Council to wave through £40m Beswick plan
COUNCILLORS in Manchester are today expected to approve the authority’s own application for a £40m revamp of community facilities next to 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.
It has been marked for approval at today’s planning committee meeting.
An earlier 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, which sparked fierce opposition from traders there, but a report prepared ahead of the meeting shows there is more concern from residents about the partial closure of Grey Mare Lane.
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.
