{"id":1127213,"date":"2026-08-03T04:33:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T04:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1127213\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T04:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T04:33:27","slug":"stabbings-burned-out-buildings-and-neatly-trimmed-lawns-the-greater-manchester-estate-of-two-halves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1127213\/","title":{"rendered":"Stabbings, burned-out buildings and neatly trimmed lawns: The Greater Manchester estate of two halves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years ago, Baguley Crescent was a \u2018beautiful place to live\u2019. Longstanding residents remember a \u2018well-manicured\u2019 estate, with \u2018lovely trees\u2019 and people who cared about their small community.<\/p>\n

But they say the last decade or so has seen the estate, between Prestwich<\/a> and Middleton<\/a>, transformed \u2013 and not for the better. Violence<\/a>, arson<\/a>, squatters and fly-tipping are the new normal for the residents who remain on the edge of the M60<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, locals describe the community as a street of two halves. At one end, flowers sit in pots on neat lawns, behind trimmed hedges.<\/p>\n

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But, around halfway up, a burnt out caravan sits in front of what remains of derelict garages. Walk on a few paces and collapsed fencing fails to fully secure a mostly empty building which has suffered two fires in recent years<\/a> and, despite being condemned, is believed to be inhabited by squatters.<\/p>\n

\"Burnt<\/p>\n

Burnt remnants of a caravan at Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

Congregated on Baguley Crescent, a small group of residents<\/a> discuss among themselves how they now do not go past a certain point in the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been going on now for the last 10 years,\u201d Francesca Estasy, 60, told the Manchester Evening News.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve had stabbings, there’s squatters, there’s constant trouble. People speeding up in cars, they’re coming round onto private land at the back, just parking up at night, partying, throwing rubbish out, gas canisters everywhere, shouting and drinking, there’s beer cans everywhere. It’s just a vile place to live here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Estasy, now retired, bought her home<\/a> in the crescent in 1993. She said: \u201cIt was a beautiful place when you walked into the Crescent, everywhere was well manicured, lovely trees, and people were owner occupiers. Baguley Crescent was never on the radar for any sort of crime with the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

She blames the problems in part on the \u2018unscrupulous\u2019 landlords and a high turnover of tenants in some of the flats: \u201cAll these rented properties are not looked after at all. The council needs to find out who these landlords are, for a start, make sure they’re all legit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Francesca<\/p>\n

Francesca Estasy, 60, and dog Coco, residents of Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

Peter, 57, has lived in Baguley Crescent for 17 years. He too said the area was once a \u2018pretty good neighbourhood\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe fly-tipping started, so initially those were the first problems we had. Then they started putting, I’d say less desirable people, drug abusers and things like that [in the flats]. It escalated from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThieving on the streets. I’ve seen bicycles dragged into the corner there while they take the wheels off to sell online. The building that got burnt out about nine months ago now, no work’s been done to try and secure it […]<\/p>\n

\u201cArguments you can hear on the street because people are off their heads. I know people have been threatened [with being] knifed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, Joshua O\u2019Dea was sentenced to 27 years for attempted murder<\/a> after forcing his way into a caravan in the crescent with an axe and a knife. He beat his victim, threatening to bite his ear off if he didn’t pay and cut his arm with his knife, causing serious injuries.<\/p>\n

\"Fly-tip<\/p>\n

Fly-tip at Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

Locals told the MEN the issues have been raised repeatedly over the years with Bury council<\/a>, the police<\/a> and the fire service, but no solution has yet been found. Representatives from those organisations were in the area on Friday, July 24, for a \u2018day of action\u2019 which saw them litter picking and speaking to residents about their concerns and offer support.<\/p>\n

Peter said he believes Bury council<\/a> is \u2018trying\u2019 to sort the situation in Baguley Crescent, but he thinks it is a \u2018losing battle\u2019. He said: \u201cEverything just gets worse and worse, you know.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s great seeing this today, this clean up of the street, but I know in say a month’s time it’ll start escalating again, the fly-tipping will start and then you’ll ring the council up and they won’t be interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary George was even more critical of the council\u2019s handling of matters. The 69-year-old retired NHS<\/a> worker said: \u201cThe council could do a lot more, if they wanted to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a couple of lights out last year. It took ages for them to come round and [fix them]. That’s a safety issue, especially with these pavements cracked. It’s dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d like them to be invested in this place a little bit more. There’s 140 flats on here paying roughly 1200 pounds a year each in council. That’s a lot of money and we seem to be forgotten all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary George, 69, resident of Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

Local Labour<\/a> MP Christian Wakeford has pledged to support residents with their fight for action. He said: \u201cWe’ve had issues with a condemned building which was burnt out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s clearly not safe, but the council have also not made it safe, so we’ve had squatters in there almost on a daily basis. We’ve had a burnt-out caravan attracting antisocial behaviour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve had fly-tipping […] We’ve had anti-social behaviour, we’ve had attempted murders, we’ve had crime. Anything you can think of, this neighbourhood has pretty much had it over the last six or seven years, and it’s got worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The action day \u2018won\u2019t be enough\u2019, he added. He wants to see the last of the garages and the fire-damaged building demolished. He hopes to work with the region’s new mayor to secure a compulsory purchase order for the building so it can be replaced with \u2018something actually fit for purpose\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cBut ultimately, we need enforcement. Whether it’s the cameras we’ve put up now to try and stop some of the fly-tipping [or tackling] some of the slum landlords.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christian<\/p>\n

Christian Wakeford MP at Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

Ward councillors Lynn Ryder, Imran Rizvi and Adnan Chaudhry were also at the action day. Coun Ryder said she responds to problems in the crescent on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201c[The rubbish] at the back is impacting on the houses there at the front on Middleton Road, which have rats running around in the garden. One of the residents over there can’t sit out in the back garden anymore because it’s so disgusting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem we have is we can’t get to talk to the landlords. The council are doing everything they can legally to do that, but if the landlords won’t take part in providing good properties for their tenants, we’re really, really limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coun Rizvi added: \u201cI think it’s sad because the residents deserve better […] I think the landlords should be made accountable for the failures, and that’s what it’s about.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s about ensuring that a) if they’ve got a business, then they run it properly and b) if they’re not, then they should be held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n

A council spokeswoman said: \u201cThe issues at Baguley Crescent are long standing and despite action being taken they continue. It\u2019s a complicated situation with a mix of privately owned and rented homes and often not clear who owns what.<\/p>\n

\"Abandoned<\/p>\n

Abandoned caravan and fly-tip at Baguley Crescent(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue is worsened by absent landlords and a minority of local residents who are not living up to their responsibilities, despite enforcement notices to get them to comply. Where we have the powers we have taken action such as the demolition of a large number of dangerous garage structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also working to tackle fly-tipping and waste and support residents with community safety issues […] We can only work within the powers we have and any action we take does not absolve landlords, property owners and residents of their responsibilities. Without further powers to authorities there is no easy solution to the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Years ago, Baguley Crescent was a \u2018beautiful place to live\u2019. Longstanding residents remember a \u2018well-manicured\u2019 estate, with \u2018lovely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1127214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,1285,27604,188,393,4884,187,528,2465,9548,457,285,3044,16,15],"class_list":["post-1127213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manchester","tag-britain","tag-bury","tag-bury-council","tag-crime","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-greater-manchester-police","tag-labour-party","tag-manchester","tag-middleton","tag-people","tag-politics","tag-prestwich","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117029715156479907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1127213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1127214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1127213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1127213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}