Tony Wilson’s legacy of regeneration

Aug 14 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

ONE of the region’s leading regeneration figures last night called for broadcaster Tony Wilson to be remembered for more than just his impact on the North West’s music scene.

Max Steinberg, who played a key role in the task force sent into Toxteth following the 1981 riots, believes Mr Wilson’s role in regenerating the region will be a crucial part of his legacy.

Mr Wilson whose domination of the Manchester popular music scene spanned some 20 years, died on Friday from a heart attack. The 57-year-old had also been battling kidney cancer and, controversially, had been denied potentially life-enhancing drugs by his local primary care trust in Manchester.

He had described Mr Steinberg as “the first person to pay me for my ideas” after being appointed as a consultant to Elevate, the housing market renewal pathfinder set up to regenerate rundown estates in East Lancashire in the same way NewHeartlands is doing in Merseyside.

After leaving his role as Merseyside director for the Housing Corporation to take up the East Lancashire job, Mr Steinberg, who lives in Liverpool, said an early priority was to bring Mr Wilson and his partner Yvette on board.

Mr Steinberg said: “You cannot understate the impact Tony had on the region in terms of regeneration.

“People who live in the North West have always known it is a good place to live, but that image has not always made it outside the area, and he helped change that.

“There is the music side to Tony Wilson which has already been well documented, but I don’t think his role in regeneration can be understated either.

“It wasn’t just confined to Manchester. He would happily fight the corner of any part of the North West and come up with big, bold ideas which made people sit up and take notice.”