THIS week we published a two-page in-depth feature on the University of Bolton's controversial plans to build a so-called student village on Cheadle Square — right next to the town's historic Le Mans Crescent.

It looked at the potential impact of the scheme on the town's heritage, whether there is a the need for more student accommodation, if there are more suitable locations for the plans, and finally, we investigated the controversial design (the initial sketches, which the powers that be tell us are not representative of their final plan, drew comparisons with Forest Bank prison).

The plans have created a real stir in the town — and Bolton Council and the university have been taken aback by the amount of negative comments the proposals have received.

One thing which kept cropping up in relation to the plans is the lack of green space in Bolton town centre.

Critics of the proposed student village have pointed out that Cheadle Square is one of the few areas of green space left in the town centre.

Bolton Parish Church grounds are the only other areas of beauty in the town and after that, the nearest big green space is Queens Park.

The university's plans do include some green space — a small quadrangle as part of the accommodation block — but there is not a lot of it.

I wrote in this column a few weeks back that I thought Newport Street should be bulldozed and turned into a park .

Judging by some of the online comments ('Steven Thompson is an idiot!' and 'Terrible idea!' were two of the printable ones) not everyone agreed with me.

But at least there are other people who agree with me that we should have more green space.

We've built an ugly concrete skate park to keep skaters off the town hall square — and that's fine for them — but what about anyone over the age of 30?

Town centre workers need somewhere nice — other than the town hall steps — to eat our lunch on a sunny day.

One proposal put forward by those opposed to the university's plans is to extend Queens Park so that there are green spaces all the way into the town centre reaching from Spa Road to Le Mans Crescent.

I'm all for it. A lot of money has been spent improving Queens Park — and it is money well spent — with the idea being that people might make the "short walk" from the town centre to the park on their lunch break.

However, it is just too far. I reckon it is a 20 minute walk at best. By the time you got there, it would be time to set off back.

Most people are lucky if they five minutes for their lunch — never mind 45.

Let me know what you think — my contact details are below or email letters@theboltonnews.co.uk