The month in property | April

Definitely Mayfield

U+I boss Richard Upton’s an impressive character, with an intense style of public speaking that puts one in mind of Terrance Stamp. So even if the ‘meanwhile’ use for the former Mayfield station didn’t look good, he’d manage to big it up. That shouldn’t be an issue though, as the good folk of street food events company GRUB MCR have the chance to strut their stuff in a location many eyes are on. Street food pitches live or die on the strength of the marketing, and with Manchester’s truly Olympian ability to talk up its food scene, the funky food and craft ale types should prosper.

Eastern promise

Another fun month in Cheshire East. There’s cautious optimism that the council might finally nail that pesky Local Plan, as the final consultation stage was opened. On the debit side, there was the trifling matter of chief executive Mike Suarez being suspended. This sort of thing can happen anywhere of course, it just seems to keep happening to those in senior roles at Cheshire East. The beleaguered troops in planning meanwhile, have a brouhaha by the A34 bypass to contend with, as retail schemes from Orbit and Consolidated Property Group jostle for consents.

Winter wonderland

Go Blackpool! The Lancashire town’s plan to create a new conferencing facility on a Winter Gardens car park seems sensible enough, and bringing out the joy of the Empress Ballroom has to be a good thing. The £25m centre has received £2.9m from the Coastal Communities Fund, and Blackpool’s also going for Heritage Lottery Fund cash to turn parts of the Winter Gardens into a museum celebrating the resort’s history. Far less deserving cases have secured money, let’s face it. There’s a lot of love out there for Blackpool, so give people a way to show it.

Forward roles

Didn’t take long, did it? Sir Howard Bernstein left Manchester City Council on the Friday, and by Monday was revealed as taking on an advisory role at the University of Manchester. Three days later, it was announced he’d be working seven days a month at Deloitte’s strategic advisory team. That leaves time for other stuff, although in the short term the spare days are probably kept full by the circuit of dinners to celebrate the great man’s career – it’s tiring just reading about them all, the poor bloke must be exhausted.

Stoney ground

With Everton falling head over heels in love with the waterfront, to the extent that owner Farhad Moshiri has bought the Liver Building to complement the Bramley Moore Dock stadium plan, stakeholders in the jilted Stonebridge area are showing they’re not bothered, and didn’t fancy the Blues anyway. Stoford and Gallan Group are to crack on with the 1.2 million sq ft of consented sheds at the proposed stadium site, while St Modwen has let a Stonebridge shed to Autoglass, which is just about the most St Modwen sentence it’s possible to write.

Taking stock in Stockport

Wallop! This column said Muse would get its rewards at Stockport Exchange and whaddayaknow, bus operator Stagecoach has only gone and steamed into the scheme, signing a 15-year lease for 33,000 sq ft. Fifteen years! What do they think this is, 2002 or something? With a bit of luck we’ll all be cutting about the place on hoverboards by the time that bad boy expires, but for the moment – Megariders all round!