Something happened, actually a few things have happened!

1) After nearly two decades of planning consents concerned mainly with phone masts to adorn the building and all the machinery that goes with this, out of the blue in October came listed building consent for additional heating and ventilation for the auditorium itself.

In November Trafford Council visited the building, made some amendments to the proposals and in December the application was granted! This is great news. You can read the officers report here (top document) which offers the best summary. The officer does not mention why the heating is needed but suggests it will allow the building to be fit for occasional artistic roller dance use. They also mention the building is on the councils at risk register and that the exterior paint work was completed without planning consent.

2) Mystery surrounds the window openings that have just been reopened on the left side after having been boarded up since the closure of the building in the 1990s. Passers by say the windows look new. It’s possible they are the window frames that were there before and this would be why no visible planning permission has been obtained.

It’s great to see something happening and maybe that veil of mystery covering the building is finally about to shrink in the wash…