RADAR Research Archive and Digital Asset Repository Local planning in inner city residential areas: studies of Leeds and Manchester 1966-1986 Timothy C. Marshall (1990) https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/a1f4f945-18ae-419f-86c9-b3bd423f7058/1/ Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, the full bibliographic details must be given as follows: Marshall, T C (1990) Local planning in inner city residential areas: studies of Leeds and Manchester 1966-1986 PhD, Oxford Brookes University WWW.BROOKES.AC.UK/GO/RADAR LOCAL PLANNING IN INNER CITY RESIDENTIAL AREAS: STUDIES OF LEEDS AND MANCHESTER 1966.1986 Timothy Charles Marshall A thesis submitted to the Council for National Academic Awards in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Oxford Polytechnic September 1990 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ www.bl.uk PAGE/PAGES EXCLUDED UNDER INSTRUCTION FROM THE UNIVERSITY CONTENTS Page 1. Introduction 1 2. The Contributions of Previous Studies 28 3. An Analytical and Conceptual Framework 66 4. Local Planning Approaches in Leeds and Manchester 92 5. Local Planning in Two Leeds Neighbourhoods 125 6. Local Planning in Two Manchester Neighbourhoods 185 7. Conclusions 240 References 269 Maps . APPENDICES 1. Sources for Leeds 1 7 2. Sources for Manchester 13 3. Research Method 4. Local Social Relations and Community Action 22 FIGURES 1. Dimensions of Local Planning 2. Factors influencing the adoption of local planning approaches for inner areas 3. Periodisation of Local Planning for inner residential areas 4. Use or Non-Use of Local Planning Frameworks in Selected Larger English Cities 5. Nature of Local Planning in Leeds 1966-86 6. Significance of Influences on Local Planning in Leeds 1966-86 7. Nature of Local Planning in Manchester 1966-86 8. Significance of Influences on Local Planning in Manchester 1966-86 9. Socio-Economic Characteristics 1971-81 10. Council Control in Leeds and Manchester 1966-86 11. Social and Demographic Statistics in Harehills and Richmond Hill 12. Local Planning Processes and Outcomes in Selected Episodes in Harehills and Richmond Hill 13. Influence of Selected Factors on Processes and Outcomes of Local Planning in Particular Episodes in Harehills and Richmond Hill 14. Social and Demographic Characteristics in Gorton North and Moss Side 15. Local Planning Processes and Outcomes in Selected Episodes in Gorton North and Moss Side 16. Influence of Selected Factors on Processes and Outcomes of Local Planning in Particular Episodes in Gorton North and Moss Side 17. Dimensions of Local Planning in Inner Older Residential Areas of Major English Cities 18. The Use of Channels of Local Influence. MAPS 1. The Growth of Leeds 1912-74 2. Manchester - Wards 1987 3. Leeds - the Location of Study Areas 4. Harehills study area 5. Harehills in Revised Development Plan 1972 6. Harehills - Proposals Map April 1981 7. Richmond Hill study area 8. Richmond Hill in Revised Development Plan 1972 9. Richmond Hill - East Leeds Radial Alternative Routes 1981 10. Rank Optics site Harehills 11. 'Dodge City' site Harehills 12. Local Centre, Richmond Hill (planning Brief 1981) 13. Local Centre Richmond Hill (1986 Proposals) 14. Manchester - Location of study areas 15. Gorton North (1969 Plan for Gorton and West Gorton) 16. Housing programmes in Gorton North (1982 Area Information booklet) 17. Moss Side (1971 Plan for Moss Side) 18. Housing programmes in Moss Side (1982 Area Information booklet) 19. Shopping centre proposed layout, Gorton North (1978 development brief) 20. Hyde Road sites Gorton North (1982 committee report) 21. Gore Brook Valley Park (Committee report 1984) 22. Walmer St allocations Moss Side (Committee report 1986) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 am very grateful to all the people who helped me with the studies in Leeds and Manchester. They are all (I hope) listed in the Appendices and 1 will only single out for special thanks my primary contacts: Tony Shelton and Eric Bowen in Leeds City Council and Ted Kitchen in Manchester City Council. All three were most helpful in arranging access or suggesting other people 1 should talk to outside the councils. The Economic and Social Research Council financed the first two years of my work through a Linked Studentship. The School of Planning at Oxford Polytechnic has been a very sympathetic and comfortable base for my period of study. Many staff and research students have given valuable support; it helps a lot to be surrounded by nice people. In addition 1 would like to thank the School of Planning for supporting my third year of study. Jane Woolfrey and Ruth Dyer did the majority of the typing, and in the Town Planning Office Sue Bartlett was especially helpful wherever practical problems arose. By far my largest debt is to my