News

£50m funding awarded to build thousands more ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Manchester

It'll go towards the Council's pledge to build 36,000 new homes by 2032.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 29th January 2024

Just over £50 million funding has been awarded to build thousands of new affordable homes right across Manchester.

Following several successful submissions to Greater Manchester Combined Authority‘s (GMCA) ‘Brownfield Housing Fund’, it’s now been confirmed that Manchester City Council has been awarded a total of £51.6 million to fund the development of 31 long-term underused sites throughout the city-region over the next two years.

The includes the building of 3,380 new homes, including 1,761 – or the equivalent of 52% – that are considered to be “genuinely affordable” to Manchester people.

This new package of funding is part of the “trailblazer agreement” between the UK Government and Greater Manchester over three years, which is aiming to unlock Brownfield land and use it to build new housing.  

With this new funding added, this means that the total funding allocated to the region is now a £128 million in this phase of bidding, and a whopping £150 million overall.

News of the £51.6 million funding allocation comes not long after Mayor Andy Burnham declared that he want 2024 to be the year that Greater Manchester “gets serious about housing”, and follows the Council’s £50 million investment into making a series of “transformational upgrades” to social housing in the borough.

It also follows the Council’s pledge to build 36,000 new homes before 2032 arrives.

The Council has previously successfully bid for £3 million from the national ‘Brownfield Land Release Fund’, and this was used to kickstart development at the inaugural ‘This City’ site in Ancoats, as well as a range of ‘Project 500’ housing sites too.

£50m funding awarded to build thousands more ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Manchester / Credit: Manchester City Council

Cllr Gavin White, who is Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Development, has called the Council’s goal of building 36,000 new homes by 2032 “necessarily ambitious”.

He continued: “This is a challenge, both in terms of available land and the funding necessary to build new housing at scale, but we are on course to meet these targets.

“However, we must be innovative and use the resources available to use.  

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“As a post-industrial city, we have lots of Brownfield sites that are sometimes difficult to develop, but this land represents a massive opportunity to deliver the homes, particularly the affordable housing our residents need.

“This funding is hugely welcome and we will help bring these unused areas of Manchester back into use.”

Featured Image – Manchester City Council

News

Manchester City supporters groups call on club and fellow fans to ‘make their voices heard’

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man City fan groups call for voices to be heard statement on season ticket changes

A collection of Manchester City supporters groups has urged both the club and the fans themselves to “make [their] voice heard” this season, following this year’s protests over the new and “drastic” ticketing policy.

Man City fans gathered both before and after the game against Wolves back in April to make their feeling known regarding season ticket changes.

Appealing to manager Pep Guardiola directly, insisting that he needs their energy to get the kind of “alive” crowds he’s also called for in the past, ‘The 1984’ has now been joined by four other supporters trusts in reaffirming their aims for the new campaign.

Sharing a new joint statement on social media, the five fan groups say that “last season saw unprecedented off-pitch unrest among City fans in the post-Maine Road era”, and the only way to avoid further disruption is to listen and heed their warnings.

Writing on behalf of the aforementioned 1894 group, Canal Street Blues, MCFC Fans Foodbank Support, Solid Citizens, Trade Union Blues and nearly 700 official members, as you can see, they penned a lengthy open letter to the club and the City Football Group (CFG).

“Despite recent success on the field,” they say, “two major in-stadium protests took place, with an estimated 16,000+ fans delaying their entry at the Leicester and Wolves games, and thousands more joining silent protests.

“The triggers were rising ticket prices, season ticket availability, poor supporter engagement (including the Club refusing to meet City Matters on ticket prices for months), and away fans in home sections – often linked to third-party resellers like Viagogo, whose new partnership with the Club proved the breaking point.”

They also conceded that the freeze in the cost of a full season ticket and reduced matchday prices were a welcome breath of fresh air and stirred hope for better fan engagement moving forward.

