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Ancoats Urban Village Annual Report 2006/07
September 2007
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Overall outcome envisaged:-
1800 new residential properties 50,000 square metres of new commercial floor space 1,600 new jobs accommodated 8 Hectares of derelict or underused brownfield land transformed into viable new uses ÂŁ320M new private sector investment secured ÂŁ48m public sector investment
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Contents
Section
Page No
1
Foreword
3
2
Executive Summary
4
3
The Locality
5
4
Regeneration Context
7
5
The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) & Complementary Funding
8
6
Partnership Working & Delivery
9
7
Progress Against Outputs
10
8
Progress Against Expenditure
11
9
Major Achievements 2006/07
12
10
Status of Developments – March 2007
15
11
The Year Ahead
17
12
Complementary Activity – Public Realm Works
19
13
Conclusions
20
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1. Foreword:
The NWDA Annual Report for Ancoats, outlines the progress being made by the Agency and our partners New East Manchester and Manchester City Council , to stimulate the regeneration of this important part of the City Centre. Much has happened during the 2006/07 financial year, with an increased budget being secured, some large scale changes in project personnel being made to assist delivery, and most importantly further tangible achievements being delivered on the ground that build on the successes of previous years. Indeed it is estimated that on site and in design are some 1800 residential units and over 50,000 square metres of commercial floor space, all on target to be delivered by 2010. The NWDA’s pioneering use of Regional Development Agency compulsory purchase powers has enabled it to acquire those sites where owners have proven unwilling or unable to bring forward appropriate development, and sites acquired on this basis will be brought to the market to maintain the development momentum. The long term vision for Ancoats remains to bring the area firmly into the 21st century whilst celebrating and enhancing the area’s unique historic character. The Urban Village will not be preserved in aspic as a testament to the role it undertook, it will become a vibrant mixed use part of the City relevant to the people who live and work in it now, as well as to those that will come to the area in the future. New uses continue to be found for the historic buildings so that their long term future can be secured. New buildings, which have the quality to sit alongside listed buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries, are being encouraged on the vacant sites. These developments are ensuring that the population living and working in the area continues to increase providing the economic climate to sustain local businesses and services and to justify the increasing investment and values within the area.
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1. Executive Summary
The 2006/07 financial year has seen further significant strides made in delivering regeneration on the ground in Ancoats, with an increased budget being secured, some large scale changes in project personnel being made to assist delivery, and most importantly further tangible achievements being delivered on the ground that build on the successes of previous years. The Agency’s CPO for Ancoats was made in October 2001, an Inquiry was held in June 2002, and the CPO was confirmed in September 2002. The CPO provided everyone with the confidence and certainty that the whole of the area was going to be transformed. To overcome the challenges facing Ancoats, NWDA and NEM are working closely together, with additional input also received from Manchester City Council, English Heritage and Ancoats Building Preservation Trust (now Heritage Works Buildings Preservation Trust). It is estimated that on site and in design are some 1800 residential units and over 50,000 square feet of commercial floor space. Developments completed during 2006/07 were: former George Leigh St School (office conversion); Phase 1 of Royal Mills mixed use scheme (recognised by four awards including the RICS and NW Insider), shell repairs to Murrays Mills and the former St Peter’s Church; starts were made on Express Networks III, BS41 and Sarah Point. Key milestones for the year head will include starts on: Heart of Ancoats, 4547 Bengal Street, Flintglass Apartments, the Stockbridge Airco site, and the Ice Plant. These developments will be complemented by further improvements to the public realm, including the construction of a new public square.
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3. The Locality
The renaissance of Manchester over the last decade has taken place on an unprecedented scale, with the area reinventing itself as a modern and truly cosmopolitan city. It is a dynamic growing commercial centre, a developing world class university city, a regional centre for shopping, transport, culture and entertainment. The Ancoats urban village area of Manchester covers primarily some 20 hectares it is just over 1 kilometre north east of the central retail and office area of the City Centre. Adjoining the thriving Northern Quarter with its eclectic mix of activity, Ancoats Urban Village has frontages on to Great Ancoats Street and Oldham Road, with the Rochdale canal forming the southern boundary.
Ancoats is rich in industrial and architectural heritage, spanning the development of urban cotton spinning and related activities from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.. It was designated a Conservation Area in 1989 and, along with Castlefied and the Worsley Basin is on the UK tentative list for inscription as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Conservation Area contains 14 listed buildings, 7 of which are Grade II*.
