Manchester Corporation

City Planning Department Report of the City Planning Officer J S Millar B Arch MTPI ARIBA

1965·67

City Planning Department, 1965-67

This report has been digitised by Martin Dodge from

the Department of Geography, University of

Manchester. The digitisation was supported by the

Manchester Statistical Society’s Campion Fund.

The copy of the report digitised kindly provided by

David Kaiserman.

Permission to digitise and release the report under

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Manchester City Council.

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(Fron t Cover) Model of advisory proposals for the M arkel Street area.

To the Lord Mayor, Aldermen

and Members of the City Council

I have pl eas ure 1n presenting th e second repo rt

re lating to th e work of th e City Pl anning Departm ent

of th e Corporation . I would like to thank th e

Ch airman, Deputy Chairman and Memb ers of th e

T own Planning and Buildings Commit tee

respon si bl e for th e work of th e Departm ent, for

th eir consideration and enco uragement, and also

reco rd my app rec iation of th e help, advice and

co-ope rati on received from th e other Chi ef Officers

of th e Corpo ration and th eir staffs. ! would

particu lar ly like to thank th e staff of my own

Departm ent for th eir continued support and

enthusias m which has been a source of

encouragement to me through out th e period under

rev iew.

I am, My Lord Mayo r, Ladies and Gentl emen,

You r obedi ent Servant,

\

City Planning Offi cer.

City of Manchester

Town Planning and Buildings Committee

1965/66 Th e Lord Mayor-Alderman Bernard S. Langton, C.B.E., J .P.

1966/67 Th e Lord Mayor-Alderman Nellie Beer, 0.B.E., J .P.

Th e Chairman-Councillor E. Mell or Th e Chairman- Councillor E. Mellor

The Deputy Chairman- Councillor K. Easth am Th e Deputy Chairman - Councillor K. Eastham

Alderman 0. Lodge, J.P. Al derman P. Buckl ey

Ald erm an C. E. P. Stott, J .P. Ald erman 0. Lodge, J.P .

Alderman C. E. P. Stott, J.P. Ald erman Elizabeth A. Yarwood, J.P.

Councillor Sonia D. Alexand er Ald erman Eli zabeth A. Ya rwood, J.P.

Councillor J. Brod erick Councillor Sonia D. Alexand er

Councillor P. Buckley Councillor J. Brod ericil

Councillor W. A. Downward Councillor A. H. Burlin

Councillor D. J. Edwards Councillor W. A. Do wnward

Councillor K. Franklin Councillor D. J. Edwards

Councillor C. H. Hall, O.B.E . Councillor K. Fran lllin

Councillor F. Hatton, J .P. Councillor C. H. Hall, 0.B.E.

Councillor W. Hi gg in s Councillor F. Hatton, J.P.

Councillor J. Hussey Councillor W . Higgin s

Councillor L. Kell y Councillor L. Kelly

Councillor T . Lav in Councillor T. Lavin

Councillor D. G. Massey, T.D. Councillor D. G. Massey, T.D.

Councillor R. Massey Councillor R. Massey

Counc ill or A. O'Toole Councillor A. O'Toole

Counci ll or H. Platt Councillor H. Pl att

Council lor K. C. Sl ater Counci ll or J . T . Rollin s

Counci ll or N. Thomp so n, J .P. Councill or K. C. Slater

Preface

2

I am pl ea sed to have an opportunity of commenting

briefly on the progress which is being 111 acle in the

replanning and reb uilding of th e City . Th e second

report of the Pl anni ng Departm ent conveys

som ething of th e in creased tempo of building

activity within Manchester and ind icates th e many

different problems th at are having to be tackled as

part of th e renewal op eration . My impres sions are

many and va ried . Th e initi al i111petus created by th e

newly for111ed departm ent at th e ti111 e whe n th e f irst

report was written, has been susta in ed and indeed

ii is ev id ent that th e vo lum e of work has increased

and will in ev itab ly increase still furth er; it must be

rememb ered that whil st many new proposals and

sch emes have bee n put forward during th e las t

two yea rs, ii has been necessary at th e same tim e

to place grea ter emph asis on th e conso lid ation and

implementation of thos e wh ich are alrea dy under

way. Th e various "action areas"-the ter111 curren tly

us ed to describe areas of dynamic change-are

beg inning to fit tog eth er and make good sense;

th e var ious comp rehensi ve planning bri efs that have

been pre pared by th e D epartm en t now take on th e

appearance of a con tinu ous belt of redevelopm ent

proposals w hich cover th e inn er areas of th e

City f rom th e Stretford bound ary, throu gh Hulme,

th e Hi gher Education Prec inct, Longsight,

Beswi ck/ Bradfo rd , and Harp urhey, shortly to be

followed by Openshaw and Cheeth am. Th e planning

co ntex t for th e City 's fir st priority-c lea ring th e

remaining slum dwellin gs-has been firmly

es tablish ed and although much remain s to be clon e,

I am su re th at th e mo st immediate and press ing

planning probl ems have been reso lved.

Th e draft T own Centre Map proposals whic h bring

tog eth er th e results of co ntinuous worl1 over the

las t four yea rs or so are now virtually com pl eted.

It is enco urag in g th at so mu ch bui ldin g work is

under way in th e City Centre despite the recent ch ill

winds on th e eco nom ic fron t. Ov er the past two

years approvals have been given in th e City Centre

for major work totalling over £21 million , excludi ng

th e app licat ion by th e Arnd ale Prop erty Trust in the

Market Street/Withy Grove Area, which has been

'ca ll ed in' by th e Minister of Housing and Local

Governmen t for decision along with th e submitted

Compreh ensive Development Area proposals.

Buildin g to th e va lu e of £6 million, is under

co nstructi on at th e present tim e and this includes

a substant ial proportion of own er/ occupier

deve lopment of high quality . A furth er £7 million is

likely to be spen t by private and public agencies

over th e nex t two yea rs for proj ects; th ese include

th e second stag e of th e Market Centre scheme in

Norfol k Street incorporating the new Head Post

Offi ce , th e new Bank of England building on

Port land Street and th e new Regional Headq uarters

for th e B.B.C. D espite th e co111pl ex ity of most

Central Area proposals th ere were no major

app li ca tions awaiting decision by th e City Coun cil

at 31s t March 1967. It is also worth emphasising

that th e pace of deve lopment in th e Higher

Education Prec in ct con tinu es at a rapid rate;

pl anning approva ls have been g iv en over th e last two

years for buildings cos ting about £7 million and

about th e sam e va lu e of work is now under

co nstruction . I am su re that th e nex t few years wil l

see stea dy and con tinu ous progress in th e

re-s haping of th e City and th e crea ti on of an

improved environment.

