Gorton South
Ward Plan
2013-2015
The Gorton Carnival
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Contents
Further information …………………….…………………………………….…. 2
Area Description……….……………………………………………………..… 3
Achievements from 2009-14…………………………………………………… 4
Priorities for 2012-15……….…………………………………………………
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Contacts………………….………………………………………….………….… 8
Further information
Gorton South My Area pages on the Council’s website
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/home_info.php?homepageID=591
Manchester Partnership website, including information on the Community Strategy and
Local Area Agreements
http://www.manchesterpartnership.org.uk
Strategic Regeneration Frameworks
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500106/east_manchester_regeneration/2414/new_east
_manchester_strategic_regeneration_framework
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Area Description
Gorton South is a mainly residential area that was previously home to many of the
industries that made Manchester famous as the great ‘workshop of the world’.
Much of what is considered as the centre of Levenshulme was brought into the ward by
the boundary changes in 2004. This includes the area from Chapel Street to Barlow/Manor
Road (which encompasses Levenshulme Health Centre, Levenshulme Swimming Pool,
Levenshulme Library, Levenshulme Inspire Community Resource Centre, Chapel Street
Primary School and Greenbank playing fields).
Gorton South has seen a 34.2% increase in population from 2001 to 2011 and according
to the 2011 Census the population of the Ward stands at 19,615. The area has traditionally
had a lower level of ethnic diversity than Manchester as a whole but now it is becoming
increasingly diverse with just over 42% of the population consisting of Black, Asian, Mixed
and Other ethnicities. This is higher that the city average of 33.3%.
Housing in Gorton South is a mix of registered social rented properties (the majority of
which are Eastlands Homes), privately rented and owner occupied households. In March
2009 Eastlands Homes took over the management of Council homes in Gorton and
improved its stock to the government’s “Decent Homes” standard by addressing poor
housing and environmental conditions on their estates. However, private house sale prices
stand at over £60k below the Manchester average, although total house sales in the ward
were above Manchester average (both figures 2010/11)
The major transformation of Gorton District Centre (which falls just outside of Gorton South
in the Gorton North ward) during 2008 included a new market hall and the development of
an 88,000 sq ft Tesco Extra store. These developments have been complemented by over
£2million of investment in urban realm and traffic improvements, including, most recently, a
new access point to the development from Garratt Way, to ease congestion on Hyde
Road.
There are two Sure Start Children's Centres within Gorton South: Gorton South Mount
Road Site and Gorton South Sacred Heart Site. Early Years provisions within the area are:
Sunnybrow Nursery (within Gorton South Sacred Heart Site) and Sutton Road Nursery.
There are six primary schools in the ward (St Richard’s RC, Aspinal, Chapel Street, Gorton
Mount, Old Hall Drive and Sacred Heart RC) and two secondary schools, (Cedar Mount
and Melland High School). Cedar Mount and Melland are based on the Gorton
Educational Village campus. This strong education link has now been enhanced by the
completion in Autumn 2011 of Grange School next to Gorton Mount primary. Gorton South
has the City’s highest percentage of children under 15 at 26.6% and local school and early
years capacity is increasingly becoming an issue. Gorton South achieved slightly below
the Manchester average in students achieving 5 GCSEs A*-C and below the Manchester
average in students attaining Key Stage 2 in English and Maths. NB. all figures from 2011
Census.
Gorton South benefits from a number of good quality open spaces and parks including
Debdale, Greenbank and Sunny Brow Parks. Debdale and Greenbank Parks both hold a
Green Flag. Nutsford Vale, a former landfill site in the ward benefited from considerable
investment and improvement over recent years. This included new gateways, entrances
and a series of pathways across the Vale. The Vale is now being used by local residents
and there are events planned throughout the year.
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Gorton South, as a ward, is within the top 10% most deprived areas in the country, and
one area of the ward is within the top 1% (from: Indices of Multiple Deprivation), with high
levels of benefits claimants, and, in particular high levels of Lone Parent Income Support
claimants. Figures for Manchester as a whole show that the total number of out of work
claimants stands at 56,490 of which 2200 (18.8%) is Gorton South. Department of Working
Pensions.According to the 2011 Census just under 80% of residents (79.39%) reported
that their health was good or very good in the Gorton South which is a fraction below the
citywide average of 80.5% and 81.4% in England. Office for National Statistics.
Achievements from 2009-14
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Economic and Employment
A Work Club was launched in January 2013 and is now running weekly at the Sure
Start Centre on Mount Road, supporting residents from both Gorton South and
North, with range of training and employment preparation skills. To date 107 Gorton
residents have accessed the Work Club, 9 of which have successfully found
employment and 6 people are now volunteering in various roles across the three
Gorton Sure Start Children’s Centres.
Housing providers (Eastlands Homes) are supporting their tenants to access local
employment opportunities through provision of one-to-one support with applications
and training in e.g. CV creation.
Get Experienced volunteering project has engaged with over 35 local residents to
help them gain new skills and confidence through training and work placements to
support them back into the labour market
Over 60 Gorton residents accessed employment opportunities and support services
at Job City 2012.
