Now that the weather is growing colder many of us think about the struggle wild birds have finding enough food to eat. Lots of us like to feed the birds. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to feed birds. The wrong way is to throw heaps of left over food into the street or the park. This is not feeding birds, this is attracting vermin such as rats, mice and cockroaches. We can all do without those, thank you very much! If you are seen throwing left over food into the street, the alleys or the park you can be issued with a fixed penalty notice,which means that you will have to pay a fine. This was £50, but I understand that this may well have just been increased.  

If you want to know about how to feed the wild birds properly then check out the web site of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

When the first two phasesof the redevelopment were carried out the trees planted in the streets were protected with metal tree railings. All the trees planted on those two phases are still there and growing well.

When the final phase was started the trees were planted, but no protection was installed. In some streets virtually all the trees have disappeared. I have personally seen a contractor working for the developers deliberately and repeatedly ram a tree with his van until the tree snapped off at the base and he then proceeded to plant on top of it. Despite my reporting this it would seem that no attempt has been made to make the contractor pay for the replacement of the tree. These trees do not arrive for free. Each one arrives at a cost of around £300.

I have heard of people cutting trees down with an axe because “they were in the way”. Most recently a tree was sawn down in Patey Street in the early hours of a Sunday morning. When the group of men cutting the tree were approached they said that they needed the tree for a bonfire. Excuse me! You do not go out into the street and cut down a tree just because you want some firewood. I hope they are caught and made to pay the full cost of replacing the tree.

It is the planting season again for trees and consideration is being given to replacing all the trees that have been deliberately cut down, knocked down or snapped off. This time they will be given protection like the trees on the first two phases.

Check out the Tree Council web site for more information about trees and how important they are for the environment.

Another good web site is Trees for Cities. Here is what they say about Manchester.

Northmoor Community Association is currently building a website, but there is not much on there at the moment.

It does however give their contact details.

The laundrette has been on Northmoor Road for many years. With the regeneration of the area the laundrette  passed into the control of the community and is now really up to date with state of the art washers and dryers. It is also the only internet laundrette I have ever heard of. You can come in, put your washing on and log on to the net. There is also a community library area with donated books and a tool hire business. Check out their web site for full details.

The English Partnerships website has a page on Northmoor

Welcome to my blog. This is going to be all about various aspects of the Northmoor Road area of Longsight including history of the area, current affairs and all the latest community news.