BRITAIN’S most famous street looks set for the chop following the unveiling of plans for the redevelopment of Granada Studios, which will begin in autumn 2015.
"Attempts have been made to get the set listed but English Heritage refused on the grounds that most of the buildings are simply facades and the set was less than 30 years old."
Last week during the unveiling, Allied London chief Mike Ingall confirmed Confidential suspicions that the set would not form part of any new development - see here.
"What of Coronation Street?" asked Confidential at the Old Granada Studios site. "Well," replied Ingall, the man that brought us Spinningfields. "Do you see it on the plans?"
Allied London bought the 13.5 acre site in partnership with Manchester City Council last summer for £26.5m.
Allied London's new plans for the former ITV site
In the short term the space has been used as a temporary arts and cultural destination for Manchester, featuring pop-up markets, fairs, 'street food' events and even 350 tonnes of sand for a ITV's World Cup beach football stadium.
Under the new plans half of the production studios will be retained for arts and cultural events such as these, including the city's burgeoning Buy Art Fair at the close of September.
'The Street', however, looks doomed.
Whether you're a fan or not, this makes absolutely no sense to Confidential.
We've made the case on numerous occasions that the Coronation Street Tour should remain open as long as feasibly possible, given the economic benefits that it brings to the city and its cultural significance.
In the first two months after re-opening the Coronation Street set in March 2014, 100,000 people took to the cobbles. In which case, it's fair to assume five months later that the number must be reaching quarter of a million (we did contact the management but they failed to provide us with up-to-date figures).
The Rovers
250,000 visitors to the city centre in five months, most travelling to Manchester from across the country, some even internationally (Corrie has a healthy following in both Canada and New Zealand), all spending their lovely tourist money on transport, hotels, food and drink.
If we take the average ticket price at £15, add a very conservative £15 for general spend in the city, then the economic boost over that five month period has been £7.5m. That's nearly £20m for the year.
So why exactly is this massive tourist draw and a site of huge cultural significance to the city, instantly recognisable to millions of people (viewing figures peaking at nearly 10m in 2014), going to be torn down?
We fail to understand why the City Council and the tourism authorities would not be fighting to keep this attraction going for as long as it is making a decent profit, providing jobs and bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
The Old Granada site
Coronation Street Tour management were unable or unwilling to tell us if the attraction would be allowed to remain open beyond its current autumn deadline. Such a move could be possible given that work on Phase One of the development will not begin until autumn 2015. Allied London are yet to formally submit their plans for approval.
Attempts have been made to get the set listed but English Heritage refused on the grounds that most of the buildings are simply facades and the set was less than 30 years old. This means that Allied London is under no legal obligation to preserve the set in situ.
At worst, Allied London should be looking to incorporate a nod to Corrie in their new plans. Perhaps a ginnel named after the soap within the 'Village' area of the designs, boasting original cobbles and a store frontage or two. Come on now guys, be reasonable.
Confidential's Sleuth perhaps summed up the ludicrous situation in 'Otter Bigger Than Coronation Street':
"Sleuth is still puzzled, given the cultural significance to millions of people, why English Heritage has refused to 'list' and thus protect the site. They have said: "The criteria against which we must assess the architectural significance of buildings - or in this case, a television set - is extremely strict. The set as it stands today is an active reminder of the long-running television programme, rather than a survival of an earlier era of television productions."
'Up yours Corrie'
"English Heritage clearly think there are more significant sites, such as the hut in a remote part of Devon where Henry Williamson wrote Tarka the Otter. English Heritage announced last week it had been given official protection, 'not because of any great architectural merit, but because of its link with a renowned author'.
"So Tarka the Otter hut, hard to get too, fanbase of a few thousand (at a push), listed. Coronation Street in the heart of a major city fanbase in their millions upon millions, not listed. Neither of architectural merit, according to English Heritage, yet they still decide to save one of the two sites.
"Hypocrisy. Sleuth is no fan of Corrie but sometimes the open and outrageous snobbery of middle class institutions such as English Heritage is appalling."
Hear, hear Sleuth old boy.
Follow @AnnaECarruthers
