Manchester development plans make waves

Manchester City Council has unveiled proposals for the city centre which could include a raft of new towers, multi-billion pound new neighbourhoods and so-called “vertical villages”.

A new city centre strategy is now out for public consultation which includes a vision for the city centre until 2018, as well as aspirations for Manchester as a whole up to 2025 that includes a move to a low carbon economy.

The strategy focuses on a number of new neighbourhoods including NOMA, St Johns (the former ITV site), Spinningfields, First Street, Aytoun Campus and the central business district.

The new vertical village at St John’s and the £1.4bn redevelopment of Granada Studios will be joined by the redevelopment of the dormant First Street site, which is close to the city’s new HOME theatre. The master plan will see the development expand south and west and include new residential development.

Meanwhile, work towards a joint Greater Manchester plan to identify future housing and employment land requirements has reached its latest milestone.

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework is intended to be an overarching document which will be used by planners in each local authority to guide development and growth.

The next step in preparing the framework is to agree a set of objectives, now out for consultation against which proposals can be assessed at each stage of the process.

In a related developments plans for a new £110m theatre and arts venue at the site of the former Granada TV studios in Manchester has been approved by the city council.

Chancellor George Osborne pledged £78m for the project, known as The Factory Manchester, in last year’s Autumn Statement as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative. The 5,000-capacity venue is scheduled to open by summer 2019.

Separately social business One Manchester has announced its first new-build housing scheme, a mix of 166 flats and town-houses, proposed for two sites in inner-city Hulme.

View the city centre strategy

Roger Milne