Star date: 6th September 2019

MO TO BE FORCED OUT WITH TWO WEEK ULTIMATUM

The long running battle between Salford Council and local Chapel Street Shalimar shop owner, Mo, has taken a nasty turn with an offer of just £25,000 compensation to get out, for the business which has served the community for over 35 years.

The Council told Mo in a meeting this week that if he doesn't leave within two weeks, the offer goes down to just £15,000. No alternative shop has been offered in the new English Cities Fund developments which have had £8million in subsidies.

Full details here...

"If they force him to move out I'll chain myself to the shop, or do what I can to make him not move..." Cassy, local resident and shopper

This is probably the longest running and most disturbing story of the whole Chapel Street 'regeneration'. On one side is Mo, who has run his Shalimar convenience store, serving the community for over 35 years.

On the other is the powerful English Cities Fund (ECf), made up of massive businesses, the Legal and General and Muse Developments, plus Homes England, which is developing the area with unaffordable properties and upmarket cafes and restaurants.

Cheerleading the development is Salford City Council, which owns the site upon which Mo's shop sits and has been trying to get him to leave for well over five years, as he is 'in the way' of the so-called 'regeneration'.

For the past few years he has been strung along with promises of a new shop within these developments if he plays ball – but now all offers are apparently off the table, and in a meeting with the Council this week he was given an ultimatum to leave...

"I was served with a notice back in March and wanted a meeting with the Council to explain what the offer was" Mo explains "This week, we had a meeting and they said 'You're out of time, you're notice is up middle of the month, so if you leave by the notice we can offer you £25,000'.

"But they are offering no alternative building, no compensation for fixtures and fittings or stock, and no redundancy for staff" he adds "They said it's £25,000 if I leave within two weeks, and if I don't they are going to reduce it to £15,000."

That 'compensation' works out at just over £400 per year that Mo has been in Chapel Street, and during that time he says that he's paid the Council around £350,000 in rent, while doing his own repairs.

Meanwhile, as revealed in the Salford Star in June, Salford Council has approved a subsidy of £8,111,261 for the new ECf development, made up of £1,673,413 public money from the Government's Housing Infrastructure Fund, and £6,437,848 from the Salford Central Development Trust Account (DTA) which replaced Section 106 for the area.*

"It's heartbreaking because over the 35 years they kept me here when there was no other facility saying 'The community needs you', and now they've got the Co-op there they are dying to get rid of us" says Mo "They are blocking us in from the back, from the sides and basically trying to push us out of this business.

"In the past they were saying 'You have to get out and we'll offer you a shop after two years', even though that wasn't practical; now they are saying 'We make you an offer, take it or leave it'..." he adds "They just want to get rid of us without offering another shop..."

Even worse, according to Mo, if the Council does evict him the land will be lying empty as there are no current plans for immediate development there.

"Basically they have played us along for the last 15 years" he insists "Now we see the true side of them..."

Customers at the shop yesterday were furious with the Council's attitude...Marie, who has shopped at Shalimar for 35 years, said "I think it's terrible, they should have given him another shop. All the development is not for the community, it's for money grabbing developers, they're taking everything...

"It's just going like Manchester town, restaurants and restaurants" she added "What about the poor people who can't afford that? They're not thinking about this little estate at the back."

And Cassy, who has shopped at Shalimar all her life, echoed the sentiments..."It's disgusting because for everyone on the estate this has been their shop since being young to growing up" she said "Mo served my mum when she was younger and now he serves me and my children. It's the only shop that I'll go to. If they force him to move out, I'll chain myself to the shop, or do what I can to make him not move.

"All this development is not for us, it's for their gain not ours" she added "They are taking away things that made this estate, so it's not fair on the residents or Mo himself..."

All agreed that Mo's shop is the front line, and if he goes, the Islington Estate could well be next...

Meanwhile, Mo is taking legal advice on the Council's paltry offer... "I'll see what a judge decides" he concludes "I've no choice. £15,000 is a slap in the face...."

Neither Salford City Council nor ECf speak to the Salford Star so we cannot get a comment from them.

* For a full background see previous Salford Star article: £8Million Subsidy For Chapel Street Developer As Salford Community Shop Gets Eviction Order – click here  

Main photo shows Mo and Marie