~· Chairman of th e T ow n Pl ann in g

and Buildings Committee

Report of the City Planning Officer 1965 · 67

Contents Introduction . . . . . . • . 5

Review of Work , . . . . . 7

Public Relations . . • . . . . 27

Staff and Education . • . . . . 28

Appendices . . . . . . . . 29

Aerial view of part of the Hulme Redevelopment area and Mancunian Way. The Higher Education Precinct is to be seen in the middle distance and the Brunswick Neigh­bourhood beyond. (Photograph by courtesy of Airviews) .

4

Introduction

During the period covered by the second report

of the City Planning Department, it has become

increasingly evident that the factors which made it

necessary to strengthen the organisation and

technical resources engaged on the task of

replanning the City, are more relevant than ever.

It is now possible to review the progress that has

been made in consolidating the organisation which

was carefully built up in the initial period following

the establishment of the Department in December

1963; the results of earlier work and negotiations

with developers are now beginning to emerge in the

shape of a number of fine building projects.

The need for comprehensive development is greater

than ever over large areas of the City, and whilst the

number of realistic private schemes under

discussion has remained fairly constant, the

Department's efforts have been directed towards

prob lems of implementation and the need to ensure

that the schemes which are built are of high quality

and form part of a wider planning context.

The City's accelerated slum clearance programme,

with all that this entails, continues to place heavy

demands on the technical resources available;

whilst the shortage of qualified planners with

appropriate experience remains acute, the

Department has so far nevertheless been fortunate

in avoiding a high turnover of experienced technical

officers .

The Department is being called upon to play an

increasing role in many different directions and the

development and widening scope of its activities

have stretched to the limit the technical and

administrative resources available. The period under

review has been notable for increasing recognition

of the inter-dependance on both regional and

sub-regional levels of problems of land use,

transportation , population growth , particularly in

relation to future housing needs, facilities for

leisure and sport and industrial development;

this has been reflected in the activities of relatively

new organisations such as the Regional Economic

Councils and Boards and the Sports Council.

On the practical side an increasing volume of work

has been involved in connection with the South

East Lancashire and North East Cheshire

Transportation Study and the Rapid Transit Study

undertaken by an inter-departmental Working Party,

including British Rail with the support and

participation of the Ministry of Transport. The

service which the Department is capable of providing

as a background to policy decisions made

elsewhere, is being increasingly appreciated.

This is clearly one of the most important functions

of the Department and is a necessary pre-requisite

for soundly based decisions which need to be taken

in connection with a wide range of activities, not

necessarily immediately connected with the planning

process itself.

The period has been marked by a steady

development in consultations with other departments

and an improvement in the procedures appropriate

to the selection of sites to meet the needs of various

Committees of the Council; this should lead to a

closer relationship between building projects of

different kinds, and the Capital Works Programme

for the City as a whole. The Department's first

priority throughout the period has been directed

towards producing comprehensive planning briefs

for the areas affected by major slum clearance.

In the first report the proposals for the new Hulme

were described In some detail and since then

5

comprehensive planning briefs or district plans

have been produced for Beswick, Longsight,

Harpurhey and Openshaw. The planning work

which has been made necessary by the rate of

cl earance amounts to the production of a fairly

detailed planning framework for th e whole of th e

pre-1914 inner areas of the City ; large areas that

are not directly affected by slum clearance proposals

have had to be considered as part of the wider

context of new housing proposals , and this initial

framework plan for the inner city, is intended to

serve as the basic context for house building

operations over the next decade. Considerable

attention has been devoted to the consolidation

and extension of th e strategy of open space

proposals; progress has been made on various

schemes for tipping , reclamation and landscaping.

One of the highlights of the period under review

has been th e work, now almost completed, on the

draft Town Centre proposals, which incorporate

severa l three-dimensional advisory sch emes. These

proposals will now be the subject of consultations

with many interested parties and after careful

consideration of all the criticisms and suggestions

made, will be put to the City Council in amended

form for approval, and inclusion in th e first revi ew

of th e Development Plan. Th e completion of the

Town Centre Map will mark th e culmination of almost

five years continuous work, and co-relates the many

varied planning sch emes and proposals accepted

in principl e by th e City Council during this period .

The work undertaken more recently in conjunction

with th e City Engineer's, Transport and Police Departments in th e preparation of the joint report on

6

a Car Parking Policy for the City Centre and the

Rapid Transit Study are both of profound importance

to the future accessibility and prosperity of the

City Centre and also indicates the close liaison and

day-to-day working between the various Chief

Officers and departments concerned.

Work on the review of the Development Plan has

proceeded throughout the period with increasing

momentum and the production of the review

documents means in effect bringing togeth er all the

different aspects, projects and policies within one

overall policy statement. The Land Use Survey of

the City was completed in mid 1966 and the writing

of the necessary programmes for the computer

followed by the processing of data, has been a

continuous operation since the beginning of the

year; the results of this up-to-date survey are now

being embodied in a series of policy reports which

form th e "backbone" of the review itse!f. An

industrial questionnaire sent out last Summer and

which met with an excellent response is also being

processed and the results should assist with some

of the delicate and important problems of

industrial location.

The production of planning briefs for major

redevelopment areas of th e City, the formulation of

City Centre proposals, the Department's

contribution to the Rapid Transit Study, the SELNEC

Study, the growing need to find suitable sites to

meet the Corporation's overall building programme,

has once again emphasised th e importance of

inter-departmental consultation and teamwork

as well as th e need for continual improvement and

stream-lining of procedures and office management.

With limited resources the improvement of

management techniques is receiving the closest

attention so that the best use is made of both

people and various mechanical aids.

The last nine months or so have witnessed a

number of difficulties which result from the

economic climate and the measures designed to

restrict public and private expenditure. However,

it is still perhaps a little early to judge very clearly

the longer-term effects from a planning point

of view.

The Department now employs a staff of 112. No

important organisational changes have been made

and there remain three technical sections with an

Assistant City Planning Officer in charge of each,

and an Administration Section with a Chief

Administrative Officer at its head who operates,

in effect as an Office Manager. Although minor

re-organisation of personnel has naturally been

necessary from time to time, the basic size and

structure of the Department has remained

unaltered since its inception. In practice it has

proved satisfactory although the increasing

involvement of the Department in new fields and

the calls which are being made upon it to extend its

activities will inevitably call for some review of

resources and organisation . A complete list of all

the members of the Department is to be found in

Appendix 1. (page 30) .

