The Destruction of Moston

[Moston Martyr]

My Community Decimated by Greed and Social Engineering

http://moston-martyr.blogspot.com

[celeste]

Arthur Chappell lives in Moston, and is best qualified to reply to you, we also have a member - Moston - on here, joined 2006

[RAB]

...perhaps some of it will eventually become regenerated like parts of Lower Kersal ? 

http://www.manchester-forum.co.uk/index.php/topic,1087.0.html

http://www.rics.org/NR/rdonlyres/5FD89D3F-799F-4590-A64A-F622A898E604/0/SpottheGrot.pdf

[celeste]

I have watched the video and feel sad for you and what has become of your beloved hometown, and I know I would feel the same if it happened to mine.  When you have a council that gets voted in year after a year, compacency can set in, I don't know who your local council representatives are but perhaps they would listen to a petition - ghettos have set a dangerous precedent, and I agree that  the BNP thrive on this sort of situation.

I am interested to know what Arthur's input is going to be on this, but I do hand it to you for going to the effort of making the video, which is very impressive, regards celeste

[RAB]

I think you need to have  a clear idea of exactly what you would do to improve the situation, with a healthy mix of property types and infrastructure
Given the restrictions posed by some council-owned housing stock as well as some private houses, which can, perfectly legitimately, be sold off on the open market to private landlords, there might be a need to allow market forces as well as plenty of council-controlled rental properties

Compulsory purchase orders can be made in certain cases, but even with a future plan for urban redevelopment in place it may not be as easy as it seems to finance, let alone justify, such operations ?

Do you want to see new houses, for private clients, or perhaps some revamped houses sold off to those with money and good jobs as in the case over to the North West in parts of L. Kersal, or do you want to see sheltered housing plus some houses for the local population to the exclusion of private buyers ?
What is the plan aimed to result in ?
If you exclude the private buyers you are possibly setting up more ghetto's for the locally disadvantaged or low income groups ?
Also why should you exclude refugees and immigrants from taking their place in the scheme of things ?
 

It is a characteristic policy through the history of Britain to allow and even encourage foreign labour onto these shores, many of those low wage immigrants will gravitate towards areas in decay and typically will eventually be replaced by a more successful type with greater entrepreneurial skills !!

[celeste]

It's a way of life that has completely vanished and he misses it and feels helpless because nothing was done to stop it - and he is right to dislike the emergence of ghettos, and the fear that this could become the norm for other inner city suburbs

[RAB]

...I was always taught that it is better to think what you need to make something better than it is than to simply lament the current state of affairs, however deplorable !! 

[celeste]

you mean try and be constructive?

[RAB]

I can understand the feeling of sadness when neighbourhoods decay and nothing is seen to be done to make a long-term difference
It seems that many 'soaps' home-in on these stereotypical local communuities and some even manage to gloryify the horrendous living conditions and urban malaise

What annoys me is the politicians who casually state that they will only start to worry when the immigrants and refugees don't want to come here because they can't see any opportunities 

...but yes !! look on the bright side, there is always an opportunity of some sort !!

[Moston Martyr]

To try and solve 'Moston's Demise' with more of the same 'Free Market' nonsense with a complete disregard for Community, Culture, and ties that bind, is naive at best - plain inhumane at worst.

Moston has been destroyed as a community by an evil cocktail of the 'Free Market Landlords' hand in hand with the Odious Marxism of The New Labourites in Manchester Town Hall.  The ordinary Folk of Moston didn't stand a chance...

When all the Liberal/Left luvvies finally start to realise what exactly the results of their 'Social Engineering' are, We might actually be able to take back Communities and give our children decent, safe places to live again.

It is a characteristic policy through the history of Britain to allow and even encourage foreign labour onto these shores, many of those low wage immigrants will gravitate towards areas in decay and typically will eventually be replaced by a more successful type with greater entrepreneurial skills !!

