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[levenshulmenews]

March 20, 2020

Coronavirus is upon us so we rushed out a special edition, hoping to capture the impact on the area.

With such a fast moving story we have inevitably been surpassed by events. For example, the library mentioned on the front page has now shut. But it felt like we needed to respond to all the crazy stuff happening.

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We've notched up another edition of the newsletter. Hopefully we'll keep it going and get more contributions from people living in the area.

If there's something you want to write about, or feel should be covered, please email levenshulmenews@gmail.com.

Here's the March 2020 edition...

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We now have a print edition! The idea is to do a monthly round up and distribute it around Levenshulme at bars and cafes, community centres, and places like the library and the station.

This is the February 2020 edition. I hop you can zoom in to read it.

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Planes, trains and ready meals

August 1, 2019

Turns out Fallowfield Retail Park is owned by the Civil Aviation Authority pension fund.

It bought it for £10.7m in 2010.

The team behind the HS2 high speed rail line want to knock down half of it - Home Bargains, Iceland and Poundstretcher - to make way for a big air vent for a tunnel into Piccadilly.

The whole HS2 project is on ice after the government ordered a review into its cost and viability.

The Civil Aviation Authority didn't want to speak to us about it.

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Housing association swerves affordable homes commitment

July 27, 2019 - NB, after a break (see note below) I thought it was worth posting on here after all as it's a handy home for all the stories. I'll be bringing it up to date in the coming weeks...

So none of the 31 homes at the old Kingsway pub site will be affordable, even though developer Cube is part of housing association Great Places.

Cube says it has a 'profit for purpose' model, meaning profits go back into social housing at Great Places.

It's cited the viability defence - developers repeatedly get out of the city's commitment (on paper at least) to affordable housing by saying they won't make a 20% profit

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The best way to blog?

July 23, 2019

I'm not updating this page for a while because I think Twitter might be the best vehicle for local news at the moment.

I'm still working it all out, but it seems that posting short tweets with pics is better than redirecting someone to this page from twitter - it's just another link to click and I'm not sure if many do it.

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The Walker Brothers' Levenshulme connection

Chrissie McCall with helper Sue in the 1970s

May 24, 2019

Picture the scene - one day in 1968 distraught teenage girls make their way to a house in Dalny Street, Levenshulme (pictured below). Their favourite band - The Walker Brothers - has just split. The house belongs to the McCalls and for the past few years their daughter Chrissie has been running The Walker Brothers' fan club from the front room.

"My mum was devastated, she was a real Walker Brothers fan," remembers Chrissie. "And then these fans turn up and she's playing Make it Easy on Yourself - you know 'breaking up is so very hard to do' - she's playing it! Almost taunting. She didn't do it to be mean she was trying to be sympathetic and thought this will help. And she's pouring them cups of tea and she's on the phone to me, 'There's 17 of them here today!' She liked it, I think because it made her feel a bit important."

If you're not familiar with the brothers - they were three unrelated Americans who came to UK searching for pop glory. They had some massive hits - including Make It Easy on Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore. The fan club had about 60,000 members. After the split Scott Walker, who died earlier this year, released a string of highly-regarded solo albums.

Chrissie was just 16 when she started the club with her friend Sheila. They had both seen the band on the TV show Ready Steady Go and Sheila wrote off to the management asking to run the club. They were initially given responsibility for the region and later took on the whole country.

"We tried to reply [to everyone] it was fun, it was fun for us. We didn't go into it to be serious business women. I would never have thought of going into it if she'd not written off. And, like I said, I thought, it'll be alright they won't reply. We used to give the Walker Brothers a batch of mail. They loved it at first - 'oh look at this, look what this fan sent me', eventually it became, 'oh god!'.

"Fans got a membership card, regular newsletters about what they doing… advanced notice of concerts, signed photos… we might run a competition - meet the Walker Brothers after they've been at the Liverpool Empire or something. And then [we'd think], are they going to be sober? Are they going to behave themselves? Is Scott going to be in a bad mood?

