The Manchester city centre skyline is set to change once again, as a nine-year project to build four “iconic” skyscrapers has been approved by councillors.
Set to be known as ‘Trinity Islands’, the £751 million plans for the SimpsonHaugh-designed apartment blocks – which were submitted by residential tower specialists, Renaker – are to take shape on two pieces of land on the banks of the River Irwell, and will include a total of 1,950 apartments.
The apartments are to be built on a car park plot between Regent Road, Liverpool Road, and Water Street.
As well as the residential facilites, each of the skyscrapers will feature co-working space, a gym, and lounge areas, and then externally, each building would also have a private residents’ garden that’s accessed directly from the ground floor space.
ADVERTISEMENT
There’ll also be private underground car parks and cycle storage within both the three-storey basements.
(1/3) We are delighted to announce we have been granted full planning permission for our Trinity Islands development! pic.twitter.com/z2q2L3O864
Nearly two-thirds of the site off Trinity Way will become green space open to the public.
ADVERTISEMENT
This approval by Manchester City Council comes after previous plans for five towers – including one which would have been the tallest residential building in Western Europe – failed to materialise, however one of the skyscrapers in these latest plans by Renaker would still be among the tallest towers in the UK outside of London, second in Manchester to the South Tower at Deansgate Square.
Controversially however, none of the new apartments would be deemed “affordable”, as the developer said this would affect the financial viability of the scheme.
An initial contribution of £106,000 towards affordable housing elsewhere in the city has been agreed and a “clawback” clause means the developer could be asked to contribute more cash if the project becomes more profitable.
ADVERTISEMENT
The developer also agreed to contribute £1.5 million towards a new school on Crown Street.
During yesterday’s planning meeting, Manchester City Council’s planning development manager Dave Roscoe told the committee that there were some “very serious challenges” with the site, but that this project was “special”, and admitted that some significant financial public benefits come from the scheme, including a £10 million public space and the funding towards the school.
The nine-year £751 million project has been approved by councillors this week / Credit: Renaker & SimpsonHaugh
Speaking on the green light given to the plans, a spokesperson for Renaker said the company is “delighted” with the decision, adding: “We look forward to delivering these new, iconic buildings, as well as new homes and facilities of the highest quality for residents and the wider community.”
Deansgate councillor Joan Davies, who represents the ward where the site is located, said she was “disappointed” with the amount of affordable housing, but was pleased the “clawback” clause created the possibility for the council to demand more money from the developer later.
ADVERTISEMENT
Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig added: “It’s important that we look at major schemes like Trinity Islands in the round, alongside our city’s plans and the positive impact that this sort of growth continues to have on our city.
“I am passionate about ensuring that Manchester’s growth benefits everyone.
“Manchester remains a place of prodigious population growth and the city can only meet the demand for new housing through major schemes such as this one, which also brings brownfield land back into use.”
(3/3) All at Renaker are excited to begin working on Trinity Islands, which will sit near the emerging St John’s area and new factory venue for culture and the arts, as well as the Deansgate and Spinningfields districts.
She added: “Trinity Islands is a significant investment in our city, which is testament to the confidence developers continue to have in Manchester, despite the ongoing economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This development alone will create 2,000 homes and 4,000 jobs in the construction stage.”
Featured Image – Renaker & SimpsonHaugh
News
The EFL Championship set to expand playoffs to six teams in controversial move
Danny Jones
The English Football League (EFL) has confirmed that it will be expanding the Championship playoffs to six teams moving forward.
In one of the biggest changes, not just to the second tier but the domestic football pyramid in some time, it’s so far divided opinion – and that’s putting it mildly.
Starting from next season, the Championship will see half a dozen compete in its final knockout phase, meaning that the conclusion to the 2026/27 campaign has the potential to be even tastier than ever.
Besides the increased competition this will bring to the division itself, in turn, it could also help further mix things up in the Premier League too.
Revealing the watershed news on Thursday, 5 March, the EFL shared the update online, which has certainly left fans split over the decision.
Well, in truth, it seems the majority have been left shocked and angered by the announcement, with many responding with comments like, “Who asked for this?” and “Final nail in the coffin”, as well as citing “money” and “nothing but greed” as the main drivers for the changes.
EFL clubs obviously voted for the big shake-up as the added chance of fighting their way into the top flight will no doubt benefit them financially.
It remains to be seen whether this could signal similar adjustments made further down the ranks.