At the end of the period covered by the first report

only four technical posts were vacant. Last Summer

six additional trainee posts were provided for the

Department which were subsequently filled by

graduates who have continued their planning studies

on a part time day release basis. There were four permanent vacancies on the 31st March 1967, though temporary survey assistants have been employed and held against these posts to expedite the processing of the Land Use Survey.

Considerable attention has again been devoted to recruitment , education, as well as public relations

and the press; there have been a number of

important articles written for technical and other

journals and various exhibitions have been mounted.

The space provided initially in the Department's

new home on the fifth floor of the Town Hall

Extension rapidly proved inadequate as the remaining

posts in the Department were filled and some

further accommodation is to be provided on the

same floor which will alleviate this problem

and obviate serious overcrowding. New acquisitions

have been made to keep the departmental Library

up-to-date and the slide collection has grown very

considerably. l Finally, the Staff Social Committee's work has

continued and the high point of last year's activities

was the visit by twenty-five members of the

Department to Rotterdam, one of the main growth

points and success stories of the European

Community; a visit to the Rotterdam Planning

Department was included when not only the

techn ical but the administrative developments

that have made it all possible, were described.

Apart from a full programme of social activities,

there has been a busy programme of meetings,

films and discussions, often with visiting specialist

lecturers, which have again been well attended;

the Committee's work is widely appreciated by the

members of the Department.

The Inner City-Redevelopment

Review of Work

Th e first report of th e D epartm ent consid ered th e

planning probl ems impli c it in th e immens e task of

cl ea ring th e slums; thi s entails th e replanning of

virt ual ly th e whole of th e inn er res id ential and

industri al areas of th e City built before 1914 . Th e

represen tati on of well over 5,000 unfit dwellings

a yea r by th e Medical Officer of Hea lth is demanding

th e production of an ou tlin e pl an for th e who le of

th e inn er city an d this initi al task is approaching

complet ion . Th e areas for whi ch ou tlin e bri efs have

bee n comp leted embrace about 1,600 acres and

includ e two thirds of th e total of about 45 ,000 slum

dwellings which remain to be cleared by 1973.

Th e character of th e areas which have had to be

rep lan ned is more di ve rse th an might be im ag in ed;

th e o ld Hulme, which was th e first area to be

tackl ed, wh ere rebuilding is now well under way,

had to be comp letely razed whi lst o th er areas wh ich

have now bee n considered wi ll not necessarily be

redeveloped within th e nex t ten yea rs as part of th e

c leara nce op eration ; such redevelopment th at wil l

occur may well be spread ov er a five to ten yea r

period . It wi ll be rea dily apprec iated th at in th ese

c ircumstances, no two areas present id enti ca l or

even very s im ilar problem s; th e technical diffi culti es

wh ich comprehensive redevelopm ent brings in it s

wake, even where on ly part of th e wider area is to

be redeve lop ed, have thrown up exceedingly co mpl ex

probl ems which following th e developm ent s in

planning thought wh ich have occured since th e

Deve lopment Pl an proposals have neces sit ated a

major re-ass essm ent of th e main prim ary as well

as th e seco nd ary road c ircul ati on which is so

vital to th e well bein g of th e redeve lop ment areas

th em se lves. Th e role of public transport and car

parl1ing and anc ill ary probl ems are of course now

major issu es whilst th e st rategy of longer term

redeve lopment, in cluding, for ex am p le, th e future of

existing important shopp ing cent res at present

loca ted along th e frontages of major radial roads

se rving th e metropolitan ce ntre, has had to be

included in th e area of study . It is virtuall y neve r

pos s ibl e to consider th e enviro nm ental p lanning of

on e o r more areas in is olation and through out th e

formul ation of plannin g briefs it has bee n found

essenti al to consid er eac h area in th e wid er con tex t

of th e stategic planning of th e City as a whol e.

Th e ramifica ti ons of th e c lea rance programme

represents a formid abl e vo lume of pl anning work,

not leas t becaus e it is es sential to follow up

out lin e proposals to ensure that th e more detail ed

developm ent proposed- hou s ing, schools, playing

fi eld s, district centres, shopping and soc ial

faciliti es of all kinds , road wo rks- is of h igh quality

and in acco rdance wi th broad er po l icy objectives

and planning standards.

Th e programm e of rebuilding th e inn er c ity within

a relatively short period of tim e represents a task

infini tely more delica te and more co mpl ex th an th e

c rea tion of a new se ttl ement on virgin land and on

thi s sca le it is undoubtedly a chal leng e to th e

plann ers, th e architec t s and th e engineers and to

Loca l Gove rnm ent it se lf.

Th e shortage of land ava il able for developm ent

within th e City remai ns a central an d vi rtu al ly

intractab le problem. Th e provision of publi c op en

sp<.ce, playing fi eld s, schoo ls, new roads and all

th e att endant fac iliti es required demand co nsid erabl e

areas of land; if adequate stand ards are to be

crea ted in new development, th en th e problem of

rehousing abou t half th e famili es displaced has to

be so lved ou tside th e City limits.

Th e present position on housing needs in th e

immediate future and how th ese might in part be

met, is shown in App endix 2 (pag e 32); it will be

readily appreciated from thes e figures th at th ere is

sti ll a subs tantia l shortage of sites and th is has

serious repercussions on th e phasing of th e

rebu ilding programme, particularly in the short term.

Th e D epartm ent has taken part in discussions aim ed

at securing sites outsid e th e City to meet this

deficit at var ious tim es during th e period under

rev iew. Th e failure to sec ure a satis fac to ry basis

upon which to procee d with th e Town D eve lopment

Sch eme at W esthoughton and th e subsequent

decision by th e Minister of Housing and Local

Gove rnm ent not to pursue th e W es thoughton

propos als furth er, only serves to emphasise th e

abs enc e of avai lab le sites for dwellings to meet

Man chester's rese ttl ement needs .

In th e period between April 1965 and March 1967,

26 areas w ithin th e City were declared as clea rance

areas (involving 10,467 dwell ing s); 23 housing

Comp ul sory Purchase Ord ers for redevelopment

purpos es had been made; 21 lo ca l public enqui ries

into such areas had bee n held and 10 areas had

bee n co nfirmed (invol ving 5,498 dwellings and

totalling 182 acres). Appendi x 3 (page 33)

provid es a more detail ed pi cture of th e ex tent

o f th e statutory worl1 upon which thi s D epartm ent

has bee n engaged as part of th e housing

programme.

7

8

•• • ,___ ___ __. ... _ --­••• • . ,, •••• • • • ••• • ; •• Openshaw a

'/ /1/"~ ... ::1 • • ·:1~-''"'"' -· \ ... • ••• •• •• ...

