Star date: 31st December 2016

THE SALFORD STAR MARY BURNS AWARDS 2016:

FRED DONE REWARDED FOR SERVICES TO SALFORD HERITAGE DESTRUCTION 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the tenth annual Salford Star Mary Burns Awards, which are given out to honour the most deserving individuals and organisations in the city for their stupid statements, dodgy dealings and iffy activities over the past twelve months.

Fred Done loves Salford. That's why he's about to bulldoze the Black Horse pub on the Crescent and shove up ugly blocks of unaffordable flats – in the conservation area! So, ladies and gentlemen, please bet on a Milton Keynes future and saddle up your bulldozers for the winner of the Salford Star Mary Burns Award for Services To Salford Heritage Destruction...Fred Done!

Full Award details here...

SERVICES TO SALFORD HERITAGE DESTRUCTION

Goes to...

FRED DONE 

Once again there were plenty of contenders for this auspicious Award for heritage destruction. Runner up was Peel Holdings for its pathetic plastic plans for the replication of the locally listed 1840 farmhouse buildings at Burgess Farm on Hilton Lane in Little Hulton, which it got permission to trash in November (see previous Salford Star article – click here).

However, the judges decided that Fred Done should be paraded around the winners' enclosure – and not for the first time. The Bet Fred frontman won the Salford Star Feed The Rich Award last year for his Black Friar pub development of two horrid blocks of unaffordable flats in Trinity. Here, Fred and his brother Pete, avoided £1,283,970 in planning fees and then scabbed a cheap £17.3million public money loan from the Greater Manchester Housing Fund (see here).

This year, the brothers – who, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, have increased their wealth by £300million, making them the fifth richest people in the North West, with a combined wealth of £1.3billion – have been at it again...

In April, Fred, via his company, Property (Done) Ltd, got the go-ahead from Salford City Council planning panel, to trash the locally listed Black Horse pub on the Crescent. The iconic pub sits in the Crescent conservation area, but Fred wanted to demolish it in order to build 399 unaffordable apartments in three blocks of up to 21 storeys high.

The Victorian Society and Historic England slated the plan and its "proposed height and slab-like design", stating that it would "constitute a high level of harm to the character and appearance of the Crescent conservation area".

Even Salford Council planning officers acknowledged that, despite its state of disrepair, the Black Horse does "contribute to the streetscape and to the character and appearance of the conservation area". And that "It is accepted that a high degree of harm is caused to the setting of the conservation area and of the listed buildings on Crescent frontage".

Nevertheless the Council officers recommended approval for the scheme and also accepted the Done bros' plea that the company couldn't afford to pay an estimated £1,932,000 in planning fees, as it would make the development `unviable'.

At April's planning meeting of councillors, only one councillor stood up to the Dones; Seedley and Weaste Councillor Ronnie Wilson, who called the plans "disturbing"...

"Once more we are destroying our architecture as one after another building goes; this is historical for local residents" he added "As a representative of the people I am not willing to cross this red line..."

The rest of the planning panel voted in favour of the pub destruction, to a background sonata of violins from the Dones' representative at the meeting..."We're Salfordians, we're trying to bring the Crescent back to life" he wept "...We're lucky that we've got Fred Done who is willing to invest his capital, not for immediate return..."

Yep, we're so, so lucky to have Fred trash the Crescent conservation area, bulldoze a listed pub, build almost four hundred unaffordable flats and give nothing back to the city in terms of planning payments!

And then... And then...Fred shoved up a load of hoardings around the pub advertising his betting business, almost pointing to his head saying `It's me, it's me that's trashing the Black Horse pub...Look everyone, it's meeeeeeee!'

So ladies and gentlemen, gamble your city, whip your Aintrees and kiss your local Bet Fred money harvesting farm for the winner of the Salford Star Mary Burns Award for Services To Salford Heritage Destruction...

Fred Done!!!

If Fred, or his representative on earth, would like to make an acceptance speech, please use the comments box below...

Winners of the 2016 Salford Star Mary Burns Awards

*Nice Work If You Can Get It Award – Hazel Blears – click here

* Green Fingers Award - Salford City Council - click here

*Ethical Hypocrisy Award – Co-operative Group - click here

*George Bush Read My Lips Award – Hazel Blears, Phil Mayall and Councillor Derek Antrobus  - click here

* Pimp My Poverty Award - Salford City Council - click here

* Feed The Rich Award - Peel Holdings - click here

* International Award - Manchester City Council - click here

* `How The Fuck Did You Manage To Ignore Almost 3 Million People?' Award - Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) - click here

*Services To Social Housing - Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett – click here

*Affordable Housing Hypocrisy Revolving Door Award – Councillor Paul Longshaw – click here

* Uncle Joe Stalin Award for Open and Democratic Government – Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett – click here

* Gary Neville Finger In Pies Award - Salford City Council - click here