Manchester City Council Item 5 Executive 29 October 2014 Manchester City Council Report for Resolution Report to: Executive - 29 October 2014 Subject: Ancoats and New Islington Neighbourhood Development Framework – Final Draft Report of: The Chief Executive Summary The April 2014 meeting of the Executive received a draft version of an updated Neighbourhood Development Framework for Ancoats and New Islington. This covering report accompanies a final draft of the Framework for consideration and approval. The final draft of the document has been concluded following a public consultation process involving local residents, businesses, public services and the voluntary & community sectors. The Ancoats and New Islington Neighbourhood Development Framework seeks to update the existing frameworks developed and encapsulated in the 2008 – 2018 East Manchester Strategic Regeneration Framework. Recommendations The Executive is asked to: 1. Note the comments received from residents, businesses and services contained within the report; 2. Approve the final draft Ancoats and New Islington Neighbourhood Development Framework to guide the future development of the area, with the intention that it will also be a material consideration in the Council’s decision making as a Local Planning Authority. Wards Affected: Ancoats and Clayton, Bradford Community Strategy Summary of the contribution to the strategy Spine Performance of the The proposals for Ancoats and New Islington offer the economy of the region potential for, amongst other things, residential and and sub region commercial development to be brought forward enabling the area to add to the performance of the sub- regional and regional economy; increasing housing supply to support economic growth objectives and creating new employment opportunities. Manchester City Council Item 5 Executive 29 October 2014 Reaching full potential in The Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods will education and continue to provide direct employment opportunities employment and offer a potential for job growth. Individual and collective Not Applicable self esteem – mutual respect Neighbourhoods of The Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods offer Choice the potential to help deliver the Manchester Residential Growth prospectus, helping contribute to and meet the demand for new homes in the city. The redevelopment of the neighbourhoods will involve the creation of high quality new environments and the provision of facilities that are accessible to the local community. Full details are in the body of the report, along with any implications for: • Equal Opportunities Policy • Risk Management • Legal Considerations Financial Consequences None Contact Officers: Name: Sir Howard Bernstein Position: Chief Executive, Manchester City Council Telephone: 0161 234 3006 E-mail: [email protected] Name: Eddie Smith Position: Strategic Director, Strategic Development Telephone: 0161 234 3030 E-mail: [email protected] Name: Ian Slater Position: Strategic Neighbourhood Lead Telephone: 0161 234 4582 E-mail: [email protected] Name: Anne Taylor Position: Regeneration Manager (East), Manchester City Council Telephone: 0161 234 1100 E-mail: [email protected] Manchester City Council Item 5 Executive 29 October 2014 Name: Linda Comstive Position: Head of Regeneration (Legal) Telephone: 0161 234 4599 E-mail: [email protected] Background documents (available for public inspection): The following documents disclose important facts on which the report is based and have been relied upon in preparing the report. Copies of the background documents are available up to 4 years after the date of the meeting. If you would like a copy please contact one of the contact officers above. ° East Manchester Strategic Regeneration Framework, Executive, 19 December 2007. ° Draft Ancoats and New Islington Neighbourhood Development Framework, Executive, 8 April 2014. Manchester City Council Item 5 Executive 29 October 2014 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Over the last fifteen to twenty years the City Council has worked in conjunction with national and regional government agencies, local businesses and community stakeholders and a variety of developer partners to develop and deliver comprehensive regeneration strategies in the Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods. For the majority of this period, strategic oversight for this regeneration process rested with New East Manchester (NEM), the Urban Regeneration Company established by the City Council, the North West Development Agency (NWDA) and English Partnerships – now known as the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). 1.2 The most recent update of the East Manchester Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) in 2008, set out clear Neighbourhood Development Frameworks for both Ancoats and New Islington to help guide future development activity. 1.3 However, the global financial crisis that was beginning just as this Framework was completed led to a significant downturn in development activity and also severe reductions in public sector funding, leading to the disestablishment of NEM and the closure of the NWDA and responsibility for overseeing development activity passed to the City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency. 1.4 Over the past 12 – 18 months there have been encouraging signs that the development market in these two neighbourhoods is starting to return, with renewed developer interest and progress underway on new developments and previously stalled sites. However, overall economic conditions are very different to what they were in 2008 and this, linked to the re-organisation of roles and responsibilities within the key public sector agencies, means that it is now an opportune moment to update and refresh the Neighbourhood Development Framework for the two neighbourhoods. 1.5 A draft Neighbourhood development Framework was reported to the Executive Committee in April 2014, which highlighted the future vision, objectives and a set of Core Development Principles, to form the basis on which public consultation would be undertaken. This report therefore presents a Final Draft Neighbourhood Development Framework for Ancoats and New Islington following a 1 month public consultation process held with residents, businesses, public services and voluntary & community sector stakeholders. 2.0 Background 2.1 Ancoats and New Islington are two distinctive neighbourhoods that sit immediately adjacent to the Regional Centre, on the north eastern City Centre Fringe. 2.2 Ancoats can be defined as an area bounded by Oldham Road to the north, Butler Street to the north east, Great Ancoats Street to the west, the Rochdale Canal to the South and Rodney Street to the east. Manchester City Council Item 5 Executive 29 October 2014 2.3 New Islington covers and area between the Rochdale and Ashton Canals with Great Ancoats Street to the west extending over to Pollard Street to the east and Beswick Street to the north. 2.4 Both neighbourhoods were originally developed as a result of the industrial revolution, with Ancoats being labelled as the word’s first industrial suburb, containing a large number of key heritage assets and listed buildings that lead to Conservation Area status being granted in 1989. In contrast, the New Islington area developed as a more organic collection of terraced workers’ housing, warehouses and relatively modestly scaled mills. 2.5 The economic fortunes of both neighbourhoods significantly declined during the 20th century, with significant employment and population decline. However, over the past 20 years the City Council has worked with a number of national and regional government agencies; and in partnership with private and community sectors to develop and implement strategies, programmes and projects to stabilise and reverse economic and physical decline, and up until the financial crisis of 2008 very positive progress was being made. 2.6 However, the economic downturn has meant that private sector development in both neighbourhoods slowed significantly between 2009 – 2013. However, over the past 12 months the economic situation has shown signs of improvement – evidenced by residential schemes at Sarah Point, Bengal Mill and Royal Mills in Ancoats recommencing and The Point in New Islington starting on site. In total these schemes are bringing c550 residential units to market. 2.7 More significantly, in June 2014 the Council Executive approved the establishment of a joint venture company between the City Council and the Abu Dabi United Group (ADUG) - Manchester Life – to deliver new housing development to support the City's growth strategy and specifically residential markets in the eastern fringe of the city. The first phase of the initiative will see the development of 6 sites within the Ancoats and New Islington neighbourhoods, which are expected to deliver around 830 new dwellings and up to 6,000 units over the next 10 years. 2.8 On this basis, with the market recovering and with a committed investor, ensuring the area makes a positive contribution, it is timely to review and update the existing development frameworks for the area to ensure that the opportunities for residential and commercial investment are maximised and that development is brought forward in an appropriate manner. 3.0 Public consultation approach 3.1 In April 2014, the Executive Committee endorsed a draft Ancoats and New Islington Neighbourhood Development Framework for public consultation to be undertaken in Summer 2014. 3.2 The consultation process ran from 23 June