supervisors, Patsy Healey and Mike Gibson. Both were in at the beginning, supporting me in starting the research and both have stuck by the project, along its sometimes far from direct trajectory. I am very grateful to both. ABSTRACT Local Planning in Inner City Residential Areas: Studies of Leeds and Manchester 1966-1986 T. C. MARSHALL A new phase of local planning began in the 1970s in the major English cities, as redevelopment of older residential areas began to give way to rehabilitation. This phase has not been intensively studied in the planning literature. This study seeks to assess the contribution of local planning to the processes of renewal in these inner residential areas, with a special interest in arrangements which may give residents of these areas better control over the outcomes. The research examines the factors which conditioned the approach to local planning in each city and each neighbourhood, with case studies of two neighbourhoods in Leeds and two in Manchester. At the citywide level Manchester council's form of Labour politics is seen as generally discouraging the use of local planning frameworks, with the retention of a more centralised council administration. Analysis of the joint operation of a wide range of factors is emphasised as necessary to understand the kinds of local planning adopted and the effects these had. In particular the variation present within each neighbourhood and in each case or episode is seen as significant in influencing local planning processes and outcomes. After 1974 there was less likelihood of even informal area frameworks being used, and greater tendencies towards ad hoc planning decisions on individual cases. It is concluded that extensive changes are needed to make local planning more responsive: changes particularly in the overall resourcing and programming context in which local planning operates, and in the procedures used within planning, above all those for involving local interests and in the way municipal administration is organised. The housing renewal system introduced in 1990 (with Renewal Areas) might, if suitably applied, help to facilitate such a form of more responsive local planning. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A The Research Issue and the Research Questions B Interest in the Research Issue 1 Personal Interests 2 Practice-related Interests 3 Academic Interest 4 Summary C The Dimensions of Local Planning 1 Large City Local Planning 2 Inner Residential Area Local Planning D Research Strategy 1 Overall Strategy 2 Detailed Methodology E Thesis Structure 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A The Research Issue and the Research Questions The purpose of this investigation is to improve understanding of local planning in a particular English context - the older inner residential areas of the major cities. Through better understanding it is intended that the interests of those based in these areas (mainly residents) may be furthered, whether through their own action or by action by politicians, government officials or others on their behalf. This object of research stems from personal interests as well as the broader concerns voiced in planning practice and in academic debates. These concerns will be examined later but first further comments on the research context and on the nature of 'local planning' are necessary, and the research issue will be detailed into specific questions. The research context refers to those inner residential areas of the English cities primarily built before 1914, rather than those parts which have been redeveloped after that date, mainly in the 1950s and 196Os. This is by no means a hard and fast limitation, as it is an important fact that redevelopment has been both spatially scattered and has had profound effects on areas not redeveloped. However, the limited focus does serve to identify a specific era of urban renewal in English cities, when redevelopment was becoming less all-powerful and rehabilitation gradually became the norm of physical treatment of residential areas. Furthermore it will be evident that a concentration on areas of residence does not exclude consideration of land uses which have been mixed in with or developed adjacent to those areas. The emphasis only serves to avoid investigating those large blocks of commercial, retail or industrial uses which exist in most major English cities. It will be noted that 'major' cities are referred to. This arises from a judgement that the larger cities in England share some common spatial-historical features which have given them some degree of similarity. This judgement rests on both personal 2 acquaintance with many of the cities and the research on inner cities undertaken especially in the last decade (see for example Hausner and Begg, 1986, and Robson, 1988).