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End of line for wired estate?

In a modern tale of two cities, communities on opposite sides of Manchester have gone online. One has the full support of the borough council, while the other's existence is threatened by a breakdown in communications with the local authority.

In Heywood - a town of 35,000 people, about 20 miles north of Manchester - a group of businessmen set out to attract investment in the form of jobs and tourism. The website they created now holds information on all 800 of the town's businesses, plus details of voluntary organisations, links to school sites and clips from the local paper.

Soon, there will be a "what's on" events guide, internet training will be made available to residents and access points provided throughout the town where people can get on the net.

The initiative of the Heywood Business Forum has been applauded by Rochdale Council, whose deputy mayor, Brian Leather, says: "It's not just about investment but about mobilising resources and strengthening your own community."

Across town, in Hulme, just south of Manchester city centre, the tenants of the Bentley housing estate have mobilised their own resources to link 90 of the 250 or so council-owned properties onto the net.

While Heywood's website has the backing of four large companies based in the town and has attracted a £60,000 European development grant, Hulme's Redbricks online community has been set up at minimal cost. It charges each home just £3 a week for a share of the BT line rental and uses recycled PCs.

A community intranet has followed, built by a group of "techies of good heart" roped in by one of the organisers, Nigel Stewart. Here members can post announcements and ads, and it also acts as a shop window for the local exchange trading scheme. In the offing is a neighbourhood watch scheme, using webcams.

Linking tenants to the web is about 3,000 metres of cable - slung from flat to flat, around trees and via the local pub - and it's this that has annoyed the council and hindered the project. Citing a possible fire hazard, the council has sealed off access to the housing lofts through which most of the cabling runs.

The Redbricks members are prepared to put up a fight to keep what they see as a valuable community resource on an estate whose tenants are mainly unemployed or on a low income. In an area of social exclusion, the aqcuisition of computer skills is giving tenants a reason to be proud of their achievements.