The Greater Manchester estate where people are living in fear and watch every stranger's car
Neighbours in Salford say they’re ‘living in fear’ amid claims of a wave of crime and anti-social behaviour on their estate.
Residents made the comments at a council meeting on December 4, in a discussion over plans for a four-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO) on Ribot Walk which were approved.
The neighbourhood is based next to the River Irwell off Littleton Road, next to Castle Irwell Central Park.
More than 240 objections were sent about the HMO proposal on the street, with concerns about how the plans could impact the estate, and wider issues with security in the area.
Yee Man Winnie claimed a HMO in the area could ‘have a damaging impact on the amenity and peacefulness of the community’, and explained that crime is a growing problem.
She told councillors at the meeting: “The crime rate has been increasing, I can say as a resident in Castle Irwell that more people there are living in fear and worry.
“Recently most of our residents have been busy placing orders for CCTV, they are installing everything to prevent crime, every day they are looking at their mobile phones watching every stranger’s car that passes by.”
Greater Manchester Police were approached for comment.
Concerns were also raised by objectors about the potential impact of the HMO on parking, with one objector saying it could lead to ‘chaos and blocked access for residents and emergency services.’
A council report clarified that the HMO property has one allocated parking bay alongside the visitor spaces available.
The landlord of the HMO property, Mr Tien Trinh, said residents in the house are making a positive contribution to Salford.
He said: “They are managers, there’s a nurse, an IT professional, none of them are under 20, and they are very concerned that they will lose the place that they call home.”
Jean-Luc Uddoh, the property manager, said some of the concerns raised by residents amounted to ‘generalisation and fearmongering’ about HMOs.
He added: “We vet our tenants meticulously and ensure they are positive contributors to the community and not people who are capable of anti-social behaviour.
“They are young working professionals who are also at risk of some of the security issues mentioned by the objectors.
“I can guarantee you that none of the reasons people are using cameras, CCTV and ring doorbells is down to any of our tenants.”