Manchester City pumps £13m into community revamp
MANCHESTER City Council yesterday approved the masterplan for a £40m revamp of community facilities at Manchester City FC’s planned Etihad Campus.
It is proposing a new leisure centre with a swimming pool, a 600-place sixth form college, a sports research institute and retail units at the 16-acre site next to City’s new academy.
Known as the “Beswick Project Masterplan”, the scheme is expected to create almost 200 jobs and attract around 2,500 visitors a day to the area.
A council report said the scheme will cost £40m, not including land acquisitions. Of this, the sixth form college will cost £10.2m; the leisure centre £8.7m; and the sports research institute £13.9m.
The council is hoping to pool cash from a variety of sources, including the Department of Education which may commit £9.8m to the college, and Manchester City which is contributing £9.7m to the sports institute and £3m to the leisure centre.
The plans will mean the closure of Grey Mare Lane Market. Traders have asked the council how a traditional market could be included within the masterplan and 186 people signed a petition.
However, the final masteprlan does not include the market as it is “incompatible visually and functionally with the proposals for the Community Hub”. And a new market will not be incorporated into the designs. Based on the market’s trading performance this, “is not a viable or sustainable option”, said the report.
It added: “If the masterplan is approved in this form then it is proposed that displaced market traders will be offered the opportunity to move into well regulated existing markets within Manchester on terms that will provide transitional relief at reduced rates.”
The scheme must now go to the council’s planning committee.
The site is adjacent to Manchester City’s £100m Etihad Campus, an 80-acre site that will include a 7,000-seat arena as well as player and youth accommodation. There will also be a media centre and 16 football pitches. The club wants it ready for the 2014-15 season.
