DRAFT WEST WYTHENSHAWE LOCAL PLAN CONSULTATION SUMMARY 1 This booklet provides an overview of the West Wythenshawe Local Plan. It sets out the main social, economic and physical issues across the area and our priorities. It has been produced to allow residents, businesses and services to have their say on what is included in the final version. A draft copy of the local plan has been developed after consulting with a steering group of key partners with an interest in West Wythenshawe including local Councillors, Manchester City Council, Parkway Green Housing Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester Airport, private sector and health, education, employment and children & young people institutions. Further consultation on the local plan will take place throughout West Wythenshawe for a 3 month period during spring & summer. The focus of this consultation will be local residents, businesses & services, and we will use a variety of different ways to get views and feedback on the plan from a diverse range of groups including public meetings, drop-in sessions as well as the widespread distribution of a shorter leaflet and questionnaire. Feedback from the consultation will be fed back into the local plan, which will then be revised and made available towards the end of 2008. 2 Why we need a Local Plan for West Wythenshawe? The West Wythenshawe local plan is being developed as part of the Wythenshawe Strategic Framework (SRF), which was completed in 2004. The SRF sets out priorities for improvements across the five Wards in Wythenshawe, including Baguley & Brooklands. While the SRF looks at issues affecting the whole district, the local plan tackles local issues. The area covered by the local plan is the whole of the Baguley ward and areas within the Brooklands ward. Included are the neighbourhoods of Royal Oak, Bideford, Butcher/Shady Lane, Baguley, Newall Green and the Moor Rd & Brooklands estate. It is bounded by the M56 to the east, the Trafford boundary the West, Wythenshawe Park to the north and open countryside to the south. The area faces a number of challenges in terms of employment, education, housing, health and transport, but has so many strengths & potential for the future- a great location, large employer base, major housing investment and range of green open space. We want to make sure that West Wythenshawe continues to be a place local residents feel proud of, want to live there and businesses want to invest in. The local plan will help address those challenges by guiding improvements to the area over the next 10-15 years. Introduction to West Wythenshawe West Wythenshawe was developed around the “Garden City” concept and it has grown as a key residential & commercial area with the introduction of new homes, Roundthorn Industrial Estate, Wythenshawe Hospital and Manchester Airport close by. It remains an important residential and commercial area today within an attractive green environment. It is home to 500 businesses and 5% of the city’s population (20,749 currently live in the area) with high numbers of young and elderly residents and an increasing number of residents from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The context for the West Wythenshawe Local Plan West Wythenshawe has a number of key strengths for both households and businesses, but also has some challenges. We need to make sure the local plan makes the most of these strengths while also addressing the challenges. The area’s key strengths are: • Excellent location near M56/60 & Manchester Airport • Large employer base at Roundthorn, Hospital and Brookway Retail Park area with planned job growth (Airport too) 3 • Wythenshawe Hospital- a world class health & educational facility and local employer • Multi-million pound state of the art education facilities being delivered (High Schools- Newall Green, St Paul’s and Brookway) • Some outstanding education delivery (Newall Green High School) and the development of the Manchester Health Academy (Brookway High School) • New Sure Start Children’s Centres opened at Baguley Hall & Sandilands Primary Schools • £90m housing investment programme by Parkway Green Housing Trust • New build housing estates throughout the area offering residents wider choice • Mature tree lined areas & a range of green open space- parks, ancient woodland areas & countryside (i.e. Princess Spinney, Blackcarr Wood, Newall Green Farm) • Newly built neighbourhood shopping facilities- (Hall Lane & Newall Green (Greenbrow Rd)) • Committed voluntary & community sector and public services driving positive change in the area • Stable population The area’s key challenges are: • Lack of direct links to Motorway network from Roundthorn Industrial Estate • Conflicting road users- HGV’s, ambulances, cars, buses, pedestrians & cyclists • Poor public transport links in some areas • Lack of a modern business offer on Roundthorn Industrial Estate to attract inward investors • Attainment rates in schools are improving, but need to be greater • Pockets of worklessness & a low skills base and in some places, low aspirations of some residents • Long waiting lists for Parkway Green Housing Trust properties, which means some people wait a long time to move in to their own home • Revitalisation in housing needed in some areas to address quality & choice of stock i.e. Royal Oak estate • Limited housing choice for sections of the community e.g. elderly people, and a need for more opportunities for residents to access affordable home ownership • Perceptions that green open space is unsafe (Baguley & Alderman Rogers Park) • Outdated community facilities (Baguley, Royal Oak & Bideford Community Centres) • Lack of a high quality evening economy- restaurants & leisure offer • Fear of crime levels, anti-social behaviour and residential burglary • Pockets of poor health and high levels of long-term limiting illnesses 4 The vision for West Wythenshawe is to become a successful area with attractive & distinctive neighbourhoods where people enjoy the benefits of living close to the Hospital, Roundthorn & the Airport with good links to the City Centre. To make sure that West Wythenshawe can flourish, we want to: • Encourage new businesses to locate on Roundthorn, support existing employers and create more jobs for local people. • Ensure residents have the skills and can access jobs at the Hospital, Roundthorn & Airport. • Work with Parkway Green Housing Trust and others, to support the provision of a wider range of housing, as well as safe & attractive streets and public spaces. • Create a higher quality living environment, which includes good quality shops, leisure & community facilities and easily accessible public services. • Ensure young people have access to high quality education facilities to help improve attainment levels and encourage further learning. • Ensure the area has good transport links to employment areas, leisure facilities, green open space and the city centre, to enable people to easily access a wide range of opportunities. What’s in the plan? As mentioned previously, the Local Plan covers the neighbourhoods of Newall Green, Baguley, Royal Oak, Butcher/Shady Lane, Bideford and the Moor Rd/Brooklands estate, with key assets of Wythenshawe Hospital and Roundthorn Industrial Estate. In addition to the neighbourhood focus, the Local Plan will be broken down in to smaller mini plan areas including Roundthorn, Hospital and the Brookway Retail Park area. (A short neighbourhood overview is to be inserted) 5 What does the Local Plan recommend? The local plan is based around three citywide priorities of local people “achieving full potential in education and employment”, “creating popular neighbourhoods” and communities having “mutual respect”. Reaching full potential in education and employment We want to focus on improving education attainment, give young people and adults the skills to take advantage of local job opportunities and make sure residents can live a healthier lifestyle. Local economy and business West Wythenshawe has a fantastic opportunity to be a first choice location for businesses of all sizes due to its position close to Manchester Airport and the M56/60 motorway. There is already a large business base with key employers in a number of sectors employing local residents i.e. those on Roundthorn Industrial Estate and Wythenshawe Hospital. However, Roundthorn Industrial Estate needs to be greatly improved so that it can become a first class business location, which will support existing & attract new businesses to create new jobs. As part of the local plan, a master plan will be prepared to guide investment. In order to build on the international reputation of Wythenshawe Hospital for health, research & education, infrastructure improvements are needed and opportunities for West Wythenshawe must be maximised. Business start-up rates are also low & there are opportunities for residents to become self-employed to meet business growth needs. Priorities for the local plan • Ensure residents throughout the area are able to access local jobs at the Hospital, Roundthorn, Airport and jobs throughout the city. • Improve the educational attainment of all young people by providing state of the art learning environments so they can access a wide range of learning & job opportunities. • Provide a first class business location at Roundthorn by developing high quality business accommodation, improved public realm, better accessibility to the Motorway/Airport & internally from Southmoor Rd and a strong brand identity. • Provide a high quality facility on Roundthorn