Report of the Chief Executive attached

The Executive considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on key areas of progress against the Our Manchester Strategy – Forward to 2025 which reset Manchester’s priorities for the next five years to ensure the Council could still achieve the city’s ambition set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2016 – 2025.

The Executive Member for Growth and Development reported that two planning applications had been submitted for the city’s emerging Red Bank neighbourhood, part of the wider Victoria North scheme.  The plans, submitted by developer Far East Consortium as part of the Victoria North joint venture partnership with the Council, represented one of the largest residential schemes to be brought forward in Manchester in recent years and set out the ambition to transform more than 30 acres of largely brownfield land into a vibrant neighbourhood of 4,800 homes alongside commercial and social facilities to support the local community. 

As well as this,  a planning application had been submitted to create affordable ‘Later Living’ homes on the site of the former Chorlton Leisure Centre.  The new development would provide 50 apartments (a mix of one bed and two bed) for the over 55’s.  Seven of the apartments would be for sale by shared ownership, three would be neighbourhood apartments providing step up accommodation, with the remaining 40 capped at the Manchester Living Rent.  Lettings would be prioritized to over 55’s with a housing priority need, including those wishing to right-size and free up a social rented family home in the local area for families on the housing waiting list. 

The Executive Member for Growth and Development also reported that the Council had secured £21m in funding for retrofitting schemes to make existing homes more energy efficient.  The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) had awarded £11m through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund  (SHDF) to support the retrofitting of the Council’s housing stock, sourced through a combined bid made by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.  In addition to this, the Council had successfully bid to DESNZ for another £10m in funding through its Home Upgrade Grant 2 (HUG2).  The Council was developing the details and would set out in the coming months the locations and properties which would be targeted and included, in line with eligibility criteria for the funding.

The Executive Member for Growth and Development reported that a further 700 private sector homes now required a landlord licence following the expansion of the city’s Selective Licensing regime to five new schemes across four neighbourhoods.  All residents in properties that now required a licence would receive a letter explaining that licensing was now in operation and that their landlord would be required to apply. Landlords would be contacted by the Council and were encouraged to apply for a licence at the earliest opportunity with an early bird discount being offered to all applications through until 8 August 2023. 

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport reported that as part of the ongoing Manchester to Chorlton Cycleway project, the Council had been working to create a continuous link from the city centre to Chorlton. Over recent months a new CYCLOPS junction had been built, providing a way for cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles to safely travel through the junction whilst remaining segregated from one another.  This was intended to both smooth journey times through the junction, but also to improve people’s safety during their travels.  As part of this project, some changes had been made to the existing road layout, with Shrewsbury Street being closed at Upper Chorlton Street, as well as a ban on motor traffic turning left from Chorlton Road into Moss Lane West.

The Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure reported that Manchester had been put forward as one of eight host cities in a bid to bring the EURO 2028 football tournament to the UK and Ireland.  If successful, the bid would see the Etihad Stadium host matches in the competition along with nine other stadiums in London, Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast. In addition, the city was already confirmed as one of only four cities in the world to host the group stages of The Davis Cup.  Hosting the matches in Manchester was part of the Lawn Tennis Association’s strategic vision to broaden access to the sport and complements the city’s range of high quality tennis facilities.

Councillor Leech sought clarification as to what percentage of the Redbank development within Victoria North scheme would be affordable housing and he also sought clarification as to how the Council assessed the success of CYCLOPS junctions.

The Executive Member for Growth and Development confirmed that at least 20% of the Redbank development would be affordable housing.  The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that monitoring of the impact of CYCLOPS junction would take place over the next few months which would help determine its success.

Decision

The Executive note the report.