Bolton: Call for new Ashburner Street Odeon park to have children's area

This view came after plans to transform the former Odeon Cinema site off Ashburner Street into a pocket park were given the green light by Bolton Council at a meeting last Thursday.

This will see the space become a new “attractive and usable space” in the town centre.

But Cllr Nick Peel, who supported the proposal, has said it must include children’s play equipment to ensure that the space remains a suitable place for families and does not attract anti-social behaviour.

He said: “I’m absolutely 100 per cent behind this scheme, but where I’m going to criticise it is the lack of a children’s play area.

“Anybody who has parks in their wards will know that parks without children’s play facilities no longer cater for children and families, they become adults' parks.

“An adults' park is basically where people sit around on benches and have a few drinks.”

Cllr Peel says that children’s play areas had been considered at one point but were removed following concerns raised by neighbourhood services about future maintenance costs.

As it stands, the former Odeon site will be converted into a park with lawns, a performance area and a paved area with seating and picnic areas.

But Cllr David Wilkinson echoed Cllr Peel’s concerns and compared the site to Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens in terms of concerns about anti-social behaviour.

He said: “It’s probably at times the biggest human cesspit in Manchester.”

He added: “We don’t want a mini version of that in Bolton town centre.”

In response, Cllr Andy Morgan of the ruling Conservative group said that there were children’s areas nearby such as the play park area outside Lever Chambers health centre and that the new park had been envisaged as more of an adult orientated area with its performance space.

But he said that the proposals were not “set in concrete” and told the committee that officers would be open to further changes in future.