Manchester shuffles funding deck for new regen team

Targeted regeneration programmes in Longsight, Levenshulme, Northenden and Cheetham Hill are on the cards following sign-off for dedicated officers overseeing delivery.

Manchester City Council’s economy & regeneration scrutiny committee’s meeting yesterday included an item in the part of the discussion concerning the growth and development directorate’s budget for 2026-29.

Noting the progress of active and future regeneration efforts in other city districts, such as Strangeways, and Moston Lane – where plans are now in for Moston Superstore’s relocation – along with Gorton town centre, Withington village, and Newton Heath High Street, the report requested the transferring of some positions from other areas and the provision of funds to hire for new roles.

The report said: “Building on these successes, political ambitions have grown. In the coming years, new programmes are expected in Longsight, Levenshulme, Northenden, and Cheetham Hill.

“However, under the current Growth & Development structure, there are no resources to deliver this workstream. It is therefore proposed to establish a dedicated regeneration team, made up of eight full-time equivalent new posts plus 4 FTE posts transferred from other regeneration teams.

“This team would manage and oversee projects from start to finish, making sure decisions are followed and funds are used effectively. It would act as the main point of responsibility for delivering each programme successfully.”

The additional resource required to establish and operate this team is estimated at £510,000 in the next financial year, the report said.

For all central Manchester’s high-rise boom this century, there has been associated criticism that outlying areas have been left behind. Addressing that has been a focus of the last few years, Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of the city council said:

“Since becoming Leader in December 2021, I’ve made clear we must invest more heavily in our high streets and district centres, celebrating the massive role these spaces play in the lives of our communities.

“A growing city centre is vital, but too often Manchester is defined by it – and we want to invest more right across the city. You can see examples of this through our flagship schemes in Gorton town centre, Moston Lane and Wythenshawe town centre – alongside completed schemes in Withington. These are good examples of the vision and ambition we have for our neighbourhoods, helping to unlock huge potential while creating high streets that work for local people.

“But we want to go further. We have projects coming forward across the city, including Newton Heath, Longsight, Levenshulme, Harpurhey and Cheetham Hill, with the commitment to building a plan for every district centre and high street across the city.”

Furthermore, said the Leader, allocating funding for these positions is not so much a new move, but rather represents something of a return to days before swingeing government cuts made trimming regeneration spending inevitable.

Cllr Craig said: “We talk a lot about the difficult choices we were forced to make, when the Governments from 2010-2024 dramatically cut our budgets, where we prioritised frontline services. One of these causalities was our regeneration teams across the city, meaning that less staff were asked to do more. The scope and ambition of these schemes is such that we need more resource to deliver them.

“Finally we are seeing budgets from government increase, which is why we’re looking to create a new regeneration team with a total of 12 dedicated officers. This is about investing in our own resources, in the right places, so we can deliver high street and neighbourhood investment at speed and scale that meets the needs of our communities and create neighbourhoods and high streets right across the city to be proud of.”