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Here is today's Mancunian Way:
by BETH ABBIT - Fri June 17, 2022
Hello,
It’s a boiling hot day - and in Greater Manchester that means we can leave the house without a coat for once. I’ll still be taking a mac with me just incase.
In today’s newsletter we’ve got details about an investigation into a senior coroner, Manchester's answer to the New York High Line and the concrete stilts that could soon tower over the city.
Call for suspension
A call has been made for Manchester's senior coroner to be suspended - by another coroner and a senior lawyer.
A formal complaint on behalf of Manchester City Council has been made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office asking for an investigation into Nigel Meadows' conduct, as Damon Wilkinson reports.
The complaint was made on April 19, 2021 by area coroner Zak Golombeck and Manchester City Council's most senior lawyer, solicitor Fiona Ledden. They jointly wrote on behalf of Manchester City Council citing concerns about Mr Meadows’ conduct and capacity to do the job.
Details of the allegations cannot be given for legal reasons, but concerns have been raised about five 'specific areas' of Mr Meadows' conduct. They relate to allegedly inappropriate comments by Mr Meadows - both within inquests and outside of proceedings and behaviour Mr Golombeck and Ms Ledden describe as 'bizarre'.
They have called for an 'interim suspension' pending the outcome of an investigation. Mr Meadows was not suspended and has continued to oversee hearings. The JCIO confirmed the matter is 'under consideration'.
What do coroners do?
Coroners investigate deaths where the cause is unknown or there is reason to think the death may be unnatural.
Mr Meadows has presided over more than 10,000 hearings during his career.
He opened the inquests into the deaths of the 22 people who lost their lives in the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist bombing and went on to preside over a number of pre-inquest review hearings relating to the atrocity. A public inquiry into the attack has since taken place at the request of Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Who is Nigel Meadows?
As senior coroner for Manchester, Mr Meadows is funded by Manchester City Council, but is completely independent.
As Damon writes: “Clearly the fact of the complaint raises questions about the confidence Manchester City Council has in this senior coroner. This is clearly a matter of public concern because coroners are an extremely important judicial role and Mr Meadows was appointed senior coroner for Manchester in 2006.”
Mr Meadows has been contacted for comment on multiple occasions.
Weather, etc.
- Saturday: Sunny intervals changing to cloudy by late morning. 16C.
- Pollen count: High.
- Roads closed: M66 one lane closed southbound at J4 M60 M62 until June 21. Delph New Road, Dobcross, in both directions for roadworks between Wall Hill Road and Oldham Road until August 15. Eccles New Road westbound closed for gas main work from Stott Lane to Gilda Brook Road until June 28.
- Disruption expected to most train operating companies between June 21 and 26 due to industrial action.
- Manchester Day: Various city centre road closures on June 19.
- Today's Manc trivia question: What does HS2 stand for?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter
Ugly concrete stilts
Northern leaders say the wrong plan for a HS2 station in Manchester could kill 14,000 jobs and wreck a 'once-in-a-lifetime' chance.
Manchester Council leader Bev Craig is among those calling for a change to the proposed plans, which show HS2 emerging from the ground in Ardwick before travelling on a mile-long viaduct of up to 12 metres in height.
“It’s currently being proposed that HS2 runs underground until it comes out of the ground on huge concrete stilts and runs above ground into the city centre,” Coun Craig says.
“No other European city would start by building rail infrastructure on concrete stilts. It’s an outdated notion of urban planning, more reminiscent of the 1970s than what we want to see in 2040.”
As transport reporter Charlotte Cox writes, the HS2 Crewe-Manchester Bill is being prepared for a second reading in Parliament. Coun Craig says the high speed rail line from London to Manchester is vital, but must go underground.
Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, says the current cut-price plan will 'economically sterilise' parts of the city, adding: "There is no doubt we are getting a second class link to HS2 in Manchester." While Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell says the loss of development land and the impact on the area ‘is not acceptable’.
One engineer, who has worked on HS2, told Charlotte he could not understand the decision to shelve the underground option. “Manchester already has the blight of above-ground viaducts. People in Manchester know what that does, it isolates communities, it’s not a good way to smash up a city. That area will end up going to lower-value homes and it’s people on lower incomes who will suffer. Is that really right?” he said.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps previously denied that rail routes would be raised on viaducts coming into Piccadilly. "If we spend £6bn or £7bn building the station underground at Manchester, we will take away from Liverpool, Leeds, Hull or some of the other places that are calling for money,” he said in the Commons.
