HOME   ARCHIVE   GALLERY   SHOP   ABOUT US      
 

 
ASDA TO TRASH SALFORD BURIAL GROUND
 

Star date: 26th March 2012

SUPERMARKET TO BE BUILT ON TOP OF SWINTON BURIAL GROUND

Salford Council's Planning Panel is shortly to decide whether Asda can build a new supermarket on land where over 300 people are currently buried.

Gareth Lyons questions why Salford Council sold the land with a covenant on it to care for the site; why the Church removed the covenant for a £125,000 payment; why Swinton needs yet another supermarket; and why councillors are running shy of commenting on it all? Plus, is Private Blears, buried on the site, a relative of Hazel Blears?

Full story here…


ASDA BURIAL GROUND SUPERMARKET IN SALFORD ASDA BURIAL GROUND SUPERMARKET IN SALFORD ASDA BURIAL GROUND SUPERMARKET IN SALFORD
ASDA BURIAL GROUND SUPERMARKET IN SALFORD
click image to enlarge

In all probability when the proposal to build a new Asda superstore in Swinton comes before Salford Council's Planning Panel it will be passed. It is almost not worth reporting another proposal to build another supermarket in Salford. As one resident told me, "Supermarkets in Salford are like cabbages in a cabbage field"; however this story has a number of twists. But let's start at the beginning…

When Salford Council sold Swinton Precinct to private owners (which many say was the beginning of the Precinct's demise) there was a covenant on part of the site for the Council to care for the land. The covenant in question was created by the Unitarian Church when the Unitarian Church of Swinton was demolished in 1984. When Salford Council sold the Precinct it also sold land which it had been entrusted to care for by the Church. That land contained the graves of over 300 people.

"The church put a covenant on the land, they said to the Council, `We want you to have the land, we want you to care for it, here's a covenant so you can't develop on it'" says Michael Moulding, of the Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground group "Whilst that covenant was in place the Council sold it to a private company and that is the most disgraceful thing you could ever do to a burial ground that also contains a war grave."

So why after selling the land nearly twenty years ago has this issue come to light?

The Precinct is owned by the West Bromwich Building Society who repossessed the site from the previous owners, who owed in the region, it has been claimed, of £30million. The building society has employed receivers, in this case GVA Grimley, whose role is to search for the best ways for the West Bromwich Building Society to get its money back. The best way they have identified to do this in the short term and allow the Precinct to appear attractive to potential investors, is to build a new supermarket on the Precinct.

People will argue that another supermarket will be the death of many of the existing independent shops and they will point to the Council being the architect of all this by selling the Precinct originally. Council's such as Rotherham have shown, despite the recession, town centres full of small independent shops can flourish with area loyalty cards, attractive rents and other financial incentives. 

Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with covenants and burial grounds? And the simple answer is that slap bang in the middle of the existing car parks on Swinton Precinct is the site of the old Swinton Unitarian Church, now just a patch of grass, but underneath containing over three hundred graves, including men who died in a pit accident and a grave containing a Private Blears - his grave was confirmed to me as a war grave by Matt Morris of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He further stated that on principle the Commission is against the disturbance of war graves, but conceded that they have no say in any regulatory process.

With a covenant on the land it is extremely difficult to develop, and this is where our story would come to a full stop. However, it doesn't because on the 22nd June 2011 the Manchester District Association of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (MDA) signed paperwork for a payment of £125,000 to remove the covenant allowing the owners of the land to use it how they saw fit.

Ken Johnson, President of the MDA, told me that the church had lifted the covenant "at the request of the owner to give a clean title to the land and to enable better use to be made of it, if appropriate... Many cases arise where it becomes necessary to build on land once used as a church or a graveyard.

"It will be for the planning authority to decide whether it is in the best interests of the local community to have a new store built on the site or whether the situation will remain as it is at present" he added "The MDA has no opinion on this matter."

