THING OF THE WEEK
RAMPED UP… Stockport has unveiled the latest part of the £120m redevelopment of the town’s bus station: a spiral ramp connecting the development’s podium park with the River Mersey. The nifty bit of infrastructure, designed by the Harris Partnership, is aimed at making the scheme more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. It also looks really cool.
Credit: Place North West
REUNITED… After a two-year hiatus, Manchester’s property management professionals converged on Dutton’s in Albert Square to celebrate Quarter Day. Eight such days have passed since the event was last held and its return, sponsored by Roger Hannah, was almost as welcome as the early spring sunshine that accompanied it.
As promised tonight is my rescheduled @LandAid #SleepOut2022 missed the main event @MayfieldMCR due to #covid but others have no choice. So here goes team @urban_splash . Hope I don’t scare the milkman!! https://t.co/5TL9GB4Dit still time to sponsor a great cause 🙏 pic.twitter.com/GY4ajlcLh2
— Pete Swift (@peteswiftysan) March 22, 2022
GOOD DEED… Last week saw property professionals take part in LandAid’s annual Sleep Out event. Agents, developers and architects camped out under the stars at Mayfield Depot to raise money for DePaul NightStop, an initiative aimed at providing beds for homeless people. More than 70 people took part, raising £23,000 for the cause.
Nathan Cornish, LandAid’s North West Chairman, was among those who took part. “I can’t say that I was looking forward to sleeping under a railway arch,” he admitted. “Whilst sleeping out rough can never replicate what a homeless person will go through, I got a brief glimpse into their lives, but always with the knowledge that I had a warm bed to go to the next night. I literally can’t imagine doing that every night for weeks or months on end, it really opened my eyes.”
One notable absentee was Pete Swift, founding director of Planit IE, who was ruled out of the event due to Covid. However, determined to play his part, Swift camped out alone in his back garden earlier this week. Fair play.
Credit: PNW
SCOOTER COMMUTERS… After the Mo Bike fiasco in Manchester, many people thought the Lime Scooter trial in Salford would also be a resounding failure. However, the micro-mobility firm is extending the trial, a reflection of its success. The Lime trial began in October 2020 and focused on providing scooters around the University of Salford’s three campuses. Since then, more than 180,000 trips have been made in Salford by more than 50,000 users. They have covered a combined distance of more than 325,000 km. These stats combine to make the trial more successful than the Santander Cycle Hire scheme in London, according to a report to Salford City Council’s regeneration committee. As a result, the initiative, which was due to end at the end of March, is being extended until November. One in the eye for the doubters.
Mark O’Rourke outside his unnamed restaurant in Preston. Credit: via Marketing Lancashire
A DELICIOUS PROPOSAL… What’s in a name? Well, for one lucky person it could mean a three-course meal for two every month for one year. That’s the prize for restauranteur Mark O’Rourke’s competition to find the perfect name for his new casual British restaurant at Miller Arcade in Preston. So how do you win? Simply send in your suggestion of a name along with 150 words explaining why your suggestion is the best. You can enter at visitlancashire.com/win/namethisrestaurant. With a prize like that on the line, I think it’s safe to say that Restauranty McRestaurantface won’t be the winning entry this time, Internet.
Those Lime scooters are certainly very popular but those who use them on pavements don’t always bear in mind that pedestrians can’t always hear them coming – I’ve witnessed quite a few near misses, and at least one minor collision between a Lime scooter and a food delivery rider at a pedestrian crossing, on Chapel Street, particularly on the narrow bits of the pavement when building work has been going on…
By Chapel St Resident
Stockport: a spiral ramp . Totally stoked for that. Epic Boarding!
By Tony Bank
Scooters didn’t work in Manchester as they successfully have in Liverpool .
By Anonymous
How do these scooter schemes tally with various councils enacted pronouncements on both environment and “active travel”?
The manufacture and charging of vehicles that could just as easily be propelled manually is hardly green. And the vast majority of people I’ve seen using them don’t strike me as either needing an assist or benefiting from lack of exercise.
It’s time that councils were made to eat their words, and forced to stop wasting money on fads.
By Jeff
Oh I hate to burst your bias Anonymous 12.20 pm but scooters have been back in Manchester for some time, and even electric bikes in some places. Sorry.
By Anonymous