Immigration has not been a 'Characteristic Policy' of the ordinary working people of Britain, rather a State Sponsored policy of the Ruling Classes/Bosses - usually for reasons of Cheap Labour and to weaken Unions. Working class communities like Moston haven't benefitted from Immigration, only suffered and eventually been replaced.  We've never been asked if we wanted it - just had it hoisted upon us!

[RAB]

I think most of Manchester's small townships and villages grew from originally  rural settlements with just a few large homes, built by the locally wealthy families, into larger communities, following the industrial revolution, where later expansion by free market forces led to dwellings and infrastructure such as shops and churches hospitals etcetera

Now the industry has changed or departed leaving an area of urban decline, this must have been repeated all over Britain and no doubt has caused great anguish to locals who have witnessed 'the rot' setting in

What is your answer and does anyone have an action plan to tackle the natural decay and wasteage thereof ? 

[arthurchappell]

I live in Moston as Celeste observed earlier in the thread. It is rather sad to see so many houses and shops we loved of old closed down, and left to the vandals.  I'm not sure if the immigrant population coming into the town are ading to the threat at all as they are bringing shops and small businesses into the area. The video makes a few nods to the BNP, which is disturbing. Moston has mainly suffered from lack of realistic development. While streets are given superficial lampost hanging baskets and Broadhurst Park has recieved something of a cosmetic make over, many small businesses have recieved no support and public transport in Moston is awful - the area has problems with latch-key kids and car crime is common, The mess that was once Northampton Road is incredible - my old School was there, Moton Brook, and Monsall Hospital - now it is the centre of alargely deserted college campus and likely to becoming an industrial trading estate instead.

The Asian communities are no threat - if anything they are victims of the system - employed mostly through temping agencies who will lay them off without notice, forced to work for the national minimum wage (or less) with no union rights or a chance to take a case to tribunals - their exploitation weakens the indiginous working population too, and many blame them through racist slur ratherthan seeingthe capitalists as playing the community against itself - - the racist myth that the asians were stealing all our jobs is actuallybeing used by politicians to divide and conquer communities - if the racial and religious groups in ourt communities turn oneach other, they are not likely to unite against he common foe - the system - xenophobia is a dangerous tiger to let loose in such a way but it seems to be what our politicians are doing - especialy with the fear of terrorism in the post 9/11 era.  Moston stillhas a lot to offer the world and it is not too late for the town to recover its former glory.

[RAB]

Without huge grants from the central Manchester government you cannot expect the borough council departments to fund necessary repairs to council-owned housing stock in Moston in particular

We need to know how much housing (percentage-wise) is council owned in the first place, and what funds are potentially available to provide even the most basic repairs to provide a 'decent homes' programme (let alone expensive regeneration plans)

'Public-private partnerships' are now being actively pursued across the country to help finance local regeneration and infrastructure facilities in many local districts, and even these attract much criticism from ordinary members of the public who do not like to see change and new plans, which they feel are being operated without proper and due consultation with ordinary folk who have to live with them

I don't think it is either simple or easy to 'name and shame' those at fault, but agree that Council plans are not easily influenced by the typically rudimentary consultation meetings, and are often decided beforehand (by those in power) with only a token gesture at involving 'the public at large', via statutory planning application consent requirements
  

[juliska]

I live in Moston, I moved to this area in 1999 and I have mixed views about it's decline. I remember when I moved here many of the terraces close by were being sold for £8,000 they were boarded up and nobody really wanted to know them, steadily the prices started to creep up and people started to invest and re-furb them so the street are looking better for it. Trees are being planted, hanging baskets are being put up, 20mph speed limits being imposed on streets. In the part where I live things are alot quieter than when we moved here, problem families have moved out and not near as many cars speeding aound which is all good. I do know there are still alot of problems to address, bad bus services, crime, boarded up houses.
The immigrants have taken over Moston Lane but it is not there fault that is the council.

[celeste]

what did you think of the video Juliska?