I asked Mr Johnson if this was a short sighted view and actually opened the church up to accusations of greed by taking the money and running. He refuted this by saying the church had considered two questions… Firstly, the question of priority. It had decided, using scripture, that as long as the dead are treated respectfully when exhumed, the living must take priority.

Secondly, would there be a benefit from the removal of the covenant? "We came to the conclusion that by removing the covenant the investors in the building society, the builders of any development and those they would employ and the people who would be employed in the long term on the site would all benefit. Many of these would be local people. We felt that any use to which the land would be put would be better than which obtained at the time, and that this too should be of local benefit."

Mr Johnson further felt the need to explain how the £125,000 had been used. He stated that the money has been used solely to help good causes such as Lifeshare, the destitute of Oldham and many drop in centres. I cannot help feeling that perhaps it may have been better if the monies received had been used for the church's work in the Swinton area, after all the people being disturbed were from this town.

The church however will not be fully able to rid itself of accusations of, at best naivety, or at worst greed. They must have had a fair idea when releasing the covenant that the land would be used to build a supermarket. Layne Mercer, a senior director of the receivers GVA, informed me that they had received a number of bids from potential supermarket partners and Asda's was most preferable because it was the least destructive. The covenant was released in June 2011 and the plans submitted towards the end of the year. It is highly unlikely that the drawing of plans and consultations with other supermarkets happened after the covenant was released.

Mr Johnson says that the MDA has no opinion on how the land would be used - but would they not prefer the land to be made into a memorial garden for shoppers, rather than as it will be used, as a service yard for HGVs? Perhaps the MDA's naivety can be illustrated fully with the statement "It will be for the planning authority to decide whether it is in the best interests of the local community." Quite clearly the MDA hasn't been a party to how the planning authorities have decided in the best interest of the community in Salford before.

Unfortunately for the Unitarian Church, their good faith may be tarnished with their association with the developers, who have done little to endear goodwill in the community with some of the insulting reasons they have used to justify their desire to build over the burial ground. Which simply put, is that the people of Swinton have lost any right to challenge over the way this land is used because they have disrespected it.

Asda was asked by the Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground - formed to try and save the burial ground from the developers - to amend their plans so as not to destroy the burial ground. Asda representative Philip Bartram was quoted by a member of the Friends as saying this was refused because the people of Swinton had treated it as `disrespected waste ground'.

Speaking before that final announcement Layne Mercer of GVA Grimley stated to me that they did originally wish to "avoid any disturbance of the burial ground area, for both moral and economic reasons."  However due to a number of reasons, such as space and health and safety "the current layout, which we [GVA/Asda] consider to be the optimum design" will see the burial ground built over.

"It is understood that all gravestones and funerary monuments were removed at the time of demolition and for the past 28 years there has been very little evidence that the church ever existed or that this is a burial ground" says Layne Mercer, justifying the removal of the burial ground and the exhumation of 313 people.

"It is unfortunately the case that the burial ground itself has, since, the church was demolished, appeared to all intents and purposes to be a patch of grass within a car park area, used mainly for locals to exercise their dogs" he adds "There is sadly no sign that the burial ground has been treated in any respectful way over this period. We certainly do not see this as a fitting way to leave those resting there."

I put it to Layne Mercer that it doesn't seem very respectful to remove people from the place they choose to be buried in. He responded by saying "In our view, the deceased and the families chose to be buried in a cemetery environment, within an active churchyard and with appropriate memorial or monuments. This is a far cry from the actual situation for the last 28 years."

Points which to a neutral seem mostly valid, a point which I put to the Friends of the Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground, when I asked them why, if people were so concerned with this burial ground, had the site been left. They explained that people didn't know the site was a burial ground, a point GVA Grimley themselves made in a radio interview. The Friends of the Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground argue that this lack of knowledge was due to a lack of care when the Council looked after the land, which became worse when the land became privately owned. Signage which had been erected went missing in 1984, and the owners, when asked, didn't think it was appropriate to replace it.

