SOME weeks ago we got word from residents of a water-bound confrontation playing out amongst the tranquility of the Castlefield basin.
Castlefield is a superb place to live, work and relax. We're not going to let anti-social behaviour take a hold.
SunkA sinister looking black canal boat had rammed a lesser white and blue craft inhabited illegally by a set of ‘undesirables’ (thought to be homeless) and sank it. Leaving it listlessly submerged in the middle of the Bridgewater Canal. It has since been removed.
According to residents the ‘undesirables’, usually to be found in the underbelly of Castle Street, had been hanging around the Castlefield basin for some time, adopting abandoned canal boats and causing a whole raft (so to speak) of problems for residents, businesses and visitors.
The issues range from noise complaints, dog fouling, aggressive behaviour, out-of-date boat licences, heckling, prolific littering, even more prolific drinking and drug taking.
Rubbish for residents
Rightly boat owners say adequate bins haven't been provided
One resident even reported that his wife had been followed to work by one of the 'undesirables' while another claims that they witnessed a Police Officer threatened with an axe during the serving of a notice.
It appears this incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
With residents of the basin claiming that both the Council and Bridgewater Canal management company, Peel Group, were either unable or unwilling to do anything about these ‘undesirables’, the owner of this sinister black canal boat took it upon himself to administer vigilante justice, resigning the inhabited white and blue craft to a wet end with a full-blooded ram.
The 'undesirables' simply moved on, mostly unperturbed.
'Undesirable' craft
Now vanished. Will it come back?
Still, some residents claim that along with the ‘undesirables’, the unnamed owner of the black canal boat, currently moored in the basin half way up the Bridgewater Canal, is hardly a model member of the basin community himself, prone to over-staying, littering, rowdy drunken behaviour and even fighting.
We did attempt to contact the owner of the black canal boat but have as yet proved unsuccessful.
Castlefield resident Stephan Lake, among numerous others, has become increasingly frustrated: “As far as I’m concerned they’re all water gypsies.
“There’s not meant to be any permanent moorings allowed here but these boats just stay for as long as they want. They pile up rubbish around the basin and have all of it shipped away for free by the Council.
“The Council seem powerless to move them and Peel just don’t seem to care. If you had caravans pitch up on grass between Merchants Bridge and The Wharf then the council would be straight onto it. What’s the difference?”
Black canal boats
An unnamed resident confirms that the owner of the black canal boat was no stranger to incidents: “I witnessed someone drunk in a group around that black boat jumping across the tables outside The Wharf Pub and then starting a fight with someone outside the pub. I also witnessed him ramming that other boat and sinking it.”
One local who’s particularly keen to distance himself from the confrontations is Malcolm; owner of the black ‘Motley Crue’ boat often found moored outside The Wharf pub: “People assume that because both of our boats are black, we’re both part of the same gang.
“I can assure you that we’re not. In fact I’ve told him to go moor somewhere else because I don’t want to be tarnished with the same brush. He gets himself into trouble and I’m not interested in that. I get on perfectly well with the people around here and regularly talk with a lot of the residents. I’ve got a one year old son; I’m just trying to have a quiet life.”
Motley Crue: Doesn't want to be dragged in to disputes
So had Malcolm witnessed the axe incident?
“I was there”, said Malcolm, “I went over to try and calm the situation down.
“One of the homeless bunch who were living on that boat had started to insult a Police Community Officer, calling him a ‘plastic pig’ and saying that they weren’t able to touch him. When they became abusive some more officers were called in and this is when things got heated.
“This guy had an axe, a hammer and a saw. I’d spoken with this guy a few times so went over to try and calm him down but he was blind drunk. He gave me the axe and the hammer, but he shoved the axe at me and sliced my hand open.
“The police thanked me at the time but the next day I’d been served with a notice. Which I thought was unfair. I’d tried to help.”
The GMP seemed unaware, or unwilling to discuss this incident. Malcolm informed us that the axe wielder was now in prison.
Expired
Well expired
So what has been done by the Bridgewater Canal management company, Peel Holdings, in response to the problems surrounding the unlicensed craft, illegal inhabitants and over-staying in the basin?
Mike Webb, Bridgewater Canal Manager at Peel Group told us in late September, “The company have issued a number of statutory notices to overstaying boats and are currently dealing with these.
“Where notices were issued some of the craft moved but have now returned, this may result in us having to recommence the proceedings and legal advice is to be sought. We are also currently looking at ways to prevent this occurring in the future including signage and charges for overstaying.”
Carol Middleton, Chair of the Castlefield Forum, is unimpressed by Peel’s response: “As a voluntary Forum whose members work hard to make Castlefield a great place to live, work and visit, we are very disappointed that Peel have been so slow to react to these issues."
Similarly, Mr Lake is far from satisfied by Peel’s series of empty promises: “We’ve heard it all before. In short, very little has been done.”
“After the first set of notices nothing else has happened. These people aren’t going to be dissuaded so easily. They need to be issuing notices and fining straight away. They’ll get the message and stop coming back and causing problems for us.”
“We’ve been promised signage regarding no returns and length of stay for over a year now. How hard is it to put some signs up?”
Promised signs nowhere to be seen
Still no signs, nice trees though
We spoke with Councillor Joan Davies, a Castlefield resident herself, about the problems: “As currently designed Castlefield Basin is intended to play host to short-stay boaters. The boats enhance the atmosphere and views, and visitors enjoy their brief mooring in an unrivalled city-centre location.
“The basin does not, however, have the facilities to host long-stay boaters. In recent months there have been a number of complaints about anti-social behaviour and a number of penalties have been issued.
“Discussions are on-going between Manchester City Council, GMP and Peel Group to ensure that the rules for waterway use are complied with and that all the facilities which need to be in place for short-stay boaters are available.
“Castlefield is a superb place to live, work and relax. We're not going to let anti-social behaviour take a hold."
Recently, we spoke with Peel again to see if there had been any advancement since our last discussions in late September: "We have been in contact with Manchester City Council with regards to this issue and we will be investigating further.
"No-one on the canal should be without a licence; we take this matter very seriously and can remove boats who are in breach. New signage has been ordered and will be installed in the very near future.”
Some progress.
Not conducive to the basin
For the time being at least, things have quietened down in the basin according to residents. The troublesome white and blue craft and occupying ‘undesirables’ have since scarpered. Whether they stay away is yet to be seen.
Castlefield has been dragged from the industrial ashes to become a fantastic place to live, work and play. In terms of historical interest, heritage and charm this is arguably the finest example Manchester has to offer in terms of urban regeneration dun’ good.
The idea that a few delinquents could jeopardize what has taken a significant wedge of investment, time and toil to turn the area from a no-go into a let-go seems ridiculous.
Especially if you consider that all it would really take is a part-time warden patrolling the basin from time-to-time checking licencing, over-stays and making sure that nobody is being an all round scallywag.
Peel. It’s fingers out time. And get those bloody signs up.
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