"[The management] used to feed us stuff we needed - they're doing this, there's a tour coming up, the odd interview, but as they got bigger and bigger it became harder and harder because they were so tired - you know they're recording, they're on tour, they're being interviewed. They can't go out because if they do they get mobbed. Scott even went to a monastery. He signed into a monastery on the Isle of Wight for six weeks, ostensibly to study Gregorian chants but also to get some space and peace, and two weeks after he got there they turfed him out because the fans had found him and the whole monastery was disrupted.

"But they gave him the key to the gate and he used to wear it, a big great big key because they actually liked him but the fans were interfering. You know, they're monks, they don't want hoards of screaming girls waving their knickers."

After the band split Chrissie managed the individual members' fan clubs and then handled a string of big 1970s bands including The Rubettes, The Sweet and Kenny. She lived in Levenshulme for years until a recent move to Northenden.

You can hear my interview with Chrissie here:

https://www.mixcloud.com/CharityShopClassics/charity-shop-classics-show-225/

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Council tax: Should all late-paying councillors be identified?

9 May, 2019

Manchester City Council has refused to name a councillor who received a court summons over council tax arrears citing "exceptional" circumstances.

He/she was one of four councillors who were late paying in 2018-19, something which came to light after we submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

In a full response, which you can read here, (scroll to the bottom) the council said it didn't have to reveal the name under FOI law and to do so would contravene data protection rules.

The officer dealing with the case said: "I have considered the fairness of disclosure insofar as the reasonable expectations of the councillor, the consequences for them of disclosure and sought to balance those expectations and consequences against the interests in disclosure."

The letter cited a previous tribunal hearing between the Information Commissioner and Bolton Council which ruled it was not "reasonable" to protect a councillor's identity, but, "there could be exceptional cases in which the personal circumstances of a councillor are so compelling that a councillor should be protected".

The anonymous councillor was one of two who were summonsed over council tax arrears. That means two or more months non-payment. The other one was named - Majid Dar, a Labour councillor for Ancoats and Beswick since May 2018. He told us he missed payments because of a house move. "It was a genuine error and I won't make that mistake again," he said.

They both settled and no one was barred from voting on the council's budget. Two other councillors paid up after getting a reminder letter which is sent after one month is missed. The council says it would be unfair to name them because a single payment could be missed for a "multitude of reasons".

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Tory election candidate is based 200 miles away

It's local election day in Manchester on May 2. One seat in 31 wards is being contested, and two in Fallowfield following a resignation.

All of those seats are currently held by Labour. In Levenshulme Labour's Basat Sheikh is up for re-election. His rivals are:

Bob Catterall - UKIP

Andrew Hickey - Lib Dem

James Smith - Conservative

Dick Venes - Green

You'll notice from the photo that James Smith's address is given as East Hampshire! That's right down near the south coast, more than 200 miles away.

Under election rules candidates must meet one of these criteria to be eligible;

- Be registered to vote in the local authority area

- occupied, as owner or tenant, premises in the area during the past year

- work or live in the area for the past year.

James Smith stood last year and got just 138 votes. To put that into perspective the winner, Labour's Dzidra Noor, got 3,031. I don't know if Smith has a connection to Manchester, he may have grown up here, but that address matters. It's a big disincentive for voters who want someone who understands the area and its problems. It puts me off if a candidate doesn't even live in the ward.

I've asked the Conservative Party why they're fielding a candidate who lives so far away, but I've not heard back yet.

Over in Burnage (which now includes a large chunk south of Albert Road) Labour's Azra Ali is defending her seat. The other contenders are:

Ben Dundas - Green

Shahad Hossain - Conservative

Ian Rae - UKIP

Andrea Timoney - Lib Dem

In Rusholme, which runs up to the Kingsway/Slade Lane, it's down to:

Ahmed Ali - existing Labour cllr

Shazia Anjum - Conservative

Holly Matthies - Lib Dem

Kate Walsh Benson - Green

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When council sweeteners go wrong

April, 2019

This is something a bit different, not really local Levenshulme news, just a story I've been following for a while...

