Two office towers approved while plans for 700 new homes deferred

Two new Grade A office blocks to be built near Co-op’s One Angel Square headquarters have been granted planning permission.

Developer NOMA aims to start construction on 2 Angel Square, a 14-storey building and 3 Angel Square, a 13-storey building, in early 2023.

The proposal would create 44,525 sqm of Grade A office space with significant areas of public realm as part of the NOMA masterplan.

Both office buildings are being designed to meet a BREEAM Excellent standard.

The scheme will create 400 construction jobs together with 4,400 permanent jobs when the offices become operational.

Proposals to build 700 new homes in Newton Heath have been deferred over concerns the works will be unsafe for children walking to school.

The proposals included plans to transform the area with the addition of a new secondary school, park, and community hub.

As part of the proposal, a 47-acre site that once housed Jackson’s Brickworks, but has since laid empty for around three decades, will be transformed to include both apartments and houses, as well as parts of the Rochdale Canal opened up.

Your Housing Group – the housing association which acquired the 47-acre site off Ten Acres Lane in 2020 – said the scheme would incorporate public realm in the form of pocket parks, a community park, and landscaping along the canal towpath, together with improved access to the towpath for pedestrian and cyclists.

However, during today’s planning meeting, Cllr John Flanagan, ward councillor for Miles Platting and Newton Heath, voiced his concerns about safe access for children walking to a new school which is planned nearby.

He pointed out safety concerns for school children walking through a construction site and was also concerned the development didn’t include amenities such as GP surgery and dentists.

Manchester planning committee has deferred approval for the scheme until a further site visit to the Jackson’s Brickwork’s site.

A new Aldi store in north Manchester has been given the green light.

The plans will see the demolition of The Imperial Lounge Restaurant on Victoria Avenue East, Blackley to make way for an Aldi discount store.

The proposal, which received 16 objections but had an ‘overwhelming’ support from local residents, will see the demolition of the existing structures, together with a new access off Victoria Avenue East as well as a car park which will include parking for cycles, servicing area, and hard and soft landscaping.

As the site also includes a small amount of surplus land associated with the adjacent rugby club’s playing fields, the plans includes a land transfer involving an extension of the existing playing fields, as well as the relocation of boundary fencing to the playing fields, the addition of ball strike netting and the relocation of floodlighting.

The new Aldi store will create up to 50 new full and part-time jobs for local people and bring about much needed regeneration to the site.