Dear Sir,
Mr Ryder’s enthusiasm for the ‘fantastic’ news of the
suggested European Boulevard
in Newport St would be praiseworthy if the proposal was realistic in its aims.
He does well to mention the
Church
Wharf, Central St, Merchant Quarter
and Odeon developments but without realizing that on the admission of the Leader
of the Council and the Chief Executive, these projects are going nowhere anytime
soon. The reason is simple – the Private Sector is unwilling to invest the kind
of money required for these in Bolton given the decline
in commercial activity and the lack of footfall in the town centre.
The artist’s impression seems to be relating to
Newport St between the Town
Hall and the Olympus Chippy. The report
suggests that the extent of refurbishment would be once again to re-do the
flags, lamp posts, street furniture and the like. £9m seems a bit steep for
this but in any event none of this
addresses the real problem of the lack of variety and quality of the retail
offer located there.
There is no point in promenading up and down the
Boulevard if there’s nowt worth buying.
All this also ignores the semi-derelict stretches of
property at the Trinity St end of Bradshawgate, the former FADS and Gregory
& Porritts stores on Great Moor
St or the poor quality of the buildings at the
Station end of Newport St. These are the things that people would see before
they got to this new Boulevard and are much more worthy of money being spent on
them.
The Greater Manchester Planning & Housing Commission
apparently envisages Bolton as the main hub for office
accommodation. Apart from wondering what the heck this has got to do with
Greater Manchester, we’ve already got more empty offices than you can shake a
stick at.
The ‘piece de resistance’ of this article was the Market
Place manager getting excited about the ‘key role’ that the Centre would have in
this plan. If he wants to have a key role, he should bite the bullet and change
it back into what it used to be.
No, I’m sorry Mr Ryder, this is another load of expensive
old tosh piled on top of all the previous expensive old tosh we’ve been regaled
with.
Having said all that, I suppose it keeps the Development
and Regeneration Department busy persuading us that the Emperor is indeed
wearing some clothes.
If any or all of this comes to fruition in the next five
or even ten years, I will gladly show my backside on the Town Hall steps (If
it’s still there)
Paul Richardson
Ripon Close
Little Lever.
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