During the 15 years of the Salford Star, absolutely loads has happened as the city is in transformation, although transforming into what and where no-one knows. However certain events that have happened have either encapsulated that transformation or shown the grass roots of what is underneath that transformation. Here we pick out eight stories covered by the Salford Star which we think say the most about the city...with four to start...
The first ever story that the Salford Star covered online in 2009 was the 'death' of education at Salford University, with students blocking off the Crescent in rush hour to protest at £12.5million cuts while the institution was spending £30million on its shiny new base at MediaCityUK.
There were drums, coffins, the lot but the University moved to silence all dissent, as it planned to sack 150 staff. Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor at the time had 'first call' on two chauffeur driven University cars, plus a house in Altrincham paid for by the University, on top of his £239,000 salary.
And over the last 15 years at the University it seems to have been an ongoing war against its own staff while real estate became a priority. It took two years and the Information Commissioners Office for the Star to reveal under the Freedom of Information Act that the Uni was paying almost £20million over five years for its new Media City base.
Meanwhile another Vice Chancellor trousered almost £400,000 in salary, pensions and loss of office money when he left in 2016. This was the same bloke who hounded anti-cuts lecturer Dr Gary Duke through the courts, costing the University an estimated figure of over £100,000, while courses were shut and hundreds of posts axed as a result of the University's `transformation programme'.
The war against lecturers is continuing with Professor James Newell sacked in 2018, for basically not chasing financial targets rather than anything to do with the quality of his work. 5,000 people signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of the lecturer who had 27 years service and a huge professional reputation, while over 130 academics signed an open letter to The Guardian calling for his reinstatement.
UCU, the trade union for lecturers at Salford University, passed a motion that the University was attacking 'academic freedom', 'corrupting' education and has been 'hijacked by managers'...
Some staff have recently raised concerns with the Office For Students regarding the appointment of the Deputy Dean of the Business School, arguing that she was not qualified to take up the post. And now things have got so bad in the University, the Salford Star understands that staff have taken to writing anonymous emails to the Governing Council and the Vice Chancellors Executive team asking for the Dean and all her team to be fired.
"Staff feel truly helpless as we see a once proud university turn into this" one member of staff wrote to the Salford Star "There are no standards. No ethics. No leadership. Staff morale is at an all time low. All good leaders have left. Nobody good will come. The structural debts etc are huge. There seems to be no way out or no way of improving. It is a real shame."
Education seems to be coming second at the University, which is now embarking on the huge Crescent Masterplan of real estate alongside Salford City Council and the English Cities Fund...to the point where, we understand, in Business, Accounting and Law the University is guaranteeing an offer of a place for anyone who applies, regardless of grades apparently.
The University seems to be almost selling degrees, while it concentrates on reducing staff and amassing its property portfolio. It was also the first institution in Salford to market itself as Salford University, Manchester. The process seems to have started with the proposed move to Media City, which has been one of the most significant happenings in the city's recent history.
Back in 2008, when MediaCityUK was still being hyped before it was built, the Salford Star questioned the figure of 15,000 jobs that its cheerleaders said were being created. It turned out that the figure was rubbish...15,000 jobs would only be 'housed' by the time the whole of Media City was complete. In the event there were 16 new full time jobs at the BBC for Salford people. A later study from Centre For Cities showed that most jobs 'created' were actually relocations, which tallied with Salford Council's own reports.
Meanwhile the Star revealed that despite the whole site, studios and equipment being owned by private company, Peel Holdings, public money had more or less paid for the creation of MediaCityUK. And the Council waived all planning contributions for buildings within Media City, which meant the city lost £millions in funds and affordable housing.
MediaCityUK was more about image than any real job proper prospects for Salfordians, with millions of pounds poured into the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and prestige events at The Lowry as part of the Manchester International Festival at a time when front line services for the community were being cut.
Image was also at the centre of the cladding scandal that saw nine blocks of flats, owned by Salford City Council and managed by Pendleton Together, covered in the same dangerous material that wrapped around Grenfell Tower. Salford has cropped up in the recent Grenfell Inquiry with emails showing that the cladding panels were from the same supplier as Grenfell and staff were told to keep fire safety details from customers.
Instead of checking on the combustible materials to be placed on the Pendleton blocks, all the planning centred on how it would all look when complete..."This will create a dynamic and exciting aesthetic and become a signpost for the rejuvenation of Pendleton..." stated one Council planning report.
The actual 'outline' application considered by Salford Council, and passed in August 2012, had disappeared from the Council's website completely by the time of Grenfell, but there was a note of materials in further planning correspondence. It took two minutes on Google to find how dangerous it was, with a report from architectural experts, Probyn Miers, going into huge detail of the Fire Risks From External Cladding Panels, together with examples of fires around the world.
It turned out that Salford had 29 buildings that had failed fire safety tests on aluminium cladding the most out of anywhere in the country.
Even before Grenfell, tenants of Pendleton Together were complaining about shoddy workmanship and the over expensive NIBE heating system which was supposed to save them money. There were also dodgy fire doors on flats and in communal areas. In fact when consultants checked a sample number of Pendleton flats, they found four to five fire safety issues in each flat.
Meanwhile, windows couldn't be opened, glass was falling out of balconies and when the cladding did finally get stripped people were left freezing and back in the fuel poverty that the refurbishment of the blocks was supposed to solve. It's got to the point now where residents are taking the Council and Pendleton Together to court.
Salford University, MediaCityUK and the cause of the cladding crisis have all been about changing the 'Dirty Old Town' image of Salford but it all blew up in the authorities' face when a proper riot broke out in 2011 just a stone's throw from MediaCity, Pendleton and the University.
Reading The Riots, a huge research project conducted by The Guardian newspaper and the London School of Economics, concluded from interviews with rioters themselves, that the major causes were community policing and poverty. And that the riots were a protest of sorts, which backed up the Salford Star's original coverage.
"I think it was about having a go at the police you know, after years of abuse" said Barry "Because the police do abuse people, they do like to take liberties. I know people who get harassed by the police on a regular basis, and it will always go on and I can't see it ever stopping. What you have to understand is there are a lot of people from Salford who love Salford who will fight for Salford."
The riot epitomised that Salford was becoming two very different cities. On one side the plush apartment blocks, cool tech jobs and over expensive bars and eateries. On the other side were Salfordians struggling to make ends meet in a dead end lifestyle...
Eight Happenings That Encapsulate Salford: Part 2 click here
Previous articles on the Salford Star Closure...
Salford Star To Close After 15 Years click here
The Star Is Born click here
Alice's Story: Injustice From South Africa to Salford click here
Salford Stars Part 1 click here
Salford Stars Part 2 click here
Real Salford Heritage - Inside The Cliff Man United Training Ground - click here
The Battle of Barton Moss click here
Nigel Pivaro Looks Back Over 15 Years of the Star click here
Planning Scandals and the Affordable Housing Crisis - click here
Campaigns, demos and protests click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions - click here
What's Left and What's Worth Saving in Salford - click here
Guy Griffiths on the Pathfinder Demolitions Part 2 The Human Cost - click here
How Salford City Council Tried To Stop The Star - click here
How Salford City Council Tried to Block and Discredit The Star click here
The Salford Star Closes After 15 Years of Attitude and Love xxx - click here
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