Undershaw - Saturation Point

As regular readers will know, I have been following local press coverage of Undershaw.

The local press have carried on disappointing by continuing, through their lack of balance, to give the impression that only UPT founder John Gibson has any issues with the plans for Undershaw put forward by Stepping Stones.

The curious thing is the apparent make-up of the support and opposition. Support, in the main, comes from individuals while objections tends to come from organisations (The Victorian Society, English Heritage etc).

The plain fact of the matter is that it is not the UPT whose objections are causing delays. The objections that are getting in the way of Stepping Stones' plans are those coming from English Heritage and the Victorian Society. Yet, because it is the most vocal and visible, it is the UPT that is attacked. Perhaps it is seen as an easier target.

Anyway, all of this is now beside the point. The signs of public fatigue are showing. A letter has appeared in the local press in which the writer expresses acute boredom of the whole subject. I've be waiting for this for the past three or four weeks. As soon as regular articles and letter exchanges began I feared that someone would eventually seek an end to it. The press has overdone the coverage when there was actually nothing official going on. It has been somewhat akin to having news reporters, at the time of the birth of Prince George, appearing every ten minutes to tell us that there was no news.

Saturation point has been reached and, to pander to readers, the press spotlight will move on. This is potentially bad news for Undershaw as it is in the dark, when the light has gone, that things happen unnoticed and unreported.

Written by Alistair Duncan

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