“THERE are three concerns from overseas students, the weather and security are two,” says Professor John Brooks, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University. "Security is an issue in university cities everywhere. The weather is the weather so we give overseas students from the Middle East and some Far East countries an umbrella when they enrol.
"The third concern is about cleanliness. Our overseas students say, “How can you live in such a dirty city?””
It would be better to cut services elsewhere and make sure the city centre is immaculate rather than have the situation we have now. We need the city centre to be representative of us all.
Professor John Brooks wasn’t afraid to apply reality to the festival of happy Manc stats that usually define these City Conversations by CityCo.
Professor John Brooks gives some stats
The theme of the meeting was ‘Manchester as an International City’.
All the speakers, Elizabeth Faulkner of Manchester Central, Jim Forrester of Manchester International Festival and Baron Frankal, Director of Strategy at Manchester Airports Group, made valid points about the need for constant and intelligent promotion of Manchester in key markets across the world.
Frankal’s notion that we should be absolutely open about welcoming overseas people to the city, that we should become known as the city that says ‘come and join us’ in an age of immigrant paranoia in the UK and European politics, was excellently made.
As Professor John Brooks also pointed out, the restrictions placed on entry to overseas students from developing countries have been purely negative for academic institutions.
“UK’s reputation has been damaged by recent immigration rules - student numbers from overseas may drop 20%," he said. "All we’ve done is chase them to competitor cities in other countries. European universities now lecture in English to attract students.”
One discussion point was ‘global and local’, this is where the long-running endless chat/row/debate over cleanliness on Manchester’s streets hit home.
Professor John Brooks said: “We are very good at macro thinking in Manchester but frequently fail at the micro level.
"Along Oxford Road the plans for Corridor are striking, original and exciting, the experience at ground level, along Corridor and in the city centre, often doesn’t match up. Services need to think in a joined-up way - cleaning, street-trading issues, transport. The experience should match the strategy.”
A couple of weeks ago I took overseas guests on a Sunday morning tour.
They were staying close to Piccadilly Station and as we walked through Canal Street and then Piccadilly Gardens the mess and filth from the previous night was embarrassing. I scurried to the west side of the city centre where, for some reason, Albert Square always seems neater and at least private landowners such as Allied London in Spinningfields keep things ship shape.
It was worse for a guiding colleague taking Germans around a month or so ago on a Sunday morning. She took the photo below.
Piccadilly recently
It’s not just Sundays either.
This happens again and again.
We are now getting bigger bins that can fit more rubbish in – as reported here - but that isn’t the issue. The issue is having people out at the right time to clean the streets so that guests, potential investors, conference delegates, people visiting our superb roster of city events don’t go away thinking Manchester is dirty.
When people have guests over to their house they make sure it’s tidy and the flowers are fresh. Manchester city centre is failing in this.
Most of our city centre green spaces such as St John’s Gardens have also had a poor start to summer. For weeks the grass was uncut, the flower beds uncared for. Idiocy.
The council have recently been conducting stunts in which they show how much street litter they have to pick up in a month. So what? Who cares? Do your job. Do whatever it takes to keep the city centre, the economic engine of the region, clean and clear. It’s your statutory duty.
Yes, yes, people throw litter and you're making a point, funnily enough we thought there'd be more
I’ve also had council officials look sad and say we have to educate people not to throw litter in the first place. “Why do they do it?” they say helplessly and throw up their arms with tears in their eyes.
Why indeed?
But re-education might take a while and at the moment, right now, we have a problem so solve it.
Yet, there's another soft, sad clamour I hear.
It goes like this.
In this climate of cuts and food banks aren't litter issues just trivial rubbish (forgive the pun)?
No, they're not.
To make the city centre presentable, to make it shine and strut, is indispensable in playing 2014's international Game of Cities, one of the most competitive areas of international life.
Whether we like it or not, if we look shoddy in the basics, the cleanliness of the city, then no matter how many gleaming museums, shops, bars and restaurants we have, people (because people are people) will always mention the litter. Negatives tend to be voiced first.
More than that, it seems such an easy problem to solve. Just re-arrange rotas and get more people out cleaning the streets.
It would be better to cut services elsewhere and make sure the city centre is immaculate rather than have the situation we have now. We need the city centre to be representative of us all.
In the Game of Cities we can't afford for people to pick their way across a filthy Piccadilly Gardens on a weekend just because the council isn't doing their job properly.
Maybe somebody needs to be moved upstairs or sacked over the frankly horribly, dirty nature of weekend mornings in the city centre (and teatime as well). If there are union issues then they need to be negotiated away.
A good sacking might concentrate people's minds.
"To be world class you have to pay attention to the detail," said my new Manc hero, Professor John Brooks.
Exactly.
You can follow Jonathan Schofield on Twitter @JonathSchofield or connect via Google+
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