Canal Treat
After lunch it's down to Canal Street at the heart of Manchester's bustling Gay Village for a meeting between a residents' representative and town hall officers with myself and a handy venue operator tossed in the mix for good measure.
Though perceived as among the safest areas of the centre the statistics do not bear this out. Collisions and traffic related injuries are relatively high and crime and disorder also show a hot spot here.
Council, Centre Management Company, Police and Village Business Association have been negotiating away for months to improve matters. In essence the plan is for increased access restrictions for traffic at various times, and discrete seated outside drinking areas 'owned' by each establishment.
Residents - in a couple of loft developments - have been consulted with a request for replies within seven days. And perhaps through slightly careless drafting the letter is not clear that this is actually only a sounding out ahead of a real consultation.
Traffic treat us to a round of soft drinks and we sort out the residents access issues pretty swiftly - probably beating the rat running through traffic to boot by going further than the draft plan.
The Management Company throw in a further round and we agree to a light touch for new street furniture and area delimiting gear. We work in some adequate loading bays for the residents and also clear pavement areas at their doorways. And the idea of raising the street to a continuous surface with the pavements improving mobility access is on the agenda if the experimental period works well.
Success all round. The three ward Councillors have been no where to be seen. Not quite true. 'Dobbo' cycles by with a cheery wave for myself.
I head off with Deputy City Centre manager Roger and catch up on Local Action Partnerships (there's one tomorrow), Youth provision and nuisance, and the current status of various other plans and development sites.
Practical politics in the original Athenian sense. Not a party angle really - except that Labour were there to help, and the others could only send a single representative to cycle by - the wrong way up a one way street!
Off home now to find out which of several options is in store for me campaign wise this evening. Will it be Blair and Brown? Dimbleby, Salmond and some Welsh chap? Or the good people of Moss Side?
Though perceived as among the safest areas of the centre the statistics do not bear this out. Collisions and traffic related injuries are relatively high and crime and disorder also show a hot spot here.
Council, Centre Management Company, Police and Village Business Association have been negotiating away for months to improve matters. In essence the plan is for increased access restrictions for traffic at various times, and discrete seated outside drinking areas 'owned' by each establishment.
Residents - in a couple of loft developments - have been consulted with a request for replies within seven days. And perhaps through slightly careless drafting the letter is not clear that this is actually only a sounding out ahead of a real consultation.
Traffic treat us to a round of soft drinks and we sort out the residents access issues pretty swiftly - probably beating the rat running through traffic to boot by going further than the draft plan.
The Management Company throw in a further round and we agree to a light touch for new street furniture and area delimiting gear. We work in some adequate loading bays for the residents and also clear pavement areas at their doorways. And the idea of raising the street to a continuous surface with the pavements improving mobility access is on the agenda if the experimental period works well.
Success all round. The three ward Councillors have been no where to be seen. Not quite true. 'Dobbo' cycles by with a cheery wave for myself.
I head off with Deputy City Centre manager Roger and catch up on Local Action Partnerships (there's one tomorrow), Youth provision and nuisance, and the current status of various other plans and development sites.
Practical politics in the original Athenian sense. Not a party angle really - except that Labour were there to help, and the others could only send a single representative to cycle by - the wrong way up a one way street!
Off home now to find out which of several options is in store for me campaign wise this evening. Will it be Blair and Brown? Dimbleby, Salmond and some Welsh chap? Or the good people of Moss Side?
posted by Chris Paul at 4:40 PM
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