Is it really necessary to lose the Gamecock? VIEWPOINTS

Viewpoints, M.E.N, Mitchell Henry House, Hollinwood Avenue, Oldham, OL9 8EF viewpoints@men-news.co.uk

I UNDERSTAND that there are plans to demolish the derelict Gamecock pub on Booth Street West on the edge of Hulme and build a block of student accommodation on the site.

While a similar plan for an 11-storey block was rejected back in 2012 on the basis that it obstructed sunlight from the adjacent Hopton Court and Cooper House, this new application looks set to go ahead.

Admittedly the Gamecock is not a historic pub.

It certainly isn’t a pretty one! Nonetheless, in a period where there seem to be more cranes in Manchester than buildings, massive swathes have been rebuilt and the palimpsest of the Mancunian landscape has been almost completely overwritten, a little corner of low-rise breathing space fit in between the gaps for the old estates that were there before is no bad thing.

You could even make it an asset. While I don’t live in Hulme, my commute takes me down Booth Street regularly and I feel that the quirky contrast of a tiny woodframed building as a neighbour to the tower of glass and steel that is the nearby Hyatt Crowne Plaza could be presented as quite characterful to attract visitors.

With the number of other new buildings that have been raised in the area in recent years, has there also been any proper business investigation on whether the pub itself could reopen?

The planners of the student accommodation block may also want an opportunity to review their application and re-assess if it is still profitable given the changes in teaching that coronavirus has brought about.

It may be the case that the Gamecock is just an underused building that needs to go, but I hope that these plans can be looked at again and a way worked out for the Gamecock to stay.

Robert Frazer, Salford