The NHS nurse who can’t get a council house PLUS Picked from a crowd in Piccadilly Gardens
Hello,
It’s Bonfire Night, which means sparklers, fireworks and some filling-lifting treacle toffee.
But rather than relying on a neighbour’s laissez-faire attitude to safety, why not head to an organised event?
There are plenty on this evening, including what promises to be a spectacular ‘digital celebration’ event at The Printworks. Or if you’re after the real thing, you could head to The Klondyke in Levenshulme where there will be LED performances and a silent firework display followed by a noisier one.
You can find all the details here. And you can find the best vantage points from which to enjoy the displays here.
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On to the news. We’re discussing how new tech is being used to fight crime in Piccadilly Gardens in today’s newsletter. But first, I want to tell you a shocking tale about a family completely hamstrung by our country’s housing crisis.
This is the ‘bed’ Jason Lewis has to look forward to after working a 13 hour NHS shift (Image: Jason Lewis)
Jason Lewis and his family do actually have a home. Thanks to a work friend, Jason can rent the two-bed flat in Irlam for the price of a one-bed council house. And he is extremely appreciative of this. But the truth is he desperately needs more space.
As he told Ethan Davies, the nurse works 13-hour NHS shifts and comes home to care for his autistic teenage daughter and frail 88-year-old dad, who has dementia and Alzheimer’s.
As Ethan writes: “After waking up at 5:30am for work, what he really needs is an early night and a good sleep. But that’s hard to come by in Jason’s flat.
“He can’t go to sleep until 1am, when his partner Hazel gets home from work, cleaning a dental practice. And when the pair settle down, they don’t go to bed. That’s because, for the last three years, they’ve slept on the settee.”
This ripped leather sofa is where Jason has slept for three years(Image: Jason Lewis)
Jason – who moved his dad from Wales to care for him – has tried to keep the family together by applying for a Salford council house.
He needs a three-bed home in the borough so he can get to work at Salford Royal Hospital without difficulty, his partner can continue cleaning and he won’t have to move Katie from Oakwood Academy, in Eccles.
“I have been bidding every single week for a three-bedroom house since I asked them to move,” he says.
He’s currently 125th in line. Salford council says demand for social homes is ‘extremely high’.
You can read the full story here.
Zone of recognition
Two new live facial recognition camera vans are being used in Piccadilly Gardens to track down criminals.
They are kitted-out with cameras which scan the faces of people passing in a fixed location, with specialist software using biometric data to compare them to the faces on a ‘watchlist’ compiled by the police.
If there is a match, the computer inside the van ‘pings’ and alerts officers. If there is no match, the data is deleted immediately.
The cameras attached to one of GMP’s vans(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
Greater Manchester Police insist it is ‘not a mass surveillance tool’ and that ‘law-abiding members of the public have nothing to fear.’
Our breaking news man Stephen Topping went down to Manchester city centre to see the new cameras in action and was picked out of the crowd in seconds.
“It all happened in a matter of seconds. I’m a brisk walker, but the system worked swiftly to pick me out from the city centre bustle,” he writes.
An avoidable tragedy
Jennifer Cahill died during childbirth
The tragic story of Jennifer and Agnes Cahill – who died after a home birth went catastrophically wrong – has touched our readers.
The 34-year-old mother and four-day-old baby both died after complications that never should have happened.
Now, the Manchester Evening News is appealing to families to share their stories of giving birth in Greater Manchester. We want to take a major survey as the region has spent years reckoning with maternity care failings.
All but one of the region’s maternity services is ranked as inadequate or requires improvement. And midwives have been warning of the grave dangers to mothers and babies caused by a woefully short-staffed system.
If you’d like to share your story, please fill in this survey.
Full probe into deleted email
Salford council has announced an investigation into how a misconduct complaint against deputy mayor Jack Youd was removed from the email inboxes of councillors without their knowledge.
On October 10, the Local Democracy Reporting Service and Manchester Evening News revealed that an anonymous email was sent to several councillors in January making a complaint against the deputy mayor.
But some councillors said that the email complaint had been ‘deleted’ from their inboxes within hours of it arriving, and without any warning.
Coun Jack Youd
Salford council says its City Solicitor is leading a probe to ‘understand what processes were followed’ when the emails went missing.
It is understood that the council’s investigation will focus on whether or not the code of conduct was broken, and if there are any lessons to be learned from what happened.
They can’t stay away
The former Turner Brothers asbestos factory in Rochdale(Image: LDRS)
Trespassers are continually risking themselves by breaking into an abandoned asbestos factory site.
The Turner Brothers factory was once the world’s largest asbestos factory, employing thousands of Rochdalians, but now it’s a shabby ruin.
There are still dangers on the site, with asbestos still thought to be present, so the numerous break-ins and damage to CCTV cameras has caused huge concern.
Spodden Park Ltd, who own the land, have met with rochdale-council>Rochdale council to discuss public safety and how to better prevent trespassers gaining access to the derelict factory just off Rooley Moor Road.
George Lythgoe picks up the story here.
Weather
Thursday: Light cloud and light winds. 17C.
Roads: A665 Devonshire Street North, Ardwick, in both directions closed due to gas main work between A57 Hyde Road and Blind Lane. Until November 4.
A6 Chapel St westbound, Salford, closed for long-term roadworks between Blackfriars Rd and New Bailey St until January 19.
Manc trivia: William Harrison Ainsworth’s 1842 novel Guy Fawkes imagined that the Gunpowder Plot was planned at which local building?
Headlines
Next: The next eight high streets set to receive major makeovers have been confirmed by Manchester council. See the list here.
Third: Manchester’s Christmas Markets have been named the third best in Britain. See who beat it to the punch here.
Objections: Forty seven rabbis have objected to a proposal for a parish council to be set up in a predominantly Jewish area of Greater Manchester. Read more.
Artwork: Two allies from Europe have entered the fray to save a beautiful mural from being destroyed. See here.
The answer to today’s trivia question is Ordsall Hall.
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