Report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development)   

This report provides a progress update in relation to investment being made by the City Council in delivering the Northern and Eastern Gateway programmes, which in total are anticipated to deliver in excess of 21,000 new homes over a 15 – 20 year period and 2,200 jobs created or safeguarded.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Growth and Development), which provided a progress update in relation to investment being made by the Council in delivering the Northern and Eastern Gateway programmes, which in total were anticipated to deliver in excess of 21,000 new homes over a 15 – 20 year period and create or safeguard 2,200 jobs.

The main points and themes within the report included:-

·                Budgetary allocations of £25m (Northern Gateway) and £47m (Eastern Gateway) had been made available from the Capital Programme 2017 – 2022 to help unlock and maximise the potential of these areas;

·                The scale of the Northern Gateway opportunity and associated challenges;

·                Details of the investment to support both the Northern Gateway and Eastern Gateway initiatives, including co-investment with joint venture partners;

·                Progress to date in terms of expenditure, including the acquisition of Central Retail Park and The Courtyard at Royal Mills; and

·                Detail of remedial works undertaken around New Islington Marina.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committees discussions were:-

·                What would be the consequence to the Council should the bid for £51.6m from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, to tackle constraints to development in the Lower Irk Valley neighbourhood, be unsuccessful;

·                Clarification was sought as to whether the bid for £51.6m from the  Housing Infrastructure Fund was by Manchester City Council or whether this was a bid on behalf the Combined Authority;

·                Was there still a proposal for a new tram stop within the Northern gateway programme; and

·                If the bid to the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund was unsuccessful, would this impact on the ability to deliver the target of 20% affordable housing (equating to 3000 properties) within the Northern Gateway programme.

The Committee was advised that the Council was remaining optimistic in terms of the outcome of the bid submitted.  The Council had been in detailed negotiations with Homes England for a significant period of time and had been through a detailed process of due diligence in relation to the bid.  However, should the bid be unsuccessful in part or whole, the Council had identified a range of scenarios as to how the Council would intend to progress with both programmes.  The Leader added that in the event of the bid being unsuccessful the likely impact would be that the development programme would be lengthened in terms of completion rather than scaled back or abandoned.

The Leader advised that the £51.6m bid was originally a joint between Manchester Council and Salford Council, supported by the Combined Authority, but having taken advice from Government, the Council had separated its bid from Salford’s bid, as it was suggested that this would result in a higher chance of both bids being successful.

Officers explained that the Transport Strategy for 2040 still proposed a new tram stop within the Northern Gateway programme and the Council was in discussions with TfGM around a pre-feasibility study.

The Leader explained that within the Strategic Framework for the Irk Valley and Collyhurst area of the Northern Gateway, the Council expected that at least 3000 properties would meet the Council’s definition of affordability.  There would be a number of controls in relation to this, the most important being approval by the Executive of the Business Plan, which would be required to provide detail on how the Council intended to deliver this number of affordable homes.

Decision

The Committee notes the report.