£6m East Manchester Youth Zone granted planning approval

A £6m development for the youth of East Manchester has been granted planning approval.

East Manchester Youth Zone will be the second OnSide Youth Zone in the city, providing a safe and inspiring place for young Mancunians to spend their leisure time, meet new people and develop new skills.

Set to open in 2020, the Youth Zone will be located on the former Gorton baths site at the corner of Hyde Road and Queensland Road.

East Manchester Youth Zone will be open to young people aged 8-19 and up to 25 for those with a disability, seven days per week.

For just 50p per visit, members will have access to an indoor climbing wall, four court sports hall, training kitchen, music room with a recording studio, fully equipped gym, dance and drama studio, 3G kick pitch, arts and crafts room, enterprise and employability suite and more.

The Youth Zone is being developed by national charity OnSide Youth Zones in partnership with Manchester City Council, and a number of supportive local businesses.

It will join a network of 10 Youth Zones with locations in Bolton, Blackburn, Carlisle, Wigan, Manchester (Harpurhey), Oldham, Wolverhampton, Wirral, Chorley and Warrington – with another three Youth Zones currently under construction in London.

Joanne Whittaker, chair of East Manchester Youth Zone, said: “Manchester is bursting with bright and talented young people that need somewhere safe and inspiring to go and East Manchester Youth Zone will provide just that.

“It will be an energetic, creative and social space for young people to express themselves, develop their skills, nurture their talents and have fun in their leisure time.”

Cllr Luthfur Rahman, executive member for schools, culture and leisure at Manchester City Council, said: “We are delighted to welcome a second Youth Zone to Manchester, knowing it will make a fantastic difference to the lives of thousands of young people by providing enriching activities and quality youth work seven days per week.”

Lisa Mcfarlane, director at Seven Architecture, added: “Working once again with OnSide Youth Zones, this time in East Manchester, is a fantastic opportunity to provide another world class youth centre in the North West following planning approval of the scheme.

“Creating a visually appealing, safe and inspiring place for young people to enjoy spending time was a key consideration to the design.”