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Cllr Marc RamsbottomLiberal Democrat Councillor for the City Centre Ward and Leader of the Official Opposition on Manchester City Council |
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Cllr Marc Ramsbottom is supported local candidate Tim Hartley's campaign for New Moston to have its own community/village council.
"Many local people say they feel New Moston is being neglect and want more say over what happens in their local area". say Lib Dem Campaigner Tim Hartley.
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom, meeting members of the Somali community in Ardwick. Many say they feel let down and taken for granted by Labour, and are supporting the Liberal Democrats in the general election on the 6th May.
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom and the local Lib Dems have been out and about on the door step talking to local residents about their area, finding out what really matters to local people and they have had a massive response. Clearly Labour councillors in the area have been failing to follow up promises made at election time. He has most recently been out and about with local Campaigner and Moston resident Tim Hartley.
WORK is grinding to a standstill on a flagship £220m regeneration scheme in Manchester as the recession bites.
Work grinds to halt on £220m dream
The massive project was to turn the city's dilapidated Cardroom Estate in Ancoats into New Islington - billed by developers as the `best place in Manchester'.
More than £20m of public money - and £200m of private investment - was pledged to the scheme, which is being led by New East Manchester, developers Urban Splash and a government regeneration body.
It promised to deliver shops, a school, park and canal space and a total of 1,700 homes.
But the huge building site is now looking deserted, with work on just one of 18 planned developments still going on.
Less than one tenth of the 1,700 properties are completed - seven years after the project was launched.
Earlier this month it emerged that developers Bryant Homes had pulled out of a 200-apartment scheme on the site, The Botanic.
The team behind New Islington say they are committed to bringing it forward `when the market is ready'.
Around 200 homes were bulldozed under a compulsory purchase order to make way for the scheme, with many families who lost their homes promised a right to return.
So far, 35 replacement properties have been completed.
Huge amounts of public cash from the government and the European Regional Development Fund - understood to have committed around £18m and £3m to the project respectively - have already been invested in work to create park space and improved waterways.
The delayed Chips apartment block, designed by award-winning architect Will Alsop, is due to be completed in the next couple of months, bringing the total number of homes to 179.
A total of five developments - including the park and canals - are complete and the team say a number of other elements are in design and planning stages.
City centre councillor Marc Ramsbottom said: "Serious questions should be asked about why huge sums of public money have been spent without the property actually being built to make use of it.
"Many local people who lost their homes in compulsory purchase were promised the right to return to the area. That now seems a shallow promise."
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom on a walkabout with local residents in Clayton. Their area has been blighted by the City Council, after they pulled the plug on a compulsory purchase order to regenerate the area. Now there are only a handful of residents left, who, with the support of Marc, have made a complaint to the local government Ombudsman about the length of time they have had to wait to be relocated and the maladministraion by the Council
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom on a walkabout with local residents in Clayton.
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom with local Lib Dem Cllr Damien O'Connor (left) and Clayton Bridge resident Mrs Seabright investigating an area of derelict land was cleared up after local Lib Dems contacted the City Council and arrnaged a clean up of the area.
Success You Can See in Newton Heath
Local Lib Dems supporting vital GP surgeries in Ancoats, under threat from the Council Quango - New East Manchester Ltd, who pledged to demolish the popular surgery of long standing GP Dr Nick Vites. Local Councillor Damien O'Connor (right) help to organise a massive petition with the support of local residents that eventually saved the surgery from the bulldozer.
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom (left) with GP Practice Manager Tony Smith (centre) and local Lib Dem Cllr Damien O'Connor.
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