There could be a new park in Manchester if plans submitted yesterday go ahead.
Manchester City Council has proposed creating a new ‘green heart of Ancoats’ as part of the neighbourhood’s regeneration story.
It’s good news for all those who campaigned for the former Central Retail Park to be turned into a green lung, although this particular proposal is a little further away.
The planning submission focuses on three areas, including Ancoats Green, a new public realm on Prussia Street, and Jersey Green.
Ancoats Green will include walking and cycling routes from Poland Street to Butler Street, and from Portugal Street to the Rochdale Canal.
Lit walkways will improve safety and resident comfort while travelling through the area at night.
The location of Ancoats Green. Credit: Planning documents
The routes will also connect the wider community to the new ‘Ancoats Mobility Hub’, designed to reduce vehicle traffic in Ancoats.
It’s hoped that the investment into the area will ‘encourage active travel as the natural option to move across the neighbourhood’.
The ‘green transformation’ of Ancoats includes 600 sq metres of new planting, 4800 sq metres of wildflowers, and 748 sq metres of wetland planting.
It also includes a 76% net increase in trees, with any trees removed because of disease replaced by two new trees.
32% of the new surfaces will be made from reclaimed material, which create permeable sustainable drainage systems.
How the Ancoats Green area looks currently. Credit: Google Maps
The new public spaces will also celebrate Ancoats’ rich glass and bottle manufacturing history, which will be referenced through the design of the entrance ways and street furniture.
Ancoats Green is expected to complete by 2024, with new play areas (including accessible play equipment), open green spaces and generous footpaths.
Granite paving stones from Albert Square – removed during the Town Hall’s renovation – will be re-used here too.
Following that, Jersey Green works will commence in 2025 with improved footpaths and additional seating, and the removal of the Jersey Street Bridge to create a new green corridor.
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Ancoats and New Islington is a great place to live, and we want to make the area even better with more and new green spaces, and a play park for children to reflect the growing number of families living there.
“We are committed to creating more and improved green space across the city and provide access to high quality parks close to where people live and work.
“Although this is a challenge in the city centre, this investment is a statement of our intent to deliver green space for our communities – and the proposals for Ancoats join a range of green investment either underway or completed.
“This includes the new Mayfield Park completed last year, Cotton Field Park in New Islington – which will open out to new green space at the former Central Retail Park – and Electric Park, the city’s first zero carbon green campus.
“Longer-term, the Victoria North regeneration programme will deliver 43ha of new interlocking green space from the city centre through to Collyhurst.
“These are examples of the long-term ambition we have for Manchester to create a greener, cleaner place to live – that celebrates active travel and provides opportunities for our residents to walk and cycle through attractive green neighbourhoods.”
Featured image: Supplied
Property
Authorities prepare to ‘turn the tide’ on Greater Manchester’s housing crisis
Emily Sergeant
Greater Manchester is preparing to ‘turn the tide’ on its housing crisis by building new homes and protecting renters.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has set out its comprehensive plan to connect communities to new jobs and opportunities, drive up standards across the rental sector, and build new homes – with the latter helping to fulfil its Housing First ambition give everyone access to a ‘safe, secure, and affordable’ home by 2038.
This week has already seen a ‘renewed focus’ on driving up housing standards thanks to the naming of the first supporters of Greater Manchester’s bold new Good Landlord Charter.
New analysis also shows that GMCA’s Brownfield Housing Fund, which was set up in 2020, has already provided grants to deliver more than 15,000 homes, with an average of just over 45% being affordable housing.
But, there’s still a long way to go.
🏡 Today at #Housing2025, we marked a major milestone: Over 50% of rented homes in Greater Manchester are now covered by the Good Landlord Charter 🎉
— Greater Manchester Combined Authority (@greatermcr) June 26, 2025
GMCA says those recent successes will not stand alone, but rather support plans to deliver more social housing than is lost across the region.