Asda and GVA are on extremely thin ice on the question of "respect", for in the plans submitted they were to remove the bodies from Swinton and rebury them in Peel Green. After pressure from the Friends of the Unitarian Burial Ground they will now (if planning permission is granted) be reburied in Swinton Cemetery. When the last person was buried in 1962 in the Unitarian Burial Ground, Swinton was not part of Salford, it was a completely separate town.

The fact remains, though, that Asda wants to build on this land, and at this moment all that stops them is their lack of planning permission, something they will seek to gain when they go before Salford City Council in early April. So what do Salford's councillors think?

Ward councillors Howard Balkind (Lab) and Martin O'Neil (Independent) did not feel the need to reply to my questions. Councillor Norbert Potter (Lab) responded to say that he would not comment, as he is a member of the planning committee and intended to speak and vote on this. I am still waiting for Councillor Potter's response as to why he voiced his approval for the Moorside High School build which removed him from being able to vote in that particular debate?

Councillor Antrobus was contacted by the Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground, who like Councillor Potter declined to comment. Council Antrobus, a senior councillor and member of the Planning Committee, will perhaps be a little uncomfortable as a leading local historian that Asda have announced a donation to the Swinton Heritage Trail initiative (whatever this is).

The political dimension to this has taken a further twist on a personal level when it was revealed that Salford MP Hazel Blears almost certainly has a relative buried in the church yard. As part of their protest the Friends of the Swinton Unitarian Burial Group have been researching the list of burials, trying to find relatives and as a result have found the link to Ms Blears which has been confirmed with "99%" accuracy by one of her relatives. Ms Blears has yet to respond to my questions to her on this.

Whilst there has been a surge of publicity against this proposal, with radio interviews, Facebook campaigns, etc, it has focused around the removal of the bodies interred in the cemetery and the destruction of a war grave. There has been little or no reporting of the affects on living people.

Ten homes will be demolished for this proposal. The developers will move some tenants on Chadwick Walk to other vacant properties on Chadwick Walk, although as Layner Mercer of GVA confirmed, four tenants will have to find accommodation elsewhere, although they will be helped with this.

Unfortunately, none of those who will lose their homes wanted to go on record and tell their stories, which leaves questions as to how the planning and consultation process has made the residents, some elderly who have lived in these homes for years, feel this way. The only thing they would say is that they were against this build, but how can they protest, when they need the developer to re-home them?

In a conversation with one agency for background information I was asked `Do you think this is just a group of residents using a convenient war grave to stop ASDA?' Ken Johnson of the MDA also made a similar point. The Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground reject this, and the evidence backs them up, as they haven't asked ASDA not to build, but simply asked for the plans to be amended to leave this small plot of land and the people buried in peace. As Peter Sharples, who has 12 relatives buried on the site, said "I would like it to be left alone…"

There is the further question: Will a new Asda benefit the existing shops on Swinton precinct? Developers say yes.But will the clothing shops and charity shops benefit, when Asda sells discount clothes? Will the cafes and fish and chip shop benefit, when Asda generally has a coffee shop? Will the newsagents and card shops benefit, when Asda sells papers, cigarettes, sweets and lottery tickets? Will the computer game shop benefit, when Asda sells games and electrical goods? Will the butchers benefit, when Asda sells meat? Will another supermarket kill the Precinct and not, as claimed, save it? Big fish and small ponds spring to mind…

For people opposed to this, what is more galling is that WALMART, the parent company of Asda, as part of its corporate social responsibility policy, gives millions of dollars to military charities to support veterans. It seems, sadly that this does not extend to veterans dead or alive beyond the borders of the United States…

And the final irony is that the Unitarian faith is based on the teachings of Jesus, and one of his most notable acts was to chase men from the Temple of Solomon who were buying and selling animals and lending money. 2000 years later on the site of a church set up to worship his teaching and burial ground of his followers, the 21st Century version of whom he chased out will build a new place of business.

Find Friends of Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground on Facebook


* So Who Is Buried Here To Cause All This Fuss?
The most well known person buried is Private Wilbraham Lomax Blears who died serving this country in WW1, injured once he went back to the trenches to suffer a gas attack which lead to his slow and painful death at a military hospital in Huddersfield.