However, as many replied under the posts on social media, one key fear is that a team finishing in 8th – the new threshold for making it into the playoff stages – will be “slaughtered in the Prem” and that, if anything, it will highlight and/or widen the gap between the two leagues even more.
Most simply said that the current system is just “fine as it is” and “if ain’t broke don’t fix it”, but it looks like the wheels are already well and truly in motion.
Ruining the game. Finish 6th and have a chance to get promoted. People in charge are needing rid off. Every part of English football has out of touch people in charge coming up with awful ideas to keep their pay and clubs just go along with it. Tweet from 1987
Pure greed. Ultimately downgrades the look of the championship too when a team will inevitably finish 8th, probably a good 15-20 points behind autos and go up. Then get the lowest Premier League points ever
Safe to say that this is just a small taste of the overall reactions and almost universal consensus…
As detailed in the official statement by the EFL, Chief Executive, Trevor Birch, said: “Since their introduction in 1986/87, the Play-Offs have become a highlight of the domestic football calendar, capturing the drama, suspense and jeopardy that make the EFL so special.
“Following several months of discussion with Clubs and other stakeholders, we are confident this change will further strengthen the Championship as a competition and give more Clubs and their supporters a genuine opportunity of achieving promotion.”
They also clarified that “the exact final format will be agreed later in 2026.”
Are you a fan of a Championship club? Even if not, what do you make of the impending and controversial changes kicking off this year?
It’s mad how the EFL can sort a vote to increase the promotion opportunities for Championship clubs to the PL – yet still nothing on a second automatic place from the National League to L2.
No club promoted from the NL to L2 has ever come straight back down… https://t.co/tXy7aSOZ3l
TfGM unveils ‘significant’ programme of Metrolink engineering works to run throughout 2026
Emily Sergeant
A ‘significant’ programme of works are set to be carried out across Greater Manchester’s tram network this year.
As part of a wider £150m plan to ‘maintain, upgrade, and improve’ tram infrastructure across the region and make sure the Bee Network continues to deliver reliable and accessible services for millions more people into the future, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has announced that it’ll be undertaking various works throughout 2026.
And just as you’d expect, there is expected to be some ‘temporary periods of disruption’ for passengers while they are carried out.
Work is set to begin from this spring through to the autumn at a number of locations across the Greater Manchester network – including near Trafford Bar, Deansgate-Castlefield, Monsall, Newton Heath & Moston, Eccles, Derker and Piccadilly Gardens.
This does mean trams will have to stop on some lines while the work is done, but TfGM will reveal more information on this in due course, and promises ‘plenty of notice’ too, so keep your eyes peeled.
A ‘significant’ programme of Metrolink engineering works are set to run throughout 2026 / Credit: TfGM
The first major works will take place during the Easter Weekend at Trafford Bar and Deansgate-Castlefield, which are ‘preparatory works’ ahead of full track replacement later in the year, set to be carried out over four days from 3 to 6 April.
During this closure, rail replacement work will also take place on the Altrincham line, meaning there will be no trams on the Altrincham, Eccles, and Trafford Park lines all weekend, while the East Didsbury and Manchester Airport lines will run to Firswood only.
Aside from plans for engineering works, there will also be somewhat reduced services for a different reason for a large chunk of the year.
From Monday 30 March until autumn, a revised timetable will be introduced across the tram network while a significant recruitment drive gets underway to ‘take on and train up’ new tram drivers in a bid to build extra capacity and resilience in the workforce.
TfGM has indicated that some disruption will be caused for passengers / Credit: Janus Boye
During this time though, TfGM promises there will still be ‘reliable and frequent’ tram services running every 15 minutes and every 7.5 minutes at the busiest times on the most popular lines.
“Keeping our network safe, reliable, and ready for the future is our absolute priority,” explained Ian Davies, who is the Network Director for Metrolink at TfGM.
“This year’s programme is one of the most significant we’ve ever undertaken and will strengthen the whole network. Whilst we complete this work, we will introduce a temporary timetable change that will run between spring and autumn.
“We know that some of this work will mean temporary disruption, and I want to thank passengers for their patience while we get it done.
“But by investing now, we can reduce faults, improve day to day reliability and make sure Metrolink can keep pace with the growing number of people who depend on it every day now and for the future.”
You can find everything you need to know about this year’s tram improvement works on TfGM’s dedicated page here.
Emily Sergeant -
18th February 2022 
