Trees not Cars by John Wilkins

.– a victory for the people

I GOT an e-mail today that lifted my spirits. It asked me to tell my friends about the success of a campaign to stop Manchester City Council turning derelict land (formerly a retail park) into a 440 space car park.

Well done to all the people of Ancoats and others who had who started to turn this derelict land into green open space for adults and children to use. The campaign called 'Trees not Cars' petitioned the Council with over 12,000 signatories supporting it.

Trees Not Cars have won a judicial review against Manchester City Council, blocking them from using the former Central Retail Park as a temporary 440-space car park next to the city centre's only primary school.

 

It marks a major victory for “a grassroots community group that has campaigned tirelessly for over 18 months to stop the plans which completely ignored the impact on air pollution in an attempt to force the plans through.”

In finding in favour of 'Trees not Cars' the review found that Manchester Council had:

• Failed to consider the impact of air quality on the local area around Ancoats

• ​Failed to consider the impact of building a polluting 440-space car park next to the only primary school in Manchester city centre.

 

• Was unlawful in that the Council recommended planning approval based on the wrong information, the wrong air quality assessment, and traffic analysis.

 

Manchester Council was represented by a team of lawyers led by Christopher Katkowski QC, a London-based barrister  said to be  one of the leading planning specialists in the country.  Katkowski is an advisor to Boris Johnson痴 Government and  architect  behind the Government’s proposed controversial new planning laws that would see sweeping changes to the planning system.

The campaign is now calling for the council to reopen their development framework for the 10 acre site to genuine community input. Trees Not Cars, following their legal victory, have reiterated their call that the Council “must now include significant green space and affordable housing on the site.”

The Council seemed to think the money they would have raised from turning the land into a large car park was more important than residents well being. As well as a victory for the environment it can now be a pleasant open space for local people, many of whom live in high rise buildings!

 

Despite the excessive amount of money the Council has put into defending their actions they lost. It should give encouragement to us that if enough people speak out then they can effect change.

Sorry Sir Richard Leese the people have spoken!

Read more @ https://tinyurl.com/y6v5a46m

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Manchester LibDem Boss Upbraids NV on Critique

 BELOW John Leech, the leader of the 

LibDems on Greater Manchester Council,

queries Northern Voices, over its criticism of Andy

Kelly and the LibDem opposition on the Labour 

dominated Rochdale Council. 

Dear Brian

I would have thought that this is something you ought to be taking up with Rochdale Labour Councillors, who have given Cllr Rana this role. I am also not sure what you are suggesting in relation to Cllr Andy Kelly. He has an excellent attendance record at Council, and I think has only missed one Council meeting in 8 years. I know from personal experience that it is very tough to attend everything when you are the only Councillor, and I think that Cllr Kelly has done an excellent job of holding the Labour Council to account.

Kind regards

John Leech

Mancunian One-Party States?

  "Supermajority Problem Councils"

TODAY, the Liberal Democrats at their Autumn Conference in Brighton passed a motion attempting to deal with what they call 'supermajority problem councils', such as Manchester's virtual one-party state.

The motion called for Single Transferable Vote at all local elections and for all council meetings to be streamed live on the internet - a recent source of great controversy in Manchester when leader Richard Leese twice banned opposition questions about a councillor under police investigation and the live streaming was mysteriously pulled off air.

The LibDem 'Power for People and Communities' motion gave councillors the right to hold service providers to account, strengthen transparency and planning rules and abolish Police and Crime Commissioners.

In 2014, Manchester Council became a total one-party state with every one of the 96 councillors being Labour, and with many branding it 'unhealthy'.  Liberal Democrats have since made a comeback with former Manchester Withington MP John Leech leading the opposition.

 The LibDems say that this policy proposal will strengthen scrutiny on councils like Manchester, disabling them from becoming a one-party state and ensuring council meetings are always publicly viewable. 

Liberal Democrat Communities Spokesperson Greg Stanton said:

'Manchester is a textbook case of what happens when a party gets a super majority elected under an outdated electoral system; opposition questions are banned, live-streams mysteriously stop working, contractors are not held to account, decisions made behind closed doors and everyone passes the buck.
'I'm delighted this motion has passed and will lay the foundation to tackling supermajority problem councils like Manchester.'

