THING OF THE WEEK
WATER FEATURE… If your scheme requires a functional and unattractive bit of kit, the onus is on the developer to make sure it does not harm the aesthetic of the development. At Victoria North in Manchester, a pesky contaminated water source has been discovered on part of the site resulting in headaches for developer FEC and the need for a water treatment facility on site.
The machine will be installed beneath the arches of a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Red Bank part of the masterplan and featured in LS Lowry’s A Footbridge. The equipment will be concealed behind a corten steel decorative barrier designed by Planit that pays homage to Lowry’s painting.
Commander KitKat. Credit: via This is RMS
TAKE A BREAK… One of the country’s most feared barristers has been awarded a CBE by the King. Christopher Katkowski from Manchester-based Kings Chambers has been given the honour for services to planning. Affectionately known as Kit Kat, Katkowski has been the scourge of private sector developers and local authorities alike over a career spanning five decades. “Commander Kit Kat” who would have thought?!” he said.
The tower was built in 1969. Credit: PNW
IDEAS… The response to Place North West’s What next for Liverpool’s Radio City Tower? article has been varied. Some commenters think converting the grade two-listed needle into a restaurant is the obvious choice, while others think the idea would fall flat once the novelty of having your dinner in the sky wears off. Other suggestions included using it as a church, converting it into a TV studio, and reimagining it as a giant tickling stick to honour Liverpool legend Ken Dodd. Post your thoughts below the line.
Credit: via Citypresss
KNUTS FOR PADEL… 2024 was the year padel broke into the mainstream. Having made the migration from the obscurity of mainland Europe into the hearts of middle class, middle age professionals seeking to fill a squash-shaped whole in their social diaries, padel really took off last on British shores last year. In the North West alone, plans for courts popped pretty much anywhere there was a disused car park or similarly underutilised scrap of brownfield land.
The padel juggernaut shows now signs of slowing in 2025. Many of the courts proposed last year are due to open soon, much to the delight of Manchester’s padel fanatics – who often have to travel miles to secure a slot – while plans for new ones keep coming. This week, Bruntwood announced that the Padel Club – the company behind one of the North West’s first clubs in Wilmslow – plans to open another complex in Knutsford.
Pedestrians have been left to traverse icy pavements this week. Credit: PNW
NORTHERN GRIT… The snow and ice of recent days has shone a light on society’s disdain for pedestrians. Throughout the North West and further afield, cars enjoyed the luxury of gritted roads while pedestrians were left cursing their decision not to ask for ice skates for Christmas. Is it time the government looked into a pavement gritting policy to prevent shattered bones, bruised backsides and the imprisonment of pensioners in their own homes?
Of course when the Radio City tower was first opened the top actually was a very good rotating restaurant.
By Old Hack
I’ve never understood why pavements, bike paths and parks aren’t gritted, it’s absolutely insane. We had black ice in December on paths all over the city and it was so dangerous to take every step, yet the roads were being looked after. The Oxford Road cycleway was a deathtrap, I saw many fall. Why are we so motonormative that we see driving as an absolute right that can never be disrupted and have big grit trucks and services – but not walking?
By M I Grant
the lack of gritting of pavement and paths has been so dangerous (I’ve had a not-elderly friend break their tailbone after falling), although I suspect its primarily due to lack of resources to cover the massive areas, and that its probably only needed for a few weeks each year
By Anonymous