In 2020, Liverpool became the first city in England to set up a land commission. Researchers Jonathan Silver & Tom Gillespie track the widespread enclosure and privatisation of public land in preceding decades and highlight the power of democratic decision-making to force developments to serve the communities they are built in. When Boris Johnson sold […]
Placemaking Piccadilly – the community campaign challenging Manchester’s development agenda
Glittering tower blocks continue to grow across the city, alongside stacks of food crates catering to the increasing number of people dependent on them.
The Placemaking Piccadilly campaign wants to create a more inclusive way of developing the city, which focuses on ‘participation not consultation’ to allow marginalised communities to be heard.
Britons Protection calls for help to fight Heineken takeover and 26 storey development next door
The 200 year-old much loved Manchester pub built close to the site of the infamous Peterloo Massacre faces a double-jeopardy threat to its future as Heineken brewery refuses to renew its owners license, and a controversial 26 storey skyscraper towering over the pub threatens to blot out the sky for pubgoers.
Will Hulme Hippodrome be saved from the wrecking ball to become a creative community space?
Manchester’s cultural venues face an uncertain future as the relentless march of new towering apartment and office blocks progresses unabated. Developers have their eye on the Hulme Hippodrome, a venue steeped in Manchester’s illustrious musical heritage.
Gary Roberts speaks to Oli Wilson about the campaign to save the theatre.
Skyscrapers are necessary for an ‘ambitious and outward’ looking Manchester, Bev Craig says
Council leader insists developers will add social value regardless of their high profits and promises to deliver affordable and social housing in the city, alongside allowing developers to ‘build the housing that the private sector market wants to build for people to live in’.
Housing campaigners say Trinity Islands development is “a clear signal it’s business as usual in Manchester.”
Trinity Islands £741m skyscraper development, with minuscule commitment to affordable housing, slammed by housing campaigners
A four-tower high rise development, valued at over £741 million is set to go before Manchester’s Planning Committee today, with housing campaigners calling for it to be rejected as it fails to address the ‘out of control’ housing crisis in the city.
Danny Moran: Does the council’s Planning Committee do rehearsals?
Danny Moran investigates allegations that the Planning Committee of Manchester council have pre-planning meetings, which act as rehearsals for the next Planning Committee meetings where multi-million pound developments may be voted through. Guest article from About Manchester.
Can a GM Land Commission create a more equitable and sustainable development agenda?
Andy Burnham promised a Greater Manchester Land Commission in his manifesto. We talk to Neil McInroy, chair of the Liverpool Land Commission, to see what the process can offer GM, and report the latest developments on Burnham’s promise.
Manchester council land ownership revealed in interactive online map
The authors of the map hope it will encourage public debate around how Manchester’s land can be better used to address social and environmental needs rather than turning a profit for developers and investors.
Survey respondents overwhelmingly oppose plans to develop Hough End Fields
The majority of people living near and using Hough End Fields, who took part in a survey, oppose the planned development of the park.