Back in February 2016, Happy Mondays star, Bez, made a guest appearance on land surrounding the old, closed Woolpack pub in Pendleton, donating and planting apple trees in a forest garden which would provide free food for the community.*
The Woolpack itself was earmarked to be a new homelessness centre and food bank for Coffee4Craig. Indeed, in 2017, Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, turned up on the site to present the first grant (of £1,185) from his Homelessness Fund to Coffee4Craig to help fund the project.
Two years later, while the trees just about remain, the Woolpack is still derelict and its fate is unknown as Salford Council is proposing a new bus gate and lane on Belvedere Road opposite Whitebeam Court and outside the old pub.
"The aim of that improvement is to enable all buses that serve Salford Shopping Centre to utilise Belvedere Road, avoiding the congested Pendleton Roundabout" states a Council report on the proposal.
Meanwhile, the bus lane heading in the other direction along the A6 Broad Street will change near Frederick Road from the nearside lane to the second lane. The Council report notes that "To assist buses and general traffic to change lanes there will be set of traffic signals controlling traffic movements between the 'on' slip road from A576 Pendleton Roundabout and A6".
In March, the scheme went out to consultation, with one objector arguing that "If your diagrams are correct then buses would be coming on to Belvedere Road and going on to Salford Precinct, this would cause no end of chaos and congestion; the new slip road will cause congestion on Belvedere Road as well as safety concerns as Greater Manchester Police moved their response cars to the nearby station".
The response from the Council was that "The emergency services have been consulted with this proposal and none of them have raised concerns about the slip road or use of Belvedere Road..."
The funding for the scheme, part of the Salford Bolton Network Improvement, is from Central Government through the Greater Manchester Growth Deal.
The Pendleton bus lanes will be discussed at the Joint Lead Member Briefing Planning and Sustainable Development and Housing & Neighbourhoods next Tuesday 18th June at 3:15pm.
The meeting will also be discussing parking restrictions on Bolton Road, parking on Chorley Road in Swinton, and changes to the Roe Green/Beesley Green Conservation Area. For details on the meeting and reports – click here
* For full background see previous Salford Star article - Bez Occupies Woolpack - click here
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