these hideous signs are not helping the people of Hulme!

Following the "Our Hulme" meeting last week, at which this issue was raised, local green activist Nigel Woodcock has formally lodged a complaint about the hideous yellow signs that have been dotted around the locality, bringing everyone down and doing NOTHING to reduce crime.

The website FixMyStreet will channel our complaint to the Council and we'll see what sort of response it gets.
http://www.fixmystreet.com/report/104594

It seems obvious that these signs have gone up just now so that the Council can claim to be DOING SOMETHING about crime. But we don't think these signs help. If you agree, please email the Council's Environment Department. I have just looked on their website and they are now operating a single email address for ALL Council services and enquiries, which seems fairly ludicrous. It's contact@manchester.gov.uk - we'll let you know how we get on.

Read Full Article >>

New FREE course in sustainable arts and technologies in the community!!!!

How much do you really know about lowering your carbon Footprint? Everyone knows that it’s important – but it can all sound a bit confusing and daunting can’t it? Well…

Arc Space Manchester are proud to announce a new course called Connect Yourself!

It’s about cutting your carbon footprint in new and funky ways that will help you to do your bit for the planet whilst meeting new people and learning about ethical arts and technologies.

We can show you how to tackle climate change in a positive ways by trying your hand at lots of cool activities, such as designing clothes and re-cycling computers! There are 12 sessions, every Wednesday afternoon from 11-2.30pm. We run an evening and weekend session too for those who can’t make it during the week. The course runs until May 24th and you can enrol at any time!

Its fun, its informal and its free to everybody. We are a community organisation so we welcome everybody. We even give you your own pen drive half-way through the course and provide free internet. Go on, become environmentally savvy. What are you waiting for?!

Contact us at arcspacemanchester@gmail.com or call in and see us at St Wilfs Church, Royce Rd, Hulme. Or you can call us on 07872 939216 and leave a message.

In partnership with Manchester City Council and The Manchester Carbon Innovation Fund.

Read Full Article >>

Greenview Cornbrook Special

Read Full Article >>

Why we are campaigning for an Ian Curtis Memorial Bridge in Hulme.

Hulme has always been a unique place, one of the few places to be completely raised to the ground twice in living history: seeing the destruction of the Victorian back-to-backs, followed by the demolition of the 1960s brutal modernist architectural known as the crescents. One significant victim of the redevelopment was nightclub known as the Russell Club, host to (Manchester music promoter and Grenada Reporter) Tony Wilson’s ‘Factory’ night. This nightclub was where Joy Division regularly played during their brief existence. Indeed Joy Division recorded the version of Transmission that can be heard on the B-side of Atmosphere in Hulme (July 1979).

In the year Joy Division first played in Hulme, 1979, the upcoming Manchester rock photographer, Kevin Cummins, photographed the band in various locations around Hulme. The most iconic of these photos is probably the one of the band on Epping Walk Bridge, one of the narrow pedestrian footbridges that spanned the Princess Parkway. This photograph recently adorned Joy Division’s greatest hits album cover. This is the bridge that we want to re-name in honour and memory of Ian Curtis, who took his life exactly 30 years ago on May 18^th.

Hulme locals are all too aware of how marginalized and put-upon this part of Manchester feels, which is partly why we want this campaign to succeed. The bridge itself is already known to certain locals as ‘Joy Division Bridge’. The re-naming of this bridge would allow fans and visitors to Manchester the opportunity to visit the bridge and recreate Kevin Cummins photographs and to celebrate the city’s fine musical heritage. Fans of The Smiths, regularly congregate around the entrance to Salford Lads’ Club, featured on one of their albums. Renaming the bridge gives Joy Division fans their own part of Manchester.

Since Hulme local activist Gayle O’Donovan set up the Facebook page just over a week ago, it has rapidly expanded up to nearly 700 members, including Kevin Cummins himself. We believe that if this campaign succeeded then we’d be putting Hulme back on the map, restoring some local pride, creating yet another reason for people to visit our fine city, and saluting a local legend.