Three men buried who lost their lives in the Clifton Hall Colliery Disaster on the 18th June 1885 are also buried in this cemetery, the Clifton Hall Colliery was on Lumns Lane and the explosion in 1885 lead to the deaths of 178 local men. The three men buried in the Swinton Unitarian Church are Joseph Pearson of 13 Park St, Swinton. He was brought out of the pit alive but died a few days later from his injuries. Pearson was a day wageman who left behind his wife Sarah Ann and five children. John Collier, (35 years of age) of 5 Folly Lane who was bricklayer and died in the pit. He left behind his wife Alice. Finally John Mannion aged 25 of Holland Street who was a miner and was killed in the pit leaving four children.

Perhaps if you glance though the list of the names of the people buried in this grave yard, no one but the most emotionless person would find it anything but sombre. Names such as James and Robert Hobson who died aged four days old in 1882 or Dora Bradburn who died aged two days in 1906 or Robert Longworth who died aged ten days in 1910. There are in total 43 children under ten listed as being buried here, robbed of life before a chance of living it.

A number of other servicemen who died in the service of this country, who although not buried in the Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground, were commemorated on markers with the rest of their families. These were:  L/Cpl Henry Worthington Smith reported missing 28yrs 24th March 1918; Lee Longworth KIA France 26yrs 9 Sept 1918; James Collier who died in France aged 34yrs 2nd Nov 1918; James Wolstenholme died at Devonport New Zealand aged 30 years 21st April 1914; Kenneth Lee RASC died in West Africa aged 26 years 19 Jan 1942; Kenneth Lee Agnew, RAFVR missing presumed killed over Germany aged 22, 14/15th Jan 1944

If you want to get involved with the Friends of The Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground Group, then you can join the group on facebook. They have a family history branch that will be happy to provide you with information if you think you may have relatives buried in the Church yard.

Words and photos Gareth Lyons

Main photo shows Private Blears image across the burial site

Update: 28th March 2012

This afternoon, Salford Star received a letter from ASDA stating that this article was `emotive in the extreme' and `unashamedly one sided'. We believe that the article did carry the views of GVA Grimley and ASDA, and make no apologies for either its tone or content. In fact, we thought it was rather mild.

The Salford Star is an online (at the moment) community magazine and not a mouthpiece for any business, corporation or public authority.

However we do print the letter below, because we're nice. Our readers are free to comment on it...

I am writing in response to the 26th March article – 'ASDA to Trash Salford Burial Ground'. This related to the proposed new Asda store at Swinton Shopping Centre, and the associated issue of the burial ground on the site, linked with the former Unitarian Church of Swinton.

Both Asda and our partners in this scheme, GVA, have been aware of the presence and history of the burial ground for a long time, and at no point have we been under the illusion that this is anything less than an important and poignant issue. We are equally aware of the strength of feeling in certain quarters of the Swinton community around this matter.

The recent article, however, was emotive in the extreme and unashamedly one-sided in its agenda of portraying Asda and GVA as uncaring at the least or unaware of the issue's importance at best. I feel very strongly indeed that this is an entirely false picture of our approach to the matter of the burial ground and I am keen to put the record straight.

In particular, within a very long and detailed article only a relatively brief reference is made to a crucial and highly pertinent point – that the burial ground has been almost entirely ignored and neglected for decades until recently. Given the site's notable history, there is nothing whatsoever to commemorate that history, and there hasn't been for many years. Whatever people's view on the proposed Asda development, we are surely not alone in believing that the total lack of any public recognition on the site of what has gone before is wholly inappropriate.    