Sky Park
Maximising on a towering railway structure that already exists in Manchester is the National Trust. They bedded in the first plants at the Castlefield Viaduct this week.
Manchester’s new skyline park is set on the 330m former railway viaduct. As the Manc answer to New York’s High Line, it was due to open in July, but has been set back by unexpected delays. It is still due to open next month so keep your eyes peeled for tickets, which are free but will be limited.
Covid hospitalisations
There has been a sharp rise in Covid hospitalisations in Greater Manchester.
There were 251 people with Covid-19 admitted to the region’s hospitals in the week ending June 12, according to the latest NHS figures. That’s 118 more than the week before - an 89 percent increase. However patient numbers remain far below the rate of hospitalisations seen in previous waves.
Cases are up in all ten boroughs, rising fastest in Tameside and Bolton. Stockport has the highest rate during the week ending June 12, with 108.4 cases per 100,000 people. All ten boroughs have a rate lower than the national average.
However the figures no longer accurately reflect the infection rates as mass testing is no longer taking place.
This is Manchester calling
Manchester council leader Bev Craig was first out of the blocks calling for a Manc Eurovision. Organisers are in talks with the BBC to ‘potentially host’ the 2023 event, after concluding next year’s contest cannot be held in Ukraine.
Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra won the competition this year - but the European Broadcasting Union has concluded that ‘security and operational guarantees’ cannot be fulfilled by Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC. Downing Street say the UK would ‘welcome the opportunity’ to work closely with Ukraine and the BBC to host.
Meanwhile, Coun Craig has offered to host the event here. “Hello @bbceurovision this is Manchester calling,” she tweeted. “Not the circumstances that anyone would want given the war in Ukraine. But if it’s to be a UK city- I can’t think of anywhere better, a great music city and fittingly home to a large Ukrainian community.”
Strictly star AJ Odudu delivered the UK professional jury vote live from Salford Quays during this year’s event, sparking speculation that Greater Manchester could host if the UK won. At the time, Coun Craig ordered 'UK Twitter' to ‘calm down’, tweeting: “If we win #Eurovision - of course we want it in Manchester.”
Manchester headlines
Abedi: The elder brother of Manchester Arena bomb mass murderers Salman and Hashem Abedi will face trial after he failed to comply with a legal requirement to give evidence to the public inquiry into the atrocity. Ishmale Abedi, 28, flew out of the UK in August last year - he was due to give evidence to the inquiry in the October. He was warned by a district judge sitting at Manchester magistrates' court today that he faces being convicted in his absence if he doesn't attend the trial on July 14. More here.
Court: Former police constable Aaron Jones, 36, has been handed a 12-month community order for offering to deal steroids. He pleaded guilty to two counts of offering to supply class C drugs at Liverpool Magistrates Court. It followed an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which found PC Jones had offered to supply steroids in January 2019. Details here.
Buses: Andy Burnham is 'confident' bus companies will agree to slash fares by the end of the summer as he fast-tracks plans to cap tickets at £2 per ride. The flat fare structure was supposed to come into force once buses are under public control and the new franchising system is rolled out from autumn 2023. Operators must agree to the plans, but OneBus - which represents the 'vast majority' of bus operators across Greater Manchester - has expressed its support. More here.
Worth a read
Stefan White used to charge his siblings 2p a time to jump from his top bunk. Now he's head of a multimillion-pound beer snacks business. His entrepreneurial spirit developed further when he sold his Easter eggs for £1 cheaper than supermarkets and began reselling cans of pop and sweets on the playground.
But he says it was when his parents split that he was really spurred on. “I was 11, I remember my dad was really down. We were going around Denton Crownpoint, in River Island, and my dad really wanted this £110 leather jacket. I thought ‘what can I do to get enough money?’ The entrepreneurial journey started out of heartbreak. Now it’s about family pride with me.”
Saffron Otter has spoken to Stefan about his career.
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, what does HS2 stand for, is High Speed 2.
