A popular park in Salford that’s home to its very-own ‘Secret Garden’ is to get long-awaited £680,000 transformation.
Salford City Council has confirmed that Islington Park is soon to be upgraded to provide “a green oasis for nearby residents”, as well as make walking and cycling through it easier, and to join it to the Greater Manchester ‘Bee Network’ – which will be the largest network of off-road walking and cycling routes in the UK when it’s complete.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has awarded Salford City Council a total of £683,249 in funding for the improvements to the city centre public greenspace.
Improvements to the park are aiming to make it “an even more pleasant place to relax”.
“The paths, cycle routes and lighting through the park will be upgraded along with the lawn and an area for pop up events or a café will be added,” explained Councillor Mike McCusker – Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development at Salford City Council.
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“More seating will be added, new trees planted to soak up rainfall, more plants including seasonal wildflowers, which will benefit wildlife and landscaping will make it an even more pleasant place to relax”.
“We’re adding cycle parking which includes Salford’s first stands for cargo bikes,” he continued.
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“We have an e-cargo bike library at Manchester Bikes in nearby Chapel Street to help more businesses try a green alternative to deliveries.”
As anyone who has ever been to Islington Park will know well, the park houses a mosaic that was designed by local school children all the way back in 1992 to commemorate Frances Hodgson Burnett – the author of the classic children’s novel, The Secret Garden.
Frances lived nearby as a child before emigrating to America, and published the book in 1911, drawing on her memories of England.
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Salford City Council has been awarded a total of £683,249 in funding for the improvements / Credit: David Dixon (via Geograph)
“Unfortunately, after 30 years of weathering, damage and many, many repairs the mosaic has reached the end of its life but we will preserve parts of it in feature walls, so it lives on for future generations,” Councillor McCusker added.
“We will also work with local children to create new mosaic designs which will be printed on aluminium.”
The works to improve Islington Park are to begin at the end of this moth, and Salford City Council says that, while all nearby footpaths will remain open, the park itself will be closed the period of restoration.
All improvement works are expected to finish in September 2022.
Family pays tribute to ‘big family man’ found dead 10 days after going missing
Daisy Jackson
The family of a man who was found dead in Wigan 10 days after he was reported missing have now paid a touching tribute to him.
David Edmonds, 55, has been described by his loved ones as a ‘big family man’ who loved sports, travel and his family.
David had been missing for nine days after last being seen in the Bodmin Drive area of Platt Bridge at around 11pm on Sunday 20 October.
Tragically after extensive searches, on Wednesday 30 October police found a body, later confirmed as David.
His wife has now released a statement on behalf of his family, describing him as a ‘happy chap’ who was well-loved by his family, friends and colleagues.
She said: “He was a hard worker and worked all his life. His first job was with his father at a local factory, and he worked there from a young age up until recently.
“He was a big Everton supporter and loved going to the matches. He held season tickets since he was a child. David liked all sports and watching anything with a ball, cricket, football, and rugby, especially Wigan rugby.
“He also liked horse racing; we would go to the races in York every year.
“He loved going on holiday and we travelled a lot together, we went to Australia, New York, Tenerife, and Benidorm.
“David was a big family man and adored his three nephews. He will be missed by all of us, he was so loved.
“We would like to thank the police and everyone who shared appeals on social media or went out searching for David.”
David’s family have asked for privacy whilst they grieve his loss.
Andy Burnham calls for ‘efficient and reliable’ public transport as he slams Northern rail services
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has called for an ‘efficient and reliable’ public transport system as he slams Northern’s rail services for being ‘not good enough’.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester has been vocal about his condemning views of rail travel across Greater Manchester and the North West over the past couple of years, notably calling for widespread reforms across the board, and particularly taking aim at Avanti’s running of the West Coast Main Line – especially as regular delays and cancellations have become commonplace for many.
But now, Mr Burnham, along with a handful of other Mayors across the North, have written to the Government to highlight poor performance by Northern.
This comes after Mr Burnham called an emergency meeting of the Rail North Committee last Wednesday, which saw regional mayors and leaders seek “immediate assurances” from Northern after a spate of cancellations, overcrowding of services, and ‘Do Not Travel’ warnings on Sundays.
Greater Manchester now regularly sees between 30% and 40% of its services cancelled on Sundays, and in many cases, no replacement bus services or alternative travel methods have been provided.
Andy Burnham has called for ‘efficient and reliable’ public transport across the north / Credit: TfGM
The Committee members said they fear that, without intervention, the situation could get worse, and ultimately affect confidence amongst shoppers and travellers as we head into the busiest time of year.
“The situation must be reversed in the interest of passengers and the region’s businesses, especially those in the retail and hospital sectors,” the Committee concluded.
Some of the topics discussed in the Committee meeting were the fact that, within the past week alone, with it being half term for many in the region, a total of 1,600 trains were cancelled across the network, and there was a lack of mitigations in place, such as ticket acceptance with other operators, when this happened.
Infrastructure challenges, high staff sickness levels, and Northern’s reliance on staff working on rest days was also discussed.
Last night, there were widespread cancellations of @northernassist services causing chaos at stations.
It can’t go on.
Following a special Rail North Committee, I have written to the Chancellor to ask that a pending agreement on rest day working is approved as soon as possible.
“Efficient and reliable public transport is a critical enabler of economic growth,” Mr Burnham said.
“What we heard from Northern at the meeting of the Rail North Committee was not good enough for residents and businesses across the north. That is why, on behalf of the Rail North Committee, I have written to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State to urge them to support us to bring the service back to an acceptable level.”