Those people laid to rest on the site were buried within a recognised cemetery linked to an established church. That is very clearly now not the case and we are proposing to address this via the following measures, which we feel will finally provide a fitting and long overdue tribute:

- The re-interment of bodies on site at Swinton Cemetery, in a properly designated and maintained plot, with appropriate formal acknowledgment;

- A form of memorial (most likely a plaque) within a prominent location on the site, to provide a historic point of reference;

- The design of any memorial to involve consultation with relevant community groups;

- A book of remembrance for local residents to sign; and

- A financial contribution towards the Swinton Heritage Trail initiative, with a memorial plaque likely to form part of this alongside an information board.

I trust we are not alone in seeing a significant tribute to the past being preferable to none at all.

Yours sincerely
Philip Bartram
Senior Property Communications Manager

Update: 29th March 2012

Gareth Lyons replies to ASDA

I can only respond by saying that my article took a long time to research and get the information from the parties involved.

I did mention the payment ASDA is making to the Swinton Heritage Trail (although I still have no idea what that is), and I did in detail explain the reasons I was given for the build by GVA. So how can I be one sided when I also asked the Church that sold the covenant and the local councillors and MP for their views? And don’t forget I also spoke to the Ministry of Justice to find out if what the people were accusing the council of was right or wrong, and I also spoke to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

To ASDA, the people in the Unitarian Church yard may only be bodies in different stages of decomposition, but to their relatives who have made their thoughts known, they are more than that. How can you write about people’s feelings without being emotive?

It seems to me that Mr Bartram doesn't understand that the Salford Star prints what it finds and does not just rehash corporate press releases, which other news services do. I didn't find people all happy and joyous that their relatives were being dug up. I didn't find people happy that they had been told they had been told to leave their homes. So should I ignore all that?

Is Mr Bartram joking, that he believes people should be thankful for a plaque, a book of remembrance and a donation? What the people want is for the bodies to be left and for ASDA to change its plans and make the site into a garden for shoppers. But ASDA won’t do that.

Mr Bartram is entitled to his view, as are the people who live in this community who have praised my article.

 

 

