Mottram Show cancelled - & on the move to a new venue

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Somewhat unsurprisingly after the downpours yesterday and generally wet weather over the past few days, it's been confirmed today that Mottram Show has been cancelled yet again.

But the real story about the show follows on from our report at the end of June. We can now reveal that a new venue for the show has been located, and that money has been paid to secure it.

This document (opens PDF - from the 'Executive Cabinet' minutes - delusions of grandeur all round!) spells out that TMBC paid £450,000 for the 'alternative Mottram showground' as they call it on 31st March this year. Except, and as we predicted, it's in Hyde. And if you consult the map displayed above and the map we displayed in June, you can see we were almost right as to the location (wrong side of the road!)

But this news raises a lot of questions too. Our sources tell us that the address of the venue is "Botham's Hall Farm, Moss Lane, SK14 3AW", but this is also the address of a property development company which is listed here - 'Investment Property Istanbul Limited'. Maybe readers can help us out by telling us if they anything about them?

And where does the money come from? Is it 'new money' or has it already been factored into the Bypass costs - indeed, has it got anything to do with it at all? If it hasn't, should it be? That would obviously inflate the costs of the Bypass/Spur still further. The date the purchase was made suggests Tameside wanted to use up money before the end of the financial year/tax year. What are they up to?

Finally, this news underlines what we said in June about the location:

"...the physical Geography of the location suggests that the Mottram Show will belong to neither Mottram nor Longdendale. Along Stockport Road, it's possible to view the hills that form the valley, but not the valley itself - significantly, it also won't be possible to see the bypass. So the Mottram Show is cut off from its rightful home, and it's not even possible to view where it was from its new location. The brutal psychology at work in this deal should not be underestimated"

And since the deal has now been concluded, it's reasonable to wonder whether or not Mottram will ever host another 'Mottram Show'.