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Plans approved for new ‘first of its kind’ majority LGBTQ+ housing scheme for over 55s in Manchester

A groundbreaking development.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 30th September 2024

Plans have been approved for the UK’s ‘first of its kind’ purpose-built majority LGBTQ+ social rent housing scheme for over 55s in Manchester.

Great Places Housing Group’s proposals for the site of the former Spire Hospital on Russell Road in Whalley Range – a brownfield site which has been vacant since the hospital was demolished in September 2019 – were approved at Manchester City Council’s planning meeting last week (26 September).

The plans for the majority LGBTQ+ ‘Extra Care’ housing scheme have been co-produced in partnership with the Russell Road Community Steering Group, Manchester City Council, and LGBT Foundation.

According to developers and the Council, this newly-approved development will be made up of 80 one and two-bedroom apartments for older people within a “high-quality sustainable building offering a safe and welcoming feel and inviting presence”.

Designed to “respect the surrounding conservation area”, the low-carbon scheme will also include several shared communal facilities too – including lounges, treatment rooms, and landscaped gardens.

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The site will also include a neighbouring development of 40 shared ownership homes.

Plans have been approved for a new ‘first of its kind’ majority LGBTQ+ housing scheme in Manchester / Credit: John Walding (via Great Places Housing Group)

Greater Manchester‘s Extra Care housing schemes are all about increasing the opportunities for older people to move into high-quality accommodation across our region – with all the residents at Russell Road therefore being aged 55 or over.

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The majority of residents at the development will also be members of the LGBTQ+ community from Manchester, and they will live alongside allies in what developers and the Council are aiming to be an “open and inclusive place of psychological safety”.

Cllr Gavin White, who is Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said the approval of the plans is “a real celebratory moment” and a “landmark development in every sense”.

He continued: “[This development] has been in the works for some years and is designed to meet a clear need for quality, social rent housing for LGBTQ+ older people to live in safety, dignity, and as part of a welcoming and supportive community.

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“We have helped build hundreds of Extra Care homes across Manchester in recent years to meet demand for older people to live in their later lives, many with care needs provided on site, but this is the first purpose-built LGBTQ+ majority Extra Care community in the UK”.

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Work on the new development – which will be funded by Great Places, complimented by grant funding from Homes England, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Brownfield Housing Fund – will begin later this year, the Council has confirmed.

Featured Image – Manchester City Council

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Shocking new photos of scene after lorry plummets off M6 Thelwall Viaduct

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Shocking new photo of scene after lorry plummets off M6 Thelwall Viaduct

A new photo has been released showing the shocking scenes on the M6 last night, where an HGV fell from the Thelwall Viaduct.

The lorry plummeted from the bridge near Warrington, landing upside-down on the embankment below.

Remarkably, the driver of the vehicle did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.

The accident occurred shortly after 6.50pm on Monday 30 September, when the region was getting battered with heavy rain and a Met Office weather warning was in place.

Emergency services who attended the scene found that a lorry had come off the carriageway of the M6, along the Thelwall Viaduct between junction 20 and 21.

Three lanes of the M6 were closed last night due to ‘serious damage’ caused to the barrier.

And this afternoon National Highways has confirmed that the repairs to the barrier are already complete following the shocking collision.

In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6
In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6
In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6
In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6
In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6
In photos: the scene where the lorry fell from the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6. Credit: Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

The HGV is being recovered along local roads, and the M6 has been fully reopened, albeit with some delays.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters used rescue equipment to lower themselves down to the lorry driver below the M6.

Crews also used water to cool the HGV and bunding to contain a leak of approximately 220 gallons (1,000 litres) of bio-diesel from the vehicle’s fuel tanks.

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Featured image: National Highways

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UK fans hit back at Oasis after key difference in North American tour tickets

Danny Jones Danny Jones UK fans backlash after North America tour avoids dynamic ticket pricing

Oasis fans here in the UK, i.e. the ones that helped send them into the stratosphere in the first place, have been left begrudged by the legendary Britpop band after a key decision has been made about their recently announced US tour.

The rock icons confirmed their inevitable run of North American dates, including one in Toronto, Canada and another in Mexico City, after weeks of rumours following the reunion breaking the internet.

However, it’s fair to say the news was more massive here in Britain (especially here in Manchester) than any other nation, no matter how much of a global following the band amassed back in the 1990s.

So, after UK and Irish Oasis fans recently learned that North America will be avoiding the same ‘dynamic ticket pricing’ mechanic that has seen them fork out hundreds for their tickets to see their favourite band’s comeback, they’ve naturally been left a bit miffed…

As you can see, there are countless fans from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the comments calling out the disproportionate treatment and prioritisation of those in the US, Canada and Mexico.

For context, some of those who stayed in the queue for Oasis tickets ended up paying well over £300 – the ‘in-demand’ rate after the initial ballot sold out – and Ticketmaster’s main claim is that it prevents ticket touting. Their statement says the aim is now to “avoid a repeat of the issues fans in the UK and Ireland experienced recently.”

The band’s Instagram post is littered with just as much backlash, with one person replying, “So just the UK fans that get mugged off then? Sound”; another adding, “Cool – so where’s the refund of the extortion charged for the UK fans then?”, and several going so far as to demand a public apology.

One commenter wrote: “So refunds for fans in the UK above face value? Of course not… A public apology from Live Nation, Ticketmaster and SJM [Concerts] is perhaps due, respectfully.

“There’s too many people not speaking out and it’s scalping artists on profits made as well as fans. The issues over these companies and [the] ticketing monopoly is 30+ years old now plus the recent ticketing issues is spitting in the face of entertainment.

“Do something about it please team up with the market of fans, artists and maybe help smaller venues in doing so. Thank you x”. It’s by no means the first time these kinds of inflated prices have been called out, as Robert Smith of The Cure took similar issue with the fleecing of his fans.

That being said, there are some trying to justify Oasis’ dynamic ticket pricing simply due to the sheer demand their reunion tour resulted in; others still believe it’s an excuse to simply “exploit loyalty” and that the US is getting a let-off over the fans from their homeland.

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One consumer group here at home has already suggested that fans be refunded after being forced to pay for in-demand ticket prices if they want to stand any chance of seeing Oasis live again.

The boys from Burnage have insisted they have nothing to do with the decision itself and “at no time had any awareness that dynamic pricing was going to be used” after they announced two additional Wembley dates, “but due to the unprecedented demand [avoiding it] became impossible to achieve.”

Regardless of how unfair it seems, there is sadly little we can do about it without artists leading the way to change the music industry and live ticketing, in particular.

Unfortunately, people will also continue to pay over the odds when backed into a corner like with the Oasis reunion because that’s what loving an artist so much can do to you – not that it makes it right in way, shape or fashion.

All we can say now is: you won, US Oasis fans – enjoy the tour, we hope it makes you happy. Dear lord, what a sad little life, North America…

You ruined our day completely so you could have the money and the tickets, and we hope now you can spend it on lessons in grace and decorum, because you have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on. So America AND Oasis, take your money and get off our property…

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)

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