News worth going out and burning down a Tesco over.

Planning permission has been granted on the building that houses Jillys/ Rockworld that could see it becoming yet another bloody supermarket.

One of the commenters on the LiveJournal thread dug up some online information about the application–

Change of use of ground floor and basement nightclub to offices, retail unit for use as Class A1 (shop) or Class A2 (financial and professional services), B1 (business) and car parking for 28 cars

Others are certain it’s just a ploy to increase the value of the property and that there is no way a landmark like Jilly’s is going away. I’d like to believe that as awell, but I’m not so confident. The applicants, Bruntwood, seem to be all about turning a profit making the city centre a nice safe place for bland people to live and that’s a prime piece of Oxford Road for a developer.

I can imagine getting the planning permission was quite easy as well. There’s a part of Manchester council that doesn’t like youth and alternative culture. These are the people who last year drove skate boarders from an open, busy area where they could mingle safely with their non-plank pushing friends by threatening to fine them a grand if they didn’t start using a dark and isolated cage under the Mancunian Way. No matter that there’s already a Sainsburys less than two hundred yards away, these people would happily see a Mancunian icon shut down if they could replace it with the sort of cookie cutter capitalism they can more easily understand.

I shall see if I can find out more about this in the next few days and report back.

Jillys official site.

Previously-

Spinneyworld on Jilly’s

Psychodiscography, including Music Box and Rockworld

Technorati tag: Manchester, Jillys, Rockworld, Clubbing, Tesco