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 t is well known in Gorton that the much vaunted regeneration initiatives for East Manchester have been largely conspicuous by their absence in our area, concentrating instead on Beswick, Clayton and Openshaw. The reasons given for this have been often repeated in these pages and received with a certain amount of justifiable cynicism. This is not to say that these other areas are not in need of regeneration, on the contrary, but it has been difficult to swallow the official line when the people of Gorton are continually being left out in the cold.
We had seen some light with the advent of the New East Manchester Company, which, it appeared, would be responsible for an overall strategy throughout East Manchester to bring in significant investment and funding (some £2Bn according to the Metro News) to regenerate the area between the city centre and the Tameside border. Following a meeting with the then Chief Executive, we were confident that Gorton would benefit from that strategy. Sadly, despite assurances, we have not been included in any consultation, and have not, as yet, received a copy of the long awaited strategy document, leading us to the conclusion that they are not interested in what we want.
Well, so be it. The people of Gorton are not sitting back bemoaning our fate, indeed, more and more people are getting together, forming groups and making things happen. The residents of Abbey Hey have formed a well supported association which is quickly becoming a positive force in the area. An unprecedented number of people have formed groups in order to apply for CAS:H2 grants (see page 10), established community groups are becoming ever more active, the Local Action Partnership is achieving real objectives (see page 3), approval has been given for a Community Wardens Scheme, the Friends of Debdale are working to improve the parks and the Monastery development is still on course. Crysis Counselling and the Gorton Credit Union are a great success, and there is much more to come. Improvements have been made to the market area, and assurances have been given that this important facility will be developed along with the rest of the district centre , although we have been told that, despite the Council and some major players being in place and eager to get things moving, the development is still being held up as a consequence of corporate dithering on the part of the CWS.
Gorton Community Forum is continuing to grow, we are active in supporting the majority of groups already mentioned, campaigning on a number of issues including planning and regeneration and working with other organisations and statutory bodies to ensure that things will happen in Gorton. We are involved in, and committed to bringing about IT learning centres in the Gorton area, forging partnerships which may well show huge benefits in other areas.
(Continued on page 3)
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