Planning Briefs Th e production of outlin e briefs has pl aced heavy

demands on limited resources particularly in view

Redevelopment areas in the Inner City. Planning Briefs have now been approved for areas 1 lo 5 inclusive and a Brief for area 6 is now being prepared lo be followed by area 7.

of th e increasing level of statutory work and

pressures associated with the increased pace of

planning proposals particularly in the City Centre

and th e Higher Education Precinct. Great emphas is

continu es to be pl aced on th e consultation

procedures which have been establish ed between

departments , and with all thos e likely to be affected

in various ways by redevelopment, to ensure that

hardship is reduced to th e minimum and th e greatest

possible amount of information is mad e availab le

to reduce uncertainty .

Apart from th e planning proposals for th e new

Hulme and th e Moss Sid e District Centre , wh ich

were described in som e detail in on e of th e Depart­

ment's first printed re ports, outlin e planning br iefs

have been compl eted for Beswick, Longsight,

Harpurhey and Openshaw and work on bri efs for

furth er areas is proceeding . (See App endi x 5 page 38) .

Beswick Th e outlin e proposals for the Beswick resident ial

neighbourhood cover about 300 acres ; th e

area is about H mil es from the centre of th e City

and th e population before cl ea rance began was

about 23,000. Th e eventual popul ation will be about

half this figure. Th e proposals provid e a planni ng

framework as part of th e broad er strategy of ren ewal

and are c losely inter-conn ected with th e prim ary

road network and open space proposals fo r th e

vall ey of th e River Medlock. Of parti cu lar interest is

th e prop osal to landscape thi s section of the

Med lo ck Valley which ultimately will form part of a

m uch wider open space system which includes

schoo l playing fields, a central "Town Park" of

some 13 acres and pedestrian footpath system.

A ltho ugh proposals for Beswick do not as in the

case of Hulme, include for a major district centre

to serve a wid er area, a rather smaller centre serving

the mo re immediate neighbourhood is included in

th e planning proposals and will need considerable

fu rther detailed study.

In th e pe riod between April, 1965 and March, 1967,

fou r sites were declared as Clearance Areas

(in volving 490 dwellings); five housing Compulsory

Purch ase Orders (2,122 dwellings) for redevelopment

purposes were made; six public Local Inquiries into

su ch areas were held and five areas were confirmed

(in vol vin g 2,651 dwellings and totalling 71 acres).

In J uly, 1966 an outline planning application for

344 hi gh rise dwellings on th e Wellington Street

Area was approved; the layout will accommodate

a fur th er 150 high rise and 270 low rise dwellings.

Th e fir st 344 dwellings are programmed for

com pl et ion between 1969 and 1970, a~d th e

remaind er by 1971.

Long sig ht Th e outline pl anning proposals for Longsight

cov er an area of about 430 acres two mil es to th e

south -east of th e City Centre; th e existing popula­

tion is abo ut 26,000. Th e area of early redevelopment,

coveri ng 260 ac res, has an existing population of

about 20,000 and it is expected that th e popul ation

on redevelop m ent will be approxim ately 11,000. Th e

Model of the Beswick planning proposals indicating circulation, open space pa/tern and diagrammatic form of redevelopment .

first phase of redevelopment includes important

proposals for the re-organisation of the primary and

secondary road system (including the re-routing of

Stockport Road to allow for the creation of a large

residential area free from through traffic with a safe

and attractive environment, open space system and

direct pedestrian ways).

In the period April, 1965 to March, 1967, three sites

were declared as Clearance Areas (involving 2,712

dwellings) and one Housing Compulsory Purchase

Order for redevelopment purposes was confirmed

(involving 1,087 dwellings and totalling 32 acres).

In May, 1966 an outlin e planning application for

501 dwellings in the Gibson Street Area was

approved and is programmed for completion by

1969/71.

Harpurhey Th e fourth major redevelopment area is Harpurh ey,

2t miles to the north-east of th e City Centre , with a

population of about 36,500 before any cl earance

comm enced. Harpurhey presented very different

characteristics to previous areas and it was

necessary to consid er an area of about 900 acres

which form ed a natural 'environmental area' in

order to provide a context for formulating proposals

for about 200 acres likely to be red eveloped ov er th e

next ten years or so as part of th e slum clearance

programm e. Th e major part of this, som e 170 acres,

is within a fairly continuous area to th e east of

Rochd ale Road and south of Moston Lan e, and it is

primarily this area to which th e more detail ed

proposals relat e. Th e remaind er of th e

Model of the Longsighl planning proposals indicating circulation , open space pa/tern and areas of compre­hensive redevelopment .

9

10

Model of the Harpurhey planning proposals indicating circulation, pedestrian footpath and open space system and diagrammatic form of redevelopment .

redevelopm ent during th e nex t ten years wi ll be in

respect of pockets of o lder prop erty within th e res t

of the area and is like ly to be more limited in ex tent.

In the area to be redeve loped th e population was

about 15,000 an d th e fu ture population wh en th e

area is rebuilt sh ould be abo ut 10,700. Th e future

population over th e wide r area considered will fall

to about 31,000. Thi s ta kes into account a reduction

in population resulting from redevelopm ent in th e

smaller po ckets to be cleared elsewhere .

Planning propo sal s for this area, wh ich include a

new Di strict Centre on the scale of that proposed

for Moss Sid e, presen t a part icular ly good

opportunity to achi eve much more than merely

res identi al red evelopment. Th e open space and

ped es tri an footpath system proposed for Harpurh ey

is of particu lar interest; th e proposa ls to transform

the Irk V all ey in to a park linking th e ex isting

Bo ggart Hole Cl ough and Queens Park are now

suppl emen ted by the dec ision to partia lly rec laim

and tip th e Moston Brook Va ll ey and th e form er

clay workin gs at Mo ston, wh ich wou ld eve ntuall y

be landscaped. It should ultimate ly be pos sibl e to

walk large ly through ope n pa rkl and from Bogg art

Hole Clou gh, sou th throu gh th e Irk Va ll ey, through

Queens Park, un der or ove r Rochda le Roa d, through

th e Moston Broo k Va ll ey and back to Boggart Hole

Cl ough , Th is open space pattern wou ld be furth er

strength ened cl . an extended visuall y by th e loca ti on

of sc hool s and pl aying fie ld s. As part of th e

implement r f a ion o landscapin g proposa ls through o t ti u ie redevelop ment area it wi ll be

necessary to draw up a landscap in g po li cy and

prepare many detail ed landscaped schemes.

