A storm is brewing over a bid to demolish the Victorian building in Timperley where cult comedian Frank Sidebottom ran a recording studio. Plans have been submitted for five luxury homes on the site of the Riddings Community Centre on Park Road.
Liberal Democrat councillors are now set to ‘call in’ the proposals, meaning a government planning inspector may scrutinise the plan at a public inquiry. Sidebottom, who famously donned a paper mache head, was the creation of Chris Sievey who had fronted the band The Freshies in the late 1970s and early 80s.
He frequently appeared alongside the rising bands of the 1990s during Manchester's golden musical era and on Radio 1 and Radio 5, with Mark and Lard. Sievey died in 2010, aged 54. The building has also housed a community library.
