Lawrence Green : Hello, my name is Lawrence Green. I run a company/business called Insitu Architectural Salvage. We are resident in a building in Cornbrook. What used to be the old commercial pub, which was built in 1865. It is right on the cusp of Pomona Island area.

Ani : How safe do you feel as a local resident?

Lawrence Green : I feel fairly safe here, now but it didn’t used to be. There is an awful lot of building going up here, which means there is a lot of people back in the area. So, with lots of people more around it is fine. But now going down on Pomona Island itself, it is probably a different issue because there is still derelict land and I wouldn’t really normally go there. That is why I probably feel safer where I am now, it has felt safer as the years have gone on.

Ani : You have mentioned that you have no reason to engage yourself with areas? Why is that?

Lawrence Green : There is no reason to go on to Pomona Island because it is not a throughway. You can’t go through it to go anywhere. Currently, it is just a derelict piece of land. The only reason I might go there is if sometimes I walk my friends’ dog.

Ani : What time of the day would you usually go for walks?

Lawrence Green : It would be daytime. I know there has been people camping on the island, there’s been homelessness there.

Ani : Yes, we have been on the site and we have engaged with a few of them.

Lawrence Green : Well, I think it can be a bit dodgy. I am not saying that homelessness is the issue. It is just that you’re living on the edge there. It can be a bit dumping, I suppose.

Ani : In your opinion, what could be done to improve the site?

Lawrence Green : There are loads of things that could be done. It belongs to Peel holdings, doesn’t it? They’ve got all sorts of things going on there. I know there is loads of people who have interest in it. There has been a lot of conservation people, wanting to keep it the way it is, they don’t want the land developed. To me it is underutilised definitely considering its history. Way back, before the ship canal was there, the river ran by it and it was just a farm and they built the Crystal palace there, a big exhibition centre. It is a massive tourist attraction for the north-west of England, lot of people went there. It is amazing to think that, that is what went on and there was some big explosion apparently on the other side of the river and it rot the foundation of everything. So, they closed it down and eventually knocked it down. It has had several incarnations over the years. But currently, there isn’t anyone. It belongs to Peel and who wants to build residential units on it, which I suppose is better than nothing else but it would be nice to have some open areas there but I don’t the developers would be to convinced about it.

What is your view on it?

Ani : I think it would be interesting to see open spaces as well, open it the public. I think it is really important for everyone to have that sort of space because I feel like Manchester generally is very clustered. We need more green spaces just for betterment of mental health and physical health. I did see quite a few people that use the site for exercising, running and cycling.

Lawrence Green : There could be a really good plan there and it is an interesting site There is nothing in there at the moment. Developers won’t approve but there could be all sort of great things that could be used on that site. Being on the river is quite interesting. There is nothing really from Manchester coming all the way down the river unlike all the other cities, boats and attractions on the river. There is nothing in Manchester. So, it would be really nice if they could get to use the river to its advantage and make it an attraction, something to visit, whether it be a bar or some restaurant but something, bring people into the area.

Ani : Thank you for taking part in this interview with us!

Lawrence Green : Thank you.