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Here is today's Mancunian Way:
by BETH ABBIT - Mon July 25, 2022
Hello,
It’s been 15 years since you could first leave a pub or club without stinking of smoke.
The smoking ban, introduced in July 2007, made it illegal to smoke in any pub, restaurant, nightclub, and most workplaces in the UK. Now health chiefs here in Greater Manchester plan to ban smoking outdoors in key parts of Manchester city centre.
Piccadilly Gardens, St Peter's Square and the area around Manchester Town Hall are all being considered as potential smoke-free outdoor public spaces. Banning smoking around the Etihad Stadium has also been suggested, as Joseph Timan reports.
Mayfield Park - the new 'green lung' of the city set to open this summer - is currently the only public space under 'active consideration', according to Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership.
Greater Manchester has joined the Partnership of Healthy Cities which commits it to creating smoke-free outdoor spaces to protect people from illnesses caused by tobacco.
People smoking in selected city centre outdoor spaces will be asked to stub out their cigarettes or leave the smoke-free zone as part of the new pilot. There are no plans to bring in by-laws or fines for people caught smoking, with an 'education-first' approach, offering smokers support to quit, favoured.
So what do Mancunians think of the plans? Louisa Gregson has been gauging opinion. Office worker Rez Ali says he’s not a heavy smoker, but worries a ban would ‘take away people's freedom’. "It is a public place. I can see why it was banned inside as second-hand smoking is quite dangerous but in open places I don't think it is harmful," he says.
However mum Nouf Amar says a ban should be imposed in Piccadilly Gardens. "Children are here, when I am smoking I go away from children - because it is a bad habit. I think they should ban smoking here, but make sure there is an area smokers can go to,” she says.
A public consultation is expected to start next month with a decision due in Autumn.
Weather, etc.
- Sunday: Overcast changing to sunny intervals by lunchtime. 19C.
- Pollen count: Medium.
- Roads closed: Delph New Road, Dobcross, in both directions for roadworks between Wall Hill Road and Oldham Road until August 5.
- Trams: No service on Metrolink between Eccles and MediaCityUK due to engineering works until October 21.
- Arriva Bus Services suspended due to strike action on routes around Greater Manchester.
- Today's Manc trivia question: Bjork headlined which major Manchester arts event in 2011 and 2015?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter
A win for 'Bee Network'
Andy Burnham has won a legal appeal over plans to bring Greater Manchester's buses under public control by next year.
Diamond Bus owner Rotala appealed a ruling by a judge earlier this year which gave the Greater Manchester mayor the green light for his sweeping reforms. But the Court of Appeal has today unanimously rejected the appeal and upheld the High Court's original decision, as Tom George reports.
The mayor has hailed the ruling as ‘brilliant news for the people of Greater Manchester’. "We were always very confident that GMCA had followed all correct legal processes and that the decision to franchise buses and bring them under public control was lawful and right.”
Mr Burnham hopes the rejection of the appeal paves the way for other city regions such as Liverpool City and South Yorkshire to progress with their own plans for buses.
The mayor's office has been pressing ahead with plans to launch the Bee Network by September 17, 2023. It will include a new flat fare structure of £2 fares for adults and £1 for children travelling on a single journey and £5 day tickets for all operators.
Covid wave will be felt for months
Manchester's public health director has warned the knock-on effects of the latest coronavirus peak will be felt for 'some months'.
High numbers of Covid cases thanks to the BA.4 and BA.5 variants has led to an increase in hospitalisations across Greater Manchester. Some 17 percent of beds - around 1,000 - are now being taken up by Covid positive patients, Helena Vesty reports.
Manchester's director of Public Health, David Regan, last week told the city council’s health scrutiny committee ‘we are at or near the peak in England’ but ‘we'll see the knock-on effects impacting our hospitals and care services for some months yet because it's a very slow decline from the peak’.
