Property round-up: Views; Plus Dane; Lovell; Lancs County Council; Station Gardens; Anchorage; DWF; Russell WBHO; Bentley
Macclesfield-based property development company, Views, has submitted a planning application to Manchester City Council to create 66 new homes at the site of the former Burnage Cricket Club, at the corner of Kingsway and Mauldeth Road.
The design of the homes, by Ollier Smurthwaite Architects, take inspiration from Burnage Garden Village, which was designed by John Horner Hargreaves and opened in 1910.
The garden village movement emerged as a response to industrialisation and urbanisation and were designed to provide residents with a better quality life and a strong connection to the natural environment.
The proposed development includes 66 homes of which 20% will be affordable. The new homes will consist of 53 houses – seven three-bedroom and 46 four-bedroom houses, 13 one-bedroom apartments over two small blocks.
Each house will have its own private back garden and front driveway with parking for one car. EV charging infrastructure will be provided as well as secure cycle parking.
Almost 50 new trees will be planted, together with a range of indigenous flowers and shrubs that will attract and support birds, insects and bees.
Patrick Sheridan, Views senior development manager, said: “Our plans will breathe new life into the former Burnage Cricket Club ground and provide much needed new family homes to the area. We are especially pleased to be able to facilitate the provision of a replacement cricket pitch nearby.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local people who attended our consultation last year and provided such thoughtful and considered feedback to us.”
Cricket has not been formally played at Burnage Cricket Club since around 2011, but a condition attached to Views being able to develop the site is the provision of a replacement cricket pitch.
A public consultation for the proposals was held last spring with approximately 60 people attending the event and an additional 33 responding to the online platform. Most of the feedback was positive, however, there were concerns around the possible increase in traffic on local roads.
To help address those concerns Views has added a new pedestrian and cycle link from the development onto Kingsway.
This is to help encourage residents to choose walking and cycling for local trips. It will also improve the pedestrian route to Mauldeth Road station.
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Carr Lane proposal
United Living New Homes, a subsidiary of United Living Group, has been appointed by Liverpool-based Plus Dane Housing to develop 88 affordable homes at Carr Lane, Prescot.
The scheme will see the redevelopment of a brownfield site to enable a key sustainable urban extension, providing much needed affordable homes contributing towards Knowsley Council’s Local Plan target of delivering 8,100 homes by 2028.
The area was formerly used as a treatment works operated by United Utilities, but has naturally regenerated over time and primarily consists of trees and scrub/vegetation.
The housing mix includes four one-bedroom apartments, 14 two-bedroom houses, 67 three-bedroom houses and three four-bedroom homes.
Construction will start in late 2025, with homes being available from 2027.
The Carr Lane scheme is the second development ULNH will undertake for Plus Dane Housing. In 2024, the new-build housing provider was awarded a £22m project to build 104 affordable homes on the site of the former Johnsons Cleaners corporate headquarters in Bootle, north Liverpool.
Peter George, land director, United Living New Homes, said: “With a track record for high quality residential schemes across the UK, we look forward to delivering affordable new homes that will provide a welcome housing boost to the local community.”
Siobhan Moore, director of growth at Plus Dane Housing, said: “We are pleased to be moving forward at the Carr Lane site.
“Over the past decade Prescot has experienced a regeneration boom on the back of Shakespeare North Playhouse and public and private investment in the town centre.
“It is a vibrant place to be and we are delighted that we can now move forward with our affordable homes to keep that momentum going and contribute towards Knowsley Council’s home building target.”
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Ground breaking at Roedeer Gardens
Housing regeneration specialist, Lovell Partnerships, has started construction of a new £15m development in collaboration with Hive Homes in the first partnership between the two organisations.
Roedeer Gardens will bring 81 homes to Seedfield, Bury, delivering a significant boost to housing provision in Greater Manchester and helping to meet the targets set by local authorities.
Located on the site of the former Seedfield Centre, a former school and domiciliary centre, the development will comprise 60 three-bedroom and 21 four-bedroom family homes.
Tahreen Shad, partnerships director for Lovell in the North West, said: “The significance of the Seedfield site lies in its contribution to the larger devolution picture in Greater Manchester and supporting the target of delivering 10,000 new homes. Roedeer Gardens addresses this pressing need and supports the region’s growth ambitions – a commitment that Lovell is proud to be working with Hive to push forward.”
Tahreen added: “The project will be our first with Hive Homes – a profit for purpose housing developer set up by the Greater Manchester Housing Providers – with values aligning closely with Lovell.”
The development includes 21 affordable homes. Of these, six three-bed houses will be transferred to a registered provider for shared ownership. Nine will be transferred to Bury Council for affordable rent, and six four-bed houses will be part of the Government’s ‘First Homes’ scheme, offering discounted properties to first-time buyers.