The Ancoats area also contains another key project within the wider New East Manchester regeneration initiative; New Islington. immediately adjacent to Ancoats Urban Village, it is the UK’s third Millennium Community, where a former Council estate is being redeveloped to provide over 1700 new homes, a new clinic and a new school, all based around a new canal and high quality public realm. This project is being taken forward via a partnership between New East Manchester, English Partnerships and Lead Developer, Urban Splash. Major transformation is also planned for Miles Platting, the area immediately to the north east of Ancoats. Under the Government’s Private Finance Initiative this area, characterised by 1970’s council housing, will be transformed through selective demolition, refurbishment of retained homes and infill new build, into a mixed tenure neighbourhood around the newly restored Rochdale Canal. As a place to live, work and play, Ancoats is ideally placed to offer the benefits of living in the city with all the cultural and social facilities it has to offer, along with amenities such as health and education that are vital to sustaining communities.
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4. Regeneration Context
During the late 1980s/ early 1990s Manchester made bids to host the Olympic Games. Some buildings in the Ancoats area were purchased by speculators and their occupants given notice to quit. When the bids were unsuccessful the buildings were abandoned heralding a very rapid decline in the area. Already run down, the combination of higher levels of vacancy and poor building maintenance accelerated decline and led to a number of key buildings being lost. In 1998 the Ancoats Urban Village Strategic Framework reported that an estimated that 80% of the commercial and industrial floor space in the area was vacant. The mill complexes were underused, vacant or derelict and the fabric of many buildings was at risk. Perception of the area was that it was threatening and intimidating where vandalism and street crime flourished, a “no go� area for investment Whilst some developer interest had been expressed, it was thwarted by a combination of unrealistic value expectations of landowners and the concern that without some form of concerted action, the area would lack the critical mass necessary to achieve sustained change. The pattern of ownership was extremely diverse, there were some 201 separate title interests within the core area. Without the ability to accelerate development on all these sites the risk of failure for most was too great, even with grant funding available to cover profit gap.
This combination of the inability to assemble the land required, coupled with the uncertainties related to single developments, resulted in negligible progress in regeneration on the ground. Earlier public sector interventions had proven insufficient– small industrial unit provision, City Grant to convert the Beehive Mill and Express Newspapers, ad hoc land assembly by English Partnerships and the NWDA, landscaping, etc. As a consequence of these earlier attempts, there was recognition that a focussed delivery organisation was required to promote and coordinate the renaissance of the area, leading to the formation in 1996 of the Ancoats Urban Village Company (AUVC) and its sister, the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust (now Heritage Works). These companies were set up by the SRB funded Eastside Regeneration Project, the aim being to enable ABPT to source potential funding not available to the private sector and for AUVC (now subsumed within New East Manchester) to work with the private sector. In its first years of operation, AUVC produced (in conjunction with the City Council and English Heritage), the Supplementary Planning Guidance and a Public Realm Strategy.
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5. The Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)
The loss of the UK gap funding regime due to an EU ruling against it on competition grounds, made it even clearer to all partners that there was no prospect of regeneration within Ancoats without some alternative form of intervention. Confidence in Ancoats, where it existed at all, was ebbing away and many developers expressed their concern that if they were to proceed with their developments, they would be on their own in an otherwise unimproving area. The need to provide certainty that a critical mass of development could be achieved was ever more pressing. The loss of the “carrot” incentive to promote unviable/marginal development led partners, by this time including the fledgling NWDA, to consider other action and the possibility of a regeneration based compulsory purchase order (CPO) was first mooted. Legal advice confirmed that this was an appropriate use of RDA powers. The Agency’s CPO for Ancoats was made in October 2001, an Inquiry was held in June 2002, and the CPO was confirmed in September 2002. Between July 03 and the expiry of cpo powers in Oct 05, the Agency executed 8 General Vesting Declarations. . The CPO covered circa 8 hectares of the 20 hectares comprising the Ancoats Urban Village.
Where owners/ developers were as a consequence willing to carry out developments in accordance with the aspirations for the area, they were required to enter into Implementation Agreements. CPO powers were then not exercised in exchange for owners/ developers accepting a timetable for implementing development and agreeing to surrender their freeholds in return for long leaseholds to facilitate an area wide management body. Where owners were unwilling to offer development proposals for their sites, or were unable to agree schemes within the timescale afforded by the CPO for doing so, these properties were acquired by the Agency for disposal either to pre- CPO formally registered interests, or to put on the open market.
