Noooooooo...

This Easter holiday saw a change to the Manchester skyline. The Starflyer, recently erected in Piccadilly Gardens, transports up to 24 thrill-seekers to 70 metre heights and offers unique ariel views of the city and beyond. Manchester Council say up to 10,000 visitors could be attracted each week, generating income that will be invested into the upkeep of Piccadilly Gardens and future public events. They consider this to be the first step in making Piccadilly Gardens a family friendly destination. It's promised a children's play area will be built in the summer. Piccadilly Gardens has for long been a shamefully poor centre-piece for our city. The original gardens, created in 1914, were a sunken green-space of seasonal planting and benches. The area, suffering from lack of investment and up-keep became a hang-out for undesirables and was in need of a face-lift . At the turn of the Millennium our council took opportunity to maximise profit and an office block was erected at one end, on the remaining space Japanese architect Tadao Ando was enlisted to build what can only be described as one of the worst examples of modern space-planning. From huge bunker-like grey concrete slabs to grassed areas incapable of withstanding the pedestrian foot-fall to troublesome water fountains that invariably don't work. Little over ten years on and there is a feeling of deja vu; the area still suffers from anti-social behaviour and badly needs a face-lift. After much contemplation the council have decided that installing a fair-ground ride will somehow heighten the appeal and profile of one of our largest public spaces. No doubt the allure for our city leaders is the possibility of increased revenue from the attraction. At six pounds per go on an unseasonably cold Easter holiday at mid-day today there was hardly a clamour to claim seats on the attraction. Age, height and health restrictions apply, so not quite the family wide entertainment that the council predict. Is this really a step forward in creating a welcoming public space worthy of being the centrepiece of our nation's second city? or alas predictably a money making scheme that offers too little, too late and is too depressing for me to continue my rant.