SALFORD CITY COUNCIL
No contest for this MARY as Salford Council has twice this year embarked upon pulling down some of the city's most treasured heritage structures, before realising that people gave a toss and swiftly did a U-turn.
First up, back in August, was the Tree of Knowledge – a fabulous ceramic sculpture by Alan Boyson that adorns the end wall of the former Irwell Valley High School near the Cromwell roundabout in Charlestown. It's the only 20th Century ceramic mural in Salford and is described as `important and special' by the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society.
Without a care in the world, the sculpture was about to be demolished and local people discovered they had less than a day to save it. After the fastest internet campaign in the west, by 5pm Council Leader John Merry had issued a statement saying "I can confirm that demolition has been stopped and I am now looking into the matter with a view to preserving the mural if possible..."
Within two weeks the Government had Grade 2 listed the Tree of Knowledge and it's now protected as a "rare surviving example of a bespoke 1960s ceramic mural" with a "high level of aesthetic and artistic quality".
The mural is still standing, although Salford Council hasn't declared what it intends to do with the protected sculpture…
And then, at the end of November, local people discovered that the Council was going to demolish the stunning Langworthy Hotel on Langworthy Road, which it had bought for £410,000 ten years earlier. Less than a week after the plans had been made public, the Council did another U-turn responding to more anger from the community over treatment of the city's heritage.
In both cases, councillors argued that this was a case of Salford Council listening to its residents. But hey, which Philistine had the idea to knock down these structures in the first place? And doesn't Salford have a heritage officer whose job it is to look after these buildings and works of art? Dr Doo-very-little?
Ladies and Gentlemen. The `PUSH ME PULL YOU DOWN' AWARD…goes to…
Yet again, give it up for…
SALFO-O-O-RD C-I-I-I-I-TY CO-O-O-U-U-U-NC-I-I-I-L
Applause…
If anyone from the Council would like to make a speech please fill in the Comments box below
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