In th e per iod April 1965 to March 1967, three sites

were declared as c lea rance areas (in vo lving 672

dwellin gs); four Housing Compulsory Purch ase

Ord ers (1 ,701 dwellings) for redeve lopment

pu rp oses were made; three public local inquiri es

into such areas were held and two areas were

confirmed (involving 1,051 dwellings and totalling

37 acres). In February 1966 a planning application

for th e redevelopment of th e Lodg e Street area

including 560 dwelling s was approved and in

Septemb er 1966 a simi lar ap pli cation cover in g th e

Turkey Lane area and in vo lvin g 745 dwellin gs was

approved.

Openshaw Th e outlin e proposa ls for Op enshaw cover about

500 ac res and th e area li es two mil es eas t of th e

City Centre. Th e ex istin g popu lation is about 15,000

and wi ll fall aft er redeve lopment to just over 8,000.

Th e planning propo sa ls are related to th e

primary road network of th e City an d th e area

co ntain s a diversity of indu stri al and other uses as

well as th e A shton Cana l which raise particu lar

land us e and circul ati on probl ems. Althou gh th e

opportunity is being taken to introduce th e max imum

amount of res id entia l use on sites th at co uld be

developed to provid e reaso nab le li vin g co ndition s

a cons id erab le part of th e area is dev oted to major

indu stri al ac ti viti es and th e redeve lopm ent of a

belt of unfit housin g along A shton New Road,

togeth er with vaca nt land at th e juncti on of th e

A shton and Stockp ort Cana ls for indu stri al purposes

wi ll rat iona li se th e industrial pattern of this part of

Openshaw. A furth er area of unfit dwellings to th e

south along Ashton Old Road cover ing 46 acres and

with an approx im ate popul ation of 5,500 does ,

howeve r, lend it se lf to redeve lopment for housing

and serv ice fa cili t ies and its ultimate population will

fall to about 1,400. Th e progress of statutory work

in Op enshaw has so far involv ed th e declarat ion

of three sites in volving 1,685 dwe lling s.

Cheetham and Other Areas Th e cl ea rance programm e wi ll eff ec t other areas

covering abou t 4,200 acres, th e strategic planning of

which sti ll requires consideration; th ese include:

Cheetham

Gorton and W est Gorton

Newton Heath

Moss Sid e

Proposa ls are now being prepared for Ch eetham

an area of abo ut 1,200 ac res located 1 ~ mil es north

of th e City Centre with a popul ation of about 33,000.

About 250 ac res, with an ex isting popu lat ion of about

13,000, are likely to be redeve loped with in th e nex t

ten yea rs and th e ultimate popu lation is li ke ly to

fall t o 9,500. Early redeve lopment wi ll take place

larg ely between Ch eetham Hill Road, th e propos ed

int erm ediate ring road and th e Cheetham shopping

centre. Th e popu lation of th e re111ain in g 880 acres is

ex pected to dec rease from 20,300 to 18,500 by 1981

due to th e recl evelop111 ent of iso lated po cke ts of

o lde r prop erty. Th e ultimate ove rall popu lati on w ill

thu s fall to about 28,000.

Betwee n Apri l, 1965 and March, 1967, th e statutory

work involved in th e Cheetham area inc luded the

declaration of six c learance areas (involving 2,139

dwellings) and the making of two Housing

Compulsory Purchase Ord ers (392 dwellings) for

redeve lopment purposes.

It is perhaps worth emphasising that th e end of th e

first stage in replanning the inner-residential areas

of th e City is now in sight; once th e overall

planning framework and strategy is estab lished it

will be necessary and possible to give more

consideration to detailed design probl ems which

arise in th e i111plementation of more specific

proposals. Th e most important aspect of all is

perhaps the detailed treatm ent of areas to be

landscaped and th e various district and local

centres of social act ivity. It is worth emphasising

that the planning process does not end after

strategic objectives and a physical framework has

been out lin ed; this is really on ly just the beginning

of a process in volving firstl y th e formulation of more

detail ed proposa ls , and secondly th e vital

co-ord in ati on and follow-up during the

implementation stages . Th e framework plans will

also provide an important and necessary contex t for

more detai led redevelopment proposals which will

ar is e in th e years ahead and which will not

nece ssarily be part of a slum cl earance operation.

Fin all y, th ese p lanning bri efs or framework pl ans ,

are essenti ally th e loca l plans referred to in the

Pl anning Advisory Group proposa ls and wi ll form a

ve ry i111portant part of propo sals to be included in

th e Rev iew of th e Deve lop111 ent Plan; thi s is referred

to later in th e Report.

11

Rebuilding-Progress in the Inner City

12

By the end ot th e period under review, a

consid erable part of th e northern area of th e

Brunswi ck Neighbo urhood-from Brunswi ck Street

to Mancu nian W ay, had bee n comp leted and th e

first major length of the ped est rian footpath system

may now be seen. Wh en Gartside Gardens which

was once a cemetery, ceases to be a self-co ntained

green oasis and th e remaining dwellin gs now under

construction are completed, it wil l be possible to

eva lu ate th e fi rst 111 ajor sch eme in th e City in vo lvi ng

virtually compl ete pedestr ian and vehic ul ar

separation. Consid erable attention has been paid

to landscaping in this area and a nu111ber of

semi-mature trees have been pl anted; th e

Frank Taylor Centre for th e rehabil itation of

hand icapped peop le des ign ed by th e City

Architec t, is th e first centre of its kind in th e City

and has attracted great interes t.

In th e Hulme Di stri ct , th e last two yea rs have seen

th e clea rance of virtually al l th e remainin g unfi t

dwellin gs and th e cont inuous constru ct ion of

local roads after th e div ersion of var ious

underground services.

Th e new South Hulme Secondary School,

St. Geo rg e's Primary Schoo l, th e new part of

St. Ignatius R.C. Second ary School, Mulberry Stree t

and E111d en Street Pri111 ary Schools are all virtually

co111p leted and are now being landscaped.

W o rk began in 1966 on St. Phillips C. of E. Pr imary

School and at th e beg inning o f this year on

St. Lawrences R.C . Infant Scho o l. Within th e

period fu rt her housing work began on th e first

phase of Hu lme-adjacent to the Stretford

boundary betwee n City Road and Stretford Road.

Ap art from th e multi-storey sect ra blocks built

earlier, th e remainder of th e dwellin gs are four and

two-storey; thi s area of 230 dwelli ngs is now

al111ost complete and occupied.

Th e Direc tor of Housing has als o let con t racts for

Hulme 2 betwee n City Road on th e north, and

Rutland Street on th e south; this is industrialised

housing an d work has pro ceeded ve ry rap idly.

Hulme 3 (north) and Hul111 e 4 are scheduled to start

in th e 111icldle of this year, and Hulm e 5, wh ich is

bei ng designed by Messrs . Wil son and W omersley

for th e Housing Committee, should star t at th e end

of th e yea r. Outlin e planning approval was also

given ea rli er this year to Hu l111e 3 (south) .

