A detailed vision for the Northern Gateway project,a programme of development that will see 15,000 new homes in the next 15-20 years – will be considered by the Council Executive for the first time this Wednesday.
The project is a joint venture between Manchester City Council and the Northern Gateway project office of the Far Eastern Consortium (FEC) based in Manchester, and at 155 hectares, one of the largest residential-led regeneration projects in the UK.
A key theme of the Gateway will be a unique City River Park, bringing life to the Irk River Valley and connecting seven new and emerging neighbourhoods through high quality open green spaces and public squares.
The ambitious green space will stretch from Angel Meadow through to Collyhurst with the intention of attracting a wide range of biodiversity, while celebrating the existing architectural features of the valley, including Manchester’s Victorian railway arches.
The Northern Gateway will extend the residential opportunities north from the city centre creating the cluster of well-designed and distinct sustainable neighbourhoods, opening up a range of new retail and family-friendly leisure destinations in the north of the city.
With much improved connectivity – focusing on green transport, including walking, cycling and public transport – the Northern Gateway has the potential to attract a range of visitors from the city centre and beyond, taking advantage of the green space and leisure amenities, while improving the lifestyle residents.
At its heart, the Northern Gateway is a residential-led development and aims to build a mix of 15,000 new homes over the next 15 years with at least 3,000 affordable homes across a range of tenures.
Cllr Suzanne Richards, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said: “The draft framework gives us a real feel of how these exciting plans are coming together and will help us inform the tone of specific plans for the Northern Gateway over the next 10 to 15 years.
“We will be listening to and working with existing communities. It’s important that as one of the largest residential-led developments the UK has ever seen, the Northern Gateway maintains its authentic Manchester roots. We will be beginning a major consultation in the coming months to find out what the public think – and we want to know, have we got this right and is there anything we’ve missed?
“The Northern Gateway is a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform the Irk Valley through the unique City Park, and we think deliver a template of how city living can be transformed to improve lifestyles and a collective sense of place.”
