Regeneration of Strangeways and Cambridge

Say ‘Strangeways’ to a Mancunian or Salfordian and many will think of the imposing Victorian ventilation tower of HMP Manchester which has stood tall over the local skyline for well over a hundred years. These days the skyline is also filled, albeit from distance, with the gleaming skyscrapers that represent the rapid growth of Manchester City Centre.

Manchester and Salford City Council have teamed up and are hoping to take advantage of the outward pressure from this rapid growth to transform the Strangeways and Cambridge areas on what is strictly speaking the Salford side of the Irwell.

As part of this transformation, Local councillors and politicians are keen for the ‘Strangeways’ brand to get a much-needed overhaul in the minds of the average local, alongside the much more tangible regeneration planned for the wider area.

The two Councils are collaborating to develop a Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) for the Cambridge and Strangeways areas North of Manchester City Centre. The Councils hope to create a “vibrant and exciting extension to the city centre”. A SRF is a visionary document which is used to guide future development – it does not give planning permission nor set planning policy. However, it does provide a touchstone for future planning applications.

Whilst the SRF concludes that the catalyst for change in the area immediately surrounding HMP Manchester will be its closure and reallocation, there are currently no substantial plans for this. Therefore, the SRF assumes that the development of this neighbourhood will not happen for 15 years or more.
Onlookers keen for change need not be too disappointed by this conclusion however, as the proposed development area spans some 320 acres, with significant change already taking place!

The SRF proposes that public and private investment will transform the area over the next 20 years. As part of this the area will be divided into neighbourhoods, which can be developed at different stages

In the Dutton St Neighbourhood, closest to Manchester City Centre a level of momentum has already formed with significant development underway or set to occur in the short to medium term.

A new campus building for the Manchester College was constructed on the corner of Great Ducie St in 2021 and development has now begun to creep up Great Ducie St towards Strangeways with the construction of a series of new apartment buildings including the Latimer scheme by Clarion Housing and the Waterhouse Gardens development.

Further away from Manchester City Centre, the delivery of the new Copper Park, as an extension to Green Grosvenor Park has also started to gain momentum. This element of the wider regeneration will require the relocation of residents and businesses. Salford and Manchester City Councils with Salix Homes state that they are “committed to early engagement with impacted parties”.

Let’s hope, in the spirit of striving for excellence in terms of a ‘fair and transparent approach to engagement and negotiation’ they take a leaf out of the ‘OFSTED’ report book on How to be an outstanding Acquiring Authority in relation to the Elephant and Castle redevelopment that we wrote about recently.

It is not clear at this stage how the two Councils intend to assemble the land required for the scheme and whether this will be entirely through private treaty agreements or through the use of a Compulsory Purchase Order. However, Roger Hannah is experienced in advising landowners in either scenario.