Ed Milner, managing director at Hive Homes, said: “Roedeer Gardens will not only create new housing opportunities but also contribute to the vibrancy of the Seedfield community.”
Addressing local considerations, the development incorporates traffic management measures including off site highway and lighting improvements and maintains access to the adjacent community football pitch. New changing facilities and a car park with approximately 25 spaces will be constructed next to the pitch, outside the development boundary paid for by Hive’s section 106 contribution of £286,000.
Lovell has already commenced construction, with the sales show homes anticipated for completion in autumn 2025.
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Hutton land for sale
Farmland earmarked for 120 houses has been put up for sale by Lancashire County Council.
The land, opposite Hutton Grammar School, off Liverpool Road, totals approximately 14.35 acres and is next to the Walton Gardens development completed in 2017.
The site has been identified by South Ribble Borough Council as a proposed housing allocation site in the Central Lancashire Local Plan 2023-2041.
A Lancashire County Council spokesperson said: “The county council has an extensive varied property portfolio that includes assets that have been in our ownership for a considerable number of years.
“One such asset is a section of agricultural land situated in the village of Hutton, which has been in our ownership since the 1920s and formed part of the bigger Hutton Agricultural Estate.
“Given the location and clear development opportunities, this land has been brought forward to provide much needed housing, in line with our economic ambitions.
“We expect the sale of this land to generate a significant capital receipt for the council, which will help with maintaining our public services, and we have already had a number of interested parties enquire about its purchase.”
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CGI of Station Gardens proposals
The long-awaited redevelopment of a vacant brownfield site close to Rochdale town centre has moved a step closer, following a multimillion-pound funding award from the Government’s community regeneration partnership.
The £15m cash injection will support the delivery of new homes and a new public park on the former central retail park close to Rochdale train station, which has stood vacant for more than a decade.
The scheme, known as Station Gardens, will feature more than 200 homes, which will include apartments and houses, and a park for the use of the wider community, as well as a retail unit.
The council will now explore a number of different funding options to deliver the scheme, but the funding boost has given it a much needed jump-start and contractors are expected to start build out of the site this year.
The funding will also support a project to breathe new life into empty town centre units by creating local craft workspaces, retail outlets and a youth arts centre to help community engagement. It will also support the rebuild of one of the buildings on Hopwood Hall College’s Rochdale campus to create an additional floor for Higher Education and Access Students.
The Station Gardens scheme is part of a wider redevelopment of the area around the borough’s main train station, with work to create a new public square and improved public realm in front of the train station set to get under way on site soon.
In addition, 33 new build to rent apartments will be created on the corner of Maclure Road and Station Road, just across the road from the train station, using funding from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) brownfield land fund. Contractors are expected to start delivering this scheme in late spring.
Cllr Danny Meredith, cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This scheme will transform an empty brownfield site into much needed new homes, including affordable homes, and a high quality public park and will bring huge benefits to the wider area.”
The project is also part of the borough’s wider rail strategy, which seeks to redevelop brownfield sites around the borough’s five railway stations, with up to 7,000 new homes and new employment sites.
Paul Waugh, Labour and Co-operative MP for Rochdale, said: “It’s vital that, instead of sitting around vacant, empty sites are put to use supporting the regeneration of our communities and the creation of much needed, high quality homes.”
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Anchorage
Mobile technology business, Apadmi, a long standing tenant at Anchorage, has extended its lease at the Salford Quays office development for another five years.
The company has secured 16,440 sq ft of space within Anchorage Two, further cementing its presence after five successful years in the building.
Apadmi has recently been joined at the development by IT solutions company, Razorblue, with the firm securing a 10-year lease on the entire fifth floor of Anchorage One at the end of 2024.
The deals come as work to extend the ground floor lobby and connect the two buildings that form Anchorage, has now completed. A new multi-use link corridor has been built at the 150,000 sq ft scheme, which has expanded the ground floor amenity space between the two buildings, as well increasing the size of the lobby at Anchorage One. Tenants are now able to take advantage of additional communal seating, as well as extended break out spaces and lunch areas overlooking the picturesque quayside.
The work, overseen by asset management company, Citivale, complements the extensive renovation programme at Anchorage in recent years that saw new amenities added to the development to enhance the tenant experience.
The Anchorage development has a limited number of high quality individual suites available, with varying sizes between 1,000-12,500 sq ft, to suit all types of occupiers. Existing tenants at the site include a diverse mix of digital and creative service providers and professional services, with the building acting as a creative hub in the well-connected Salford Quays.
Garry Partington, Apadmi CEO, said: “The building’s prime location, combined with its excellent amenities, continues to support our business growth and provides an ideal environment for our team.”