Other Complementary Funding In addition to the funding being made available under the CPO Project, the Agency has committed other resources to the area, including gap funding of circa £23m on six projects including Royal Mills (£9M) and Murray’s Mills (£5M) and public realm works (£5M). NWDA funding has facilitated access to further funds from the Heritage Lottery and European Regional Development Funds. English Heritage also funded essential repair works that stabilised several buildings at risk.
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6. Partnership Working & Delivery
The regeneration of the Ancoats area is being spearheaded by New East Manchester through the Ancoats Urban Village Company (AUVC was subsumed into, New East Manchester Ltd (NEM) in April 2005). The original AUVC board contained members nominated by Manchester City Council, NWDA, the Ancoats Buildings Preservation Trust and the Princes Foundation (they withdrew from the project in 2003). In addition, there was representation from the private sector and observer status for English Heritage (their statutory involvement in the area precluded full membership). The Chair was a private sector representative and the company was fortunate in attracting two prestigious property developers to that role; initially Tom Bloxham MBE until 2001 and subsequently Jim Ramsbottom until 2005. Since the dissolution of that board, the activities of the Urban Village are reported to the NEM Board, however the spirit of the earlier board has been maintained through ongoing informal dialogue with key stakeholders. Following a restructuring within NWDA, new internal governance structures were put in place during 2006/07 in line with Agency standards.
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7. Progress Against Outputs
The regeneration of Ancoats has been underway since 1998 and the cpo action since 2001, in a review of progress undertaken during 2006/07 an analysis of outputs resulting either directly or indirectly from the Compulsory Purchase Order were as outlined in the tables below:
Outputs Arising Directly from the CPO Output Category
Total Gross
Achieved to 31 March 2007
Under Construction 31 March 2007
Residential Units
1,147
55
382
30,392
6,295
5,130
1,229
316
223
Private sector leverage
£190m
£14m
£62m
Public sector leverage
£2.95m
£1.6m
£0.7m
3.8ha
0.8ha
1.1ha
Output Category
Total Gross
Achieved to 31 March 2007
Under Construction 31 March 2007
Residential Units
666
92
326
19,582
2,435
12,895
334
99
90
£132m
£13M
£85m
4.2
0.5ha
0.8ha
Commercial Floor space (sq m) Gross jobs accommodated
Brownfield land remediated
Complementary Outputs
Commercial Floor space (sq m) Gross jobs accommodated Private sector leverage Brownfield land remediated
In addition to the cpo activity, the outputs in the table above, benefited from other measures provided by NWDA and other sources in order to be brought to fruition. These include; Royal Mills, Murrays’ Mills, MM2, Flint Glass Works, Ice Plant. NWDA has committed a further £15m funding over and above that committed to the CPO alongside HLF and ERDF funding to secure these developments.
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8. Progress Against Expenditure
Funding Re-approval During 2006//07 the project budget was increased from £16M to £43.5M, largely as a result of increased land values. NWDA Board agreed to revise the project budget on 16 November 2006, with formal endorsement of this increase being received from the Department of Trade Industry on 4 April 2007. Notwithstanding this, it should be noted that the project has resulted in the Agency coming into ownership of a substantial amount of property which will in turn generate additional significant capital receipts in the future. Accordingly, the difference in net expenditure between the 2003 approval and that secured this year is relatively marginal.
Spend on CPO Project: Actual and Forecast Ancoats CPO Project (£Ms) Total to 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 date
Land purchases Write downs / write backs Professional fees Estate costs Total expenditure
0.1
-
4.0
1.6
-
-
-
0.1
0.5
0.3
0.6
-
-
-
0.2
0.5
4.3
07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 Project total
1.0
0.8
13.5
21.0
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
21.8
2.0 (0.9)
-
6.9
8.0
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
8.8
0.1
0.2
0.5
2.3
0.9
1.0
0.4
0.3
4.9
-
0.2
0.1
0.4
0.7
0.9
0.3
0.3
0.3
2.5
4.2
0.4
1.1 21.3 32.0
2.2
1.7
1.1
1.0
38.0
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9. Major Achievements 2006/07
Express III (nearly finished) During 2006/07, Artisan commenced work on Express III, which will deliver a mix of new build apartments and workspace. This £5M private sector investment will yield 56 new residential units and 6,000 square metres of new commercial floor space.
41 Bengal Street (nearly finished) Substantial progress has been made on this seven storey City South development of 50 new apartments and 1,000 square metres of commercial floor space. Acting on word of mouth, all but three of the apartments within this modernist cube were snapped up 12 months in advance of the development’s completion date of August 07.
