CAMILLE BERRIMAN: Messy site not a good advert for town

Have you ever noticed how, when you see something all the time, you cease to look at it properly?

A good example of this is that moment the sun shines in and you notice your windows are covered in cat paw prints (I’m sure all mums reading this could substitute ‘children’s hand prints’ here), or you look down and realise your skirting boards could do with a good wipe.

I had a similar experience this week on Station Hill.

I quite often drive over Station Hill when popping to see my parents or friends living on that side of town, but on Sunday I actually stopped there to drop a friend off.

I pulled up at the front of the former Rollerbury and Brazilia and, as we said our goodbyes, I noticed the shameful state of the area.

As I drove away I renamed it ‘Station Hole’ in my head, and wondered how I had not noticed the decline of the area until that moment.

Then, on Tuesday, I was catching up on reading the Bury Free Press (a busy weekend meant I didn’t get a chance to pick it up any earlier) when I read Andrew McSword’s letter about the very same subject.

He talks about the weeds and litter strewn around and points out it is ‘not a very good advert or view of Bury for people visiting our lovely historic and interesting town for the first time once they’ve got off the train’.

I couldn’t agree more.

This made me think back to some years ago – maybe even a decade – when the Bury Free Press published details of a vision for that whole area.

I seem to recall the masterplan included a redevelopment of the former station pub, a large hotel and a range of housing and amenities stretching from Station Hill, across the Tayfen area and towards Springfield Road.

Clearly it never happened – I suspect the credit crunch and ensuing recession had something to do with it – but I wonder if any developers might consider taking on this area now?

While I would never wish to put more pressure on our roads infrastructure, I do hope this entire area could reach its potential rather than continue to decline.