Approval for phase two of £25m Castlefield viaduct park
The National Trust has secured planning permission to extend the park it has created on the disused Manchester bridge.
Manchester City Council has approved the second phase of the National Trust’s Castlefield viaduct park under delegated powers.
Part two of the project will see the public space extended to around 350 metres total. It will feature sections named ‘The Garden’ and ‘The Broadwalk’ as well as a new point of access from Egerton Street.
It is hoped construction could begin this year, once £3m of funding needed to pay for phase two has been secured.
Phase one opened in 2022 but only incorporated around a third of the bridge. It was lauded by commentators as an effective reuse of a long-forgotten part of the city and heralded by some as Manchester’s answer to the High Line in New York.
The second phase will see the rest of 125-year-old bridge brought back into use.
RJP Town Planners is advising on planning and Twelve Architects is behind the designs.
Arup was charged with transport, fire, and acoustic assessments, as well as drawing up the structural remediation plans.
Others on the project team include BDP, Stace, and Purcell Heritage Consultants. Urban Green is charged with the ecology and biodiversity assessments.
The full planning application can be viewed with 140875/FO/2024 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.
Nichola Jacques, Castlefield Viaduct project manager, said: “We’re delighted that our planning application for the next phase of Castlefield Viaduct has been given the green light by Manchester City Council.
“It’s a positive step towards realising our bigger plans, and those of our partners and supporters. As a charity, we have a purpose to deliver benefit to the nation through nature, history and beauty. The viaduct gives us an opportunity to create an accessible green space for the 50,000 residents living within a twenty-minute walk of the area.
She added: “As well as transforming the viaduct into a green space for people, we recognise the importance of the viaduct to Manchester’s history and the need to protect it. We now need to confirm the funding to make this a possibility for Manchester. Our conversations are continuing with several funders and supporters for Phase 2 and we hope to be able to provide an update in the coming months.”
Great…The NT are showing innovation and much needed foresight in what was a grim but necessary link to the city in the ‘old days’ Brilliant I say !
By Rodders
At £71,482 per metre it’s alot for plants
By Anonymous
What a waste of money, it’s a total white elephant.
By John
Good news it will be a great contribution to the Castlefield area.
By Mike
Excellent project.
By Anonymous
That’s a lot of money for a quarter of a mile. Or am I missing something?
By Elephant
A strange priority for National Trust finances.
By PLF_Cloud_Cuckoo_Land
Prefer the Leeds one
By Anonymous
Great news. Hoping eventually this extends out towards Cornbrook with a bridge link across the Ship Canal to Ordsall. It would be a wonderful walking route from Manchester City Centre all the way to MediaCityUK.
By Daniel
@John, hardly a white elephant and waste of money since people are enjoying it. I visit it quite a bit and it always has plenty of other people. It will get even busier once this is extended and then becomes a through route. People will be able to walk along the river, climb up to the park and enter the city that way, or continue through along the canal. A white elephant is something no one uses, not just something you personally don’t use 😉
By EOD
25 million for something that I believe is very difficult to visit and doesn’t go anywhere?
By Anonymous
This will make it not only the biggest but also the best by a long way. It’s expensive yes but maintaining that Victorian infrastructure is expensive. Brilliant 🤩
By Anonymous
There’s a ‘John’ in every comment section 😂. This is great news!
By Anonymous
The comments as usual on here confirm that Manchester lives rent free in some peoples heads. Great to see if you ask me, shows we are going places.
By Bob
“Prefer the Leeds one”
Don’t make us laugh. At least it links the surrounding spaces up though.
By Anonymous
its not a waste. other cities are spending so much more to create parks and attractions, this is Manchester we need to do have the innovative mindset and beautify our city. In the grand scheme of things, it helps to boost the Manchester economy through tourism. More jobs for us and it may encourage other schemes to kick off.
By Anonymous
Central Manchester has been severely neglected when it comes to meaningful green space. This is a breath of fresh air and, whilst expensive, it is desperately needed to soften the edges and give hard working Mancunian workers a place to relax and contemplate their city. Lets keep it coming and introduce some more exciting variations on the city greenscape theme.
By MikeB
This extension will turn it into an actual tourist attraction and facility. Can’t wait.
Not sure you could say that about the one in Leeds one unfortunately
By Anonymous
Baffling that more money is being thrown at this when there is no movement on developing actual park space that city centre residents can use when they want, for all the things people normally use parks for, including walking the dog or just enjoying the sun.
Yes it’s very nice what the NT have done up to now, but it’s a very regimented visitor attraction with very limited and controlled access, essentially about walking one way to look at the plants, and then walk back the other way. More of the same isn’t innovation, nor does it meet existing unmet needs.
By Anonymous
I did the tour, NT said that this space is really important because Manchester is deprived and lots of families don’t have gardens here
By Anonymous
This is great news! Manchester is the best city!!
By dG
Another great addition to the fastest growing city in Europe ! 😎👍
By Anonymous
It’s currently very unimpressive
By Anonymous
Looks like a dream tbh. Phase 2 will make this space really special.
By Anonymous