to sell the stadium to Manchester City, who have offered to buy it from them, it would raise between £200 – 300 million pounds, possibly more. It would solve the budget crisis in one sale.

By doing this, the Council will be able to maintain employment while the predicted growth in Greater Manchester creates the hoped for 74000 jobs (slide 26).

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Manchester Budget Cuts Proposals and the Consultation Process: The Green View

Manchester City Council’s budget cuts, will have a huge effect on communities in Manchester.

BUT the announcements made are just proposals. They are available to comment on the Council website until February 22^nd.

Final decisions will be made on March 9^th 2011.

The Hulme Green Party says that

“Although the Council Cuts proposals are online, there are a lot of papers and they are difficult to understand.

We call for a series of public meetings for the organisations and the communities affected.

The Council, the organisations and the people should talk about the hard choices ahead and the best way to support the communities affected.

We especially urge the Council to be open and honest in this process. As far as we can tell, the results of the Councils earlier budget plan consultation, which ended January 17^th 2011, remain unpublished.”

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Manchester Cuts: A severe blow

There is no doubting the severity of the cuts announced by Manchester City Council.

While its understood that budget reductions have been imposed from the Coalition Government, the Council’s pledge to defend front line services is nonsense.

Cutting the majority of youth services and SureStarts in Manchester, then hoping the voluntary sector could take over them could make sense. Unfortunately the voluntary sector is being slashed by 22%.

In Hulme and Moss Side its expected that at least Hulme Library, the Martenscroft SureStart Centre, debt advice service and youth centres will go.

There has been no call to local groups and unions to discuss the best way of saving services, no consultation on how to support the most vulnerable in our communities.

Add this to the increase in charges from Council services and Housing Trusts, VAT increase, cuts to Manchester Advice services, reduced support available from Job Centres, it is not a stretch to imagine serious hardship coming back to Manchester. The Council wrings its hands and says there is nothing to be done yet the Airport owes it £83 million.

And when the dust settles, the Council will look to cut another £60 million next year.

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Manchester Cuts: Is there really no choice?

The shocking announcement of 2000 job losses at Manchester City Council is the biggest result of the cuts handed down from the Coalition Government.

The Council, forced to deal with a £110 million reduction, expects to save £70 million pounds with these staffing reductions. This still means that £40 million pounds will still have to be found and it looks likely that front line services will be in the firing line.

In addition, because of the expected cuts in Manchester’s police, fire and health services Manchester residents are going find it more difficult to access the support they need.

Manchester Green Party (MGP) believes nationally, these cuts could largely be avoided by concentrating the deficit reduction by increasing taxes on the financial sector that caused the deficit.

MGP Chair Brian Candeland said “Not only is the Government pursuing the wrong policies, it is seeking to pass the blame onto local authorities. Whilst all local authorities are being hit to some degree, urban councils in the north such as Manchester and its neighbouring boroughs are being hit particularly hard. This will widen the north-south divide.”

While the Coalition Government has forced this budget reduction on the Council, the Council decides what services will be cut.

MGP urges the Council to make every effort to prioritise services to the vulnerable and saving jobs over capital building projects.

Following last weekend’s GMTUC conference, we note:

• that in the most recent Council accounts (Accounts Statement 2009/10, page 47, 102), Manchester Airport owes the council over £83 million. The airport is currently raising over £280 million to develop its facilities. As a major investor in the airport, the Council is in a position of influence and should look to reclaim those monies.
• the Council's 'sale/transfer' of Hulme's Birley Fields to Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) for far less than the value of the land (worth £10 million in some estimates). Hulme Green Party says "Its outrageous. The value of that land would go a long way to reducing the effects of the cuts in Hulme and Manchester. As it stands, the whole MMU proposal is not good for the area."

The recouping of even a proportion of the Airport and Birley Fields monies will save jobs and services in Manchester.

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Clean Up of Salutation Park...

Hulme's Green Team organised a Clean Up of Salutation Park after it was identified as an issue for local residents.

On a cold Sunday morning December 5th, the residents, the local environment team and the Green Team all pitched in to sweep, rake, cut back plants and prune bushes.

We're working to form a 'Friends of Salutation Park' group to help look after it and working with the Council to repair some damage and put up some useful signs.

The Park should look good for the Summer!!