Renaming the bridge would be another chapter in Manchester’s rich musical history.

For more info join our Facebook Group:http://tinyurl.com/iancurtismemorial

Read Full Article >>

The Arch to be demolited and turned in to student halls

Last Thursday, the decision was taken Manchester City Council's Planning Committee to give the go-ahead to the demolition of Arch Bar to make way for a student halls of residence. No doubt Nigel Murphy will be pleased with this decision, since he has bragged to the Applicant (Mr. Andy Whatson) that he was responsible for getting the "restrictive covenant" lifted last year.

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition, that has collected 266 signatures to date. Those who also left a comment will now find that comment pasted up on the Arch building, which has become a part of its own campaign, as you'll see if you go past on the bus.

I see it as another nail in the coffin of the Hulme community, which can now be found on its nights out huddled in the Salutation, the Junction, and perhaps Kim-by-the-Sea. Okay, there are one or two other pubs, but certainly no clubs, like what the Arch used to be, never mind anything as banging as the PSV Club (aka the Russell Club, the Factory, etc.)

I find it particularly galling that Nigel Murphy has been claiming credit (in the most recent "Hulme Rose" leaflet) for "working with residents of the Loxford Estate to oppose the building of a seven storey student block on the site of the former Arch Bar... Your Labour Team," the leaflet burbled, "will continue working with local residents to ensure that any new plans are acceptable to the community."

If you would like to tell Mr. Murphy what you think of these "new plans" - are they "acceptable" to you? - then why not drop him a line? Nigel Murphy (cllr.n.murphy@manchester.gov.uk)

Read Full Article >>

New Green View

Read Full Article >>

Breaking News:Hulme Labour wants to have its cake and eat it too!

The Arch Bar / student halls planning decision has today been deferred by the Townhall Planning Committee once again. Well done to the residents and Hulme Greens for keeping up the pressure!

Some local greens have been researching the situation, going back to when it was the Admiral and even before that. In fact it was 31st March 1980 when the brewery, Robinson’s (based in Stockport) took out a “restrictive covenant” which meant that the premises could BE USED ONLY AS A PUBLIC HOUSE.

That covenant remained in place for just over 30 years, until it was released on 15th June 2009, nearly two months after the planning application was submitted to turn Arch Bar into a 7-storey student block. And now we learn that none other than Nigel TIM Murphy has been claiming the credit for getting the covenant removed. He’s also claiming credit for getting the size of the block reduced by one floor. I think the local residents and greens deserve the credit for that. But we still lament the loss of yet another local community resource.

The Green Party is not anti-student, many of them are our natural supporters, candidates and members, but when an area is swamped with student halls and these are segregated from the wider community – almost literally, in the case of Hulme – then there is a sense of lack of investment in the locality, and sometimes a lack of care. Hulme is a vibrant mixed community - lets continue to fight to keep it this way.

We’d like Nigel Murphy to out from behind his invisibility cloak to come clean over his involvement in the lifting of the restrictive covenant that stood for 30 years. which signed the death warrant for the Arch to be used as a community space and/or social housing( didn't Hulme Labour promise us that last year in their campaign leaflet?)

Read Full Article >>

Hi Greens and Green Supporters,

A pilot anti - climate change campaign is being run in Greater Manchester for the next 5 weeks. It's challenging businesses to switch off lights when they're closed.

The aim is to get the general public to email in photos when they're out in the evening of shops/offices that have left light on and they'll use it to challenge the business.

Watch this YouTube to get more information: http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=mV1RkK2Rctw

It's called The Light Brigade. The website is: www.lightbrigade.org.uk

The facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?drop&ref=mb#/group.php?gid=405437965219

And the twitter account is: Lightbrigadeorg.

The group would be really grateful if you could circulate the details of this project and spread the word, as without people knowing, the impact won't be as big.

Best Wishes

Gayle O' Donovan

Read Full Article >>

Hulme Green Drinks - All Welcome

Read Full Article >>

Update on the Arch Bar

Just to keep everyone informed... The Planning Dept yesterday deferred the decision on whether to give the green light to the plans to build the six-storey block on the site of the Arch.

