\n<\/p>\n
On a site a little smaller than a football pitch in Manchester, England, issues of racial justice, the country\u2019s housing crisis and the fight to preserve Britain\u2019s social clubs collide.<\/p>\n
This sliver of land in Moss Side has been earmarked for more than two hundred units by developers. But community leaders have major concerns about what it means for the future of Moss Side \u2013 a historic centre for the country\u2019s post-Windrush Black community.<\/p>\n
The proposed site is next door to the West Indian Sports and Social Club (WISCC), the oldest surviving venue of its kind in the UK. Co-founded by the Nobel prizewinning St Lucian economist W Arthur Lewis in 1953, the Westwood St venue, with the dedication of volunteers, has weathered the social and economic changes that have decimated the UK\u2019s pubs, clubs and community spaces.<\/p>\n
<\/span>One of the social spaces inside the club.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n True to Lewis\u2019s vision of community centres as vehicles for economic and educational progress for descendants of slavery, WISSC has been an engine of social mobility and solidarity in Moss Side, helping young people into professions and trades, providing food and support to people in difficulty, and becoming a hub for campaigning, services and raising capital, as well as a venue for weddings, funerals, drinks and dominoes.<\/p>\n But against a backdrop of venues across the UK being threatened by residential development, Moss Side residents fear the proposed development would bring noise complaints, while extra traffic will disrupt events at other cherished local sites, including the nearby church and Powerhouse youth centre.<\/p>\n At the same time, the proposals have sparked questions over why a development of this density \u2013 212 one- to five-bedroom units \u2013 has been earmarked for one of the country\u2019s most densely populated areas. Geographically, Moss Side is the third-smallest ward in the city of Manchester, but with 21,827 people recorded living there, it has the second-biggest population. With 133 people per hectare, population density is nearly six times the Greater Manchester average (23), and 475 times the UK average, which encompasses major cities and thinly inhabited rural areas.<\/p>\n <\/span>The space is also a venue for weddings, funerals and other events.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Tom Nelson, a volunteer leader at WISSC, said: \u201cWe know there\u2019s a housing crisis,\u201d but added: \u201cThese plans are to the detriment of the last remaining, fully functioning, financially independent, democratic Black-led organisation of the Windrush era.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson said: \u201cThe licence has always been crucial because it\u2019s the thing that ensures our income generation and our independence.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabrielle Cox, a longstanding Moss Side campaigner, has analysed forthcoming development across wards outside Manchester city centre, comparing housing density, facilities offered, existing population density and ethnic diversity, and is convinced the proposals offered for Moss Side compare unfavourably. But Manchester city council says the proposed properties are \u201cattractive\u201d, that \u201covercrowding\u201d in Moss Side makes new development \u201curgent\u201d \u2013 and that it is committed to protecting WISCC.<\/p>\n Cox says if the development goes ahead, the city risks \u201cbuilding discrimination\u201d \u2013 repeating the mistakes of the late 20th century, when Hulme Crescents, neighbouring Moss Side, became infamous as an example of a failed high-density housing scheme. Black and white residents alike who had owned and occupied older Edwardian properties were subjected to compulsory purchase orders to make way for council developments such as Hulme Crescents in the 60s. While the proposed Moss Side scheme doesn\u2019t involve demolishing cherished streets, memories of the experiment run deep.<\/p>\n <\/span>Walters and Cox inside the club.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The debate is raging as Manchester\u2019s building boom spreads from the city centre to suburbs. And it comes at a time when a number of historic Black community spaces in the UK have been fighting for survival \u2013 including Bridge Park in Brent, London and the Marcus Garvey Centre in Nottingham. Ironically, were the Moss Side development to go ahead, it would be on the site of a historic lost Black venue, The Reno \u2013 and would be named after it.<\/p>\n The government has acknowledged the risk that development is posing to licensed premises, promising \u201cgreater protection\u201d to stop established venues facing noise complaints from new neighbours.<\/p>\n WISCC fears development will impede plans to expand and modernise the club \u2013 forged in an era when the average member was a cricket-loving transport worker \u2013 to ensure its relevance for future generations, a plan given extra urgency because, since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, official progress to recognise Manchester\u2019s Black history in the public realm has moved slowly. Plans include a space for performing arts, a West Indian restaurant and a Black history museum.<\/p>\n Cox added: \u201cThis development is being forced on us.<\/p>\n \u201cManchester as a city benefited hugely from slavery, and the Windrush generation descendants contributed enormously, but for a long time didn\u2019t feel welcome. With that in mind, why can\u2019t they see that the WISCC is a special space that they ought not to threaten?\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n <\/span>Houses earmarked for the new development.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Roy Walters, a former lord mayor of Manchester and WISCC committee member, is also concerned about the scheme.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI\u2019m not opposing the building of houses. It\u2019s the number of units and being so near the club. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a right standard for the area. We have enough concrete blocks around us already \u2013 people feel they are being choked.\u201d<\/p>\n Gavin White, executive member for housing and development at Manchester city council, said it was \u201cno secret\u201d that Moss Side was densely populated, with residents facing some of \u201cthe highest levels of overcrowding in the city\u201d.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cManchester is fighting a housing crisis \u2026 that\u2019s why we have committed to building at least 10,000 affordable homes over the next decade. The Reno scheme takes underutilised, brownfield land and features a range of homes which will be made available to Moss Side residents as a priority.<\/p>\n \u201cWe very much understand the significance of the Reno as well as the [WISCC] \u2026 we want to protect and ensure their legacy lives on.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Land earmarked for the development.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Charlie Norman, chief executive of MSV Housing, described the project as a \u201clife-changing\u201d opportunity for Moss Side.<\/p>\n In a joint statement, MSV and MCC said they were committed to ensuring \u201cagreement of terms for a new long-term lease\u201d for WISCC that would \u201cprovide a new platform for funding and investment opportunities to fully realise its aspirations\u201d. They said they had been working \u201chand in hand\u201d with trustees and that the proposals had been \u201csignificantly revised\u201d after community feedback.<\/p>\n The plans propose 100 social rent properties, 28 for older people and 84 rent-to-buy properties on phases of three to six storeys, with a 10-storey gateway building and wheelchair-accessible properties.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout key sites like this, the city will not be able to deliver the homes needed by residents and meet the council\u2019s objectives,\u201d the joint statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are more residents on the waiting list in Moss Side than in any of the other 31 wards of the city. It is envisaged that the new homes at the Reno will increase housing options for these people whilst also facing into the overcrowding crisis Moss Side is currently experiencing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Reno scheme seeks to address [under occupied homes] through the provision of smaller homes that are affordable, adaptable, accessible and easier to manage without residents having to move outside of the community, whilst also providing apartments targeted at a younger demographic \u2013 particularly those key workers currently out-priced by the rising local private rented market. Taking on board the community\u2019s views has been central to the development of the plans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On a site a little smaller than a football pitch in Manchester, England, issues of racial justice, the country\u2019s housing crisis and the fight to preserve Britain\u2019s social clubs collide. This sliver of land in Moss Side has been earmarked for more than two hundred units by developers. 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