After a couple of days of noticeable silence we’re starting to get news of the out come of the Bolton Council’s Planning committee meeting that took place on the 10th December 2009 regarding the proposed Heritage Centre at Fred’s old house.

On Sunday Leon Powsney posted on the Heritage Centre site that parking is still an issue with the planning committee. It seems the parking deal with the Ukrainian Social Club fell through, but it seems The Bridge Church has stepped in with an offer to assist.

Below are the relevant details from the committee minutes. For the original download this .pdf (2MB right click save as) file and scroll down to page 23.

82851/09 and 82854/09
Ward: TOHA
Location: 121 RADCLIFFE ROAD

The applicant has commented that the arrangement with the Ukranian Club on
Castle Street has fallen through. However, the applicant has provided a letter from The Bridge Church which is located at the corner of Bury New Road with Bradford Street to use their car park. The operations manager has confirmed that the car
park:

‘…houses up to 100 vehicles as an overspill’.

This car park would be unavailable on Sundays. However, it is not the applicant?s intention to open the venue on Sundays.
One petition with 6 (no.) signatures has been provided which raises a number of issues including the following:

1. Issue of the casual caller to the venue – the site?s location would attract casual callers;
2. Nothing wrong with having a tourist venue in a residential area, it is just a matter of having suitable conditions in place;
3. Other examples e.g. childhood homes of Lennon and Mc Cartney are restricted to 14 (no.) visitors at one time with parking prohibited
4. Condition No. 6 refers to customers not visitors;
5. Restricting parking at attractions is an integral part of demand management;
6. New fencing should be erected around the site to minimise visbility of the site from Radcliffe Road.

Officer comment:
Issues 1, 3, 5 and 6 have been assessed within the main Committee report. It is
considered that clarification over the wording of Condition No. 6 can be changed to reflect the objectors concerns if Members are minded to grant planning permission for the proposal.

All in all it’s still looking good. There is no indication of when the next planning meeting will be, I would be surprised if we hear before Christmas but you never know.

Remember if you need any last minute presents for a Fred Fan head over to the Leon’s eBay site to pick up something to help the cause.

The plans of Leon Powsney and his wife Jan — who bought the house in Radcliffe Road earlier this year — took a knock when they were put on hold amid fears of potential parking problems.

Now they have linked up with the nearby Ukrainian Club to solve the issue – and propose to direct visitors to the attraction to park there.

The couple were hoping to get the green light for their plans to convert the 155-year-old property in Radcliffe Road into a heritage centre this afternoon. But the decision has now been put off until December 10.

Members of Bolton Council’s planning committee originally delayed making a decision at their meeting on October 29 after raising a number of concerns over parking provisions, opening times, the nature of the cafe on the site and the number of visitors.

But Mr Powsney has now addressed the issues and had hoped councillors would look favourable on his plans.

He said: “We have agreements with a number of different places around the house with regards to parking but now we have to wait until December 10.”

Neighbours had put forward objections to the plans based on parking problems, increased visitors to the area and invasion of privacy.

But the nearby Ukrainian Social Club, in Castle Street, has stepped in and said visitors to the centre can use its 20-vehicle car park.

The plans, which also include toilet facilities and an extension to Fred’s workshop, have received some high-profile support.

As part of a planning application to Bolton Council, Mr Powsney has included a letter from Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) backing the scheme.

Mr Powsney is also applying for permission to keep the pithead structure Fred was working on before he lost his battle with cancer in 2004.

(source)