Floating Earth, free parking and the festive season

Floating Earth, free parking and the festive season

There is no better place to start this column than at Pennington Flash and the wonderful art installation that has attracted hundreds of visitors over recent days.

Gaia – or the floating earth – by artist Luke Jerram was hosted at the Flash and provides a stunning replica of our planet from the perspective of viewing it from space.

Underpinned by an important environmental message about looking after our world, we are honoured that it has been brought to Leigh and been so warmly received by our residents.

It has been on tour around the globe and will move on from our borough to Salford Quays in December.

I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone involved and the hundreds of families who have been to visit this stunning initiative.

It was also brilliant to see the festive season kicked off in style with Leigh’s light switch-on at the weekend as part of the borough’s Frost Festival schedule.

To help everyone get ready for Christmas, the council’s free parking offer in Leigh town centre has been extended to include weekdays.

In addition to the free weekend parking on all local authority car parks, you can now park for free after 3pm on weekdays.

We know how popular and well-received these offers have been in the past and we hope you can continue to support our local traders, independent shops and large stores in the lead up to the big day.

The weekday parking offer will continue until Friday, January 7. Meanwhile, the weekend parking scheme will continue through until Sunday, March 27, 2022.

The last few weeks has also seen the schedule for the rearranged Rugby League World Cup confirmed.

Now taking place between October 15 and November 19, 2022, the organisers have promised it will be ‘bigger and better’.

From a local perspective, we are delighted that the DW Stadium will host a match each in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

It obviously joins Leigh Sports Village on the schedule and we’re proud to have two venues playing such a large part in the tournaments.

View the full terms and conditions about the parking offers, and to see where council owned car parks are located in the borough.