West Didsbury

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Head office for Siemens - Automation and Drives. The architecture is inspired by the Bauhaus
Head office for Siemens - Automation and Drives. The architecture is inspired by the Bauhaus

West Didsbury is a suburb in Greater Manchester in north-west England. It is a largely residential area in the south of the city of Manchester, traditionally bounded by Barlow Moor Road to the south, Princess Parkway to the west, Palatine Road to the east, and a line continuing from Goulden Road in the north. The majority of the properties date from the Victorian era, although more modern properties now exist at the Didsbury Point development on the site of the former Withington Hospital on Nell Lane.

West Didsbury is located to the west of Didsbury village, north of Northenden, south of Withington and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

The main hub of the area is the section of Burton Road around the junction with Lapwing Lane. This section of the road contains a couple of small supermarkets, a few pubs and bars, as well as a number of independent restaurants, shops and eateries, one of the most famous being The Great Kathmandu which was voted the best Indian restaurant in the UK by the readers of The Observer newspaper.[1]

The misleadingly named Withington Community Hospital, opened in 2005, is located within the area, as is the Fielden Campus of the City College Manchester.

The Albert Park conservation area, which places additional planning restrictions on development, alterations to buildings, and pruning of trees is contained within West Didsbury. The conservation area comprises much of West Didsbury, bounded as it is by the River Mersey to the south, Withington Community Hospital and Government buildings to the west, the disused railway line (which could form part of a Manchester Metrolink extension) to the north, and Palatine Road to the east.

[edit] Governance

The local government ward of the City of Manchester is called Didsbury West and is represented in the Town Hall by Councillors Graham Shaw, Neil Trafford and Mark Clayton. The ward of Didsbury West is part of the Manchester Withington constituency, with Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament John Leech since 2005. In the last election for in the constituency of Manchester Withington, Lib Dems won 42.4% of the vote, Labour 40.6% and Conservative 10.5%

West Didsbury is seen as reasonably racially diverse, with a local synagogue, church and mosque, and Cavendish Road Primary School including a high number of ethnic minority students.

[edit] External links