Major new plans – including for affordable housing and another new city centre park – for one of Manchester city centre’s final ‘forgotten’ corners are being set out. Proposals for the Water Street area, tucked away off Trinity Way, are being brought to the Council’s Executive, which meets on Friday 13 March.
Bound by the ring road and Castlefield, Water Street is currently characterised by low-rise industrial warehousing and cleared sites acting as compounds for nearby development.
What does the redevelopment plan for Water Street look like?
A draft Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) is set to update a previous plan from 2017 to increase the ambition for this area to guide investment in the undeveloped parts of the previous SRF - including a major new city centre park, alongside a landscaped residential-led programme of development.
The plans will celebrate the industrial character and waterways of Manchester, while taller building would frame the site’s edge, complementing adjacent development and the regeneration of St John’s and Great Jackson Street.
Affordable homes, retail & hospitality
The proposals envisage a mix of tenures, with affordable homes strongly represented, and active ground-floor uses for retail, hospitality and community amenities.
A new urban park
The new urban park, which will follow the banks of the River Medlock, will be designed to be flexible, inclusive and climate resilient – potentially similar in size to Mayfield Park (6.5 acres) – with new building shielding the park from the inner ring road to create a calm and tranquil green space.
Active travel & public transport
The SRF looks to improve access to and through the Water Street area, repairing long-term severed links to and through the neighbourhood and improve access via the nearby viaducts. New pedestrian and walking routes will encourage active travel, while an elevated green route could be created to Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop via the Bridgewater Viaduct.
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: ”We have major ambitions for this area – one of the last corners of our city centre that remains underused.
“Right now, the area feels fragmented and disconnected. But we have a real opportunity to create a thriving new neighbourhood connecting into the historic Castlefield and linking into the vibrant new St Johns area, with another big new city centre park and other green spaces – an inclusive place with affordable homes.
“This demonstrates that we are both demanding and delivering more in the city centre, underlining our renewed ambition. We are attracting record levels of new jobs into the city, boosting our economic growth which is already outperforming the rest of the country and creating new opportunities for residents.”
The Council’s Executive will be asked to approve moving the SRF to consultation in the coming weeks.
