Manchester City Council is going to spend more than £5.5m from the Clean City fund on a huge clean-up programme covering the entire city.
The £14.5m fund, which the City Council received from its stake-holding in Manchester Airports Group, was intended to be spent on one-off projects that would make a lasting improvement to the city’s environment.
Residents were asked for their views on how the fund could be spent and more than half has now been allocated to projects based on these suggestions.
Now, a huge chunk of the remaining money has been earmarked for a range of projects which will improve district centres, parks and roads over the next few months, ensuring Manchester residents feel the benefit as quickly as possible.
The funding, which was given to the City Council largely due to Manchester Airport Holdings Ltd’s purchase of Stansted Airport.
The money cannot be spent on projects which would create ongoing costs, such as permanently hiring extra staff or supporting existing facilities, but must go to one-off investments which would make a lasting difference to improve the quality of the environment.
These projects will be based on suggestions by members of the public who contacted the City Council with ideas about making the city a cleaner and greener place, and more details about individual schemes will be put up on www.manchester.gov.uk/cleancity shortly.
Parks and community spaces will receive £1.5m of the money, which will be spent on work which has been requested by friends groups and other organisations.
This includes cleaning war memorials, resurfacing children’s play areas, planting new flowers and shrubs that won’t require regular maintenance by City Council officers, and improving existing allotments while creating new ones.
Another million will be spent on improving district centres, with projects such as improving the appearance of run-down buildings, tackling car parking issues by improving signage, repairing crossings and safety rails to make roads safer for pedestrians, creating new lighting to improve visibility and deter crime, and improving the appearance of grass verges and other open spaces.
This money will also be spent on working with residents and businesses on clean up campaigns, and setting up a network of business forums to support local traders who want to help improve their neighbourhoods.
The programme will include intensively cleaning grot spots, roads, alleyways, and pieces of waste land across the city, which residents have complained about, improving infrastructure by replacing unsightly and rusted rails, benches and other street furniture and replacing some litter bins.
Nearly half a million will be spent on getting rid of sites that have become overgrown with weeds and on sustainable as well as sustainable and low maintenance planting across the city.
Some money will also be spent on clearing waste grounds of debris, repainting road markings on key roads including at some schools where parents have raised concerns about selfish motorists parking dangerously and repainting old fencing, sign posts and road barriers.
The fund’s remaining £1.3m will still be spent on individual projects that have been identified and will be approved in due course.
