Manchester seeks enhanced solution for contaminated water at new town site
As enabling work at the 50-acre Red Bank neighbourhood within Victoria North nears completion, the city council and development partner FEC have proposed a second temporary system to treat polluted ground water discovered in 2023.
Back then, ground water containing dissolved methane was found at Red Bank, part of the wider 15,000-home Victoria North initiative that has been shortlisted by government as a potential new town location.
The site has a 150-year legacy of industrial use and required significant remediation to prepare it for the construction of a 5,500-home neighbourhood.
Since the middle of 2023, the water has been treated using a temporary aeration system that removes the gas from the water prior to it entering the sewer network. This system relies on regular manual intervention and maintenance.
However, as the site is about to become unmanned once contractors complete the £51.6m package of Homes England-funded enabling works, a more autonomous system is required.
An “enhanced temporary treatment plant” has therefore been proposed. The option put forward by Manchester City Council uses a sparging treatment process and can be operated remotely.
Manchester City Council is seeking permission for the new kit for up to three years while a permanent solution is worked up.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson on behalf of the Victoria North partnership said: “The council and FEC have been engaging closely with the Environment Agency and United Utilities around how we manage contaminated ground water at Red Bank – which is long-term brownfield land that requires a bespoke ground water solution.
“We have an interim position agreed with them, which will include an onsite plant to treat water, and a planning application has been submitted that, if approved, will cover the next three years while we agree a long-term solution with all of the relevant stakeholders.”
Plans for a permanent treatment facility were put forward in late 2024 but were later withdrawn.
That scheme would have seen a machine installed beneath the arches of a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Red Bank part of the Victoria North masterplan and featured in LS Lowry’s A Footbridge.
The equipment would have been concealed behind a corten steel decorative barrier.
Sounds like it’ll be a lovely place to live…. Surely there were other options on the New Town plan that were less riddled than this one.
By Pek
Why was the 2024 permanent solution withdrawn?
By Mike Newell
Sounds expensive to install and even more expensive to monitor and maintain. Who pays long term?
By Bernard Fender
Pek, regeneration is all about taking on difficult areas and, well regenerating them. Most post industrial towns and cities have some contaminated land and waterways which need cleaning up before they can be developed. The situation at Victoria North isn’t that unusual.
By Anonymous