Royal Mills The triple award winning Royal Mills scheme where ING Real Estate Development is engineering a restoration of one of the UKs most historically important cotton spinning complexes reflects the renewed confidence in Ancoats. Completion of the first stage of the £85m scheme has involved the installation of a spectacular £1m courtyard atrium. Last year saw the Dutch property company complete 198 of the planned 315 residential units and 7,600 square metres of business space.
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9. Major Achievements 2006/07
Barrons Site – Sarah Point Works got under way on the distinctive and contemporary looking Sarah Point development by B S C Developments. This 12 floor landmark building fronting onto Great Ancoats Street will house 1,500 square metres of commercial floor space with 139 residential units above.
ASK – former George Leigh Street School ASK Developments have now completed the redevelopment of a former school on George Leigh Street for offices. Some 800 square metres of new commercial floor space has been created by this £1,111,000 investment which is capable of accommodating up to 40 employees.
Murrays Shell Repair After a £14M restoration programme to save them from collapse, the huge buildings that are Murray’s Mills complex are now waiting for the next stage of their reincarnation. The work so far to strengthen the Grade II* listed structures, re-slate the roof and put in new windows has been publicly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and NWDA, and was overseen by Ancoats Building Preservation Trust. The Burrell Company and Inpartnership will next turn the buildings into a mixed use development. Old Mill will be converted into five floors of apartments with lower ground floor units having their own front doors. New Mill on the opposite side of the courtyard will have ground floor offices with apartments above. The buildings along Murray Street will be turned into offices and a new hotel, forming the final side of the quadrangle.
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St.Peter’s Shell Repair St Peter’s Church was built in 1859 and is of a distinctive Romanesque style. The church was acquired by the Ancoats Building Preservation Trust (ABPT) in 1997 on a long lease from Manchester City Council. ABPT sourced a £905,000 stage 2 HLF grant and £704,000 grant from the NWDA to complete the permanent repair of St.Peter’s as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the Ancoats area. The works included external and internal repairs – brickwork, re-pointing and re-roofing as required, reinstatement of lost features, provision of services and full disabled access. Construction commenced on 27 July 2004 and was completed in May 2006.
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10. Status of Developments
Name/address of development
Developer
Comment
Status of Development
1
Waulk Mill, Redhill St/Bengal St,
Urban Splash
Successful redevelopment of grade 2 listed mill
Completed
2
Express Networds II
Artisan
Conversion apartments and workspace
Completed
3
8 Loom St
Water Street Company Redevelopment to office + residential use Ltd
Completed
4
Crown and Kettle
Artisan
Refurb of Grade 2 listed PH
Completed
5
Virginia House
Artisan
Refurb of offices and art galllery
Completed
6
Express Networks III
Artisan
New build contemporary apartments + workspace
On site
7
Great Ancoats St - Sarah B S C Point Developments Ltd
Residential and ground floor commercial on On site main road frontage
8
62 Jersey St
Conversion to shop, restaurant and flat
On site
9
George Leigh St School ASK
Redevelopment of former school to offices
On site
10
64a Jersey St Flintglass Apartments
Northern Group
New build apartments
On site
11
41 Bengal Street
City South Developments
Apartments above with gf commercial uses, On site 7 floors +basement car park
12
Hood Street scheme
Northern Group
New build mixed use
Planning approved
13
32-40 Oldham Road
Gore & Khan with Artisan
Mixed use redevelopment of site
Planning approved
14
17-19 Jersey Street
---
Conversion from residential to office use
Planning approved
15
Heart of Ancoats
Artisan
Town houses, apartments and leisure
Planning approved
16
Stockbridge Airco site
Worksharp (Developments) Ltd
Apartments above gf commercial uses, 8 floors +basement car park
Pre-planning application
17
45-47 Bengal Street+ Henshaw's Yard
Nikal/McLean
New build apartments & offices
Pre-planning application
18
Dixon Mill/New Little Mill Burrell/InPartnership
Conversion to multi-storey car park for Murrays Mills
Pre-planning application
19
Blossom Street/Henry St Blossom Street Developments Ltd
Mixed use pub/commercial/residential on 7 Pre-planning floors application
20
66 Jersey Street
Manchester Properties New build apartments, mainly 3 bedroomed Pre-planning application
21
30-34 George Leigh St
---
Mixed use residential and retail
Pre-planning application
22
Elec sub-station, 15 Jersey Street
---
Conversion for office use
Inactive
23
St Michael's Church Prestbytery
