Hotel Reservations

Somewhere in the increasingly understaffed & dispirited offices on Oldham Hall Street the penny is finally beginning to drop among at least a couple of hitherto deluded saps about what's happened to the city's waterfront with the blessing of Trinity Mirror.
Typically late to cotton on to a story about possible corruption & fraud concerning the land value of Mann Island, a story that Wayne had previously informed them of (http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/01/north-west-development-agency-shysters.html ), they've also only just realised that the grotesque botoxification of the waterfront featuring many hotel developments may not be the saving grace for an entire city (their usual editorial line). Instead, & brace yourselves here, a small, still note of doubt has permeated their dense skulls concerning a proposed Travelodge on the Strand, near the corner with James Street (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/our-view/2010/01/20/liverpool-s-world-famous-waterfront-needs-better-than-another-budget-hotel-100252-25637804/ ).
Its editorial begins:
"It goes without saying that Liverpool is extremely proud of its world-famous waterfront."
Ah, yes, that "world-famous waterfront", whose disfigurement has been presented by the Daily Ghost & Oldham Echo as "progress".
It should be noted, however, that the editorial questions rather than openly opposes the proposed development (got to remain "pro-business", eh, guys?).
The piece continues:
"During this time of regeneration [ha!], we have welcomed many new and varied hotels to the city -- but things are looking a little less varied than they could be on the waterfront."
Message to Big Al & his minion Mark: it's nice to see you've finally woken up & smelled the coffee, but I'm afraid the damage is done, & the binge cheerleading you did for "developing" the waterfront has sadly left its mark.
Oh, well, be grateful for small mercies, I suppose; it's the nearest approximation of a mea culpa we'll get from Oldham Hall Street. That said, the editorial can't help concluding on a characteristically "where there's a space, let's build apace" note:
"There is obviously a need for more budget hotels in Liverpool, but surely there isn't a need for another one to be built slap bang in the middle of our World Heritage Site."
Absolutely, let's keep "our World Heritage Site" (when's that next UNESCO inspection, btw?) for the Hilton Hotels of this world, where nightly charges for most of the rooms exceed the average weekly wage on Merseyside.