THING OF THE WEEK
CAR PARK PARK… We have seen the future of car parks and it features trees. While they serve a valuable function in these vehicle-reliant times, surface car parks are among the most soulless of built environment features. It is always nice to see them repurposed into something more imaginative – homes, padel courts, or on some rare occasions, parks.
In Gorton, Manchester City Council has lodged plans to convert part of the car park shared by Tesco and Gorton Market into an area of public realm. According to planning documents, the scheme will be split into four zones: The wildlife zone, the social/communal area, the focal point featuring a “majestic Christmas tree and bespoke light projections during festive seasons”, and the Walking Path.
If more surface car parks were transformed into just parks, the world would surely be a better place.
CWAC bought the shopping centre in 2018. Credit: Google Earth
BUCKETS… Cheshire West and Chester Council expects work to replace the roof at Winsford Cross Shopping Centre to get underway later this month with the project costing around £1m and lasting until December.
Cllr Nathan Pardoe described the roof as an “eyesore” and took a swipe at the building’s former owners for allowing it to deteriorate. “[The state of the roof] is another example of the maintenance backlog built up by the former private owners that Cheshire West and Chester Council has stepped up to fix.”
The council acquired the building for £21m in 2018 to take control of its destiny. Since then, the condition of the roof has worsened but Pardoe is confident shoppers will soon be able to enjoy a dryer visit. “When the works are complete the roof will be watertight and the buckets will be banished – as promised,” he said.
Social Sports Society has its eyes on a venue in Stockport. Credit: via Inform Comms
COURT ORDER… As sports go, padel is the young upstart. Less stuffy than tennis, trendier and less harsh on the joints than squash; it is popping up absolutely everywhere. On this week’s edition of Padel Watch we bring you news of a complex planned in Stockport.
The council has some spare land close to the train station that will eventually become offices but, in the meantime, Social Sports Society wants to convert it into three courts so that workers at Stockport Exchange can grab a game over lunch. The sport is currently seen as the ultimate meanwhile use, but what happens when the land is needed for development?
Credit: Xplorer Studio via Liverpool City Council
LIGHT SHOW… Liverpool’s River of Light attraction is returning this October and the theme for 2024 is play. A huge interactive piano and 15 see-saws on Pier Head, as well as a giant hourglass on the Strand are among the illuminating instalments planned this year.
The council is counting the cost of processing cheques. Credit: via Pendle Council
CHEQUES AND BALANCES… Pendle Council has had enough of archaic methods of payment. The authority has pleaded with residents to stop paying for things by cheque and urged them to move with the times. It costs a whopping £3.60 to process a cheque compared to a measly 2p for payments made online. Thankfully, not every Pendle resident still has a chequebook – if they did, it would cost the council more than £300,000 every month just to process council tax payments.
Would the world really be a better place if more car parks were transformed into ‘just parks’? Some people have an irrational hatred for the car. Casual fanaticism.
By Anonymous
@August 16, 2024 at 1:56 pm
By Anonymous
Yes
By Anonymous
Cars stink, they pollute the air, take up loads of room and regularly kill children. Of course public spaces are better without them – anyone who has been to a European city will know this. When we rid our cities of cars we will all be able to lead happier and healthier lives and enjoy lower council tax too – seeing as the majority of council tax budgets go to repairing road infrastructure damaged by motorists, and on fixing potholes (again, caused by motorists). Any grown-up, self-respecting city council in the 21st century will be looking for ways to cleanse their cities of dirty, smelly, space-wasting cars. So get used to it, put your ego to one side, and get the train/ride a bike.
By Anonymous
No cars no economy no jobs
By Anonymous
Can’t wait to see the “majestic Christmas tree and bespoke light projections during festive seasons”. If other MCC installed Christmas displays are anything to go by – I won’t get my hopes up!
By Kris Kringle
@August 16, 2024 at 6:14 pm
By Anonymous
Is that the best you can do? It’s as though ‘the economy’ only was a thing since Carl Benz put engine to carriage…
By Anonymous
We love riding bikes in Liverpool. Despite the howling wind and regular rain, the health benefits far outweigh turning up for work wet, dirty, sweaty and looking like we’ve been dragged through a hedge. It’s why our expensive cycle lanes are always so busy.
Oh, wait…
By More Anonymous than the others