ONLY true geeks would have pored over the update of Warrington’s new town centre masterplan for the next quarter-century or so.

But this town’s story has been constructed around ambitious growth and regeneration – and Podium had a few hours to kill before the Away Day Crew’s karaoke Christmas bash.

Your correspondent will never tire of analysing how Warrington could look by 2040 – even if there’s the occasional whiff of old warhorses being led back out for a trot in the sun.

Plans to festoon the banks of the Mersey with homes, offices and shops hark back to the days of Regenesis, a mothballed redevelopment initiative of the late 90s.

Look closer though and the Waterfront West scheme, promising 2,000 apartments and parkland positioned in the river loop leading to Bridge Foot, combining intriguingly with the Warrington West relief road and high level bridge hopes, grip the imagination.

Several key prospects such as Port Warrington and the anticipated ‘TransNorth’ rail hub at Bank Quay station, alongside smaller-scale upgrades like the revamp of Garven Place, are self-evidently important.

Other focuses might require further explanation – the importance of Barbauld Street’s creaking Cabinet Works is acknowledged as a key issue for the Cultural Quarter and Bridge Street.

An alfresco dining area is suggested for Springfield Street – this might be fine for the lower end as an extension to Queen’s Gardens but would it affect through traffic from Sankey Street to Bold Street?

Elsewhere Silver Street is talked of as a ‘gateway’ to the Stadium Quarter. This is the side street between Rybrook Jaguar and the old Red Lion which leads to where? Winwick Road is already sitting there, boxed off by previous poor decision-making.

However this is purely picking around the edges – the abiding theme is the creation of a ‘new city’ which offers inclusive opportunities for all.

Which brings us neatly to the announcement Warrington will offer refuge to around 14 families from Syria over the next four years.

Our keyboard ‘worriers’, afraid the world outside their contracting bubble might be evolving, were quick to descend on the Guardian’s website.

Online comments were closed as the temperature rose, with the tally reaching 44, a relatively low total when migrant debates explode.

Every other week this organ reports on a new 1,000 home development here, another urban village there. Fourteen families assimilated over four years? Child’s play.

  •  Deadlines ensured coverage of Chris Sandow’s much-feted Aussie boxing showdown with fellow maverick Todd Carney had to be held.

For anyone still smarting over our former stand-off’s hasty departure, it’s easy to Google an image of Sandow being dumped on his backside during the three-round affair.

Fair’s fair, the exhibition bout ended in a majority draw, which those more used to such affairs has explained thus – two judges scored it even and the third had Sandow ahead by three points.

This aside enables Podium to mostly sidestep the arrival of Kevin Brown, another Tony Smith transfer punt which has divided supporters.

Before rushing to judgement, consider how apoplectic the move has made Widnes fans. A fine start already.

  •  In the grand tradition of this page (late and condescending) it’s good to see the beginning of the Bear and Bottle’s trading life on Mersey Street.

Known more widely as the former Adelphi Vaults, it’s another welcome addition to the ranks of craft ale places emerging (Nine Gallon, Hop Co. of Bold Street, The Real Ale Shack on Warrington Market).

Hopefully the former Prince of Wales, ideally placed as it is, could become the next such venue to benefit from this phenomenon.