Manchester, Salford link up for 320-acre Strangeways regeneration
The city councils have started the search for a team to map out the future of the maligned district and neighbouring Cambridge area of Salford, while pleas for the prison to be relocated continue to fall on deaf ears.
A joint approach
Manchester City Council and colleagues over the border in Salford will work together to transform Strangeways and Cambridge – which is largely industrial and at high risk of flooding – into a “safe, welcoming, and attractive community, befitting of the city centre fringe location”, according to a Manchester City Council spokesperson.
A team to draw up a strategic regeneration framework for the 321-acre site is expected to be appointed by autumn.
Interested parties should submit proposals via the Crown Commercial Service e-Sourcing portal by 11.00 am on 31 July 2023.
The commission would comprise three parts: an economic analysis of the areas, the SRF itself, and a delivery and acquisitions strategy.
The proposals are due to be submitted to the authorities’ respective executive committees before the end of the year.
The SRF would be “aspirational” and guide investment in the area over the next two decades, the Manchester City Council spokesperson said.
“The Strangeways area is a key gateway into our city centre and a location with the potential to deliver significant employment opportunities, alongside a range of other uses including new homes and commercial space – supporting existing legitimate businesses to grow and prosper, while providing space for new business to invest in the area.”
A barrier to growth
Manchester City Council admits the area is “not without challenges”, the largest being the location of HMP Manchester, formerly known as Strangeways Prison.
The prison has long been thought of as a barrier to the area’s growth and Manchester City Council has asked the Ministry of Justice to relocate it elsewhere.
The Manchester City Council spokesperson said: “The council has started conversations with the Ministry of Justice around the long-term future of HMP Manchester with a clear message that the Victoria-era prison is a barrier to growth in North Manchester.”
Moving the prison out of Strangeways would free up a large chunk of land off Great Ducie Street and pave the way for the wholesale redevelopment of the crime-blighted area into a new commercial district.
However, the Ministry of Justice told Place North West that there are “no current plans to relocate HMP Manchester”, despite the city council’s requests.
Due to a lack of movement on the relocation plans, the SRF will be drawn up “based on the current Strangeways neighbourhood, including the prison in situ”, the city council spokesperson said.
The SRF could be updated to respond to any decision made by the MoJ about the future of the prison, the spokesperson added.
The location of the prison is not the only issue Manchester City Council is facing in Strangeways.
The area off Great Ducie Street around HMP Manchester has suffered from serious issues relating to crime for several years, including the trade of counterfeit goods.
An ongoing Greater Manchester Police operation to clean up the area has yielded positive results so far, with 72 illegal enterprises shut down and 75 individuals arrested.
Salford’s opportunity
Progress in addressing the crime-related problems around Strangeways means that attention can now turn to plotting the area’s transformation.
The cross-border approach to reinventing the area also provides Salford City Council with the chance to “address longstanding environmental issues” related to the Cambridge area’s high risk of flooding.
Tender documents for the SRF opportunity state that demand for new homes and commercial space in the area is high due to its fringe city centre location.
However, at present the risk of flooding “has an impact on the existing homes and businesses as well as constraining future redevelopment”.
“This [SRF] offers real opportunities to provide a future sustainable plan that reflects the location in an area of growth for Greater Manchester,” a Salford City Council spokesperson said.
“The aspiration is to address the challenges and together the two authorities can create an attractive place to do business or live.”
The surrounding context
A strategic regeneration framework for the adjacent Great Ducie Street zone already exists and was adopted by Manchester City Council in 2018.
This framework, which outlines plans for 2.8m sq ft of commercial space, did not incorporate the prison site, while the refreshed SRF will.
Several major projects have come forward off the back of the Great Ducie Street masterplan.
The Manchester College’s £93m city centre campus on the former Boddington’s Brewery recently completed, Latimer is preparing to start construction of a 461-home development on an adjoining plot, and Salboy picked up the stalled Old Brewery Gardens development late last year.
If this was London that prison would have been moved years ago.
By Anonymous
Yet again central government and the blob Octopus that is the civil service in London is the main obstacle to progress in the north . This is such a tremendous opportunity but yet again zero happens . As the previous comment says if this was London central government would be throwing hundreds of millions if not billions of pounds at it . Disgraceful .
By Frustrated
Would love to see this area improved, but is it possible to see the actual tender documents as a member of the public i.e. without logging into the Crown Commercial Service e-Sourcing portal? Would like to understand the exact boundaries of the area under consideration
By Anonymous
Hi Anonymous. As far as I know, it is not possible for the public to view. I will see what I can do about getting a red line map of the area. Thanks, Dan
By Dan Whelan
They need to link the greenspace part of Victoria North to the river.
In fact, they just need loads of greenspace.