This is pleasing, but we should not necessarily get our hopes up too much. Nevertheless, following a "site visit" (during which the committee members actually GOT OFF THE BUS - a rare event, apparently), at the actual planning meeting, the first thing that happened was that the Chair, Cllr Burns(Labour) declared that "there's no such thing as a done deal here", quoting directly from a local activist's Twitter update earlier in the day.

This would seem to imply that they are now well aware that there is a head of local public opinion against this, and it has them rattled. They may wish to delay the decision till after the local elections on May 6th. However, according to The Applicant (Andrew Whatson), who we met the night before the planning meeting at the Green Party office, the developers need to start the work before May if they are to be able to open in time for the start of term the following year (Sept. 2011).

The petition has 172 names now, which is great going in just over a week.

Please sign the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-arch-bar.html

Also, thought I'd pass on the good news that at the same planning meeting it was announced that the developers wishing to turn Chorlton Meadows into football pitches withdrew their application. That doesn't mean that they may not change their plans slightly and re-submit them in the future, but for the time being it's a tremendous victory for the Save Chorlton Meadows campaign.

Well done to everyone involved!

Read Full Article >>

Arch Bar letter

Dear Resident,

As you probably know, property developers are planning to knock down the Arch Bar and build a massive six-floor block of student flats there instead. Last month, the Council decided to put off the decision on the plan until after they have conducted a site visit.

This late proposal came from councillors following pressure from locals and The Green Party. However, we shouldn't expect too much from the postponement by itself. The plans will come before the Council Planning Meeting at the Town Hall on Thursday 14th January at 2pm. If this matters to you and you can attend, please do so to show local feeling about the loss of yet another community resource for the people of Hulme.

You may not be aware, however, that The Cavendish pub just along the road from Arch Bar, last week closed down. It was sold by the owners and we think it might become a fast food outlet (this is unconfirmed at this stage). This is all the more reason to try to save the Arch.

Danny Hall, ex-manager of both Arch Bar and the Cavendish pub says: “The Arch Bar should not be demolished – it should be turned into a community resource like it used to be.”

In Spring 2008 a Local Labour election leaflet featured a big item on the fate of the Arch after it closed. Along with a nice photo, it said: "Your Local Labour Team is lobbying for the site, which Robinson's are planning to sell, to be used for the building of affordable homes for Hulme people or a facility to be used by the community."

It's a shame that 18 months later it appears that Labour are ignoring these fine ideals. We had hoped the Labour Council wouldn't just say “yes” to the first money-making scheme that came along. Sadly it looks like property developers' interests may once again come ahead of those of the community.

I will continue to keep you informed of what's happening.

With best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year.

Gayle O’Donovan,
Green Party Candidate for Hulme

Read Full Article >>

4 days to save Arch Bar - sign the petition

Please sign the petition before the planning meeting on Thursday. Visit the site to read the arguments:
Online petition - Save Arch Bar in Hulme

Read Full Article >>

Will MMU finance troubles threaten the "Green Campus"?

A string of recent bad news for MMU finances and University funding in general may mean the bold green plans for the proposed Hulme campus are under threat.

The "Green Campus" idea is a big part of the sales pitch, but although there are some imaginative ideas there have never been any guarantee about what they will entail.

As such, these plans could be among the first to be scaled down when belts need tightening. And they do.

First the MMU came unstuck when millions were lost in investments during the Icelandic banking crisis.

Then the university announced 127 job losses in November.




Financial problems now mean the move from Didsbury will now happen in "installments".

link


So December's demands for huge cuts in University spending by Peter Mandelson could spell the triple whammy for the eco-plans.


We hope that the MMU can be open and frank about the potential impact of recent problems on their plans for a Green Campus and we will continue to keep you informed.

Read Full Article >>

Arch Bar

Read Full Article >>

Winter Green View

Read Full Article >>