Gorton South and Longsight have been used for a successful pilot of the
Community Budgets / Troubled Families model, which engages with families to
remove barriers to educational attainment and employment, through co-ordinated
use of existing services and networks. The pilot engaged with over 160 families
across the 2 areas. The programme has now been rolled out city-wide.
People and Communities
Gorton Events Committee (established by local residents and partners) has
organised the Gorton Festival, Gorton Parade and the Gorton Lights, with support
from East Manchester Neighbourhood Regeneration Team (through Cash Grants
funding) and MCC Cultural and Community Services (staff and resources). The
Gorton Carnival event is now in its third year and attracted over 6,000 people.
During 2011/12, local residents completed 13 projects and made significant
improvements to their area through the Cash Grants programme. In 2012/13, 33
projects had been approved for Cash Grants funding, funding local improvements
including provision of play equipment in Sunnybrow Park, and the refurbishment of
Manchester Trafalgar Scout Hut. In 2013/14 the Cash Grant programme funded 11
projects and for 2014/15 there have been 3 so far.
Gorton All Together (East Manchester Community Partnership) continues to thrive
with over 20 local groups participating and attending bi-monthly meetings.
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East NRT has supported the establishment and constituting of two new residents
groups in the Ward, three new youth activity projects, and ensured the continuation
of Healthy Living activities in the ward through continued support of Zest, and
provision of sports including bowling, boxing and soccer.
Neighbourhood and Places
The Sure Start service now delivers a more diverse offer including an ‘Outreach
Drop In’ for advice and support with benefits, housing and debt issues; one to one
‘Working Well’ sessions (through Big Life Group) for Work Programme Leavers;
ESOL classes at Entry Level 1, 2 and 3; Stay and Play and Family Learning
sessions recently attended by Roma families. They continue to work with local
Private Voluntary and Independent (PVI) nurseries tracking all children who are
eligible for the 2 year funding.
Gorton Education Village, which is home to two schools: Cedar Mount Academy
and Melland High School opened with a new campus and enhanced facilities for the
local community. This has been developed with the opening of the Grange School.
Great Places have completed a new housing development on the Gorton South /
Longsight border, which includes a Community Use room. Additionally, Great
Places have secured £30k to deliver youth activities across 3 local wards. They
support a community growing project in the communal garden to promote healthy
lifestyles and promote sustainability. They are also building a family home estate on
Mount Road which is due for completion in September 2014.
Since taking over the management of Council homes in Gorton in March 2009
Eastlands Homes have now completed their investment programme and have
fulfilled their promise to bring all their homes in Gorton South above and beyond the
Decent Homes Standard. The improvement works have included the fitting of
secure PVCu double-glazing, new kitchens and bathrooms for homes more than
five years old, high quality external front and rear doors, improved features and new
heating systems to improve energy efficiency in homes that need them.
CCS opened up the Upper Reservoir pathway with funding from small Heritage
Lottery Funding for Cycling & Walking Groups in March 2014. Additionally the
Heritage Garden in Debdale Park opened in September 2014 and will be
maintained by local residents. The Community Green Flag was awarded to Debdale
Park Eco Centre in July 2014 and the Queens Award was given to the Friends of
Debdale Park for all their work in the park and community in August 2014.
East NRT and NDT continue to engage with Street Representatives from Hemmons
Road and the surrounding area to address concerns around refuse collection,
recycling and ASB, with quarterly meetings being held at New Covenant Church.
The area was piloted for the ‘Braid’ approach, focussing on burgulary, with positive
results. Before the ‘Braid’ initiative–from 1st August 2012 to 31st July 2013 there
were 23 burglaries on the 7 initial Braid streets. Whereas during and after the ‘Braid’
operation –from 1st August 2013 to 31st July 2014- there were 12 burglaries on the
same 7 streets showing a significant reduction of 48%.
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Priorities for 2014 - 15
Economic and Employment
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Ensure that local residents get maximum benefit from local employment and
apprenticeship opportunities (for example, those created by the ongoing development
of the Etihad Campus and the development of the Levenshulme District Centre).
Support locally based training and skills providers to target those in greatest need to
access opportunities for employment, with a particular focus on supporting young
people e.g. National Apprenticeships and the Work Club at Gorton South Mount Road
Sure Start Centre.
Where appropriate, signpost residents to appropriate advice services such as Citizen
Advice Bureau and Mind Your Money and work in partnership with organisations such
as Inspire to ensure residents can access appropriate services locally.
Encourage key local and city-wide providers to access existing work club provision to
maximise opportunities for local residents (e.g. Blue Orchid, Back on Track).
Enable and facilitate targeting of volunteer brokerage services, such as Get
Experienced, to those vulnerable groups and individuals who have historically been
hard to engage, allowing them to gain new skills and confidence through peer support,
volunteer mentoring, training and volunteering (including support of up-skilling of
residents though targeted local schemes such as gardening clubs in local parks)
Support development of local Enterprise Network, including increased utilisation of
business incubation space at Bubble Enterprises at Inspire, supported by Blue Orchid
Business Start Up provision and workshop delivery within the ward, with the aim of
supporting business and new retail provision in key areas such as Hyde Road and
Stockport Road.
