£113m Brunswick scheme set for green light
MANCHESTER City Council is preparing to rubber stamp the £113m private finance initiative (PFI) regeneration of the Brunswick estate close to the city centre.
A planning application that involves the demolition of nearly 300 homes, the construction of 444 and the refurbishment of 839, is down for approval at the city’s planning committee on May 30.
The work will be carried out over 25 years by the Solutions 4 Brunswick consortium which consists of construction group Galliford Try, Contour Homes, contract manager Equitix and maintenance company Mears.
The area affected sits between Upper Brook Street and Stockport Road, south of the Mancunian Way. Of the estate’s 1,135 homes, 902 are council properties and 233 are owner occupied. Most of the buildings were constructed in the 1970s and consist of low rise housing and several blocks of flats.
The scheme was first unveiled five years ago but later stalled was only given the green light by the government in June after the council submitted a “value-for-money” business case for the scheme, identifying £4.9m of savings.
In a council report prepared ahead of next week’s meeting said: “The redevelopment of this site with a quality development will bring forward major environmental and regeneration benefits to the neighbourhood. The proposals would bring about the comprehensive redevelopment of the site and will be a major catalyst for further regeneration.
“It is considered that the scheme would transform a large area of Manchester with the provision of quality residential and a small element of commercial floorspace, and would deliver further employment opportunities and improve the range of locally available services.”
Following a consultation seven letters were received by council with residents expressing concern about loss of light caused by planned new houses and the intention to reverse the orientation of some properties by placing the back garden at the front. One person protested about a plan to use part of Gartside Park, formerly Rusholme Road Cemetary, for housing and a main boulevard. This will result in the loss of an unspecified number of 50-year-old trees.