Cast your mind back to late October, 2012 – it’s hard to remember the detail, I know. But Manchester City Council was grappling with the reality of the coalition government’s austerity plan.

Introduced in April 2011, it meant slashing spending by a quarter – youth services were cut, libraries and swimming pools closed. Around that time the council cooked up a deal to attract a US tech firm to the city. By early 2013 a company called Eon Reality, which specialises in 3D technology, was launching its European HQ at One Central Park, a council-owned office block in Newton Heath.

Details of the deal were not revealed at the time but it was clear a big sweetener was involved. For a few years now the terms have been available in Eon’s accounts. The council gave a GRANT of £1.8m – that’s essentially free money – and a LOAN of £2.2m at a relatively low interest rate of 7%. About £1.1m is outstanding and was due to be repaid in August.

So that’s £4m when frontline services were being heavily cut back. The council, led by famed dealmaker Sir Howard Bernstein at the time, was clearly trying to speculate to accumulate. The plan was to create jobs with as many as 240 promised, improve skills (a coding school planned to train 100 people a year) and attract other tech businesses to the city. The grant is linked to job creation targets and has to be paid back if they aren’t met.

Those targets have already been missed and the deadline pushed back. Eon is losing money and its auditors now say there’s a “material uncertainty” over its future. That’s accountancy-speak for "it might not be able to continue".

Its accounts for the year to December 2017 have just been filed, six months late. Here are some of the highlights:

- Management expects to “right-size” the company to improve cashflow and profitability – so job losses, rather than new jobs.

-   It’ll reduce outstanding obligations with creditors – sounds like renegotiate or write-off debts

-   Extend credit terms with suppliers -- delay payment to suppliers

-   It can get financial help from the US parent, but the US parent will need to raise the cash from investors – it doesn’t have the money right now

-   Rent to the council was reduced from September 2018 to May 2019

-   It has a new deadline of March 2021 to hit the jobs number, but it’ll miss an intermediate target next March

-   Managing director Ken Swain resigned in December

It ain’t pretty – cutbacks, job losses, debt write-offs (that could have a direct impact on the money owed to your council). It’s all a far cry from the original intention. I appreciate that cities have to cut deals, and it’s competitive out there, but why is there so little transparency of the process? Why was there never an opportunity to scrutinise that decision to commit £4m at a public council meeting?

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Council supports Highfield homes plan

April 3, 2019

Councillors have been advised to approve a controversial plan for 57 houses on the edge of Highfield Country Park.

That's despite widespread opposition from lots of residents and all three Levenshulme councillors.

They're concerned about the loss of green space, the impact on Highfield and pressure on roads and services from extra residents.

The developer, Stockport-based Towerhouse Systems, wants to use four acres off Cringle Road previously occupied by Shores Fold Community Farm.

The plan was refused by the council in 2017, and dismissed at appeal but now Towerhouse is promising 20% affordable homes and £60,000 of improvements to Highfield, such as new benches and paths.

The original appeal decision said the scheme would result in the loss of open space and recreation land. But council planning officers argue there was no objection to the principle of development - the stumbling block was suitable mitigation. Towerhouse's £60,000 appears to have done the trick, but will it sway councillors on the planning committee when they meet on April 11?

You can read the full report here. It's item number nine

None of the Levenshulme councillors sit on the committee, but Burnage's Ben Clay does.

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The councillors who fall behind on council tax

April 1, 2019

Council tax goes up 5.1% today in Manchester - that's a decision made by the city's councillors every year.

But some of those councillors need a bit of encouragement to pay up themselves.

