Manchester approves pub redevelopment plan
Watson Homes has been given the go-ahead to build 35 apartments on the site of The Park in Northern Moor.
The former JW Lees pub pulled its last pint in 2022 and has been boarded up since.
Watson subsequently acquired the site from the brewery last March and lodged proposals to knock down the building and deliver a part-two-, part-four-storey apartment block in its stead last November.
All 35 of the one- and two-bedroom flats would be offered up on affordable tenures.
Manchester City Council has now approved those plans under delegated powers, saying that the loss of the pub was “regrettable” but that it should not act as a barrier to the site’s redevelopment given that there are six other pubs within a mile radius of the site.
Watson’s scheme would see “a vacant brownfield site back into productive use and contributes to meeting both local and national housing growth targets”, a city council report states.
The proposed building steps from four storeys at the corner of Moorcroft Road and Sledmoor Road down to two storeys alongside existing homes.
Designed by TADW, the scheme would feature a red brick façade and “contemporary detailing take cues from the surrounding area”, according to Watson.
The development is located on the northern edge of Wythenshawe Park and around three miles north-west of Wythenshawe Civic Centre.
White Peak Planning is advising on planning.
Rob Watson, director at Watson, said: “Planning approval marks an important turning point for this site, which has been vacant for a number of years. It reinforces the role that brownfield regeneration can play in delivering much-needed affordable housing across Greater Manchester.
“From the outset, our approach has focused on careful design, sustainability and long-term value, ensuring the scheme complements its surroundings and supports the wider regeneration of the area. We’re looking forward to progressing the project and seeing this underused site brought back into productive use.”
Watson’s other projects include the £100m Church Wharf in Bolton and the 255-home Creams Mill in Little Lever.
To learn more, search for reference number 144457/FO/2025 on Manchester City Council’s planning portal.
Whilst The Park is no masterpiece, there was the potential to do something interesting with the site. This is just hideous.
By Heritage Action