Campaign group Trees Not Cars block council from putting car park next to school
Community campaign group Trees Not Cars has won a judicial review against Manchester City Council - preventing the former retail space in Ancoats from becoming a car park.
Community campaign group Trees Not Cars has won a judicial review against Manchester City Council – preventing the former retail space in Ancoats from becoming a car park.
In 2019, the council’s planning committee voted to use the former Central Retail Park as a 440-space car park for two years – despite a petition with over 9,000 signatures protesting the move.
Trees Not Cars declared the site should be used for green space and social housing given its proximity to New Islington school.
Arguing the plans lacked any community input, the campaign group took the council to court.
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On Friday (February 19), a judge ruled in favour of Trees Not Cars, claiming that the council had “failed to consider the impact of air quality on the local area around Ancoats” or “consider the impact of building a polluting 440-space car park next to the only primary school in Manchester city centre”.
The decision was also declared unlawful in that the “council recommended planning approval based on the wrong information, the wrong air quality assessment, and traffic analysis.”
Manchester City Council said it was “disappointed” by the ruling and has sought leave to appeal.
Gemma Cameron, a founder of Trees Not Cars, claimed the case was a landmark, having never heard of a community group defeating the council in a legal challenge.
“We have stopped the council from putting a car park next to a primary school,” she stated.
“It shows that organised community groups can take on Manchester City Council and win. It’s time for communities to fight back.”
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Julia Kovaliova, a lead organiser of Trees Not Cars, said she will “sleep easier at night” given her son – who attends New Islington Free School near to the site – will not be exposed to greater levels of air pollution.
“Our victory must be a wake-in up call for the council, who can’t continue to prioritise car parks and offices over clean air and green space,” she said.
“They must now go back to their plans for Central Retail Park and include significant green space with trees, grass, and playgrounds for families.”
Image: Google Maps
Manchester City Council said the “judgement does not affect the future of this site.”
A spokesperson stated: “The reason we have contested this judicial review was not about its implications for the former Central Retail Park site but the precedent it would set and the potential impact of this decision on future applications if insufficient weight was given to the previous use of sites – in this case as the car park for a retail park.
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“Since temporary planning permission was granted in 2019 it has not been used as a car park and it will not be before the planning permission expires in October this year.”
The statement continued: “We remain focused on bringing forward the development of this key site as soon as possible. The creation of a net zero carbon business district, with public space at its heart and as little car use as possible, will support thousands of vital new jobs for Manchester people and play a powerful part in the city’s recovery from the economic impacts of the pandemic. It is a more appropriate use for this site, right next to the inner relief road, than a park.”
The council did however state that is recognised calls for more green space and would integrate the site with an “improved Cotton Field Park”.
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Manchester music store Forsyth is giving away free music lessons
The Manc
Manchester music store Forsyth is giving away a host of free music lessons next month in a bid to inspire people to learn a new instrument, or pick up an old one.
The store is giving new and returning musicians a chance to receive a 10–15-minute free music taster session as part of its Music for All Learn to Play ’22 event.
Taking place across 8 and 9 October between 10am-5pm (8 October) and 1130am-30pm (9 October),short taster music lessons will allow all ages and abilities to have a musical experience that could turn into a lifetime of enjoyment, or even a new career.
Speaking on the free music lesson initiative, Emma from Forsyths said: “The past two years have shown how important music is to all our lives and how it can bring people together even in the most difficult of circumstances.
“We aim to help as many people as possible understand the unique joys and benefits of learning an instrument (or taking part in a choir).
“Anyone interested in learning to play an instrument or looking to pick it up again, should come and join us for this two-day celebration of music making.
“We’re delighted to be part of Music for All’s Learn to Play ’22 event, and we can’t wait to get started.”
OBE Jools Holland, Patron of Music for All, said: “Making music is very important to me. It’s my work, my pleasure, my friend, companion and therapist.
The charity Music for All believes passionately in the unique power of music to change lives and that is why it runs Learn to Play.
Music for All believes everyone should have equal access to music making.
The charity supports disadvantaged music makers by providing cash grants for tuition and instruments and by donating instruments directly.
The Learn to Play ’22 event is generously supported by the NAMM Foundation and other partners include Music Industries Association, Musicians Union, Making Music, Music Mark and Black Lives in Music.
Those interested in joining Forsyths for a free music lesson simply need to email [email protected] or pop into the Sheet Music department on the ground floor to register interest.
Celebrated author Dame Hilary Mantel has died ‘suddenly yet peacefully’ aged 70
Emily Sergeant
Dame Hilary Mantel has died aged 70.
The unexpected passing of the critically-acclaimed author whose celebrated career spans nearly five decades has just been announced by her agents 4th Estate Books and her publishing team at HarperCollins in two separate statements released this morning – who confirmed that she died “suddenly yet peacefully”.
The Glossop-born writer was famed for historical fiction work, and was most-known for being the author of the beloved Wolf Hall trilogy.
The statement by her agents confirming her passing reads: “We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald.
“This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work.”
We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald. This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work. pic.twitter.com/d8bzkBBXuH
Mantel’s publishers HarperCollins called her “one of the greatest English novelists of this century”.
The company’s statement reads: “It is with great sadness that AM Heath and HarperCollins announce that bestselling author Dame Hilary Mantel DBE died suddenly yet peacefully yesterday, surrounded by close family and friends, aged 70.
“Hilary Mantel was one of the greatest English novelists of this century and her beloved works are considered modern classics.
Mantel has twice been awarded the Booker Prize, the first time for the 2009 novel Wolf Hall, a fictional account of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII, and secondly for the 2012 novel Bring Up the Bodies, the second instalment of the Cromwell trilogy.
She was the first woman, and fourth person, to receive the award twice.
The Manc -
19th February 2021 
