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FURY AS SALFORD COUNCIL APPROVES ASDA BURIAL SITE SUPERMARKET
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Star date: 18th June 2012 ASDA TOLD `GO ROT IN HELL' AS SALFORD COUNCIL APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL SUPERMARKET Campaigners against ASDA's controversial plans to build a supermarket on top of a Swinton burial ground have vowed to keep up the fight after Salford Council's planning panel approved the scheme last week. Campaigners have alleged that during the panel meeting Labour Councillor Norbert Potter said that he didn't know what all the fuss was about concerning the ground (where 73 children are buried), it was just a `dogs' toilet'. Full story here…
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For months campaigners have been battling Salford Council and ASDA over controversial plans by the food giant to include a burial ground within its supermarket site at the back of Swinton Precinct (see previous Salford Star story here). The ground, part of the old Unitarian Church of Swinton, contains the graves of over 300 people, including 73 children and many soldiers, which ASDA wants to remove as part of its plans for the new supermarket site. Campaigners have questioned the need for a new supermarket in the area and the potential traffic problems but it is the presence of graves that caused the most controversy. At Salford Council's planning meeting last Thursday, councillors were told that this was not a planning consideration, as the Ministry of Justice had ruled that removing graves after 50 years was apparently allowed. "The panel allowed two people to speak against ASDA's plans but one of them was silenced because he wanted to talk about what was underground at the site which they said that wasn't a matter for the panel" Barry Woodling, who attended the meeting told the Salford Star. "Another woman voiced complaints but it was passed on the nod, it seemed to be cut and dried and it was never going to be passed" he added "One councillor, Norbert Potter, who voted in favour of the proposal, said that he didn't know what all the fuss was about, the ground was just a dog's toilet." Only two councillors out of 13 voted against the ASDA proposal, and the result has left campaigners fuming and vowing to continue the fight with a series of further activities… "I'm absolutely disgusted" says Dawn Sheldrick-Keating "R.I.P means Rest In Peace, a final resting place. What is upsetting is that 73 children are buried in that ground and they want to disturb them, apart from the adults. We have got a vast amount of comeback and activities planned. "My father was Ken Keating and he's buried in Agecroft Cemetry…who's to say that in years to come ASDA will go `Oh we think we'll have a supermarket there'. Do you think my relatives are going to stand by and let them dig my parents up? I don't think so. "There is an ideal site at the old Cussons soap works in an area with no supermarkets, so why don't they f*ck off up there" she adds "For me, ASDA can go to hell, and I hope they all rot in hell…"
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mary ferrer wrote
at 17:19:19 on 21 June 2012 |
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| I have just read in the Advertiser the Notice of intent to remove the bodies from the site. There is NO right of appeal from what I have read. I have a family plot at Agecroft and I have the deeds for that land,have the families of the people at Swinton no deeds giving them any rights??? |
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Ex Labour Voter wrote
at 10:02:08 on 21 June 2012 |
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| A disgusting tale of Greedy Capitalist Exploiters , and Greedy , Grubby Councils . The Pocket -Politicians want burying in the deepest pit , so we can no longer hear their Bullshit. Asda can then build a Retail Shed over it . As for this 'Nu-Liebor ' council having ANY Socialist principles , I nearly puked over my cornflakes . Not one of these traitors have a shred of decency , honour ,or integrity . Shites , all of them . |
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Steve Langham wrote
at 22:23:14 on 20 June 2012 |
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| I am the person who the Council stopped speaking, they refused to listen to what I had to say even though I started off by saying I speak for 1000 Swinton people who have said NO to the removal of the bodies, didnt cut any ice. All we wanted to ask if they had bothered to listen was.."Can you as our elected Council make it a condition of the planning process that the burial site remains" OR As a fallback we had well will you collectively ask Asda is there anyway they can work around it. Didnt think that was too much to ask, Now I hear this morning from the Mayors office that they are saying that they did consider it....UTTER LIES..They are a complete disgrace and as for Councillor Potter and his comments made in the presence of relatives, well I cant post my thoughts on here, he has no place in any elected council. |
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Ian OBrien wrote
at 22:23:00 on 20 June 2012 |
