{"id":351,"date":"2018-02-15T17:46:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T17:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=351"},"modified":"2018-02-15T18:05:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T18:05:38","slug":"spawt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/02\/15\/spawt\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAWT!"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARKET RESEARCH? WHO NEEDS IT!<\/span><\/p>\n

In subtext 171 we reported an attempt by a Stretford resident to obtain more information on UA92 via a Freedom of Information request to the University. Despite being given the old ‘commercial in confidence’ brush off, the resident persisted, with follow-up questions seeking more detail relating to the University’s first response. The information revealed in that reply is intriguing. The resident wanted to know what market research had been conducted which convinced the University that UA92 was a viable proposition. It turns out the answer was… not very much.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lancaster regularly carries out research into the national student market and it was information from this, rather than anything specifically relating to UA92 and Stretford, that informed its decision to go ahead. Despite the claims made by Gary Neville and his pals that local young people would benefit from UA92, it turns out that they will not be targeted any more than those in the UK as a whole. The only differentiation in projected numbers is between ‘domestic’ and ‘international’. Then there is the matter of student retention, already a cause for concern for the Bailrigg campus. According to the publicity, potential UA92 students will be ‘non-traditional’ in that they are less likely to aspire to a university education and will not have the qualifications to enter ‘traditional’ HE. These are precisely the type of students likely to drop out, yet Lancaster’s projections for UA92, according to the FOI response, are based on ‘average non-continuation rates informed by HEFCE’s data’. In other words, the University is assuming that the UA92 drop-out rate will be in line with that of the sector as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stretford resident also wanted to know what information had been gathered on students’ likely disposable income, on car ownership, on public transport usage, on local domicile \u2013 all those factors that would justify Trafford Council’s contention that UA92 would be a key driver for local regeneration. The University’s response was that no research had been conducted in any of these areas. So, what justifies Trafford Council’s optimism? Have they conducted their own research, or have they, like Lancaster, been swayed by the charm and celebrity of Gary and the boys? No doubt these and other UA92 questions will be on the minds of voters in the May local elections, where ‘Tory flagship council’ Trafford could be lost to Labour. Should that happen, we’ll be into a whole new ball game,as they say.<\/span><\/p>\n

(With thanks to the excellent ‘M32 Stretford Masterplan and UA92’ discussion group on Facebook for this information)<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

UA-LCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS<\/span><\/p>\n

In what we think was its first mention of the Gary Neville University since the story broke a year ago, SCAN ran a head to head, \u2018for \/ against\u2019 opinion piece on the subject. subtext readers may be surprised to see that the author of the \u2018against\u2019 piece was a member of staff, not least a member of staff who was happy to be named (\u2018big shoutout\u2019 to Dr Jacob Phelps, FST). More surprising, however, was that the \u2018for\u2019 piece came from an anonymous source. Not only was SCAN unable to find someone willing to put their name to a defense of the Gary Neville University, SCAN was unable to find a member of staff to write one! The author refers to themself as \u2018a student\u2019. Is UA92 so embarrassing that even students won\u2019t put their name to opinion pieces defending it, or did SCAN get so close to the deadline without someone willing to support it that they hastily ghostwrote any old bobbins?<\/span><\/p>\n

Whoever wrote the piece claimed that the \u2018naysayers have given no clear, coherent argument against UA92…’<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly they haven\u2019t been reading subtext for the past year!<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

LU TEXT LOST AND FOUND<\/span><\/p>\n

The public pressure against the Class of \u201892 continues to mount, and it continues to make the national press. This time, campaigners are unhappy with the idea of Gary Neville & co taking over Turn Moss, which is green belt land and a habitat of local wildlife. By our count, the Class of \u201892 has had to withdraw and rejig every bit of planning permission they\u2019ve applied for, and their property development efforts are become increasingly unwelcome and irritating to residents, as reported in a number of national media organs:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/gary-neville-class-92s-plans-12027042<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2018\/feb\/14\/manchester-residents-gary-neville-redevelopment-plans<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARKET RESEARCH? WHO NEEDS IT! In subtext 171 we reported an attempt by a Stretford resident to obtain more information on UA92 via a Freedom of Information request to the University. Despite being given the old ‘commercial in confidence’ brush … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,4,3],"tags":[53,76,56,232,224,95,223],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lu-text-lost-and-found","category-news","category-special-feature","tag-football-university","tag-freedom-of-information","tag-gary-neville","tag-issue-173","tag-scan","tag-stretford","tag-us92"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s99sHo-spawt","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":676,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/06\/21\/spawt-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":0},"title":"SPAWT","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"June 21 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"GARY ON AT YOUR CONVENIENCE In subtext 179, we reported on the somewhat embarrassing lack of solid information on simple things like UA92's disability provision, placements, and whether or not they'll be taking international students. Thankfully, a public consultation with Stretford community stakeholders was held last Monday (18th June), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "special feature"","block_context":{"text":"special feature","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/special-feature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":301,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/01\/18\/ua92-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":1},"title":"UA92 UPDATES","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"January 18 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"UA\u2019INT SEEN NUTHIN\u2019 YET Local opposition in Manchester to plans for UA92 continues to grow. Stretford residents are increasingly sceptical of the claims from Trafford Council that the scheme will be the major driver for the regeneration of their area. Detailed information from the Council on exactly how the local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":738,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/09\/13\/gary-neville\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":2},"title":"GARY NEVILLE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"September 13 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We thought maybe we could adequately recap how the year has gone re: The Gary Neville University in a snappy hundred and fifty words. That's University Academy 92, a private university that we're partnering up with a group of ex Manchester United players to build. Sadly, condensing this omnishambles into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "history"","block_context":{"text":"history","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":566,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/10\/ua92-updates-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":3},"title":"UA92 UPDATES","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 10 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"TRAFFORD ELECTION TREAT As predicted in subtext 176, opposition to Gary Neville's plans to colonise Turn Moss, the Stretford open green area, proved to be crucial in overturning the Conservative majority on Trafford Council, with Labour gaining four seats and the Greens (unexpectedly) gaining two seats. One of Labour's first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":217,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2017\/11\/23\/survey-monkeying-around\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":4},"title":"SURVEY MONKEYING AROUND","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 23 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The VC is said to have been pleasantly surprised by the warm reception given to the plans for UA92 by the people of Stretford. We have to wonder how he gained that impression. At a recent public consultation, Gary Neville and our own Professor Sharon Huttly experienced at first hand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":309,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/01\/18\/subtext-171-the-stable-genius-of-a-shithole-subtext\/","url_meta":{"origin":351,"position":5},"title":"subtext 171 – ‘the stable genius of a shithole subtext’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"January 18 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Fortnightly during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details:\u00a0http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, tech, groveling apology, website, UA92 bonanza, court, leadership bonanza, UCLan, BAM, lowercase letters, shart, concert review, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL We had it all sewn up - the editorial was written, the issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}