Proposals for more than 1,000 new homes in and around the north Manchester area have been recommended to the council for approval.
The first of two schemes forms the latest phase of the £1bn Northern Gateway homebuilding project and will be considered by the city’s planning committee.
Victoria Riverside will be the name given to one of seven new communities proposed by Manchester City Council and the Far East Consortium (FEC) that could take shape within the next 20 years. The development would see three towers built – the tallest having 37 floors, the others being 26 and 18 storeys high – along with townhouses on land in Red Bank near Collyhurst.
The towers will be supported by a brick prodium – which will provide shop fronts and a glazed residential lobby facing the planned Gateway Square – and will mark the entrance into the Northern Gateway.
A total of 634 homes are planned on the two-acre site bordering Bromley Street, Dantzic Street, Gould Street and Bromley. Of these, 611 would be apartments, with 13 townhouses and 10 maisonettes, all of which will offer a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom living spaces.
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FEC / Manchester Council / HawkinsBrown
FEC has committed to delivering 20pc affordable housing across the Northern Gateway.
Only 5pc (32 homes) at Victoria Riverside will be classed as affordable though, and will be shared ownership properties.
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According to a council report, the scheme received a single letter of support from a resident urging the council to approve the scheme “without delay”. It says: “The tower blocks would impact views into the city, but it is a price worth paying if the 400 metres into the city centre along Dantzic Street is tidied up.
“Dantzic Street is currently in a poorer condition than a war zone or the dark side of the moon.”
NPL / Levitt Bernstein
In Miles Platting, there are also plans to build a new ‘mixed neighbourhood’ on the former site of the Manox chemicals factory.
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NPL Group is hoping to secure permission to develop 410 homes on land off Coleshill Street – which it owns alongside Manchester City Council – and there are also plans to provide a nursery, shops, and a community hub with a cafe alongside the Rochdale Canal.
Most of those 296 properties will be built specifically for renting rather than for sale, with 44 homes offered as rent-to-buy, and a further 34 available for social rent.
There will also be 36 homes that can be bought through shared ownership.
Documents submitted with the planning application for the above read: “The proposed layout creates a safe environment through the provision of a legible and well-overlooked street network with residential front doors facing onto the street.
“This encourages walking and cycling, and therefore, social interaction between neighbours.
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“The design of the new homes and streets is drawn from the existing local context to create a cohesive neighbourhood that fits well into the existing community.”
Collyhurst Regeneration
When it comes to current residents’ comments, some residents have already objected to the loss of open land south of Coleshill Street – which is commonly used by the public – but it’s expected that more than 500 new trees would be planted in and around the site.
There are also claims that there is a covenant on the land too.
According to one resident, the number of homes being proposed is “far too large”, while another raised concerns about contaminated land being redeveloped.
Despite the objections received, Manchester City Council planning officers have recommended that the planning committee approve the application when they meet this week on Thursday 24th September.
You can find more information via the Northern Gateway website here.
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Nathan Aspinall urges PDPA to improve mental health support within the sport
Danny Jones
Local sports personality Nathan Aspinall has urged the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) to provide better mental health support moving forward.
It’s not the first time ‘The Asp’ has called for more awareness and provision when it comes to player welfare and mental wellbeing, specifically, which remains a prevailing societal problem in general.
The Greater Manchester native has opened up about his own struggles many times in the past and has made a public plea for the PDPA to intervene and offer more help.
Speaking at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championships after his opening round victory, the 34-year-old instead chose to focus on more important issues than his strong start.
As you can see, Aspinall began by stating that “the PDPA now need to step in and help these guys because there’s a lot of guys suffering.”
Having long been an champion for male mental health, in particular – supporting the local Healthy Minds practices in his hometown of Stockport, for instance – he’s been one of the outspoken player on the subject for some time.
Noting that there are at least “two or three people” he refused to name, his message was simple: “There’s a lot of fantastic dart players in our sport, but it’ll be a shame to see so many of them go because of mental health”
The 2019 UK Open and 2023 World Matchplay winner has battled with multiple obstacles, including an ocular condition known as bilateral traumatic Brown’s syndrome, as well bursitis, which causes inflammation around key joints.
But it’s not necessarly injuries and the physical side of things that have been his biggest concern.
𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗨𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁
"I really do not care anymore.
"I do everything I can to be a good sportsman and you still get s**t. So you know what? I don't care. Say what you want." pic.twitter.com/mCBjQ6kvyj
One of the biggest and most recurring challenges for him has been ‘dartitis’, which many players within the discipline wrestle with the more their careers progress.
Aspinall has confessed to suffering almost chronic panic attacks due to the mental blocks (also commonly known as ‘the yips’) brought about by the intense pressure of playing on stage/live on TV.
With that in mind, it’s great to see him not only back on form and pulling impressive performance such as his ‘big fish’ finish on Friday night, but continuing to draw more attention to the underlying mental health crisis, especially among men. Well played, Nath.
You can watch his post-match interview in full down below.
Featured Images — Sandro Halank (via Wikimedia Commons)/Live Darts (screenshot via YouTube)
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Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It's the funeral of Mani of the Stone Roses on the 22nd. He lived locally. This poster is asking people to line the route of his funeral cortege to "show that he truly was adored". pic.twitter.com/X0DYHl10Hp
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Emily Sergeant -
21st September 2020 