People and Communities
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Continue to work with parents and schools to improve school attendance and
attainment particularly at Key Stage 1 and 2.
Work with key partners to ensure that primary school and childcare capacity issues
(including lack of places for three year old offer) are addressed and reported on
regularly at a ward level.
Engage local residents in health and well-being initiatives for example, by delivering a
Health and Wellbeing Network specific to Gorton, including addressing key (identified)
local issues, such as the statistically high under-18 conception rate. Promote the Green
Corridor and local parks activity to encourage health and well-being activities.
Work with NDT Compliance Officers, GMP and key community partners and networks
to encourage reporting of crime and ASB, ensuring residents feel safe and secure
enough to report without fear of intimidation, utilising successfully implemented local
pathways such as GMP Twitter and Facebook forums.
Work with GMP, Community Safety Team and other partners to support and promote
initiatives to tackle ASB, crime and perception of crime at a ward level, including
domestic burglary hotspots, and high youth offending rates.
Develop and support initiatives supporting older and vulnerable residents such as the
Valuing Older People Network, including supporting and influencing proposed activity
at Levenshulme Inspire and ensuring Gorton South residents benefit from this.
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Support the local Youth Partnerships to address issues affecting young people, plan
provision and jointly make funding bids to ensure that Gorton South stakeholders are
included in the wider SRF forums and networks and benefit from local commissioning.
Co-ordinate service offer to ensure that local youth is represented at a local level
through membership of Youth Partnership and, for example, Gorton All Together.
Minimise local impact of Welfare Reform though working with key local groups and
housing providers to proactively identify and address issues, and ensuring residents
benefit from this, for example through community champions and front line worker
training.
Neighbourhood and Places
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Ensure an effective neighbourhood approach to the management of environmental
issues – including identified fly-tipping hotspots – encouraging community ownership of
communal areas and facilitating and supporting environmental activities and clean up
events.
Ensure effective neighbourhood management of residential areas awaiting planning
action and local developments (such as the Pomona pub and the area around Longden
Road), influencing MCC Planning and supporting NDT activity. Maximise use of powers
available (including enforcement) and ensuring that residents and members are kept
informed.
Work closely with the private rented sector to improve management standards.
Ensure local residents are educated and informed to increase recycling activity in the
ward, to bring Gorton South in line with Manchester average.
Work with local partners to establish, develop and maintain key greening and
environmental projects, such as Nutsford Vale and Green Corridor. Ensure those parks
within the ward that have, retain Green Flag standard, or as a minimum, the
Manchester Standard, and support Friends of Groups and gardening clubs to help
foster community ownership of local parks.
Community engagement
The Ward team will engage with residents and communities in order to
 seek their views,
 keep them informed about progress towards achieving ward objectives and
 make sure that ward priorities are the same as resident priorities.
The Ward team will therefore:
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Regularly attend resident meetings (for example, the Hemmons Road Street Reps
meeting and the Gorton Altogether meeting).
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Work with Gorton All Together (GAT) to develop its membership to ensure Gorton
South residents’ groups are represented on the group.
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Support community groups and partners to deliver events such as Gorton Carnival and
park fun days to increase community cohesion and help build capacity of voluntary and
third sector providers.
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Attend ad hoc activities, events and meetings to discuss priorities with residents and
inform them of actions being taken.
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Work closely with local Councillors so that issues raised via Councillor surgeries and
other means (such as emails and phone calls) are attended to promptly.
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Send out regular email bulletins about activities, events, funding opportunities, etc.
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Develop the My Area and Twitter ward web pages as an internet resource and focal
point for ward information.
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Continue to work with key partners, stakeholders and residents to develop and deliver
community based activities and events to improve community cohesion for example
particularly with groups such as Gorton Events Committee, and Gorton All Together
(GAT). Work with GAT and local residents groups to ensure that Gorton South are
proportionally represented at the group.
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Contact Details – Gorton South Councillors:
Contact Councillor Julie Reid
 cllr.j.reid@manchester.gov.uk
 07535 842 355 (mobile)
 Members' Services Town Hall MANCHESTER M60 2LA
Contact Councillor Bernard Stone
 cllr.b.stone@manchester.gov.uk
 07908 222 250 (mobile)
 6 Whalley Avenue Levenshulme MANCHESTER M19 3FD
Contact Peter Cookson
 cllr.p.cookson@manchester.gov.uk
 07908 673 153
 c/o Members Services Town Hall Manchester M60 2LA
Contact Details – Ward Officers:
Ward Co-ordinator:
Patricia Allen
Tel: 0161 234 1100
E-mail: p.allen2@manchester.gov.uk
Regeneration Ward Officer:
Kalu Redford
Tel: 0161 234 1100
E-mail: k.redford@manchester.gov.uk
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