Star date: 29th July 2014

TRUTH OF BARTON MOSS POLICING COMPLAINTS REVEALED

A Freedom of Information request to Greater Manchester Police has revealed that the number of complaints against the force's policing of Barton Moss was actually more than double the number stated by Chief Constable Peter Fahy in a public statement earlier this year.

As the number of complaints was described as "truly shocking" by Barton Moss solicitor, Simon Pook of Robert Lizar's, yesterday at Manchester Magistrates Court two protectors involved in a lorry lock-on in January were acquitted, while two others were given conditional discharges.

Full details here…

Star date: 28th July 2014

A Salford Star Exclusive

SALFORD COUNCIL MAKES HUGE PAY-OFFS TO SPICER AND VICKERS  DESPITE CUTS

As Salford Council was formulating cuts to transport for disabled adults, the Salford Children's Camp and more, it paid out huge sums to senior staff who left their posts, the Salford Star can reveal.

Chief Executive, Barbara Spicer, who quit the Council in October last year, got a £93,000 pay-off, while Martin Vickers, who left the Council in August last year and then controversially walked almost straight into a job with Salford City Reds, was handed a pay-off of £78,817.

Full details here…

Star date: 27th July 2014

SARAH BROOKES SELECTION FIASCO COMPARED TO EXPENSES SCANDAL

Controversy continues to rage in the Salford Labour Party, with Karl Brookes writing to members of the Selection Committee who picked the shortlist of candidates to stand in Hazel Blears' vacant seat for the next election, comparing their actions to the MPs' expenses scandal – of which Hazel was the poster girl.

Karl is the husband of Sarah Brookes, who came joint second in Labour Party branch nominations for the candidacy, only to be overlooked by the Committee in favour of a candidate who got just one nomination.

Full details here…

Star date: 26th July 2014

LAST FEW DAYS OF THE FRINGE AT THE KING'S ARMS SALFORD 

The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival draws to a close on Thursday 31st July but before that there's still lots of music, comedy and theatre going off at the King's Arms in Salford.

Tonight sees the opening of the new Lucy Davis Vaults in the cellar of the Kings with Ransack Theatre's production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter. There's also music and comedy, including An Evening of Filth and Despair.

Full details here…

Star date: 24th July 2014

…AND SALFORD WOMEN HAVE THE FOURTH WORST LIFE EXPECTANCY

More horrific data has emerged on the early deaths of men and women in Salford, with the city recording the third worst life expectancy in England for men at 76.1 years, and the fourth worst life expectancy for women at 80.5 years.

Meanwhile men living in the posh area of Kensington and Chelsea can expect to live six years longer than Salford men, and women living in Richmond upon Thames can expect to live almost five and a half years longer than Salford women.

Full details here…

Star date: 24th July 2014

SALFORD PEOPLE UNANIMOUSLY IGNORED BY SCRUTINY COUNCILLORS AS £4.4MILLION CUTS GET GO AHEAD

"It's gobsmacking and you would really question your faith in Salford City Council's political system today" Steve North, Salford City UNISON

There was fury yesterday as six councillors sitting on Salford Council's Budget Scrutiny Committee unanimously voted to reject a `call in' to reconsider over £4million of cuts to services for vulnerable people in the city.

The call in was brought by three Labour councillors, who, backed by service users, argued against the cuts on both financial, safety and moral grounds. But UNISON's Steve North said afterwards, "We put our faith in the democratic process, were patronised and then told unanimously that we needn't have bothered."

Full details here…

Star date: 23rd July 2014

SALFORD COUNCIL UNDERHAND SALE OF OPEN SPACE LAND CLAIM WALKDEN RESIDENTS

Walkden residents are up in arms against Salford Council's proposed sell off of land at Hill Top Moss, part of Blackleach Country Park, after they were given just two weeks to object to a statutory notice of intent – when Council agents had been in discussions for two years with developer Redwaters.

Redwaters wants to put up dozens of houses on the green open space land that's classified as a wildlife corridor, and now the residents of Hill Top are accusing Salford Council and Deputy Mayor David Lancaster of underhand practices, while hundreds of people have signed petitions against the sell off.

Full details here…

Star date: 22nd July 2014

SURE START CENTRES SURVIVE AFTER PROTESTS AND THOUSANDS SIGNING PETITIONS

Campaigners fighting for their Children's Centre sites to stay, after the Council proposed to close them, have won a substantial victory following protests and petitions.

The Council wanted to close three centres in Irlam, Walkden and Lower Broughton but it has now agreed to keep two of the centres in operation - Fiddlers Lane in Irlam and River View in Lower Broughton… "The campaign definitely has made a difference!" says Bek, one of the Lower Broughton campaigners.

Full details here…

Star date: 22nd July 2014

CONTROVERSIAL OASIS ACADEMY INADEQUATE AND PUT IN SPECIAL MEASURES

Oasis Academy MediaCityUK has been absolutely slated by Ofsted which ruled it `inadequate' on every scale that it has… `Achievement of Pupils', `Quality of Teaching'; `Behaviour and Safety of Pupils', and `Leadership and Management'.

The controversial Academy, hailed as a `flagship' for Salford,  was at the centre of a riot a few years ago as pupils objected to the mass sacking of teachers half way through exam courses.

Full details here…

Star date: 21st July 2014

BENEFIT STREETWISE SALFORD PEOPLE HIT BACK

As the ConDem Government and its media chums try to bracket everyone on benefits or in poverty as `a drain on society', a new group called NICE has got its voice and is hitting back.