Beautiful and bonkers
You could hear a pin drop as Bjork's inimitable voice and the Hallé orchestra's searing strings filled the air at Jodrell Bank last night. The pairing has been three years in the making, thanks to the pandemic, but goodness me, it was worth the wait.
The Icelandic pop icon closed Cheshire's Bluedot festival with a hugely emotional show. "You are such a good audience," she cooed, half way through. We were! Asked not to take pictures, almost everyone obeyed the command for fear of 'distracting Bjork'. And only one person distracted me - a chap behind who ambitiously tried to sing along with 'Hunter'.
In a set completely void of the electronics that usually punctuate her music, Bjork captivated us with some of her most heartrending songs beneath the shadow of the Lovell telescope. In the still of a brooding, overcast summer's night, it was the huge emotion of 'Joga' that packed the biggest punch.
It seems a minor miracle this show happened at all. After years of waiting for it to happen, Bjork confided that she had been suffering with Covid just a few days prior. Not that you could tell - her voice as glorious as ever.
It was a unique experience, captured here by Santiago Felipe. As you can see, it was as much a treat for the eyes as the ears with Bjork dressed in a sleeping bag/Queen Amidala type costume. Beautiful, bonkers, true to form.
Read more:
Bjork at Bluedot review: A field in rapt silence
A world class music city
Speaking of European pop sensations - the UK is hosting the Eurovision song contest next year, and Manchester WILL bid to host it.
The European Broadcast Union and the BBC both said the UK will take over hosting the contest, replacing war-torn Ukraine. "It is a matter of great regret that our colleagues and friends in Ukraine are not able to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Being asked to host the largest and most complex music competition in the world is a great privilege,” the BBC tweeted, adding that the corporation will make the event 'a true reflection of Ukrainian culture'.
Straight out of the blocks, Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig tweeted: "Manchester will be bidding to host Eurovision. A world class music city, brilliant venues, experience in hosting major events, and of course one of the UK’s largest Ukrainian populations- we are confident we will make it a #eurovision to remember."
Manchester headlines
Human remains found: News just coming in of a shocking story in Oldham. The M.E.N. is reporting the details here and we'll be looking at it in more detail tomorrow.
Whistleblower: Did 'gang bosses' escape because police officers were squabbling? A senior detective turned whistleblower who was in charge of the investigation has blamed his bosses in evidence provided to an employment tribunal. Crime reporter John Scheerhout has been looking into the claims.
Power cut: A reckless vandal who broke into a Salford substation and caused a power outage to more than 200 homes and businesses is 'lucky to be alive', according to engineers. Electricity Northwest say the intruder 'diced with death' after they illegally entered the substation on Fitzwarren Street, which operates at 6,600 volts. Metal worth just £2 was stolen - but a power cut and surge in the area left more than £40,000 worth of damage.
Developments: More than 2,000 new homes could be brought to Chorlton and Trafford if plans for ten major developments go ahead. A supermarket, retail and a primary school are also part of the plans - but there are concerns over how infrastructure in the area will cope. Proposals for up to 418 homes have been made for Chorlton, while neighbouring 1,883 new houses and flats could be built in neighbouring Stretford. More here.
De Havilland Comet
A former RAF plane, the De Havilland Comet was transformed into a restaurant with a 'cockpit' cocktail lounge in the 1970s. Customers would venture to Pomona Docks to board a 21-year-old plane.
Worth a read
Graham Mansfield was last week handed a suspended sentence for the killing of his wife, Dyanne, following a failed suicide pact. He has since called for euthanasia to be legalised in the UK after describing the couple’s harrowing last moments together.
Andrew Bardsley’s detailed feature gives an insight into an extraordinary and complex crown court trial.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me, the next edition of the Mancunian Way will be with you around the same time on Monday. If you have any stories you would like us to feature or look into, please contact me at beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk
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The answer to today’s trivia question, Bjork headlined which major Manchester arts event in 2011 and 2015, is the Manchester International Festival.
