Rick's St Mary's Diary

The eyesore that is "The Retreat" artwork in Prestwich Village centre has made it to the front page of the Prestwich Advertiser. Hopefully this will alert many more people to the disgraceful delays in getting this sorted once and for all. It is a shameful waste of money and effort to redevelop an area only for its supposed centrepiece to be left as little more than a derelict and dangerous building site. Not to mention the crippling effect that it is having on businesses. I know that I don't look forward to having to walk by it every time I go to the library or to the shops or to the Metrolink station, wondering what pieces of random debris will be scattered about the place today, so goodness knows how elderly or disabled people must feel having to navigate it. And, as Cllr D'Albert says in the paper, it is hardly an open-arms invitation to businesses to come and fill the vacant units in Radius, is it?

The report in the paper says that the Council will provide a briefing note on plans for re-opening "within two weeks." I await that with some interest.

Rick