Planning approval has been agreed to develop new housing and City River Park in Red Bank in the first phase of the major Victoria North regeneration area.
The approved plans hope to ready the Red Bank neighbourhood for future residential development through land remediation, earthworks and a change in site levels.
This is the first major investment in new green spaces on the bank of the River Irk.
The new 113-acre green space, City River Park, will eventually link Red Bank close to Manchester city centre to Queens Park in Collyhurst through green spaces.
The Red Bank area is currently characterised by underused brownfield land and invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed. These plans will bring forward the process of removing vegetation and creating welcoming and managed routes for walking and cycling.
It’s hoped the new park will become a catalyst to clean the River Irk as this investment also looks to create new habitats and attract wildlife back to the Irk Valley.
The commitment is to deliver a BioDiversity Net Gain of 10% in this part of the city through a series of linked planning applications relating to infrastructure, green space, river improvements and new residential development.
The approved plans also include the delivery of 5,500 new low carbon homes, bringing 25 acres of brownfield land back into use. The homes will include a range of tenure types including affordable housing.
Over the next 20 years, the Victoria North project will deliver more than 15,000 new homes (at least 20% of which will be affordable housing). Each area of the development will be connected by high-quality green spaces, creating a green neighbourhood of the future. The 46-hectare City River Park will open up and celebrate the Irk River Valley for the first time in decades.
“Victoria North is one of the largest regeneration programmes the UK has ever seen and will be transformational for our city,” said council leader Cllr Bev Craig.
“The Red Bank area is largely underused brownfield and unmanaged, unwelcoming scrub land, but will become an attractive new, green neighbourhood.
“This is a long-term, aspirational programme of regeneration and represents exactly the type of vision we should be striving for in our city to meet demand for new housing.”