This decision specifically referred to Manchester City but it could also be applied to other councils in the Greater Manchester area such as Rochdale and Tameside.. 

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'NO SHAME!' Cuts for us, rises for them!

'You ought to be ashamed of yourselves' - Cuts to vital local services but 52% pay rise for Labour’s 'Strategic Communications Director'

PRESS STATEMENT FROM Liberal Democrats
Office of John Leech

MANCHESTER Council's Strategic Communications Director is set to receive a staggering pay rise of nearly 29% just 18 months after an 18% pay rise.

John Leech has hit out at Manchester City Council today as it awarded its chief spin doctor another staggering pay rise just 18 months after an above-inflation pay rise.

Just 18 months ago the Labour Council waved through pay rises of up to 60% for 11 posts, including the Head of Strategic Communications which saw a healthy 18% pay rise.

Now it is being regraded and re-designated to become the Director of Strategic Communications with another pay rise of up to an eye-watering 29%.

This means, in just over a year, Manchester Labour have hiked the post's pay by up to 52% at a time when vital services are cut.

In a heated statement, the city's sole opposition member, John Leech, told the town hall:

"This council has let countless staff go, told other staff that they have to make do with a 1% pay increase and claimed to local residents it cannot fund vital local services.

"But the grim reality is, when this Council wants to, it can find enough money for almost anything - not least of course when it comes to awarding the person responsible for making the Council look good a stomach-turning pay rise of up to 52%.

"For a council that claims poverty and blames Government cuts every single time I suggest taking on vulnerable refugee children or tackling the homeless crisis, the ability to find money for vanity projects and endless pay rises for top bosses is beyond impressive.

"You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

Ends

Working Class Heroes with nothing to do

Spikymike on libcom

Jan 16 2018 18:15

Not unsurprisingly this split in the AF has attracted some unwanted interest from other of the tiny groups claiming their place in the anarchist and communist milieu - from some confused sympathy for the 'Communist Anarchism' element by members of the SPGB to outright hostility towards both sides of the split and plain nastiness from the sectarians of the 'Northern Voices' outcasts, well known for their regular misinformation and lies directed at other anarchists. Not much sign here of cooperatively tapping in to any 'collective knowledge'.

INEVITABLY Christopher Draper's witty account of the decline and fall of the rather pretentiously labelled 'Anarchist Federation',  has stirred-up some chat room types who once spent their lives seeking out left-wing 'talking shops' in pub rooms.  Michael Ballard, who on libcom uses the pseudonym 'Spikymike'  and has lived in south Manchester for years, originates from the London-set and is one such figure.  He seems to have moved to the Midlands as a student and later settled down into  a career at Manchester City Council, ultimately rising through the incremental scales to ultimately reach the heights of Housing Manager.

Mr Ballard was very much a white-collar worker who fetishize the working class from afar.  He solemnly pontificates upon what he pretentiously describes as 'the anarchist and communist milieu'.  Milieu according to one dictionary means 'the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops'.  

Yet just now it's easy to see that something has 'occur[ed] and develop[ed]', with everything falling apart and with the Anarchist London Bookfair organisers throwing up their hands despair rather than risk another disaster like last year with the feminist constituency and the Trans community disputing with each other over the who has the right to use of the 'Ladies' toilets.

Mr. Ballard, who although now retired was always anxious to protect his status as a housing manager, has never been at the centre of any action in Greater Manchester.  Though, he talks here of the 'anarchist milieu', he has never described himself as an 'anarchist' and he usually hangs around meetings pontificating on the actions of others:  like the Manchester electricians fighting the blacklist who he challenged for their lack of consciousness of the 'class struggle' as a bit of a boss himself he knows all about 'class struggle'.  Normally, these people represent an interesting 'type' who want to preserve their double life, often have very little to do with themselves, and on a recent thread Ballard has described himself as 'a loner' reduced to putting comments on libcom.

