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Police appeal for witnesses to brawl and attempted robbery at Manchester festival

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 17th July 2023

Police are appealing for witnesses and information after an attempted robbery at a music event in Manchester over the weekend.

A brawl is said to have broken out near one of the stages at Mvson World, a house music festival that took place at Barton Aerodrome.

Five people were injured in the incident at around 8pm on Saturday 15 July, but their injuries aren’t believed to be life-changing or life-threatening.

The men behind the fight are believed to have left shortly afterwards, through the main entry into the event.

They are thought to have headed onto Liverpool Road and turned left.

Officers are now investigating the reports of attempted robbery, and appealing for witnesses to come forward with any information.

Detective Inspector Kellie Lawson, of GMP’s Salford district, said: “We are currently pursuing multiple lines of enquiry and are building a comprehensive timeline of events.

“This was a shocking incident at an event in which were people were there to enjoy themselves – and we are doing what we can to find those responsible.

“I would ask anyone who saw anything last night to please get in touch with us. I would also ask anyone nearby who may have dashcam, doorbell or CCTV footage, to contact us.

“You can do this by calling us on 0161 856 5049 or 101, quoting log number 3149 of 15/7/23 . Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

News

Authorities prepare to ‘turn the tide’ on Greater Manchester’s housing crisis

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant New build houses

Greater Manchester is preparing to ‘turn the tide’ on its housing crisis by building new homes and protecting renters.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has set out its comprehensive plan to connect communities to new jobs and opportunities, drive up standards across the rental sector, and build new homes – with the latter helping to fulfil its Housing First ambition give everyone access to a ‘safe, secure, and affordable’ home by 2038.  

This week has already seen a ‘renewed focus’ on driving up housing standards thanks to the naming of the first supporters of Greater Manchester’s bold new Good Landlord Charter.

New analysis also shows that GMCA’s Brownfield Housing Fund, which was set up in 2020, has already provided grants to deliver more than 15,000 homes, with an average of just over 45% being affordable housing.

But, there’s still a long way to go.

GMCA says those recent successes will not stand alone, but rather support plans to deliver more social housing than is lost across the region. 

Unlocking brownfield land is what authorities claim is the key to turning the tide on the housing crisis, as since its inception in 2020, as mentioned, Greater Manchester has invested a whopping £135.4 million from the Brownfield Housing Fund to redevelop underused brownfield land, which ultimately delivered thousands of new homes.

It’s anticipated that further funding allocations will come in the summer to supplement those already approved and in the works.

GMCA is also using the power of Mayoral Development Corporations (MDC) – which are statutory bodies set up by the Mayor Andy Burnham, designed to speed up development and attract investment within a specific area – to unlock regeneration opportunities, as these ‘pioneering’ tools bring together local partners and drive forward the authority’s ambitions to build new homes, bring jobs and investment, and support economic growth.  

Houses
Authorities are preparing to ‘turn the tide’ on Greater Manchester’s housing crisis / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)

Some of these MDCs currently include Old Trafford (part of the proposed Western Gateway Mayoral Development Zone), the expanded Stockport MDC, and the Northern Gateway MDC (part of Atom Valley).

Together, these three alone are expected to deliver 27,250 homes over the next 15 years to help address the housing crisis. 

“If we are serious about securing the long-term success of Greater Manchester, we need to free ourselves from the grip of the housing crisis,” commented Mayor Andy Burnham.

“Because of the decisions we’ve taken, Greater Manchester is now building more affordable homes than at any point since the turn of the millennium. We need to keep building on that momentum until we reach a tipping point where we build more social homes than we lose.

Read more:

“We’re determined to ensure that every person in Greater Manchester has access to the safe and secure home they need in order to thrive.” 

Featured Image – James Feaver (via Unsplash)

News

‘Dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture goes on public display in Greater Manchester after fears it was lost

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A long-lost masterpiece of Victorian silverwork has been saved and is now on display to the public in Greater Manchester.

Anyone taking a trip over to the National Trust’s historic Dunham Massey property, on the border of Greater Manchester into Cheshire, this summer will get to see the ‘dazzling’ sculpture called Stags in Bradgate Park – which was commissioned by a former owner in a defiant gesture to the society that shunned him.

The dramatic sculpture of two rutting Red Deer stags, commissioned in 1855 by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, was said to be an ‘act of love and rebellion’.

It also serves as a symbol of ‘locking horns’ with the society that ostracised him over his marriage to a woman considered ‘beneath him’.

“This isn’t just silver – it’s a story,” says James Rothwell, who is the National Trust‘s curator for decorative arts.

“A story of a man who fell in love with a woman that society deemed unworthy. When the Earl married Catherine Cox, whose colourful past was said to have included performing in a circus, Victorian high society was scandalised. Even Queen Victoria shunned the couple at the opera and local gentry at the horse races in Cheshire turned their backs on them.”

Modelled by Alfred Brown and crafted by royal goldsmiths Hunt & Roskell, Stags in Bradgate Park is a meticulously-detailed depiction of nature, and was considered a ‘sensation’ in its day.

Showing the rutting deer positioned on a rocky outcrop with gnarled hollow oaks, it graced the pages of the Illustrated London News, was exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 – both of which were events that drew millions of visitors.

A ‘dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture has gone on public display in Greater Manchester / Credit: Joe Wainwright | James Dobson (via Supplied)

The silver centrepiece was the celebrity art of its time, paraded through streets and admired by the public like no other.

Gradually over the years, some of the Earl of Stamford’s silver collection has been re-acquired for Dunham Massey, and this particular world-renowned sculpture, thought to be lost for decades and feared to have been melted down, has miraculously survived with its ‘dramatic’ central component being all that is left.

“The sculpture is not only a technical marvel, with its lifelike depiction of Bradgate Park’s rugged landscape and wildlife, but also a dramatic human story key to the history of Dunham Massey,” added Emma Campagnaro, who is the Property Curator at Dunham Massey. 

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“It speaks of nature, of craftsmanship, and of a couple who chose each other over status and what others thought of them.”

The sculpture has now gone on display at Dunham Massey from Thursday 26 June.

Featured Image – James Dobson (via Supplied)

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