A freedom of information request (anyone can do one, and it's especially easy with Whatdotheyknow) revealed that four of Manchester's 96 councillors needed reminder letters in the 2018-19 payment year.

You get a reminder if you miss a monthly payment. If you miss two you get a court summons.

In this case two councillors paid up after the first letter, but the other two received court summons.

The court granted liability orders which give the council the power to use bailiffs to seize assets. At this point the two councillors settled their bills.

Under the Local Government Finance Act councillors who have missed two months can be barred from voting on the budget - and determining the rate of council tax.

The council said no one was barred because the debts were cleared by February.

It refused to give the names of the two who received reminders, and one of those whose case went to court. No reason was given for just naming one person (it's not a Levenshulme councillor).

I've asked for more clarity from the council and as things stand it doesn't seem fair to single out one person. I've asked them for an explanation too.

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What's your MP's latest position on Brexit?

There's a big Brexit protest in London today - March 23 - calling for another referendum.

It follows a few weeks of high drama - all those votes in Parliament, and the EU agreeing to a postponement till either April 12 or May 22.

So what's Labour MP Afzal Khan been voting for?

In the string of votes in mid-March he:

Was against Theresa May's deal.

Was in favour of delaying Brexit by three months.

Was against leaving without a deal.

Was absent for a vote backing a second referendum.

So, at this stage Afzal is following Corbyn's plans despite a rift at the top of Labour over the issue of a second referendum.

All the info on voting can be found at Theyworkforyou.com.

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The full SP on the old TSB

A bar called Overdraught could be up and running at the old TSB on Stockport Road by next month.

Martha Winder - pictured with her fiance Dominic at the former bank - is behind the venture. She has a business called Draught Manchester and is about to open her first bar in Prestwich - called First Draught.

She answered a few questions on her plans...

Why Levenshulme?

Aside from links to the local area - I'm engaged to a chap who has lived his whole life here and works behind the bar at the Blue Bell - Levenshulme is a fantastic place to put down roots. There are so many people doing so many great things here at the moment and I'm excited to have the opportunity to be a part of that.

All the great projects are attracting so many people to the area, and the transport links make it an attractive place to both start a business and live, as I do.

What stage are you at?

After months of negotiations and applications with the council, we have just agreed and signed the lease with the landlord and have secured our alcohol licence and change of use.

There's an awful lot of construction to be done to get us there, which will begin in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, we have another, smaller bar opening on Bury New Road in Prestwich - called First Draught - which should be open before the end of March.

What's your idea for the bar?

We want to provide a chilled, fun atmosphere for adults to enjoy high quality produce. We will specialise in draught beer and are installing a number of keg lines to give our customers an incredible selection, with an extensive bottle collection to accompany this.

We will also have coffee, cocktails, pastries, cake and ice cream. We aren't going to run a kitchen ourselves, but have spoken to a few street food vendors about organising some pop-ups.

During the day, we want to be a fantastic place to sit and enjoy a coffee and a cake, and in the evening a quality beer or cocktail into the later hours. We have no plans to put on any live - or even loud - music, but I'd like to organise some community events such as quizzes, meet the brewer evenings or game nights.

When do you hope to be up and running?

The current plan is to open by the end of April - just in time for summer to experiment with adding some ice cream cocktail milkshakes to the menu!

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What’s going on with the land next to Tony’s?

What’s happening with that big piece of land, slap bang in the middle of Levenshulme?

You know the one - next to Tony's barbers, opposite Tesco.

It's been vacant for more than a decade, and was once the site of The Grand cinema. (You can find some great pics on the Levyboy website).

Helen Power, who gave Levenshulme Market a new lease of life after the council pulled out, thinks it could be put to good use.

"My aim would be to look into developing a community land trust - typically those are used to develop genuinely affordable housing for local people but the intention of a trust is that the community would own the land and decide on an appropriate use collectively.

"All that would be a long way off though. It would rely very heavily the land owners agreeing to sell collectively."

