No One Owns It

“Come…come…come…come…nuclear bomb”

If you walk around the area it seems like a desolate wasteland. The flats are empty, the pubs are closed down, the social centres are burnt out and a few inhabitants wander the area in search for something. There’s a sense of community in the rows of shops, in Post Offices and launderettes, Probation offices and libraries that hedge the blocks of high rises and boarded up council flats. Collyhurst seems empty, simply forgotten about. It seems to be in waiting for the wave of ‘regeneration’ that sweeps North Manchester and the local press.

Collyhurst is a North Manchester neighbourhood and as widely publicised, has suffered incredible losses in employment and investment. It has a population of just over 5,000 and self-reported rates of poor health are 70% higher than the national average. The dispersal of population as the inhabitants move to more prosperous areas has left the village in a desperate state.

Graham Stringer, former leader of Manchester City Council and MP for the Blakely constituency that includes Collyhurst, strongly believes in the importance of community for regeneration.  But Stringer seems as disillusioned as many in his constituency. This is a tired councillor, who has made a puzzling switch from leadership to provincial status, a man who was exiled during the spending cuts of the council in the 1980’s and now sits representing dead ground in the 00’s.

“It is fantastical to imagine a redevelopment of housing in action in Collyhurst. Maybe 5 years ago but definitely not now, with the current climate,” Stringer said. “Our main aim is to support the idea of community by giving people schools, churches and buildings, and a respect for the relationship between them.”

Stringer added, “Many people are frightened or apprehensive of possible changes. Hulme was an absolute disaster, and Collyhurst’s general design followed a similar pattern.”

Historian Liz Naylor has compiled an enlightening essay entitled Various Times – Inhabiting an Industrial Ruin: Manchester 1979-1982, which maps possible similarities between the 1970s in poor areas such as Hulme, and the current housing situation in a place like Collyhurst.

Hulme estate’s regeneration in the late 70’s was a planning disaster; comprising of quick-construct crescents and groups of medium rise blocks developed for high densities of people, who were to live in structurally unsound buildings. A lot of frightened individuals remained within the site; that packed in 200-300 people per acre. The diverse social and ethnic community that remained in the area, including original tenants and students, promoted a list of social problems including crime, violence and depression, and the destruction of these new plots was desired for a reconstruction of society.

‘Horrendous living conditions were the result of a lack of urban planning that was due in part to the speed of industrial growth,’ Naylor claims, as the rapid growth in industry created almost a quarter of a million new dwellings by Manchester County Council between 1953 and 1973.

The North Manchester Regeneration Team lead by Richard Jones, aims to rebuild Collyhurst community spirit in around 10-15 years. The Local plan outlines extensive plans that hope to ‘create high quality mixed neighbourhoods building on their setting within the landscape,’ and aims to ‘bring families together’ with active residents.

In 2006 the North City Library was built in the Collyhurst/Harpurhey area as an example of what could be achieved. The sustainable, community-based project, as Martin Poydell, from library architects Walker Simpson said: “The City Library has definitely had a positive impact on regeneration…I definitely feel this is a start of an update for areas surrounding the centre.”

The modern building connects the centre to Greater Manchester in many ways, and could predict the future for such places as Collyhurst. This provides an enlightening view of what could be possible, the library as a model brings together a mixture of individuals in such a progressive setting as an education centre. The question of housing is still unsteady however, as the library shows the extension of the city centre – a modern hi-tech building, reflecting that the same could happen with housing. Do the current inhabitants want modern expensive flats, and where will they go if these are built at any time?

John Wood, 53, of Collyhurst said: “I think the library brings us together and gives us a sense of prosperity in bleak surroundings. But it leaves us wondering how housing developments will improve, and when they will. I certainly wonder where most of us will be in a few years time.”