Planning permission has been granted for Manchester Metropolitan University’s new state-of-the-art library building.
And it looks pretty impressive, to say the least.
After the first plans and artist impression images for the prospective facility were first unveiled back in November of last year, ahead of the University’s 200th birthday, it’s been announced that Manchester City Councilhas officially given the green light for the ambitious project yesterday (15 February).
This means that MMU’s current library building at All Saints on Oxford Road will be replaced with a “modern and dynamic learning environment”.
Architects Hawkins\Brown and Schmidt Hammer Lassen were commissioned to design the striking new building.
ADVERTISEMENT
Great news! Plans for our iconic new library have been approved. 🤩
The library will provide a vibrant learning, research, and collaboration hub, empowering our community and fostering creativity and engagement for future generations.
With demolition works expected to begin on site this autumn, the University says the eye-catching new building will feature digitally-enabled teaching and research facilities that will enhance students’ data science and analytical skills, as well as a range of flexible break-out spaces to “support collaboration” and “nurture ideas”.
The new building will also house the University’s ‘Special Collection Museum’, and the Manchester Poetry Library too – which is the North West’s first public poetry library – plus, there’ll also be a new gallery and event spaces that public audiences will be invited to engage with.
ADVERTISEMENT
Andrew Fallon, who is the Director of Estates, Facilities, and Capital Development at MMU, says the new library will be a “striking addition” to the Manchester skyline.
He continued: “The new library will serve as an iconic All Saints architectural gateway to our University, and once built, it will provide a vibrant learning, research, and collaboration hub, empowering our University community and fostering creativity and engagement for future generations.”
Plans have been approved for Man Met’s ‘modern and dynamic’ new library building / Credit: Hawkins\Brown
News that MMU’s new library has been granted planning permission comes just days after it was announced that the next chapter in the storied history of Manchester’s iconic John Rylands Library is also about to be written, as the green light was too given for an ambitious £7.6 million restoration project this week.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Grade I-listed University of Manchester-owned building will be transformed “enhance” its contribution to research, student experience, and public engagement in the city.
Timelines for this project are expected to be announced in due course.
Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
Featured Image – Pxhere
News
Stockport man jailed for life after kidnapping and sexually assaulting teenage girl
Emily Sergeant
A Stockport man has been sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl on her way home from the library.
Paul Sharpe has been sentenced to life imprisonment with an eight-year minimum term in prison after being convicted of a number of offences when subjected a teenage girl to what police called a ‘terrifying ordeal’ that lasted several hours back in May 2026.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed that the victim had been studying at Sale Library before beginning her journey home with friends at around 5:50pm and contacting her parents at 6:10pm to let them know she was on her way.
Twenty minutes later, she spoke to her boyfriend on the phone and said she was approximately five minutes away from home, but that her phone battery was about to die.
This was the last contact received from the victim that evening.
While walking along Bradgate Road in Altrincham, the victim noticed a grey Ford parked nearby and a man wearing a high-visibility jacket pressing doorbells in the area.
As she walked past, Sharpe approached her from behind, placed her in a headlock and threatened to stab her if she did not get into his vehicle.
Concerned that their daughter had not returned home, the victim’s family contacted police at 9:22pm to report her missing, and officers immediately launched an investigation to locate her.
Over the next several hours, the victim was subjected to and placed in a number of terrifying situations.
Sharpe drove the victim to several locations across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, before police located and arrested him at around 3:40am on 19 May 2026.
Following his arrested, 56-year-old Sharpe was convicted of kidnap, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, threats with a bladed article, and administering a noxious substance with intent to injure, annoy or aggrieve.
“This was a terrifying ordeal for a young girl who was simply making her way home,” explained Detective Inspector Karl Perry, from GMP’s Criminal Investigation Department.
“Sharpe targeted a vulnerable victim, subjected her to hours of fear and intimidation, and went on to sexually assault her.
“The victim has shown immense courage throughout the investigation and court proceedings. Through her bravery and actions, she no doubt made it harder for Sharpe to carry out whatever acts he had planned.”
Emily Sergeant -
16th February 2024 
