A planning submission has been published by Manchester City Council focusing on the transformation three areas of key public space: Ancoats Green, a new public realm on Prussia Street and Jersey Green.
The plans aim to connect the wider community to the new Ancoats Mobility Hub, which is designed to reduce vehicle traffic in Ancoats and promote a more pedestrian friendly, cleaner neighbourhood. The walkways and footpaths will also be lit around the Ancoats Mobility Hub to Butler Street to ensure residents are comfortable walking through the neighbourhood at night.
Ancoats Green will act as the green focal point for the area, with walking and cycling routes from Poland Street through to Butler Street, and from Portugal Street to the Rochdale Canal.
The council says the investment will encourage active travel as the natural option to move across the neighbourhood, as well as creating more opportunities for the local community to enjoy time outside, including new accessible play areas for young people, adding to the ‘Active Travel Strategy‘ and Bee Network we’ve been seeing more and more in Greater Manchester.
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Ancoats and New Islington is a great place to live, and we want to make the area even better with more and new green spaces, and a play park for children to reflect the growing number of families living there.
“We are committed to creating more and improved green space across the city and provide access to high quality parks close to where people live and work. Although this is a challenge in the city centre, this investment is a statement of our intent to deliver green space for our communities – and the proposals for Ancoats join a range of green investment either underway or completed.
“This includes the new Mayfield Park completed last year, Cotton Field Park in New Islington – which will open out to new green space at the former Central Retail Park – and Electric Park, the city’s first zero carbon green campus. Longer-term, the Victoria North regeneration programme will deliver 43ha of new interlocking green space from the city centre through to Collyhurst.”
Ancoats Green is set to be completed by 2024, a community hub with new play areas – including accessible play equipment. In addition, open green spaces and generous footpaths have been proposed, for running, cycling, hosting small events and relaxing. There will also be 600m2 of new planting, 4800m2 of wildflowers, 748m2 wetland planting, and 76% net increase in trees – any trees removed (either due to disease or those with a limited life span) will be replaced 2:1 – all to increase wildlife biodiversity.
Jersey Green and Prussia Street will begin their transformations in 2025 and 2027 respectively, and will remain open with improved footpaths, additional seating and better connections to Miles Platting and New Islington, and the Prussia Street greenway will link the Rochdale canal with Ancoats Green via Jersey Street.