The Foreman was at the head of a demolition crew who turned up on Victoria Street to pull down the derelict site of Nuttall's Brewery, part of the first phase of a plan by a consortium headed by Ray Crosby to replace part of Coronation Street, Rosamund Street, Viaduct Street and Victoria Street with a new high-rise development of exclusive luxury flats.
The residents of those streets had been kept in the dark for many months about the changes being planned to their environment and lifestyles and they put up a spirited defence, including an encampment outside the brewery. The foreman called in digger which lifted and smashed the protestors’ firepit, and then a bulldozer which crushed the refreshments’ table. Ken Barlow stood in the path of the digger and made a spirited defence of the residents’ rights which gave Abi Franklin the opportunity to take the seat of the now-vacant digger, lock the door and turn the tables on the demolition crew. The foreman’s yelled threats had no effect on her, and she ran rampant in the vehicle, unfortunately smashing a small substation in the process and plunging the area into darkness. Events further turned in the residents’ favour when Mark Rothwell from the council turned up with a temporary stop notice, bringing a halt to the proceedings.