Yet, the fall out which followed with Nick Heath's 'Anarchist Fed.' splitting up, was a natural consequence of the slippage in Mr. Heath's strangle-hold on the federation, after several provincial sections took unilateral action supporting the trans-sexuals faction by signing open letters, and denouncing the feminists and the bookfair organisers.   

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Manchester Mears Group Strike explained

NV Editorial comment on Mears dispute:  Dave Smith, joint secretary of the Blacklist Support Group, wrote to a shop steward involved in the strike at Mears Group plc [see e-mail below].  Mears is a housing repair and maintenance body.  The Mears workers walked out in a strike over pay and conditions, begining with a 48-hour stoppage on the 16th, November 2017.  Some  180 Unite members who work at Mears in Manchester and at 'Manchester Working', a joint venture organisation operated by Mears, voted in favour of industrial action in a ballot last in October 2017.  The affected employees undertake housing maintenance work across 12,000 properties managed by the housing association Northwards, via a contract tendered by Manchester council.
The dispute seems to be complicated by the fact that  Manchester City Council was in the process of breaking up the joint venture company and much of the workforce has been TUPE – [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations] transferred to Mears.In the run-up to the TUPE transfer in January 2017, Mears reneged on a previous commitment to tackle pay differentials.  In the run-up to the TUPE transfer in January 2017, Mears reneged on a previous commitment to tackle pay differentials.  
The new contract the Mears workforce are expected to follow demands a more flexible approach to shift working, additional working hours and days as well as greater use of technology, without any real increase in pay.  Mears is also seeking to introduce a ‘productivity procedure’ which is effectively a ‘sackers charter’ and has been pressurising the workforce into accepting poorer conditions regarding sick pay and vehicle policies.
 Even before the collapse of Carillion, the workforce was disappointed with the attitude of Manchester City Council, which was aware of the ongoing problems at Manchester Working but went ahead with the TUPE process regardless.

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Hi people,

SEE below email from the steward at Mears who are building workers in Manchester who have been on strike for the past 8 weeks now.   I've only just really heard about the dispute, so forgive me if its a really big deal up in the North West..  Any chance some of you guys contacting him and hopefully organizing some solidarity?

Dave

Hi Dave,

Unfortunately, Brother we are still very much out.

We are in our 7th week of a 12 week Strike Action with work only being undertaken on a Wednesday. This is our second wave of action in the same dispute.  Back in May 2017 we had our first 12 week strike that ended in 24/7 action against the companies MWL (a JVC) and Mears.

Any show of Solidarity is food for our members here in Manchester, be it a financial donation or just a message of support to remind us we are not alone.  This has been a difficult Winter for all involved in the action with Christmas falling within the period of action.  Truly a testing time for our members, there spouses and dependants.

Our Fighting Fund has helped releave the pressure on many of our younger members who are sole income householders woth young families and large mortgages.

One of my fellow Workplace Reps William Sinclair became a victim of Blacklisting here in Manchester back in the day.  He tells me how he had to find alternative employment away from the Building Trade at that time. Appalling.

Your Solidarity is greatly appreciated Dave and any monies raised will continue to go to those members in need to help bolster our resolve and prevent any considerations of a return to work through hardship. Our fund details are....

UCATT UD.393 Manchester 1st Branch

Sort Code  60-83-01

Account no.  46034412

Col Pitt

07930276010

Manchester Housing Plan or 'Social Cleansing'

