Developers Far East Consortium (FEC) has unveiled its vision for the “sustainable regeneration” of Manchester’s Red Bank neighbourhood.
It will create 5,500 new homes within Victoria North.
Working with international design practices Maccreanor Lavington and Schulze+Grassov, FEC has applied its ‘Wild Urbanism’ concept across the Red Bank masterplan, and is aiming to connect the built environment with the urban nature of the River Irk Valley to create what it’s calling “a unique city neighbourhood”.
The vision – which applies ’15-minute neighbourhood’ principles – includes the “prioritisation” of green space, biodiversity and public realm, with just 50% of land within the masterplan dedicated to high-density residential development.
The neighbourhood is expected to provide new homes for a diverse mix of people, and will build a new community with both “long-term infrastructure” and social amenities.
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Other key features within FEC’s masterplan for the largely-brownfield site include a focus on active travel, the revitalisation of St Catherine’s Wood as part of the wider City River Park, improvements to the River Irk, and new social and community facilities – including initial proposals for a new primary school and health centre.
Integral to the regeneration project is a “connected, safe and inviting network of public spaces” where pedestrians and cyclists are prioritised to support healthy and active lifestyles, and FEC says that the strategy has been designed to “increase connectivity” between Red Bank, Collyhurst, Cheetham Hill, New Cross, and Manchester city centre, all while creating an “accessible frontage” the River Irk.
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Far East Consortium (FEC) has unveiled its vision for the “sustainable regeneration” of Manchester’s Red Bank neighbourhood / Credit: Google Maps
£51.6m of investment – which has been secured through a bid by joint venture partner Manchester City Council (MCC) via the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) – will see the Council deliver critical infrastructure to help “unlock the neighbourhood”, including re-naturalisation of the River Irk, as well as the first phase of the City River Park, site remediation, access routes and new utility connections.
Speaking on the unveiling of the plans, Hilary Brett-Parr – Project Director at FEC – said: “The River Irk and its valley provides an opportunity to create a unique, sustainable, residential community within an incredible setting.
“Our ambition is to establish Red Bank as a key location within Victoria North, unlike anywhere else in the city, providing plenty of access to wild, green spaces within a healthy urban environment for people to live, visit and work.
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“To support the new community in Red Bank, we also recognise the importance of social and community infrastructure and at this early stage have identified locations for a new health centre and primary school needed to allow the new community to flourish.
“We will be working closely with MCC to develop these proposals.”
The regeneration will create 5,500 new homes within Victoria North / Credit: Google Maps
Cllr Gavin White – Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Housing and Employment – added: “Red Bank has a huge amount of potential, as part of our ambitious Victoria North project, and aside from the overall investment opportunity to deliver 5,500 new homes on this brownfield site, the area lends itself to a bold and innovative approach to development – putting green space, active travel and sustainability at the heart of the investment.
“Red Bank gives us a blank canvas to create from scratch a blueprint for sustainable urban development in this part of North Manchester alongside the River Irk.”
Local residents and stakeholders are invited to view the plans as part of a public consultation programme, with events taking place on 8 and 9 December.
Featured Image – Far East Consortium (FEC)
Manchester
Popular bar chain The Alchemist to rewind back to 2010 with cocktails and dishes for £6 next month
Emily Sergeant
One of the UK’s most popular bar chains is celebrating its sweet 16th birthday next month by winding back to 2010.
Money is always tight in January, right?
Once Christmas is over with, and so is the festive feasting and drinking, many like to use the first month of the new year to lay low and save some money back up – which is why The Alchemist is launching a limited-edition ‘2010 Revival Menu’, bringing back some of its most iconic early cocktails and dishes – all at their original prices from 16 years ago.
For the whole month, you can enjoy the curated throwback selection starting from £6, which i perfectly timed for a month of saving without sacrificing going out.
The Alchemist is rewinding back to 2010 with cocktails and dishes for £6 / Credit: The Manc Group
The 2010 Revival Menu includes the return of the fan-favourite White Chocolate Raspberry Martini for £6 on the cocktail menu, which was an early Alchemist staple, alongside other fan-favourites like the Colour Changing One and Virgin Pornstar, both for £6 again.
When it comes to food dishes for £6, you can tuck into a selection of different refreshing salads, while stretching your budget up to £10 will get you things like Chicken in a Basket, a Cheeseburger, and Fish and Chips.
Other iconic Alchemist cocktails returning for a fraction of the price next month include the popular Smoky Old Fashioned, and Dead Read Zombie – both for £8.
The Alchemist opened its original bar in Manchester‘s swanky Spinningfields district all the way back in 2010, and quickly became a popular and stylish destination with its high ceilings and industrial features, and has since developed into a much larger chain – with not only more Manchester destinations, but others across the UK too.
A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit tribute concert to the one and only Queen is coming to Manchester city centre.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
Emily Sergeant -
6th December 2021 