Frances Doyle wrote
at 06:36:14 on 01 March 2013
Absolutely upset that this has been allowed to happen. I certainly will never shop in any Asda ever again. Disgusting all for Profit x Really saddened by the dreads exploitations by the Living Fat Cats xx one day their relatives might have to be removed from their resting ground ... No they'll be crying crocodile tears then .
?
Em Hunt wrote
at 06:31:10 on 14 December 2012
Do not fear , Ex-Swintonian . The days of these professional politician bullshitting shites is coming to an end . The citizens of this Dead City just cannot wait to be rid of the all . We have been shafted and betrayed enough by this taxpayer-robbing clowncil
?
Ex-Swintonian wrote
at 18:54:08 on 13 December 2012
everyone above is having a go at the council - and rightly so....just remember this episode at the next election. Whether the sitting councillor is Tory,Labour,Liberal or any other party/group. VOTE THEM OUT!! Vote for the person/party who is most likely to beat the sitting candidate regardless of how you feel about their politics. Then one day, maybe, councillors will learn to listen to their electors.
?
Ned wrote
at 22:25:38 on 30 March 2012
Sounds about right . Asda trash the burial ground , just as salford clowncil have trashed the city .
?
wrote
at 16:17:28 on 30 March 2012
salford council tried to tell us for years that we were salfordians ,we swinton ,walkden ,worsley ,eccles,boothstown ,irlam and others now know the, truth ,council housing has been sold off to the highest bidders ,the only council houses that they have kept are the true SALFORD,the salford that is being regenerated, like the quays, pendleton ,chapel street castefield and so on ,while we,ve been sold down the river all our precincts have been allowed to rot and we have been overtaken with supermarkets ,look at walkden and eccles ,disgusting where are we from???? as far as im concerned not salford ,ps i know a lot of salford people and this is not aimed at them but at the council selling us down the river
?
caroline wrote
at 04:29:06 on 30 March 2012
i am deepley upset by all this ..please do not let them do this..pull each other close as we once did.So come up with an idea to stop them..?
?
Lizzie wrote
at 04:28:51 on 30 March 2012
It seems very ironic to me that ASDA along with Derek Antrobus support a local Heritage Trail of Swinton, and yet ignore that fact that a well know local historian and artist Peter Holland is laid to rest in Swinton Unitarian Burial Ground with his family. Yes, Peter Holland and his family are awaiting their fate of being dug up and cast aside for a turning point for ASDA's lorries. Peter Holland wrote an amazing local history book on Swinton history and its people printed in 1914 so good in fact that Derek Antrobus used it to help him write his latest publication of local history on Noah Robinson. Acknowledgements to Peter Holland are included in Derek's Bibliography. All for preserving local history but lets just turn a blind eye to the fact that one of the people who passed on our vital local heritage is inconveniently in the way of progress. Most of the people buried in Swinton Unitarian Church Yard were local shopkeepers and business owners in Swinton for many years! Not to mention the history connected to the well known author Elizabeth Gaskell whose husband the Rev. William Gaskell performed the opening service with others of Swinton Unitarian Church and regularly preached there. A WW1 soldier, and casualties of the Clifton Pit Disaster are all buried there too. All local history I would have thought. I wonder then how Swinton Unitarian Church Yard's history and it's people will be included in The Heritage Trail....
?
Emma Harrison wrote
at 21:02:35 on 29 March 2012
The gravestones were removed when the land was passed to the care of the council. There was a sign erected on the ground to say it was a burial ground. The remains of the sign installed can be seen by three posts sticking out of the ground. It was removed about a decade ago and has never been replaced. When enquiries were made to the owners of the land for a new sign to be erected, apparantly they responded by saying they didn't feel a sign was appropriate. So the fact that there are some people accusing the community and relatives of leaving the ground uncared for an unkempt isn't true. The fact of the matter is, it is privately owned piece of ground and there was a covenant on it for the owners to look after it. If there is no sinage there how are people expected to know there is a burial site. Instead of blaming the people of Swinton as GVA and Asda are doing to justify thier actions, why have the owners of the site not respected the dead? If the people of Swinton are so disrespectful to the dead as GVA and ASDA claim, why did ASDA's spokesman Philip Bartram say on the Radio that grave yard is not well known about in the community and I quote he said “when we looked at the site it occurred that there were some bodies in there” he said it like they had inconveniently stumbled on the burials. I also feel that Mr Bartram is being somewhat hypocritical saying the site is of noteable interest, when only a few weeks ago he referred to it as "disrespected waste ground" it seems to me that what ASDA say publicly in their response to the Salford Star article is just all smoke and mirrors. The fact is that the council, the land owners, GVA Grimley's and ASDA-Walmart were all fully aware that this land is a burial site and until very recently, it had a covenant in place protecting it. They should all hang their heads in shame! The relatives of those resting at the site want the site to be retained. The fact is ASDA can still have a store and retain the ground, they simply need to amend their current plans. It has been confirmed today that the planning panel will be meeting on Thursday April 5th, 9.30am at The Salford Suite, Salford Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton. You can go along to the meeting by using this form http://www.salford.gov.uk/panel-meeting.htm and quoting the planning application reference number 11/6169/FUL and you should arrive at 9am. If you wish to book your place at the meeting via telephone rather than using the online form please call 0161 793 2602 quoting the planning application reference number 11/6169/FUL