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Every Local Counts!

Hi all,

A colleague of ours in Trafford and Hulme CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) sent us an interesting link about Hulme pubs. There are some minor errors and it uses the modern boundaries for Hulme but it is informative.
click on link below:
A presentation on Hulme pubs

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Manchester's Core Strategy

Hi all,

There is a consultation on Manchester's Core Strategy(part of the Local Development Framework. A Local Development Framework is a folder of local development documents that outlines how planning will be managed in our area.


We would suggest people log-on, read and respond to it at:
http://manchester-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal/planning/cs/pre-bublication

A sample of which below:

Policy H 7

Purpose Built Student Accommodation

The provision of new purpose built student accommodation will need to satisfy the criteria below. Priority will be given to schemes which are part of the universities' redevelopment plans or which are being progressed in partnership with the universities, and which clearly meet Manchester City Council's regeneration priorities.

1. Sites should be easily accessible to the University campus by walking and cycling.
2. High density developments should be sited in locations where this is compatible with existing developments and initiatives, and where retail facilities are within walking distance. Proposals should not lead to an increase in on-street parking in the surrounding area.
3. Proposals that can demonstrate a positive regeneration impact in their own right will be given preference over other schemes. This can be demonstrated for example through impact assessments on district centres and the wider area. Proposals should contribute to providing a mix of uses and support district and local centres, in line with relevant Strategic Regeneration Frameworks, local plans and other master plans as student accommodation should closely integrate with existing neighbourhoods to contribute in a positive way to their vibrancy without increasing pressure on existing neighbourhood services to the detriment of existing residents.
4. Proposals should be designed to be safe and secure for their users, and avoid causing an increase in crime in the surrounding area. Consideration needs to be given to how proposed developments could assist in improving the safety of the surrounding area in terms of increased informal surveillance or other measures to contribute to crime prevention.
5. Consideration should be given to the design and layout of the student accommodation and siting of individual uses within the overall development in relation to adjacent neighbouring uses. The aim is to ensure that there is no unacceptable effect on residential amenity in the surrounding area through increased noise, disturbance or impact on the streetscene either from the proposed development itself or when combined with existing accommodation.
6. Where appropriate proposals should contribute to the re-use of Listed Buildings and other buildings with a particular heritage value.
7. Consideration should be given to provision and management of waste disposal facilities within the development at an early stage.
8. There is a currently a potential oversupply of student bedspaces in purpose built accommodation in the planning pipeline when matched against demand from both the projected growth in student numbers to 2014/15 (using a mid range growth scenario assumption) and latent demand from students living in the general rented sector. Therefore developers will be required to demonstrate that there is a need for additional student accommodation in terms of waiting lists for existing places, or that they have entered into a formal agreement with a University for the supply of bedspaces.
9. Applicants/developers must demonstrate to the Council that their proposals for purpose built student accommodation are deliverable. The Council will not support proposals that are speculative, where there is a possibility that planning permission will not be implemented.

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Good News?

There is an article in the MEN about a company moving into Kilburn House,
MSP. It might be good news for the MSP but will it bring much needed
employment to Hulme?
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1314742_name_your_numbers_right_for_science_parks?newsletter=business%2520bulletin-20100824

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HULME RESIDENT DIED AT PETERLOO

PETERLOO MEMORIAL CAMPAIGN CALLS ON MANCHESTER TO RECREATE THE ORIGINAL MARCHES FOR THE 191st ANNIVERSARY ON 15^th AUGUST 2010

Following its hugely successful anniversary gathering in 2009, the campaign is challenging residents of the regions and towns that originally sent marchers to St Peter's Fields in 1819 to do so again, after nearly 200 years.

Last year 200 delegates covered the routes from Oldham, Middleton and Stockport, and rallied at the original location of the massacre with replica banners, to demand that the proposed memorial in St Peter's Square is one that truly reflects the nature of the event. The campaign is insisting the design is prominent, informative and respectful, one that breaks the long tradition of whitewashing the memory of this crucial event.

Two events are planned this year- Sunday the 15^th August for the mass rally, and Monday 16^th to mark the actual date.

Interested groups can contact the campaign by phone- 07800 535471, via its website www.peterloomassacre.org, or through it's facebook group- PETERLOO MASSACRE 191st ANNIVERSARY

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