N/a, in temporary use New build mixed use opportunity as builders compound
Private Investor
Pre-developer selection
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Name/address of development
Developer
Comment
Status of Development
24
Jactin House
Building not yet available
Redevelopment opportunity
Pre-developer selection
25
30 Poland Street (not part of cpo)
Site not yet available
Site assembly not yet complete
Pre-developer selection
26
6 Loom Street
not yet available
Redevelopment opportunity
Pre-developer selection
27
87-91 Great Ancoats Street
Building not yet available
Redevelopment opportunity
Pre-developer selection
28
Blossom St/Hood St (no developer)
not yet available
New build opportunity
Pre-developer selection
29
St Michael's Church
Seeking community facility promoter
Initially seeking sustainable community use Pre-developer selection
30
Flint Glass Works, 64 Jersey St
Northern Group
Conversion of glass works to workspace
31
MM2 Gt Ancoats St/Redhill St
Gleeson/Persimmon Homes
New build apartments+ shops on main road Completed frontage
32
Gt Ancoats Street / Redhill Street
NWDA/NEM
Public open space adjoining canal
33
Royal Mills (incorporates ING Real Estate 13B + 19) R+NB
Redevelopment of 2*listed Mill to residential On site and commercial uses. Phase 1 completed
34
Ice Plant
Northern Group
Apartments above gf commercial uses, 9 floors +2 levels basement car park
Planning approved
35
Murrays Mills
Burrell/InPartnership
Historic structure secured, for developer to fit out,
Planning approved
36
Public Realm
NWDA/NEM/Section 106 etc funded
Step change in highway surface, furniture,
Planning approved
37
Blossom St POS
NWDA/NEM
Public square providing setting for surrounding
Pre-planning application
38
St Peter's Church
---
Proposed national embroidery & textile museum
Pre-planning application
39
Car Park
NWDA/NEM
Car park
Pre-planning application
40
Coates School, 2 Jersey Street
---
Conversion of former school to office use
Completed
41
27 Blossom Street
Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments
Office refurbishment
Completed
42
2-4 Loom Street
Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments
Workshop to office refurbishment
Completed
43
Sam's Foundry 46 Radium Street
Richard Haley/ HarcastleInvestments
Refurbishment fo 3 storey warehouse occupied by PCT
Completed
44
Ghulam House
Freedia Fabrics
Existing use (multi let commerical)
None required
45
Owen's Car Park
---
Existing use (car park)
None required
Completed
Completed
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11. The Year Ahead
Heart of Ancoats (Artisan) The planned Heart of Ancoats development will see the developer Artisan in association with Activestream construct 137 town houses and apartments, alongside 198 square metres of leisure development. Total private sector investment will fall just short of £20 million.
45 -49 Bengal Street – City South The developer City South will be making a start during 2007/08 on the construction of new build apartments and offices on the site of 45 to 47 Bengal Street. Some 135 residential units will be provided alongside 2,047 square metres of commercial floor space which is capable of accommodating 108 new jobs. Total private sector investment is estimated to be in the region of £15.5 million.
Flintglass Apartments (Northern Group) Flintglass apartments will see the construction of 136 new residential units by the Northern Group abutting the adjacent canal. Some 205 square metres of commercial development will complement these apartments, representing a total private sector investment of £15 million.
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Stockbridge Airco site (Worksharp) The redevelopment of the former Stockbridge Airco industrial premises will see 194 new residential units constructed on seven floors above a ground floor earmarked for commercial uses and a basement car park. The total private sector investment in the development will be £29 million.
Ice Plant (Northern Group) The redevelopment of the former Ice Plant by the Northern Group will see the construction of 136 new apartments 1,200 square metres of commercial development spanning 9 floors, plus a 2 level basement car park. The redevelopment will be capable of accommodating over 60 new jobs and will represent £13.5 million of private sector investment.
Ancoats Management Company
Ancoats 3D Model
The forward strategy for the regeneration of Ancoats and specifically the CPO area is to establish a Management Company that will secure a viable and enduring future for the Urban Village. It will hold the freehold reversion of the estate enabling it to enforce lease covenants and act to ensure that the area does not again deteriorate as it did before. It will maintain the public artworks and ensure that the monitoring and maintenance of CCTV coverage across the area is undertaken. The company is to recover its costs via an estate charge, and manage the 999 year leases on which redevelopments have been secured, to the common benefit of all owners and occupiers.