?
caroline wrote
at 06:28:45 on 29 March 2012
A lady set up a chairty for under 16 year olds for graves stones .when her baby died she could not afford it..so if the day came she would help others My mum had a prem baby and was broken hearted because the baby was not reguard as a life,So no stone her baby forgotten...My son help to raise funds for a dear friend died 20 ise to pay for grave and grave stone..I been looking for family graves and find only grass with not enven a memorial..if over 60 years old..My family all served in the last war my husbands family in both wars going as far back to Trafalgar. Most familys who bury their dead regard grave yards and grave stones as sacred and perminate living memorial reference for their heirs and future familys to trace and visit. My husband used to walk through Eccles church yard on his way to school and remembers the old historic graves and their fasinating history of bygone days and was shocked when it was grassed over.even the church etc that nothing stands in the way of ...the money god,,,not even dead familys ancesters and their kin now are history meaning nothing.
?
caroline wrote
at 06:28:39 on 29 March 2012
so what is the bbc doing about it ? as they go on tv honouring the dead
?
Michelle wrote
at 21:41:59 on 28 March 2012
There are so many people who are against this going ahead. It's about time one of the councils in this spineless country stood up for what their people believe in. Patriotism is so strong right now and for any company or any council to assume that the citizens are just going to turn a blind eye is foolish. If the council want to do some good, say NO to the planning and have the site made into a garden of remembrance. The people are speaking. Why is nobody listening?
?
Graham WALKER wrote
at 21:41:52 on 28 March 2012
I wrote to Mr BARTRAM (ASDA) via Email on Mar 14 requesting a meeting with him regarding the whole issue. As yet I have not even had the courtesy of a reply. Graham WALKER, The BILLY UNSWORTH Project.
?
Gillian Welsh wrote
at 21:41:45 on 28 March 2012
Could Mr Bartram please tell me where he has been told that the "Swinton Heritage Trail" is exactly that his company are going to make a financial donation to ? As as far as I am aware there isn't one. And putting up a "plaque" and making a contribution to a none existent "Heritage trail" does not make things right !!!!!!!!!!!! Salford City Council are totally & utterly shameless they do not care whose toes they tread on,who they hurt or upset all they are interested in is MONEY,MONEY,MONEY and more MONEY. HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME SALFORD CITY COUNCIL you disgust me :@:@ uncaring
?
Rob wrote
at 18:33:34 on 28 March 2012
Salford council are the biggest bunch of shitbags,and penises going,they have done nothing YES NOTHING for the people or indeed Salford and the other proud towns like Swinton and Eccles,in fact they have done less than nothing in Swinton and Eccles.
?
Nachtschlepper wrote
at 06:43:17 on 28 March 2012
The world & this particular part of it needs another supermarket like I need an extra rectum. Our politicians might be able to use one though as they are so full of shit.
?
Anthony wrote
at 13:40:53 on 27 March 2012
It would be nice if there was a supermarket limit, no more than x in a given radius, per shopping centre, per town centre. What happens when ALL there is is a tesco, an asda, an aldi, a morrissons, a co-op? Plus as many extra or pluses as they can squeeze in along side streets. Variety should be protected.
?
A.P. wrote
at 13:40:37 on 27 March 2012
Of course none of this will interest blears , the 'peepils champeen', as no photo opportunity . She'll be too busy ' cutting and thrusting at the sharp end 'with the other self-serving Rats of Wasteminster , or watching THREE TVs and munching kit-kats ,,,
?
DUPLICITY wrote
at 09:29:43 on 27 March 2012
READ THIS: GVA Grimley (Note the correct spelling) and TESCO have been up to the same duplicity. ASDA is not their only double-act: http://www.tescopoly.org/images/stories/Planning%20a%20new%20world%20order%20Pages%2021-26%20(1).pdf You will see the government connections, and all parties are the same.
?
Fadge , Disgusted of Deadcity wrote
at 05:34:44 on 27 March 2012
The simple truth to this disgusting saga is that greedy Asda cannot make money from the dead , and this greedy, inept and useless clowncil cannot extort council tax from the dead . What a truly disgusting , immoral and unsavoury way to treat our deceased - yet so typical of these rotton , grubby , greedy exploiters . This dead city has no future , having been raped and pillaged by the Clowncil Cretins and their grubby business associates over many years. Any 'jobs for Salford' bullshit yet, just like the Media City farce ? Or do we have to waste another 20 years to find out ?
?
Please enter your comment below:
 
