The bustling centre of Ancoats will be pedestrianised for a six-month trial period, starting this week.
The streets around Cutting Room Square will be closed to traffic, with existing pay-and-display parking bays removed.
Manchester City Council has said that the emergency pedestrianisation of the area during the pandemic highlighted the benefits of traffic-free areas in the city centre.
It’s part of the council’s vision to create a ‘green and clean urban space’ and provide safe and attractive, traffic-free public spaces.
Sections of Blossom Street, Cotton Street and Hood Street will be closed to vehicles for six months from Friday 26 August, to gauge public opinion on making it permanent.
Disabled spaces and car club bays will be relocated to areas outside the Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO).
Cutting Room Square in Ancoats will be pedestrianised. Credit: Manchester City Council
Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Manchester City Council’s executive member for Environment and Transport, said: “We’re excited to launch this consultation in this part of Ancoats. It’s a well-used and vibrant part of this growing neighbourhood and during the pandemic the emergency pedestrianisation of this area made it clear what benefits can be brought by limiting cars and other vehicles from some of our streets.
“This consultation will be running for an initial six months so I would encourage people to use the square during this period, experience the new environment and give us your feedback.
“Ultimately we want to see Ancoats as a green and clean urban space, an ambition we are working to realise through a wider strategy to put green space and active travel at the heart of the Ancoats community. The trial to pedestrianise the roads around Cutting Room Square is another step in this direction.”
The proposals being put forward for the ETRO include:
Closing Blossom Street to vehicles between Cotton Street and Sharrett Street (the area outside Elnecot, Seven Brothers Beerhouse, The Counter House and others)
Closing Cotton Street to vehicles from its junction with Blossom Street to a point just to the south-east of Hood Street (outside Rudy’s)
Closing Hood Street from its junction with Cotton Street to a point just to the south-west of the Halle building’s servicing door (around Hallé St Peter’s and The Jane Eyre)
Closing Hood Street (except for vehicle loading/unloading) from its junction with Murray Street to a point just to the south-west of the Halle building’s servicing door
Bicycles will be permitted through the area as normal.
To comment on the proposals residents can do so by email [email protected] – the deadline to respond is 26 February 2023.
Featured image: Manchester City Council
News
Drinks prices for Manchester Oasis gigs announced – and you’ll be pleasantly surprised
Daisy Jackson
The prices of drinks at Heaton Park for the five huge Manchester Oasis shows have been released in advance.
With the Gallagher brothers reuniting on stage in their hometown for the first time this weekend (and then again next week), it’s a huge moment for our city.
Those lucky enough to snag tickets have already forked out a small fortune to witness this moment in history (still scarred from the dynamic pricing debacle).
And most of us were probably bracing to spend another small fortune on beers at the Oasis Manchester gigs.
But you might be pleasantly surprised at the drinks prices up at Heaton Park for Oasis Live ’25.
It’s now been confirmed that pints of lager and cider will be just £6.50.
Before you turn your nose up, remember that pints at our two arenas – the AO Arena and Co-op Live are now sitting around the £9 mark.
Prices for other drinks, like wine and spirits, we’ll have to wait until Friday to see.
Heaton Park will also be the home of the ‘largest beer garden’ and the longest bars in the city for the Oasis reunion.
With a major heatwave predicted for the first shows, fans are being encouraged to stay hydrated (on WATER, not beer, please).
Ticket-holders will be allowed to bring a sealed bottle of water up to 500ml in with you, but it must be collapsible plastic.
Solid plastic and metal containers will be rejected on safety grounds.
There’s a free water point on site where you can fill up your bottles again.
Oasis will perform at Heaton Park in Manchester on 11, 12, 16, 19 and 20 July.
Dates announced as resident doctors prepare to stage strikes this month
Emily Sergeant
Resident doctors in England have voted to stage strike action over pay, and the dates for the industrial action have now been confirmed.
The British Medical Association (BMA) says doctors have ‘spoken clearly’ after the results of a vote published today revealed that 90% of resident doctors have voted in favour of a potential return to industrial action.
It comes after the ballot – which ran from 27 May until 7 July – saw a turnout of 55% members, with almost 30,000 (29,741) votes cast.
26,766 of those votes endorsed the use of strike action as part of efforts to restore pay, while just under 3,000 voted against it.
The result means that resident doctors have now secured a fresh mandate to stage industrial action when they choose from now until January 2026.
BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs, Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt, said that, while no doctor took the possibility of striking lightly, a clear majority of members felt that they had ‘no other choice’ given the ongoing failures to restore pay.
They added that Health Secretary Wes Streeting has the power to ‘make the right decision’ on pay, and urged the Government to return to negotiations ‘as soon as possible’.
It’s now been confirmed that resident doctors will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
These upcoming strikes come after resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors, until 2024 – in England participated in an unprecedented 11 rounds of strike action after negotiations with the previous Conservative Government over restoring pay repeatedly stalled.
“Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly – they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008,” the committee co-chairs said. “Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.
“Doctors don’t take industrial action lightly, but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away.
“The next move is the Government’s – will it repeat the mistakes of its predecessor? Or will it do the right thing and negotiate a path to full pay restoration and the restoration of doctors’ confidence in our profession’s future?”
Daisy Jackson -
24th August 2022 