Unlocking brownfield land is what authorities claim is the key to turning the tide on the housing crisis, as since its inception in 2020, as mentioned, Greater Manchester has invested a whopping £135.4 million from the Brownfield Housing Fund to redevelop underused brownfield land, which ultimately delivered thousands of new homes.
It’s anticipated that further funding allocations will come in the summer to supplement those already approved and in the works.
GMCA is also using the power of Mayoral Development Corporations (MDC) – which are statutory bodies set up by the Mayor Andy Burnham, designed to speed up development and attract investment within a specific area – to unlock regeneration opportunities, as these ‘pioneering’ tools bring together local partners and drive forward the authority’s ambitions to build new homes, bring jobs and investment, and support economic growth.
Authorities are preparing to ‘turn the tide’ on Greater Manchester’s housing crisis / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
Some of these MDCs currently include Old Trafford (part of the proposed Western Gateway Mayoral Development Zone), the expanded Stockport MDC, and the Northern Gateway MDC (part of Atom Valley).
Together, these three alone are expected to deliver 27,250 homes over the next 15 years to help address the housing crisis.
“If we are serious about securing the long-term success of Greater Manchester, we need to free ourselves from the grip of the housing crisis,” commented Mayor Andy Burnham.
“Because of the decisions we’ve taken, Greater Manchester is now building more affordable homes than at any point since the turn of the millennium. We need to keep building on that momentum until we reach a tipping point where we build more social homes than we lose.
“We’re determined to ensure that every person in Greater Manchester has access to the safe and secure home they need in order to thrive.”
Featured Image – James Feaver (via Unsplash)
Property
Petition launched to rebuild Hotspur Press in its ‘original form’ following devastating fire
Emily Sergeant
A petition has been launched to rebuild the Hotspur Press building in its ‘original form’ following the devastating fire last week.
In case you missed it, one of Manchester’s most historic landmarks has been left a shell of its former self after a huge fire erupted at the now-derelict Hotspur Press, which is on Cambridge Street beside Oxford Road train station, last Monday (23 June), destroying the iconic building that stood standing for more than 200 years.
It was subsequently declared a ‘major incident’ by authorities.
Thick black smoke clouds could be seen for miles over the city centre from around 4:30pm onwards and into the evening, as fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze.
BREAKING 🚨 Huge fire in Manchester city centre right now – historic Hotspur Press is ablaze with major disruption to trains out of Oxford Road #manchester#mcrpic.twitter.com/SnA52oiqxm
At the height of the blaze, two aerial units and more than 100 firefighters were working at the scene in warm and humid conditions.
But for the past couple of years now, before the building went up in flames, Hotspur Press was at the centre of redevelopment controversy, where planning permission was being sought to transform the building into high-rise student accommodation – and it’s these proposals that prompted the petition calling for an authentic rebuild to be set up.
That and the fact that it was announced towards the end of last week that Hotspur Press was to be part-demolished.
A petition has been launched to rebuild Hotspur Press in its ‘original form’ following the devastating fire / Credit: The Manc Group | Jonathan Boswell (Submitted)
Already racking up more than 400 signatures and counting, the petition calls for the historic building to be restored ‘faithfully and fully’.
“The recent fire has robbed Manchester of one of its most iconic and historic buildings, a cornerstone of the city’s skyline and industrial heritage,” the petition reads. “Hotspur Press was not just bricks and mortar, it was a living reminder of the city’s printing legacy, a symbol of Manchester’s character and soul.
“What we don’t need is another anonymous block of luxury flats that serve investors over residents.
“We are tired of seeing our history erased for profit. We demand that what is rebuilt reflects the identity, memory, and voice of the people who actually live here.”
The petition concluded: “Buildings like Hotspur Press carry the stories of the people who built this city – and they deserve more than neglect, fire, or demolition. Let this be the turning point. Rebuild Hotspur Press, and set a precedent for putting people, history, and place before profit.”
If you’re in support, you can find out more and sign the petition here.
Daisy Jackson -
15th February 2023 