 
 
Forever manchester
Salford Star
advertisement
 
Contact us
phone: 07957 982960
Facebook       Twitter
 
 
Recent comments
article: PAUL HOUGHTON BRINGING MOSAICS AND TAPE ART TO SALFORD
Hi Paul I hope you are well, please can you tell me how much it would be to have the George Best Mosaic made? Indeed if you are st... [more]
article: CUSSONS SOAP AND KERSAL MOOR SALFORD – A VERY CLEAN STORY
I am Marjorie Goodwin's grandson. I still have that battered tobacco tin. I don't know what happened to the silver one! ... [more]
article: SALFORD PRECINCT SHOPPERS STUNG BY PARKING `RACKET’
I parked here with a disability badge and my back tyre was slightly over line as I suffer with coordination and it says if I appea... [more]
article: SALFORD LOST STREETS
4 North Johnson Street, Salford. My Great Grandfather was the son of Household James Rowlands 68. x2. His wife Frances Rowlands... [more]
article: John Cooper Clarke On Life In Higher Broughton.
lived for many years as a kid in Murray st. Hilda who was mum to John would visit my grandmother and would tell us about what john... [more]
 
 
 
 
 
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
 
 
 

Donate

Help the Salford Star...

all donations welcome

 
 

More articles...

SALFORD STAR CLOSES AFTER 15 YEARS WITH ATTITUDE AND LOVE XXX

Star date: 17th May 2021

SALFORD STAR – 15 YEARS OF ATTITUDE AND LOVE XXX

The Salford Star closes tonight after 15 years of giving the community a voice, holding power to account and bigging up all the great things that have happened in the city.

Thousands of people in Salford have been involved in one way or another with the Star and we'd like to thank them all. Salford is a very special city and, hopefully, we've given it a very special community publication.

For the final curtain click here... 

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE: HOW SALFORD COUNCIL TRIED TO BLOCK AND DISCREDIT THE STAR

Star date: 17th May 2021

THREATS, LIES, FEAR AND LOATHING IN SALFORD...

Today, the Salford Star shuts down but we write this article as a warning to others who may follow on the pitfalls of founding a genuine publication that aims to give the community a voice and hold public bodies up to account. 

They will try to discredit you, block information and shut you down. Here the Salford Star editor, Stephen Kingston, looks at how democracy perished badly under the Salford mayoral system.

Full details here...

SALFORD HAS 7 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES AS RESTRICTIONS ARE EASED

Star date: 17th May 2021

A WHIFF OF FREEDOM AS RESTRICTIONS ARE EASED

Salford has 7 new coronavirus cases, down from the previous day's 14, while the seven day rate per 100,000 population now stands at 30.1, down from 30.9. There have been no new virus-related deaths announced by Salford Royal Hospital.

Today sees restrictions eased and the first whiff of freedom in over a year. It's also the final coronavirus bulletin from the Salford Star which is closing. Here we look back over 14 months of the pandemic and the absolute communication failings of Salford City Council and its City Mayor.

Full details here...

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE: HOW SALFORD COUNCIL TRIED TO STOP THE STAR

Star date: 16th May 2021

THEY WILL TRY TO DISCREDIT YOU...TO BLOCK YOU, TO SHUT YOU DOWN

We are almost at the final closure of the Salford Star but we write this article as a warning to others who may follow on the pitfalls of founding a genuine publication that aims to give the community a voice and hold public bodies up to account. 

They will try to discredit you, block information and shut you down. In South America they just blow up the offices of journalists that don't play the game. Here they just financially assassinate you...

Full details here...

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE – GUY GRIFFITHS ON THE HUMAN COST OF PATHFINDER DEMOLITIONS

Star date: 16th May 2021

THE HUMAN COST OF REGENERATION

The Griffiths brothers of Higher Broughton are kind of infamous as the only people to be forcefully evicted from their house as part of the Pathfinder 'housing market renewal' project during the first decade of the 21st Century.

Here, Guy Griffiths, now living in 'sunny' north Wales and one of the main inspirations for the Salford Star's creation, writes the second part his own personal view of the Government project that devastated communities throughout Central Salford.

Full details here...

 



written and produced by Salfordians for Salfordians
with attitude and love xxx