RADCLIFFE Civic Suite will close this weekend before being demolished to make way for a new affordable housing development.

The historic venue officially closes on Sunday, April 17, after which staff will have a week to clear out the building so that it is ready to be bulldozed.

Building work on 40 new homes, which are partly funded by a £1 million grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, is due to commence this summer and be completed by March 2018.

When the plans were given formal approval by Bury Council's planning committee in February, it was announced that the Great Places Housing Association would be making a payment of £91,000 to compensate for the loss of recreational land in Radcliffe.

The money will be put towards enhancing open space land at Coney Green High, Banana Walk, St Thomas' churchyard, Pilkington Way, and Festival Gardens.

The impending demolition has resulted in the loss of 111 trees from the Thomas Street area, 81 of which are to be replaced.

Bury Council have promised that a state-of-the-art replacement leisure and entertainment venue will be build on the site of the old swimming baths in Green Street by the end of 2018.

The first concept designs for the new £10 million centre, which would also act as a replacement for the temporary Radcliffe Leisure Centre in Spring Lane, were revealed by the Radcliffe Times in November.

The temporary leisure facility will remain open until the new venue is completed. Councillors have said that they expect to have a business plan for the new centre completed this summer.

More than 500 people have signed an online petition calling for the Civic Suite to be saved, describing it as "an iconic, historic, and architecturally significant building".

Representatives of Bury Green Party, who have campaigned against the closure, have criticised the council for not consulting residents before taking the decision to shut the venue and say the land was never meant for housing.