Paul Brustad, director of asset management at Citivale, said: “It’s been a really positive few months at Anchorage, following the lease renewal with Apadmi, welcoming new tenant Razorblue to the building and completing our renovation works. It’s great to see both long standing and new tenants recognising the exceptional amenities and prime location that Anchorage continues to offer.”
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From left: Julie Simms, Sir Nigel Knowles, Jim Davies, Guy Wallis
Manchester-based global law firm, DWF, has officially reopened its newly refurbished Liverpool office, marking a significant investment in the city where the business was founded in 1977.
The event was attended by co-founders Jim Davies and Guy Wallis, alongside group CEO, Sir Nigel Knowles, and DWF clients and colleagues.
The transformed fifth-floor office at 5 St Paul’s Square now features a combination of traditional desk spaces and activity-based work areas, designed to provide flexibility and choice for different working styles.
The workspace also includes versatile breakout areas, adaptable meeting rooms, and a cutting-edge client suite equipped with Microsoft Teams technology to enhance engagement with clients and colleagues across DWF’s global network.
In addition, the lighting system has been upgraded to energy-efficient LED fixtures, reducing the office’s environmental footprint while improving the overall ambience.
Jim Davies said: “We founded DWF in 1977 and over the last 50 years it has been my sincere joy to see the firm grow from six people in Liverpool to the global legal services business it is today. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate this growth alongside clients and colleagues in Liverpool and through the reopening of the office, reaffirming our commitment to the city in which it all started all those years ago.”
Sir Nigel Knowles said: “Liverpool holds a special place in DWF’s history, and I am delighted to celebrate the reopening of our office here.”
Julie Simms, managing partner for DWF in Liverpool, said: “Our new office space creates a modern, collaborative workspace that supports our colleagues and clients, ensuring we provide the best environment for collaboration and innovation.”
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Long Stone Manor
Manchester-based main contractor, Russell WBHO, has completed the construction of a 60-bedroom care home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
Delivered for Care UK and situated on a 1.2 acre plot in Manchester Road, Long Stone Manor features a ground-floor cinema, hair salon, bar and café. Four individual suites, each comprising several bedrooms and a lounge for residents, span the rest of the two-storey building.
Externally, Russell WBHO has also landscaped outdoor space, incorporating a courtyard and seating area.
Constructed on a constrained site on a main road within a residential area, the project presented many logistical challenges. The working area was landlocked on three sides and surrounded by protected trees, which restricted the use of equipment such as forklifts on the ground.
Martin Round, project director at Russell WBHO, said: “We’re pleased to hand over our first development for Care UK on time and budget. Long Stone Manor is an impressive building inside and out, showcasing how well-designed spaces can create a community feel while ensuring the highest standards of care.”
Dave Ankers, regional director for Care UK, said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming the first residents over the coming months and to our grand launch event when we’ll officially mark the home as open and invite the local community to celebrate with us and see what life is like at Long Stone Manor.”
Designed by KWL Architects, the home is Care UK’s 10th in Cheshire. The home will provide full time residential and specialist dementia care, as well as short term respite care. A total of 65 jobs have been created.
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L-R: Ian Hepplewhite, Paul Neale, Chris Perry, Andreas Lehe, Michael Lang
Bentley Motors has officially broken ground on its new Integrated Logistics Centre at its historic Crewe headquarters, marking a crucial step in preparing for the luxury marque’s all-electric future.
Designed to enhance operational efficiency, flexibility, and sustainability, the facility will support the production of all future Bentley BEVs, while reinforcing the brand’s commitment to its Beyond100+ strategy.
The 11,620 sq m centre will support material processing and delivery to assembly lines, introducing advanced kitting and sequencing capabilities to optimise the handling of both small and large parts.
By increasing the onsite storage footprint by 35%, Bentley will reduce reliance on external warehousing and transportation.
For the first time in the Volkswagen Group, Bentley will implement a cutting-edge automated storage concept – an innovative storage and retrieval system that enhances process stability and improves material sequencing.
Inside, a three-storey mezzanine will house a visitor room, canteen, offices, training rooms, plant equipment and a viewing platform for operational oversight.
Andreas Lehe, Bentley’s member of the board for manufacturing, said: “Breaking ground on the Integrated Logistics Centre marks a key milestone in Bentley’s journey to full electrification. The centre will transform our logistics operations by enhancing efficiency, managing customer variety, and integrating cutting-edge automation. This investment ensures that Bentley can offer an all-electric portfolio while maintaining the highest standards of quality and sustainability.”
Set to be fully operational by mid-2026, the Integrated Logistics Centre will play a vital role in Bentley’s transition to becoming exclusively electric by 2035.
