By GMHA (@gmhousingaction)

 

You may be aware that at the June meeting of Manchester City Council's Planning & Highways Committee, there was a shock defeat for local councillors and residents who have been opposing the erection of a glass shard of luxury housing on the corner of Shudehill and Back Turner Street.

It was widely expected that the proposal would fail for a third time. Not only hadSalboys - development arm of billionnaire bookmaker Fred Done - ADDED three storeys to a building previously rejected for being too tall, they had made no concessions whatsoever regarding the demand for affordable housing.

You can read this blog about the scheme and watch the proceedings here. You will see passionate representations from local residents and councillors, and silence from the 8 committee members who then voted for it, outweighing the 5 votes against.

GMHA was dismayed to realise that individual votes are not recorded in the minutes of the Planning & Highways Commitee, while the camera resolution is too low to see who raises their hand. We made sure to dig out the answers as we believe members of such an important committee should be held accountable for their decisions.

The Fred Done tower is an important and symbolic test case for a council which insists it is shifting away from unsustainable 'development at all costs' and solving, rather than perpetuating, the affordable housing crisis.

 

HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN!

1. Sign this petition
2. Email a version of this letter to the named local councillor if you live in one of the following areas, or contact all any friends who do:

• Cheetham - Cllr Shaukat Ali
• Crumpsall - Cllr Nasrin Ali & Cllr Fiaz Riasat (2 letters)
• Gorton & Abbey Hey - Cllr Afia Kamal
• Moston - Cllr Yasmine Dar
• Rusholme - Cllr Jill Lovecy
• Sharston - Cllr Madeleine Monaghan
• Whalley Range - Cllr Mary Watson

 

Please forward replies from the councillors to gmhousingaction@gmail.com

 

 

Thanks for taking action! Together let's create the city we want to live in.

 

 

25 July 2019

 

Relevant reading.. Last year our investigation into financialisation highlighted a murky world where details of land deals between local authorities and developers were difficult to trace and failing to be democratically scrutinised. In this update report on developments in Manchester city centre over the last year, the authors assess whether anything has changed. For a summary, see their GMHA blog.