The Meteor
Manchesters Independent Media
A court has found Manchester city council made the wrong decision when it approved plans to turn the former Central Retail Park in Ancoats into a temporary car park.
The council says it will appeal the decision, as Trees Not Cars campaigners call for Sir Richard Leese to ‘retire’.
Responding to a call from Piccadilly councillors, Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said it would be ‘entirely appropriate’ to use money made from the sale of land to build the infamous ‘Shudehill Shard’ for building social housing level rent homes in the ward.
A 54 storey student tower, dubbed the ‘brick tombstone’, a heritage clashing Deansgate office complex and a proposal to repurpose an iconic Manchester landmark all received scrutiny at this month’s planning committee.
Originally costing £110m, The Factory arts centre is now expected to cost £186m and the project is currently tens of millions short of its target. Manchester City Council say they can’t fill the gap because of the dire financial straits they face due to Covid.
A court case set for March between Salford Council and Stama Developments, surrounding planning refusal for the old Police HQ on the Crescent, looks set to be postponed, after a decision published by the Council states that it is “Applying to vacate a High Court hearing for a period of 6 months” for “further discussions and negotiations”.
Architect of Boris Johnson’s government’s controversial overhaul of the English planning system, Christopher Katkowski QC is representing Manchester City Council in a judicial review of the local authority’s future use of the former Central Retail Park in Ancoats.
Open letter calls on Andy Burnham, and the leaders of the conurbation’s ten boroughs, to “intervene” in the government’s plans to change the UK planning system, which the campaigners call an “emergency for communities and local authorities across England.”
Locked out of the housing market, locals in Saddleworth set up a not-for-profit company to build beautiful bespoke affordable homes. The project shows the huge potential of community led projects to build better homes and strengthen local communities.
Block the Block is a campaign started by residents of Hulme who are opposed to the building of high-rise student blocks, on a plot of land that has already had two similar proposals rejected by the council’s planning committee.
Their Crowdfunder aims to pay for a planning consultant to help prepare their case against this new proposal.
Yesterday Manchester City Council’s planning committee approved a proposal to build five offices on New Islington Green in Ancoats, despite 94% of those responding to the consultation objecting to the plans and 5,000 signing a petition against development.