Consid erabl e attention is bein g given by th e

Departm ents concerned in th e redevelo p111 ent of

Hul111 e to landscaping and a nu111b er of sem i-mature

trees have also been planted as part of th e house

building operation.

Th e present programm e envisages th e completi on

of th e w ho le of th e hous in g devel opm ent in Hulme

by 1971, and th e bui ldi ng of th e Di str ict Cent re

shou ld be started before this el ate and shou ld take

a number of years to be co mpl eted.

T he new Hulme wil l have a popu lation of about

15,000, about 5,000 new dwellin gs, sc hoo ls,

a wid e rang e of co mmunity fac iliti es, a town pa rk,

play spaces and a Di stri ct Centre serving th e

wid er area of Moss Sid e.

T o th e north, Mancunian W ay now open to traffic,

has bee n landscaped and wo rk should com mence

later thi s yea r on th e Chorlton Road Extension.

A substantial part of th e redevelopment in th e

A ncoats, Mil es Pl atting and Collyllurst areas was

already co111p leted by 1965.

Of th e ou tstanding areas to be redeveloped work is

under way in Nels on Street on th e red evelopment

compr ising two 13-storey tower blocks , 4-storey

maisonettes, and 2-storey flats and houses;

ex tensions to th e Nelson Street Pr imary Schoo l are

proceeding. Simi lar ly, red eve lop ment is parti ally

comp leted in th e Collyhurst Stree t Area in the form

of 13-storey blocks, 4-storey maison ettes, and

2-storey housing .

A prelim inary scheme at Merryfi eld St reet has

bee n co mmenced to assess th e feasibility of

retaining some old er housing by an improvement

scheme and integra ting th ese into adjoinin g

redeve lopment.

(left) Model of Hulme 5 housing redevelopment de· signed by M essrs. Wilson and Womersley, Architects, for the Housing Committee . (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects).

(middle) Th e Franx Taylor Centre designed by the C~Y Architect, Mr. S. G. Besant Roberts. (Ph otograph Y courtesy of' the Architec1) .

District Centres

Main pedestrian way, St. George's N eighbourhood, Hulme, designed by the Director of Housing, Mr. J . Austen Bent.

Progress has been made in es tab li sh ing what new

shopping and social centres with a w id e range of

commu nity and recreational faciliti es will be required

in connection with th e redevelopment of the inner

city and which exis ting ce ntres will be remodelled

in th e future to fulfill similar functi o ns . Simil ar ly,

further study has taken place with rega rd to other

exis ting centres at Withington , Chorlton and

Wyth enshawe. The resu lts of the Land Use Survey

now being processed will serve as a check to some

of th e initial assumptions which have had to be

made to ensure that development is not held up .

Th e broader implications of the pattern of District

Centres proposed are being considered in th e

context of the Review of th e Deve lopment Plan

which will consider broader policy aspects

connected with shopping, communications,

accessibility etc.

Moss Side The initial planning work and the draft outline brief

of requirements has been the subject of

inter-departmental study and elaboration . The City

Arch itect has taken th ese initi al suggestions

forward to th e stage wh ere approval by th e

Committees concerned has been granted for th e

design proposals. Th e centre includes over 600

dwellings, closely related to the commun ity, social

and shopp ing faciliti es . It is hoped that progress

particularly in building the dwellings and th e first

phase of 50 shopping units will be rapid . There are

many interes tin g and origi nal ideas embodied in

this scheme which is ex tre mely forward looking.

Harpurhey Th e proposals for Harpu rh ey envisage a second

new District Cen tre and a design and accommodation

bri ef will be required.

Cheetham It is already evident th at th e ex isting shopping

centre along Ch eeth am Hill Road is th e natural

nucl eus for the furth er community and socia l

facilities that will be required to serve th e wider

area. A site for th e Abraham Moss College of

Furth er Education has been approved adjacent to

th e ex isting library an d clinic. Tog eth er with th e

major private shopping scheme which is now

virtually complete, th ese proposals would provide

the nucleus of th e new centre. Consid erab le more

detailed planning work will be required.

Long sight Proposals for district shopping facilities at

Longsight and th e necessary so cial and community

facilities to serve th e wid er area in th e longer term

will be required.

Withington Th e original outline plan for Withington Vill age

has been reappraised in th e light of comments

made by citizens of Withington at a Publi c Meeti ng

held to discuss the original study for th e area.

This has res ulted in amended proposals for a rath er

smaller area which cou ld be developed over a ten

year period being included in Compreh ensive

Development Area proposals. Th ese proposa ls

are ready for submission to th e Minister of Housing

and Local Gove rnm ent as soon as it is eviden t th at

sa tisfactory arrang ements for comprehensive

development ca n be made. In th e meantime th e

danger of unco-ordinated commercial developm ent

th at would have worsened an already serious

traffic situation and prejudiced th e achievement of a

satisfactory overall scheme has been avoided.

Chorlton Advi so ry planning proposals which would guide

redevelopment within the existing district centre on

Wilbraham Ro ad have been drawn up and planning

consent was given ear ly this year to a

comprehensive shopping, office and res id entia l

scheme, incorporating a clinic and a large car-park.

It will no doubt be appreciated that apart from th ese

district centres which will require considerable

and continuous planning work over the years,

irrespective of wh eth er th ey are to be completely

new like Moss Sid e or Harpurhey, or rebuilt

alongside ex isting fac iliti es as at Ch eetham or

Longsight, th ere are also other smaller centres

serving th e more immediate neighbourhood and

which include local shopping and also other social

and communi ty uses as at Varl ey Street, Miles

Plattin g, in th e Nelson Street redeve lopment area

and the centre to serve the Beswi ck redeve lopment

area. These smaller shopping and social cen tres are

also being cons idered and discussed with th e City

Architect and Director of Housing both of whom

are co ncerned with th e detailed architectu ral design .

13

Wythenshawe Town Centre Th e scheme for th e complet ion of th e

Wyth enshawe Town Centre, referred to in th e

first Report of th e Departm ent, was approve d in

August 1965. Th e revised layou t for th e Centre

inc lud ed:

i) Four blocks of flats which are now nearing

co mpl etion design ed by th e Direc tor of Housing.

ii) A Bowling All ey now in operat ion.

i ii) Apart from the ori gin al 37 shops comp leted, a

furth er 19 shops are nearing comple tion .

iv) A housing scheme comprising about 700

dwe llin gs now being designed by th e Direc tor

of Hous in g.

