We'll never get the Dutch method here. I remember trying to get back to the ferry at the Hook of Holland after a cycle trip and just before we got into the town there was a diversion, the road was up. I said to Mrs Ewing "Look at that! The cycle lane's going in first!"Local and national governments for the most past can't be arsed investing in basic cycling infrastructure to begin with.
Look at Stretford / Chorlton. They literally put some cones out and called it a cycle lane.
The problem with politics nowadays. People don't elect a representative from their community, their representative is imposed on them by one of two parties who basically control everything. And that's how well-connected, career driven pricks, with no interest in the local community have taken over pretty much every branch of politics.I saw the leader of Manchester City council on telly the other day....never seen or heard her before.
Like Andy Burnham she clearly isn't from Manchester....I may be mistaken. She sounds like Blackburn or Burnley?
edit: she's from Belfast. Weird accent though.
Bev Craig? To be fair she only took over from Richard Leese fairly recently - everyone will know him.I saw the leader of Manchester City council on telly the other day....never seen or heard her before.
Like Andy Burnham she clearly isn't from Manchester....I may be mistaken. She sounds like Blackburn or Burnley?
edit: she's from Belfast. Weird accent though.
Can't stand the **** or his camerasBev Craig? To be fair she only took over from Richard Leese fairly recently - everyone will know him.
I'm going to defend Burnham to an extent. He's clearly trying to do the right thing but has his hands tied. He stood up to the government during covid and continues to stick it to the idiot Tories in Downing St.
I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up in Kier Starmer's cabinet at some point in the future.
The tragic thing about Piccadilly Gardens is that they went down an incredibly ambitious route and got Tadao Ando to design it but then completely fucked his original ambition over.We live in a confused and overcomplicated country.
We have 'pie in the sky' projects which may or may not come to fruition. (eg Crossrail)
We have projects cancelled midway through their construction. (eg HS2)
Public transport which is run for the benefit of the operators rather than the population it should serve.(You can hazard a guess as to who those operators are!)
Building projects which are incongruous regarding the areas in which they are being put. (Piccadilly Gardens is one victim of this. It isn't and never will be Manhattan.)
We need proper leaders in this country to give us a plan to follow, the authority to implement it and collaboration to ensure that it is carried out efficiently.
Why didn't they just leave it as it was? I'll never understand why they did what they did to those sunken gardens. Made in the foundations/basement of the building (hospital) that was there before?The tragic thing about Piccadilly Gardens is that they went down an incredibly ambitious route and got Tadao Ando to design it but then completely fucked his original ambition over.
Ando conceptualised it as a proper city centre park. The hated wall was supposed to filter out noise and the hustle and bustle. It was never supposed to have cafes and shops in it, and the materials used weren't to his spec, hence why it's now a litter and dirt infested shithole.
I read something in an architecture magazine years ago that said Ando and his team of architects were disgusted at what happened and basically disowned the project.
Manchester was handed the opportunity to have an amazing and ambitious public square designed by literally one of the top architects on the planet but decided to save a few quid, buy some cheaper concrete and whack in a Cafe Nero instead. The people responsible for that decision should be hung.
Because the sunken gardens were a piss and shit stained haven for criminals and smack heads.Why didn't they just leave it as it was? I'll never understand why they did what they did to those sunken gardens. Made in the foundations/basement of the (hospital) that was there before?
The tramps swigging their meths loved it. Maybe it's destined to always be a drug and alcohol City garden.Because the sunken gardens were a piss and shit stained haven for criminals and smack heads.
There's some crazy revisionism to how those gardens were. I was a kid in the 90s and I remember them towards the end, it was a terrifying no-go area.
It was in desperate need of something radical, and the architect's vision was exactly what the area was crying out for.
It was the half arsed implementation of it that led to the disaster it is today.
Being the nearest park to the train station, and crucially that skanky bus station next door, this is going to continue to be the case I agree.The tramps swigging their meths loved it. Maybe it's destined to always be a drug and alcohol City garden.
I'll be honest here I was never terrified of going through anywhere in town but I know some people who were mugged and robbed at knifepoint in various parts of Manchester City centre. Gotta have yer wits about you especially at night like most City and town centres.