One Man Liberal Democrat Opposition: Cllr. John Leech

MANCHESTER Council has been accused of social cleansing* as it refuses to guarantee affordable homes in a development involving up to 2,500 houses.
Today (20th, Jan. 2017), in another of Manchester's heated council meetings, the sole opposition member, Liberal Democrat John Leech, unravelled the council's plans to build 2,500 homes in the city centre, not a single one of which is guaranteed to be affordable.
The Manchester North development, recently approved without a single Labour councillor questioning the lack of affordable homes, is one of several large developments in the city.  Yet not a single one of the proposed homes is certain to be affordable.  This plan has now been labeled 'Labour-style social cleansing.'
When the sole opposition councilor, Lib Dem. John Leech asked Councillor Bernard Priest if he could guarantee that any of the 2,500 homes would be affordable.  Mr Priest said he 'could not give that guarantee'.
Councillor Priest added that he 'anticipated the council would continue to be led by Labour politicians for a considerable number of years', but still wouldn't commit to making any of the 2,500 new homes affordable.
The Liberal Democrat councillor John Leech, has challenged the proposals, accusing the council of 'Labour-style social cleansing based on who can afford to live in the most desirable parts of the city.'
He said:  'This council continues to put profit before people. It is unacceptable that so many people have got their life on hold while this council continues to prioritise expensive houses for sale and making profit from land instead of genuinely affordable homes.'
As South Manchester's MP of ten years, John Leech, criticised decisions in 2013 when plots in Chorlton on Darley Avenue for 86 homes were sold off by the council to private companies for profit, rather than saved for affordable housing.

Councilor Leech then added: 
'This city is in desperate need of good quality, genuinely affordable family homes near existing public transport links and infrastructure, and we need to start taking this seriously. To build 2,500 new unaffordable houses is an insult to the 14,000 people currently on waiting lists across the city.
'If this council is committed to building genuinely affordable homes then why are they refusing to guarantee even one of these 2,500 houses will be affordable?
'This council put effort into help for first-time buyers but has shown little interest in affordable homes to rent. Why, in a development as large as these in West Didsbury and the City Centre, should not a single home, not one, be up for affordable rent?
'We need a balance of affordable homes to rent and buy across all of our communities in the whole of this city, not a Labour-style social cleansing based on who can afford to live in the most desirable parts.'
 The councillor, who was on fierce form despite receiving a barrage of personal comments and mocking from the 95 strong Labour group, also criticised the council for recently approving a housing development on Cavendish Road, West Didsbury without insisting on any houses being available for affordable rent.

*  Social cleansing (Spanish: limpieza social) is class-based killing that consists of elimination of members of society considered "undesirable," including but not limited to the homeless, criminals, street children, the elderly, sex workers, and sexual minorities^{[clarification needed]}.^[1][2][3] This phenomenon is caused by a combination of economic and social factors, but killings are notably present in regions with high levels of poverty and disparities of wealth.^[1][4] Perpetrators are usually of the same community as the victims and are often motivated by the idea that the victims are a drain on the resources of society.

Trade Unionists in Uproar over Council Pay Rise

TRADE UNIONISTS, at  last Saturday's meeting of the Greater Manchester County Association of Trade Union Councils, were spitting blood about the decision last month to agree a rise in Councillor's allowances of some 34% at the Rochdale full council meeting.  The feeling was that this plays into the hands of Ukip and is a kick in the teeth to  the trade unions and rank and file workers. 
A delegate from Manchester TUC said that he thought the councilors generally were so cynical that other Councils like Manchester City Council would have rubber-stamped the rise in the same way as the Rochdale councilors did.
It seems that local politicians round here are on a race to the top, which most of the rest of us are on a race to the bottom.  Not only do we have Simon Danczuk MP for Rochdale, almost boasting about coining-in his expenses, but he has also a side-line with a photographic company FameFlynet Pictures to grab more. 
Now, according to  Lib Dem activist, David Hennigan; the Rochdale Council Leader and cynic-in-Chief Richard Farnell, has told his Council Group that people will 'forget this very quickly' Is there an unholy alliance on Rochdale Council with the Tories voting with the Labour Party on the race to the top in councilor's stipends?
Not all Tories it seems are in agreement with what's going on and Rob McLean, a Conservative member in Healey has come up with the idea of writing to all councillors in the Borough with a list of questions. See: http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/107424/pressure-increases-on-councillors-to-justify-34pc-allowance-increase
Meanwhile, Dave Hennigan writes:  'As you may or may not know - the Lib Dems in this Borough are leading the campaign against this.  You can sign our petition' : here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-34-rmbc-councillor-s-allowance-rise-until-reduction-of-councilors