Building work on th e pub li c buildings comp lex,

designed by th e City Arch itec t has bee n held up

by th e present res tri cti ons on ca pital ex penditure

which unfortunately app ly to projects of this

character.

(above) Wyth enshawe Town Centre. New 8-s torey dwellings designed by the D irector of Housing, Mr. J. Austen Bent, now close the shopping vista .

Wythen shawe Hospital M aternity Unit designed by M essrs. Powell and M oya, Architects . (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects).

14

Industrial Survey and Relocation Con sid erab le attention has been given to both

short and long term indu stri al needs in th e Ci ty .

Many indus tri al and commercia l enterpris es are

aff ected by th e c lea rance programme and, apart

from th e sho rtage of readi ly avai lab le indu stri al

land in th e righ t locati ons an d in th e ownershi p of

th e Corporation, it has beco me evid ent th at many

of th e small er indu strial enterpris es are not able

eas ily to find ca pital required to build new premi ses

to th e high standards whi ch are des irabl e ii a

sa ti sfactory cha racter is to be ach ieved in

industri al estates. It has been found necessary in

connection with th e Rev iew of th e Deve lopm ent Plan

and because th ere is a need for more up-to-d ate

information, to carry out an indu stri al survey for the

City ; this took pl ace in June and July 1966 and a

detail ed qu estionnaire was sen t to 4,000 indu strial

undertaking s. Thi s was quite a formidabl e operat ion

and th e high rate of respons e has bee n encou ragi ng.

About 70 % repli ed and now th e task of analysin g

th e rep li es t o th e qu estionn aires is bein g

tackl ed and th e help wh ich is being given by the

Computer secti on of th e City Treas urer's

D epartm ent is gratefu ll y acknowl edged.

Th e first resu lts shou ld be ava il able toward s th e

en d of th e year providing info rmation on th e types of

firm s, th eir loca ti on and linkages, and th e

operationa l probl em s l ac ing th em in Manchester.

It is also hoped th at in th e co ntex t of th e

Deve lopm ent Plan Rev iew th e res ults of survey will

provid e more adeq uate guidance on both short term

and ultimate land requ irements.

A co mp lem entary and parallel survey of employment

has also bee n carried out. Th is covered all 8,500

com merc ial and industr ial es tablishm ents in the

City and in forma tion was derived partly from

officia l sources and partly by postal surveys. Th e

results of thi s survey wil l provide basic in formation

for emp loyment projections necessary for the

Review, and will be co-re lated with other informati on

such as traffic generation. A s all this information

is to be stored and ana lysed with th e help of the

Comp uter, together wi th th e land use survey

w hi ch is refer red to later, the foundations are being

laid for a data ban k for the City which cou ld

eventually be ex pa nd ed to include informati on

relating to many oth er serv ic es in a com patibl e

form.

A s an inter im mea sure, a report on indu strial

relocation was prepared in September 1966. Thi s

highli ghted prob lems of mainl y sma ll firm s

dependent on low re ntals and local labour faced

with relocat ion ar is ing from c lea rance. Th e increased

rate of c learance and th e decision to ensure more

com prehensive redevelopment appea red to have

led to a short term shor tage of land read ily

availab le for reloca tion. Many of th e ava il ab le

sites th eoret ical ly ca pab le of development for

ind ustrial use, we re less than one acre in ex tent,

and the area in Co rpora ti on ownership was ve ry

lim ited. On the other hand a major so urce of land

fo r relocation is now bei ng provid ed by th e clea rance

of un fit houses on land zon ed for industry and th e

total amount of industria l land which shou ld be mad e

avail abl e is about 60 ac res, though almost on e third

is required ultimately for major road works; about

anoth er 85 acres of ind ustrial land will become

avai labl e as a res ult of c lea rance between 1967 and

1973. Th e Departmen t is, th ere fore, examining

tog eth er with the City Estates D epartmen t , th e

possibilities of acqu iring s ites which would be

su itab le for th e co nstruction of terraced and

flatted factories which might be leased to

su itabl e displaced firms . Fra mework plans have been

prepared for th e Car lisle Street and Kay Street

Ind ustri al Areas; th e Carlisl e Street area forming

part of th e larger Bradford Industri al Area for which

a planning bri ef is bein g prepared . Framework plans

and bri efs als o have to be prepared for other

industrial areas needing improvement and

development ; careful attention has been given to

standards, problems of access and parking, loading

and unl oad in g, im proved types of fencing and

land scaping.

On e of th e City 's major build in g proj ects is

th e re location of the Smithf ield Wh olesa le

Fru it, V egetab le and Fi sh Market on th e former

locomotive works at Gorton. Thi s project, wh ich is

being des ign ed by th e City Architect , has been th e

subject of furth er disc uss ion and co nsultati on

between th e various departm en ts concerned;

carefu l attent ion has been given to th e pl anning ,

highway and landscaping prob lems assoc iated with

a scheme th at w ill cover 40 acres and wh ich wi ll

be a major traffic gene rator.

Capital Development and Site Selection

An important and increasing part of th e work of th e

D epartm ent co ncerns th e choice of sites for

development by var ious Committees of th e

Corporation. Steps have to be taken to ensure that

land wi ll be avai labl e in th e long term for all

essen ti al public serv ices where th ese are prov ided

by th e Corporati on or by other publi c Auth or iti es.

Sites mu st be def in ed with precision as th e

developm ent of land by th e Corporati on for buildings

or oth er faci lit ies becomes imminent. Th e

immediate, or short term, development programm es

of Corpora ti on Committees is based largely upon

th e forecas ts of capi tal inves tm ent for three to

five years ahead. Long term futu re requ irements for

pub lic development also have to be drawn

up. All deve lop in g departments of the

Corporation and a larg e number of outside public

and semi-public auth oriti es includin g

Govern men! Departm ents have been asked to

supply information about th eir present land holdings

and future needs in th e City up to abo ut 1981, so

th at pol ic ies can be formu lated and all ocati ons

made to meet these long term requirements wi th in

th e co ntex t of th e Revi ew of th e City D evelopm ent

Plan. Th e site requirements of a si mi lar ra nge of

departments and authoriti es have already bee n

embodied in th e ou tlin e plannin g bri efs or dis tri ct

plans already desc ribed . Durin g th e period very

c lose and va lu ab le wo rkin g arrang ements have been

developed on th e selection of sites with th e City

Arch itect and the City Estates and Valuation Officer,

and fo r th e education building programm e with th e

Chi ef Educati on Offi ce r.

