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Walter Street, Old Trafford  

Background

Walter Street is in Old Trafford, an area of the Trafford Borough that suffers from social problems including vandalism, graffiti and other youth crime. Residents from Walter Street approached Red Rose Forest and requested the help of the Green Streets project. They wanted to not only replace a number of oppressive and overgrown shrubs with more suitable street greening treatments but to also engage local people (especially young people) increasing their sense of local pride and community responsibility.

How did Green Streets help?

The project was delivered in two phases; the first involved the removal of unwanted Pyracantha bushes. Both local people and Greater Manchester Police had expressed concern that these bushes made the street a potentially threatening place to be – making the street dark, difficult to walk down and creating many blind spots behind the thick shrubs. So after a community consultation, young people from the local New Deal for Communities team carried out work to remove the bushes, clearing the area and preparing the street for new planting.

In November 2002, the second phase of the project was delivered. Local children from Seymour Park Primary school helped local residents, councillors and businesses owners to plant 14 Silver Birch trees and thousands of bulbs along both sides of the road and witness the installation of a further 14 impressive ‘standing stones’ – a unique environmental art work that was approved by the local community. The planting event was visited by Tony McNulty MP, then Minister for Regeneration who expressed his support for the scheme as an expression

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