With floods and fracking and undemocratic devolution on the agenda, next Saturday's Friends of the Earth North West Gathering should be of particular interest to Salford residents.
The Gathering will see an open afternoon with the title `What is the Northern Powerhouse and how can we shape it?' and GM devolution will be on the agenda with GM interim Mayor, Tony Lloyd doing a Q&A session.
In the morning there's workshops on everything from fracking to floods and climate change, plus skills training, actions and creative sessions.
"Whether or not you're involved with Friends of the Earth, you're very welcome to join us on Saturday to find out the latest on our fracking, divestment, nature and air quality campaigns, and to discuss what the Northern Powerhouse is and how we can shape it to meet the needs of people and the environment, not just big business" says Ali Abbas from Manchester Friends of the Earth.
Joining the Northern Powerhouse debate will be the Northern Spring blog, which writes... "The `Northern Powerhouse' is a Conservative Party-led attempt to show some interest in the North, but the criticisms are that it only suits very narrow, corporate business interest and relies on terminally declining industry, such as fracking and nuclear power, and an appalling lack of democracy in the guise of `devolution'...
"One of the biggest problems with the `Northern Powerhouse' is that it does not consider the environment" it adds "Project `leader', George Osborne, has shown no interest in environmental considerations and has even said that we should exploit all fossil fuels that are available to us...the Chancellors' comments and plans seem to be criminally negligent
"However, we do need to have jobs, energy and housing, and we do currently live in a capitalist society, so what are the alternatives to the `Northern Powerhouse'?" it asks "Is there a way that we can grow the economy, increase employment, generate energy, provide housing, and live in a more environmentally responsible manner? Join the people's debate of the positives and negatives of the `Northern Powerhouse' and how the people can shape the North of England in the future..."
Friends of the Earth North West Gathering
Saturday 5th March 10:30am-4:30pm
Manchester Central Methodist Church
Central Buildings, Oldham St, Manchester M1 1JQ
The event is free but people are asked to register in advance – click here to register
See also Manchester Friends of the Earth website - click here
To read the full Northern Spring blog click here
UPDATE: 29th February: Unfortunately Tony Lloyd has cancelled his Q&A and will not now be attending the gathering
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