The Ancoats 3D Model is fully interactive, constructed using computer gaming technology, enabling users to “fly above and walk” around the area. Designed by consultants Arup on behalf of NEM, the model was constructed using both photogrammetry and architects designs. The technology can add a new scheme to the existing environment and show exactly what it would look like to assist with assessing contextual impact. The data is so precise it can be used as evidence to support planning applications.
. The company is to be established during 2007/08, to come into force during Spring 2008, with a detailed Business Plan to be prepared during the Summer of 2007 to commence this process.
During 2007/08 there are plans to further refine and upgrade the 3D model, adding several new proposed developments
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12. Complementary Activity Public Realm Works
At a national and local level the case has been made for high quality public realm by both investors and policy makers. An elegant, robust and sustainable public realm is no longer viewed as an optional commodity for the contemporary city but essential in terms of its efficient functioning and the well-being of its citizens. A Public Realm Strategy was prepared for Ancoats and approved by the City Council in 2002, which provides specific guidance with regard to the following issues: • • • • • •
traffic management within Ancoats Urban Village Recommendations for pedestrian linkage to neighbouring areas A parking strategy for Ancoats Urban Village Detailed specification for new carriageway and footway materials Lighting recommendations Public Art
Total public funding for the various phases of new public realm is £9M, with additional private sector contributions via Section 106 agreements. 2006 saw Ancoats scoop a Waterways Renaissance Award with the panel commenting that ‘This stunning canal heritage focussed scheme … is an outstanding project in an outstanding location and the panel expects it to regenerate this area dramatically.’ Public realm artist Dan Dubowitz expects to complete the majority of his work during 07/08. Since his appointment he has produced a book of stories and images, put on a major exhibition at Piccadilly Station here in Manchester and at the Cathedral of St John in New York and the final stage of his work is a series of installations within buildings that can be viewed via peepholes from the street. This will introduce an intriguing new dimension into the public realm. It is aimed at making people want to discover more about the area and its interesting past without being “worthily educational”. A preview of this last phase of work will be on show at the Metrolink level of Piccadilly Station from July 07 for approx 3 months.
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13. Conclusions
2006/07 saw a marked acceleration to the transformation of Ancoats. The area is no longer a byword for abandonment and decay, which is a testament to the ongoing efforts of the North West Development Agency, New East Manchester, Manchester City Council and various private sector partners. Of 45 plots identified for development within the boundary of the CPO, 11 are fully developed, seven are on site and 19 have negotiations at an advanced stage. NWDA is planning to invest a total of £27 million in the CPO area, in addition to providing gap funding of over £15 million on six projects including Royal Mills (£8 million) and Murrays Mills (£4.7m). Arising from this significant level of investment, both the NWDA and NEM remain confident that this level of support in the eight hectares covered by the CPO will attract private sector investment of £322 million and deliver 50,000 sq metres of commercial floor space, 1800 apartments (120,000sq m) and 1600 new jobs, many in the professional and creative sectors. Ancoats will become a place where people want to live, work and visit. Alongside the wide choice of housing and varying business premises, people will find local shops, restaurants and bars. Ancoats will become a safe place, which is attractive to visitors, with new public spaces and new leisure uses helping to bring life back into this area of unique character and heritage. Peter Hetherington, talking about the rise in canal side regeneration and redevelopment, wrote in the Guardian on May 3 2006: The centre piece, astride the Rochdale and Ashton Canals, is Ancoats Urban Village, which is this year’s winner of the Waterways Renaissance Awards, run by the Waterways Trust and the British Urban Regeneration Association. Praising the scheme, made possible through £40m of public funding, which has attracted more than £200m of private investment, the judges hailed a “stunning canalheritage scheme…an outstanding project in an outstanding location”. ’In addition, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) says the streets of Ancoats and New Islington are among the best in England. A CABE report praises the area’s partners for helping transform the `attractive industrial suburb' into an `elegant public space'. It says Ancoats and New Islington show what can be achieved with a `clear design vision'.
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Ancoats is often referred to as the world's first industrial suburb The development of Ancoats began in the late 1700s, and peaked during the Industrial Revolution, when Manchester became known as 'Cottonopolis' In 1989, part of Ancoats was designated a Conservation Area Some 14 buildings are Grade 2 listed, 7 of them at Grade 2* The mill developments built along the line of the Rochdale Canal came from the marriage of steam power technology and greatly improved spinning machines.
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September 2007 NWDA H9-04