By Anonymous
This large scale, joint venture between Salford and Manchester councils is exactly what is needed. The “piecemeal” approach adopted so far will only ever have limited success as the crims play location ping pong with law enforcement.
Expansion of the city centre and total regeneration of the area can only be a good thing. The prison isn’t going to be moved and doesn’t need to for this to be a success, given good planning.
By Bernard Fender
It would be great to see the whole area demolished with dozens of skyscrapers and a major park built in its place, expanding the city centre.
By MC
Not being funny…but Piccadilly Gardens has been on all our agendas for years…..when is something going to done ? It’s a shocking embarrassment for locals and visitors alike !
By Rodders
That’s a huge area to redevelop so I guess we are looking at decades. I can’t help thinking though that the prison will still be there twenty years from now and the rest of the development will be happening around it.
By Anonymous
Bernard Fender…it’s the same police force GMP, not another country.
By Anonymous
Rodders, we will be making an announcement about our next consultation RE Piccadilly Gardens very soon, giving us a chance to take feedback before the next consultation in 2027 at Mayfield Park, we hope to see you there
By MCC
And what about Cheetham Hill Road? The shops are a disgrace and need their Victorian fronts restoring. There seems to be no control over how tacky they look.
By Tony Heyes
I agree with MC. There are some great buildings on Cheetham Hill Road, currently in a sorry state, which could be incorporated into the Victoria North project. Bury New Road, all the way to Broughton Park is an embarrassment, with the exception of the Georgian Terrace and Greek Orthodox Church, and the Prison needs to be relocated and that building utilised for something money generating. The street lay out around the old counterfeit shops area, is gridded and therefore could be used, as the basis for another Ancoats. It is a lot of work but the outcome could be stunning. The businesses between the prison and Cheetham Hill Road, could be relocated and this could be a Skyscraper district and a park, mirroring Deansgate Square.
By Elephant
@anon what nonsense! Belmarsh, Brixton, Bronzefield, Coldingley, Downview, Feltham, high Down, Holloway, ISIS, Pentonville, Send, Thameside, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs – all London prisons. Some in high value neighbourhoods too.
By H
Always find it very ironic that there is a climbing wall next to the prison
By Levelling Up Manager
@H HM Prison Holloway was closed and plans have been made to develop into housing, you prove my point!
By Anonymous
The Victorian buildings of the prison are listed buildings and if ever vacated should be retained and converted to a new use. Several old prisons have been converted to hotels.
By Anonymous
The flooding threat was curtailed in the late 70s with the Anaconda cut development to the River Irwell. The area needs development and investment without question, but the Prison will not move, and the flooding problems seems to me a manoeuvre to force compulsory purchase. The last thing Salford needs is more multi million pound high rise developments. Build family homes with large gardens and make it a desirable place to live. Not a future slum.
By David.
The prison leave it be were the nora batty can you move a prison to. The rest get rid of all the warehouses on bury new rd replace with affordable housing. Ha i mean apartments that working people carnt afford
By Ping pong
The sooner all the now derelict shops that were once occupied by the counterfeit people are demolished, the better.
All along Bury New Road around Strangeways area is a grim eyesore at the moment.
Hopefully all that area will all get demolished next year to be replaced with unaffordable expansive tower blocks.
By Darren Born and Bred.
A golden opportunity for Manchester to create a sort of La défense or Canary wharf with business district that would comprise affordable housing.
By John
@anon Hardly! It’s been empty for 7 years and apparently no work going ahead until 2026. It’s a fallacy to say that Manchester is getting comparatively worse treatment to London – government has zero interest in this across the country. Plenty of other realms where Manchester gets a bad deal but this is lazy criticism. I think Strangeways would be a significantly nicer neighbourhood without the prison but fat chance of dispersing an entire CAT A population especially after a rebuild in recent memory.
By H
Thanks Dan. A red line map would be great if at all possible
By Same anon
Really tired of the crime rhetoric when prior to having foreign investment opportunities dangled under their noses all the council could say was how diverse it was, the most languages spoken in one area in the UK, real community….now that community get no mention, just “counterfeit street” as a reason to landbank or write off s106s (92% were waived in 2018). Yes there are social issues but every single press release since Operation Vulcan has nothing positive to say. The entirety of Cheetham Hill being written off as if the same as one street. And demolishing an area of crime does make crime cease to exist, it just pushes it a bit further other. We can’t solve deep-rooted social issues relating to poverty through high rise and unaffordable packaged as affordable developments
By Skyliner
What an amazing opportunity.
The Victorian prison complex could become the central focus in an Urban Splash / Capital and Centric style regeneration of the whole area.
Let’s be honest. This is a place you drive through, not too. It’s been allowed to fester as a Centre for knock off Prada and hookers. The unlocking potential for a sustainable mixed use development linking Salford and Manchester city centre is hugely exciting.
By Warden Bob