However, as the statement continues, “Unfortunately, the Club has instead introduced sweeping changes to season ticket terms and conditions, hitting some of our most loyal supporters and damaging long-standing fan culture.”

You can see all of the new and almost universally opposed ticket changes listed in full via bullet points above, but standouts include an unprecedented ’10-game personal attendance policy’ – the first of its kind in English football – stricter ticket transfer rules, and even new facial recognition scanners.

Fan reaction online has been as you would expect; most City supporters are in almost overwhelming agreement with the concerns raised in the latest communication, particularly in the minimum attendance and transfer rules, adding: “the latter directly undermines the stated aim of ‘keeping the stadium full.'”

“There are also fears some of these rules won’t apply equally to hospitality season ticket holders, introducing worries of inequality between fans,” the statement continues.

“These changes create unnecessary workload for ticket office staff, introduce barriers for digitally excluded fans, force some into paid memberships, and erode supporter culture.

“All [the] while, City Matters, our elected Fan Advisory Board, has repeatedly faced delays and broken deadlines for meeting minutes, with the most recent minutes now 59 days overdue from the June meeting. No one wants constant conflict with the Club, but when official channels fail, protest becomes the only option. Last season proved that fan action can drive change.”

“We call on all Blues to:

  • Track and record if and how these changes affect you.
  • Make your voice heard – online, via City Matters, and through fan groups.
  • Join fan groups such as 1894, the Disabled Supporters Association, Canal Street Blues, Trade Union Blues, and your local OSC branch to discuss issues with fellow Blues.”

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Lastly, they have called on the club to rethink their current policies surrounding personal attendance and ticket transfers, “take a ‘fans first’ approach when it comes to all future policies affecting supporters, engaging in meaningful consultation with fan representatives,” and publish fan meetings “on time.”

What do you make of the supporter groups’ statement and, more importantly, how do you feel about recent changes to season tickets and matchday admission, City fans?

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

Featured Images — The Manc Group

News

Manchester’s newest bowling venue Wynwood Lanes is giving away 100 FREE sessions on opening week

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

An exciting new bowling venue is opening in Manchester this week, and they’re giving away 100 free bowling sessions to celebrate.

Manchester get ready, as Wynwood Lanes is taking over the legendary Dog Bowl site and giving it a full Miami makeover.

Think five upgraded bowling lanes, pool tables, basketball hoops, sun drenched tunes, poolside cocktails, smoke machines, and a brunch menu from Kong’s NQ that’ll have you salivating before you’ve even sat down.

Wynwood Lanes will be running on a ‘unique’ day-mode and night-mode model.

This means that by day, guests can expect fresh brunch dishes and low-fi tunes, with children welcome until 7pm, and then when it’s in night mode, the Miami heat is turned up with party beats, celebratory smoke machines, late night snacks, and bar games.

Manchester’s newest bowling venue Wynwood Lanes is giving away 100 free sessions on its opening week / Credit: PICRYL | Supplied

As mentioned, fuel for the fun comes from Manchester legends Kong’s NQ, but this time with a Miami twist, so expect Cuban sandwiches, lime chicken avo arepas, tacos galore, and Miami-style brunch plates.

A boozy bottomless brunch will also take every Saturday and Sunday from next Saturday 30 August, with 90 minutes of Miami plates and free-flowing cocktails from £39.50 per person – with the option to upgrade to bowling for just a tenner

With the grand opening date just days away now, Wynwood Lanes wants to start things off with a bang… or you know, a strike.

In a bid to do this, they’ll be giving away free bowling sessions to the first 100 people through the doors on bank holiday Monday (25 August) from midday through to 11pm – with up to six players allowed per group.

Wynwood Lanes is open from 4pm tomorrow (Friday 22 August).

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Bowling prices will start at £9 (or totally free if you’re one of the first 100 to book for opening weekend), so follow this link to grab access to bowling booking slots when they’re released, and secure your lane before they’re gone.

Featured Image – Pexels

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