This little item provides a perfect contrast to my last post. Hats off to the Salford Star, for publishing a no-holds-barred investigation of Urban Splash's regeneration and affordable housing schemes. The Star's intrepid fact-finders discovered that, though Urban Splash's Seedley and Langworthy developments were heavily funded by the government through affordable housing grants, the resulting housing wasn't that, erm, affordable. Funny that.
That fine piece of work has landed the Star on the longlist for the Paul Foot Award for Investigative Journalism, and today earned the Star a glowing write up by the Guardian. Imagine, a Greater Manc publication having the bottle to take on Urban Splash, one of the biggest advertisers and most untouchable sacred cows in the region? That's something I thought I'd never see. Almost gives you hope, doesn't it?
UPDATE: The Star have now posted the article about Urban Splash on their site, due to popular demand. If you want to read it, go here, click on the "atricles" link in their sidebar, and scroll down until you hit "Urban Cash"
6 comments:
This is no surprise. I live just behind this award-winning development in Chorlton, which was expanded by Urban Splash and includes social housing (i.e. flas in shared ownership)
www.stephenson-bell.com/chorltonresi.html
I have to say I like it very much, though many do not.
Anyway. The flats available through the housing association are far more expensive than similarly sized Chorlton properties, despite being a 15 min walk to Chorlton Cross. This is because it's prestige development, but also because the even with the subsidy of shared ownership people stretch themselves and bid the property price up. That is, shared ownership can enable people to bid more for a property and so that property's value still rises out of reach of those shared ownership is aimed at.
I'm a journalist who has lived in Salford most of my life....never heard of the Salford Star.
Can someone enlighten me?
vitty, the guardian article I've linked to provides an excellent summary of what the Star is and what it's aims are.
I've never actually seen a paper copy myself as I don't live in Salford, but have heard about it from people who do. The Star is distributed free to Salford Residents and since they are the only audience it's concerned with, the folks who run it don't seem bothered about publicising/distributing it elsewhere.
Those working at LPC (whose slogan is 'we do everything Urban Splash claim to do') will be laughing into their pints tonight...
Great 'Atricle'..
Cheers for the link. Even as a Manc in London, the excellent journalism merited a read.
@Manchizzle,
thanks for that link, I have used as part of a much bigger post I wrote recently on life on the Quays and housing in general.
Stephen,
when I first move to the area I couldn't understand if that building was just in serious need of tlc ("rotting away" my housemate said) or trying too hard to be cool!
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