THING OF THE WEEK

Essar Energy Transition has wrapped up the purchase of the 66-acre Ellesmere Port site which boasts modern purpose-built laboratories, office space, and industrial facilities, through its subsidiary, Essar Fuels.

The move, set out in the devolution bill published yesterday, will give more power to tenants and is aimed at revitalising the high street.

The Planning Inspectorate has granted permission to an application previously refused by the council for the construction of a battery storage facility on seven acres off Greenhead Lane in Reedley.

The former Apollo Pub off Varley Street could be redeveloped into a three-to-four-storey affordable block hosting 32 homes by a partnership between Jigsaw Homes and Manchester City Council.

Developer Stonebond Properties, registered provider Great Places, and landowner Stockport County are working together on a two-phase plan to redevelop nine acres of former playing fields off Grove Lane in Cheadle Hulme.

The operator is in talks with Peel Group to take space within the 330,000 sq ft leisure and retail complex.

There is a growing need for purpose-built care homes driven by an ageing population, ever-evolving healthcare standards, and stretched budgets, writes Chris Appleton of LNT Care Developments.

The consultancy has moved from just shy of 5,000 sq ft to 6,300 sq ft at Square Ape’s Twenty Chapel Street.

CBRE IM and Chancerygate are hopeful of securing consent to build nine industrial units across two blocks on 11 acres next to the Salford Community Stadium.

Liverpool City Council has set out a supplementary planning document providing detailed guidance on how prospective development should intertwine with the city’s extensive cultural and heritage assets.

The current interim chief executive of Tameside Council, who was parachuted in to guide the troubled local authority through choppy waters, has been given a new job at the debt-laden council.

The musical stylings of Haçienda legend Graeme Park and Back Chat Brass will be on offer at the 10-year anniversary of Place Party, as well as the chance to challenge your colleagues to a Scalextric showdown. Have you got your ticket yet?

Amgueddfa Cymru, or Museum Wales, has won funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, enabling the grade one-listed building’s redevelopment to proceed.

Cumberland Council has green-lit the development of an 81-acre neighbourhood off Wigton Road in Morton.

Actor Steve Coogan will co-chair a mayoral development corporation for his hometown Middleton, while four-time Olympic medallist Sebastian Coe has been selected to chair the MDC that will drive the regeneration of Old Trafford. 

Work has begun at Dock Road, where the housebuilder is reviving a long-vacant brownfield site with a £30m development offering a blend of open-market sale and affordable rent homes.

While changes to the planning system and NPPF are a cornerstone of the Labour government’s attempts to kick-start the economy, arguably even more important are the forthcoming changes to local plan making, writes Mat Evans of Gladman.

Henley Investment Management’s plans to redevelop Regent Retail Park into 3,300 homes, a scheme that includes a proposal for the UK’s tallest tower outside of London, must prevail over an army of objectors if they are to secure approval next Thursday.

Phase two of the National Trust’s ‘sky walk’ will build on the first stretch of repurposed railway, extending the viaduct’s accessible length by 250 metres.