There are two parcels of land, the bit to the left of Tony's which is owned by the council and the larger plot on the other side. That's owned by the Catholic church and seven years ago it was part of a big retail and residential redevelopment encompassing St Mary's Church and Atlas Engineering Works on Chapel Street.

Land owned by the church

That plan stalled and Atlas was eventually taken on by Mulbury Homes which has now completely demolished the old building - the earlier designs retained its curvy-roofed facade.

The Catholic Diocese of Salford told me that it was still working on future uses, but the statement was a little opaque. "The diocese is continuing to work closely with all the owners of land in the area in order to improve the area for the community as a whole."

Surely the church would be open to the idea of affordable housing? In the diocese's most recent accounts, covering 2017, Bishop John Arnold says: "… we must see how best the Catholic Church can serve not only Catholics in our parish communities but other people across the region."

Available reserves - including cash in the bank, less liabilities - were £32.5m, enough to run the diocese for two years.

Land owned by the council - two of the marked buildings no longer exist. Tony’s is number 913, below the blue block.

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How much do academy bosses earn?

How much do the top brass running academies in the Levenshulme area get paid?

A number of recently-filed accounts covering last year reveal the answer.

The Altius Trust runs MEA Central in Lytham Road as well as the Manchester Enterprise Academy in Wythenshawe.

The trust's former chief executive - and principal of the Wythenshaw school - James Eldon, was on £144,400, plus a pension of £22,100.

He left in the summer to join the Manchester Academy in Moss Side, which is run by Peterborough-based United Learning.

Pay and pensions for the whole management team at Altius Trust topped £1m.

Bright Futures Educational Trust has eight schools including Cedar Mount in Gorton and Stanley Grove primary in Longsight. It is based in Altrincham and was set up by Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.

It continues to operate under a Financial Notice to Improve, issued by the Education Funding Agency in 2016, over its financial position and financial management.

Chief executive John Stephens is on about £145,000, plus £30,000 in pension

Burnage Academy is a single school trust running Burnage Academy for Boys. In September Ofsted described it as outstanding.

Headteacher Ian Fenn is on about £125,000, plus pension of £20-25,000.

To put this into perspective, the director of eduction at Manchester City Council, responsible for all council-run schools, is on about £120,000, plus a £20,000 pension.

Academies can set their own pay. MPs have previously expressed concern over excessive rates, and in 2017 the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) wrote to 29 single academy trusts where a trustee was paid more than £150,000, requesting justification.

What is an academy school?

Funded directly by the government, rather than through a local education authority

Overseen by charitable bodies known as academy trusts which may have more than one school.

Control their own admissions process and can opt out of the National Curriculum

Originated under Labour, aimed to improve struggling schools, primarily in deprived areas.

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The time one of Hendrix's guitars went missing Levenshulme

 In an episode of Marc Riley’s A-Z of Psychedelia on 6 Music he tells an intriguing story of how one of Jimi Hendrix’s old guitars went missing in Levenshulme. In the late 1960s Hendrix was on tour with Soft Machine and he gave a blonde Gibson acoustic to band member Kevin Ayers. About 40 years later Ayers was playing at the Klondyke promoting his 2007 album The Unfairground.

 Marc Riley takes up the story…

 “I was at the gig… Somebody pinched the guitar, a 16-year-old lad, we all looked for it, all around the grounds and didn’t realise that this guitar had so much prominence and was so important to Kevin. Tim his manager came in, was in a panic, we all had a look for it, couldn’t find it. Bless him, the 16-year-old, who nicked it, had a pang of guilt. He was walking through Levenshulme, which can be a bit fruity at midnight on Saturday, with this guitar. Thankfully, before anyone else bigger than him got hold of him, he came back to the club and gave it back.

 “It was only the day later, Tim rung me up and said “you don’t really realise what happened last night – that guitar did once belong to Jimi Hendrix and was probably worth £100,000 – or whatever…”