Last Friday members of the group held a media briefing and panel discussion where some truths were told by those hardest hit by welfare `reforms' and Salford Council cuts. As ex-offender Tony said, "If no-one says nowt, nothing's going to change."

Full details here…

Star date: 20th July 2014

MONDAYS, HOOKY, GRAEME PARK IN FUNDRAISING SPECTACULAR

Chico's Kickin Cancer Fundraising Dinner Ball
Friday 25th July
Palace Hotel

This Friday sees the maddest thing ever, as Happy Mondays, Hooky and co perform at a one-off extra posh black tie dinner at the Palace Hotel in Manchester.

It's a fundraiser for both The Christie Hospital and Chico, the 12 year old son of Happy Mondays' Salfordian bass player Paul Ryder, who's currently in the USA kicking Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer.

UPDATE: The event has been postponed - Full details here…

Star date: 19th July 2014

£3MILLION WORTH OF CARS COME TO SALFORD  

"I wouldn't drive one 'cos everyone would look at you and think `What an idiot'"...

Cuts? Poverty? Hard times? What the hell! When three million quid's worth of in yer face supercars come to town it's hard not to gawp. So we grabbed our junior reporter, cranked up the Salford Star banger and crossed through security into MediaCityUK to stroke the obscenely priced petrol guzzlers.

Here's 14 year old Mikey K's report on the rich man's joy toys…

Star date: 18th July 2014

IF YOU'VE GOT KIDS YOU NEED TO EARN OVER £27,000!!!

A new study released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation asks the public how much money people need for an adequate standard of living and compares it to previous years.

Amongst other things, the research found that if you've got kids you need to be earning over £27,000, up a whopping £12,000 since 2008. The results should send shockwaves around Salford.

Full details here…

Star date: 17th July 2014

TAXI FOR IAN STEWART!

"Mr Stewart why not come and have a day with us? Maybe this is the only way to shame you…"

Parents and carers of severely disabled adults have told Salford Mayor, Ian Stewart, to spend a day with them and see the affects of some of the £4.4million cuts he's just passed, including those to day centre transport.

Parents and carers met at Swinton Royal Legion this week and voted to continue to fight the cuts which will see over forty disabled people left with virtually no transport to day centres. Three Labour councillors have already `called-in' the Mayor's decision.

Full details here…

Star date: 15th July 2014

SALFORD MAYOR IN MELTDOWN

Labour councillors who sit on Salford Council's Budget Scrutiny Committee have criticised Mayor Ian Stewart, suggesting that he and Council officers should be "more open and transparent about the budget process".

The rebuke comes on top of a `call-in' notice against almost £4.4million of cuts to services for vulnerable adults by three other Labour councillors and the resignation last week of Matt Finnegan, the Council's head of communications and one of the Mayor's closest allies..

Full details here…

Star date: 15th July 2014

LANGWORTHY ROYAL BRITISH LEGION OPEN DAY

First World War Centenary Celebration Open Day
Saturday 19th July 
Royal British Legion, Langworthy Road
10:30am-5pm free

The Langworthy Royal British Legion hosts a family fun day this Saturday to mark the centenary of the First World War. Attending will be the Police, St John Ambulance, Fire Service, Royal Navy, British Army, veterans and more…

Full details here…

Star date: 13th July 2014

LABOUR GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES ON FRACKING, MAYOR, HOMES, CHARITY AND TRANSPARENCY

Before the next General Election, sitting Salford and Eccles MP Hazel Blears is stepping down, and over the next few weeks Labour Party members will be selecting their chosen candidate to stand in her place.

Given that Salford is almost a safe Labour seat, the Salford Star asked all the candidates to guarantee to do five things - oppose fracking, live in the constituency, stand up to City Mayor Ian Stewart, give 1% of their pay to charity and be transparent in their dealings. Would they agree?

Full details here…

Star date: 13th July 2014

THOUSANDS PROTEST AGAINST BBC BIAS

Thousands of people converged on MediaCityUK yesterday to protest against the perceived bias of the BBC in its current reporting of the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.

A banner on one of the buses said it all… `It's not about religion, it's about humanity'…

More photos and report here…

Star date: 12th July 2014

CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF AGAIN AS FORTY SEVERELY DISABLED PEOPLE LEFT WITHOUT TRANSPORT

"This proposal will disproportionately impact people with learning difficulties, who form just over 70% of current service users" Salford Council report

Save Our Adult Transport
Tuesday 15th July 7pm
Swinton Legion

On Tuesday, parents and carers of some of Salford's most vulnerable people will be meeting as a last chance to try and stop Salford Mayor, Ian Stewart, cutting transport to day care centres and Granville respite centre. The decision to axe the service has already been `called in' by three Labour Party councillors to be reconsidered. All welcome.

Full details here…

Star date: 11th July 2014

SALFORD STAR SEES OFF TOXIC MATT FINNEGAN AFTER POLITICAL SPINNING STORY

Matt Finnegan, Salford Council's £65,000 Head of Communications, has resigned following an article in the Salford Star. Finnegan had a `politically restricted' role at the Council but the Star printed the contents of a leaked email to local press pushing Salford Mayor Ian Stewart's support for Rebecca Long-Bailey, a Labour Party candidate for the seat of retiring MP Hazel Blears.

Finnegan's resignation will further undermine Ian Stewart's power base at Salford Council. This week, three local Labour Party councillors signed a call-in notice against the Mayor's horrific cuts to services for vulnerable adults in the city.

Full details here…