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| Margaret Thatcher reportedly said that her biggest triumph was Tony Blair. Had she an opportunity to see Salford 'Labour' council today, I think she may have revised that. What I wonder is how they justify this selling of their political principles. But I suspect I know the answer to that. I think they tell themselves that times have changed, that the world is a different place, that in 2012 they have to move with the times, and any number of other things which sound good late at night when trying to find sleep. Tweeting with Mr John Merry last week, during which I tried to establish how a Labour council becomes to entrenched in business with one of the nations, if not the worlds, most rapacious developers - Peel - he told me that - and I am paraphrasing here, in case he bothers to read this - 'even Lenin would have had a relationship with the biggest land owner in Salford'. I must disagree but that is by the by. However, this seems to be the way in which the leaders of our council, which behaves more like a Tory council than anything else, justify their complete lack of courage and spirit to themselves. This is a great example of how these people dance to the tune of business, rather than the electorate. Nobody in their right mind wants to see the graves of children desecrated so that a gang of American multi-billionaires can take even more of our money and buy yet more Lear jets and more yachts and more mansions around the world. I cannot believe that the people of Salford agree with this. So, who are our elected officials serving? Have they forgotten that they are merely little men with little jobs to do? Has the power really gone so far to their heads that the likes of Ian Steward and John Merry believe that they have a huge role to play? At the end of the day they are merely middle management figures. The work is carried out by the thousands of staff who are on the council payroll. These people delegate and make decisions, and, like the current government, do so regardless of what the electorate think. So, Mr Merry, rather than rolling over for Peel, or Asda, or Tesco, or whoever else has the most cash, why not try to find the young man who surely started out with socialist ideals? Why not search for the person who would never, ever, have allowed the graves of children to be desecrated for the profit of an American company? I am sure if the Conservatives were in control of the council you would find that idealistic young man in no time. Do you have to wonder why more and more people in the UK, and in the world are tired of you all - you politicians who seem to treat public office like your own personal cash cow and private gentlemens club? I call upon everybody who reads this, right now, to throw down your votes. Throw them away because they are worthless. They change nothing. All the time we are faced with the idea that we HAVE to vote for SOMEBODY!! Well, do we? In Greece recently they refused to vote for the usual suspects and the entire world was shaking in it's boots. Next time around, lets tell them that enough is enough. Personally, I will never vote for another living person who is actively seeking public office. I am not alone in thinking that every single one of them are charlatans and thieves. At every level of politics, local and central, every single day of the week we see corruption at worst, and outright dereliction of duty (to we, the voters and tax payers) at best. Shame on the lot of them, and shame on us for continuing to put them there!!! |
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Everydayman wrote
at 22:21:59 on 20 June 2012 |
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| From Essex but saw this on the BBC news site. Appallingly disrespectful from Asda and your local politicians. If the site had become an eye sore, why didnt the Council create a memorial gardens to enhance it rather have to opt to do something like this? |
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Charlotte wrote
at 22:16:00 on 20 June 2012 |
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| If this plot of land was so important to the campaigners, why haven't they been looking after it and tending to it and keeping it clean and tidy all these years? Right now it's an absolute mess. Moving the graves to a new place will ensure better access and better upkeep. And if I was one of the buried, I wouldn't care what you did to my earthly remains - I'd be dead! |
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Nachtschlepper wrote
at 14:52:09 on 19 June 2012 |
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| Potter must know what he is talking about, he sounds like a shit house. I'm making no accusations, but the integrity of those making these decisions must be questioned. |
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E. Banyler wrote
at 14:51:52 on 19 June 2012 |
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| Is anyone surprised ? Grubby Big Business and their Grubby Pocket-Councils, care nothing for the Dead , or the living . Other than as targets for Legalised Extortion . They can't rob the Dead . RIP , the 313 . |
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Lee Craven MBE wrote
at 08:40:09 on 19 June 2012 |
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| What a utter disgrace Salford City Council are, and councillor Potter has gone Potty,what right has he to comment the way he has, he should be stripped of his councillors hip.
All this City council think about is £££££££ and not the man on the Street I wonder if Potty Potter would of acted diffrently if he knew he had a relative buried there?
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Matthew wrote
at 08:39:49 on 19 June 2012 |
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| Couldn't agree more. This is what capitalism leads to. The whole thing stinks. ASDA, and the councillors who approved this appalling development, should be ashamed of themselves. Is there anything that this American-owned conglomerate will not do in order to make a profit? Good luck to the campaigners against this vile scheme, and may those buried on this site rest in peace. |
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Rob wrote
at 17:49:52 on 18 June 2012 |
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