Star date: 20th August 2017

COMMUNITY FLOOD FUND MONEY TO BUY SIGN AS MOCHA FUTURE STILL IN LIMBO

A new £10,000 flood warning LED sign is to be installed at the back of Mocha Parade, paid for by donations from the community following the Boxing Day Flood of 2015. The money, from events and online donations, has lain dormant after it was decided not to give a small amount to every person involved in the flood.

Meanwhile, the future of Mocha Parade itself is still in doubt, although the bulldozing of one side of the precinct is due to happen over the next few months.

Full details here...

On Mocha Parade, even the snails are in limbo as the re-development drags on and on and on, with no-one really knowing what is happening.

While new houses surround Mocha, the precinct itself - with most of the units empty and the flats above tinned up - is a shocking indictment of a regeneration gone wrong. Developers cash in with their new houses, but no infrastructure in place.

Even the newsagent's ten yard move from one side of Mocha to the other in order to open a new post office, has taken eons. This will be happening next week and that block of derelict units is then set to be demolished. But the long term future of the place is, as always, a mystery with only dribs and drabs of information reaching the shop keepers themselves.

As far as the Salford Star can work out, the opening of a new health centre on Mocha is still undergoing complex, everlasting negotiations; while the arrival of a big supermarket chain seems to have stalled, with rumours of either a B&M Bargains or an expansion of Heron Foods opening up. The off licence has now closed and gone, joining the taxi firm, the butcher and the chippy.

All that's left on Mocha now are two chemists, a doctor's, an optician's, the grocer's, the food store, the newsagent, the bookies and the food bank – which kind of says it all.

There are plans for Mocha Parade, such as making the one way road around its perimeter two way; it's just that no-one from Urban Vision or Salford City Council is sharing them.

Over the next few months a new flood warning LED sign will be sited at the back of the precinct where the current blue sign stands. Its £10,000 cost (£995+VAT and running costs) is to be paid for out of the various funds donated by the community in the aftermath of the Boxing Day Flood of 2015.

The money came from fundraising events and online appeals, and has lain in a bank account since it was decided not to hand every victim of the flood a tiny amount of money. Instead, local residents were invited to submit ideas for community projects and the sign came out top (see here and see here).

It will be slightly bigger than the current hoarding and painted black, with its Community Information Screen showing flood warning alerts, community information, health information and Salford Council information. There will also be advertising, with a percentage of the proceeds going back into Lower Broughton community causes.

"The fact that the screen will be situated on an arterial route should bring some comfort to the residents as winter approaches and provide a continual point of information for the community, not just in Broughton but throughout the valley" says Mike Thorpe of the Broughton Trust which is co-ordinating the project.

See also yesterday's report on the community-led From The Flood to The Future Conference – click here