15

Environment and Landscaping

16

Although it has been necessary to give priority

to the planning areas affected by slum clearance,

the Department is now beginning to consider the

first areas where groups of dwellings will be

improved as opposed to being demolished. There

will be opportunities to improve also the wider

environment and it will be necessary to collaborate

closely with the Medical Officer of Health; the

conservation and improvement of older areas of the

City where wholesale demolition will not take place,

will become of increasing importance as the

clearance programme is successfully accomplished.

Further progress has been made on the strategy for

the reclamation of derelict areas in accordance with

overall planning proposals for "green finger"

treatment along the river valleys and canals where

some of th e worst dereliction is concentrated.

Since the outline scheme for th e 100 acres

Irk Valley Park was prepared, which was described

in the last report, a second stage of th e Irk Vall ey

Scheme covering a furth er 200 acres has been

approved and will be incorporated as an amendment ;

to th e Development Plan. Detail ed landscaping

proposals are, th erefore, required for about 300 acres

of th e Irk Vall ey.

Th e Rochdal e Canal Act of 1952 effectively allowed

th e denavigation of th e canal except for a short

length in Manches ter forming th e link between th e

Bridg ewater Canal and th e Ashton Canal, a distance

of about 2* miles. From 1952 to date the condition

of th e denav igated section of th e canal has

deteriorated and presents a danger particularly to

children. The City Council, th erefore, cons id ered it

Sketches showing proposed treatment of the Rochdale Canal by courtesy of the Consultants, Derek Lovejoy and Associates; the Canal is opened up as a pedestrian greenway and a shallow waler treatment, earth moulding and tree planting are central features of the outline scheme.

Photograph looking north along the line of the Rochdale Canal; in the foreground the Canal Basin and beyond the obsolescent industrial pattern of the nineteenth century.

vital to seek authority through the 1965 Rochdale

Canal Act to acquire the canal, remove the dan gers,

and to improve its appearance. In consequence, a

preliminary study and report for the landscaping

and treatment of the canal has been drawn up by

Derek Lovejoy and Associates in association with

G. H. Hill and Sons, which has now been approved

by the City Council. It is suggested that a very

shallow open water treatment could make the

canal safe whilst retaining a feature of character

and interest. The line of the canal would remai n

in the form of a pedestrian greEn way linked with

shallow water cascades, paved play spaces and

sitting areas. It is hoped that it will be possibl e

to go ahead with detailed proposals that can be

carried out as soon as possible.

Proposals for the culverting, partial filling and

landscaping of th e Maston Brook-an essential

element in th e linked open space and landscap ing

treatm ent proposed in the District Plan for

Harpurhey, have also been approved in principl e.

Comprehensive study of th e full length of th e

Mersey Vall ey undertaken by th e Departm ent

tog eth er with Lancashire and Cheshire County

Planning Depa rtments on behalf of a workin g party

of T echnical Officers, has been prepared whi ch

recomm ends, among other things, major

landscap ing of th e va ll ey which should be used

intensive ly as a lin ear park and recreational area t o

serve th e south of th e City reg ion . It is proposed

th at a joint co mmittee be set up to co-ordinate

propo sa ls for th e treatment of th e va ll ey. In thi s

co nn ect ion further progress has also been mad e

towa rds impl ementing proposals previously

approved in principle by the College of Science and

Tec hnology for the tipping and reclamation of the

Hard y Farm area of the valley for use as playing

fie lds.

The Department, in close consultation with the

City Engineer's Department has also drawn up

prop osals for the detailed landscaping of the fringe

areas of Mancunian Way; the impl ementation of

these landscaping proposals, including the major

ro undabouts, is now approaching completion.

T he importance of th e landscaping aspects of the

many important projects now being planned or

carried out can not be over-stated. Wh en the

plann in g and development in connection with the

slum c lea rance programme is complete, the new

comm unities will eith er ex tend over or influence

somethi ng like one third of the City. Perhaps more

th an any oth er s ingl e factor, not exc luding the

archi tecture of th e buildings themselves, the

attracti veness of these new areas will depend on

th e quali ty and adequacy of th e landscap ing

treatment whi ch th ey receive. Ap art from the

redevelop ment areas th emselves, there are th e other

major projects hav ing landscap ing implications

th at are h igh on th e li st of prioriti es; these include

major hig hway project s such as th e proposals for

P rin cess Parkway , wh ich will provide Manch es ter

w ith an essential link to th e National Motorway

System, th e Sale Eas tern By-pass through th e

Mersey Va ll ey, the extens ion to Chorlton Road and

Prin cess Road Ex tension through Hulme, all of

whi ch demand pos itive landscaping ac ti on. Th ere

is an increasing volume of landscap ing work

arising out ot the detailed consideration of housing

and other Corporation building schemes,

particularly the relationship of major schools and

playing fields to the open space pattern as a whole.

It is of vital importance that landscaping design

should be carried out at the same time as the

planning and design of the development itself,

ii is not a veneer which can be app li ed afterwards

because in most cases landscaping considerations

are very relevant to the initi al and basic planning

and design decisions which have to be taken.

Princess Parkway, now affected by th e new road

proposals is still probably th e fin es t examp le of

urban parkway treatm en t in this country. As

Princess Parkway in its present form must inevitably

and most regrettably be affected, it is important th at

the new roads which replace it should be

worthy successors landscaped to th e highest

standards of design and quality.

Landscaping and planting lo Mancunian Way.

17

18

N t C 't ' Y Centre- Red evelopment

<:omprehens · indicating P~~e planning prop and diagramm:/~ctn,an circulali~~alsofor the City Cent ,orm of , pen 5 re redeve lopment. pace pattern

The most encourag ing aspect so far as th e City Centre is concerned is th e number and vo lume of majo r bui lding proj ec ts under co nstruction and th e larg e number of planning app rova ls which have bee n negotiated for projects to be built over th e next few years . This cons id erabl e building activity as well as the plann ing consents is , of co urs e, related to t he va rious advisory schemes which have already bee n approved as a gu id e to development; a more detail ed analysis and descript ion of the cen tral area planning wo rk wil l be avail ab le when th e draft T own Centre proposals are presented sho rtly .

Civ ic A rea New buildi ng s wh ich have bee n comp leted are Sco ttis h Life House in Crown Squ are, Quay Hou se, in Quay Street, offices in Ridg ef ield, and offices and sh ops in St. James's Squ are. In th e Lower Civi c A rea the f irs t phase of th e majo r scheme extendin g from Deansgate to Crown Squ are is almost co mpl ete and will be occupied by th e Education Department. It is hoped th at th e remaind er of this development for which detai led consent has bee n gi ven, wil l proceed immed iately and that

bu ilding work will co mm ence later this year on th e new Mag istrates Co urt, des ign ed by Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall in association with th e City Architect; th is prom ises to be a building of th e hi ghest arch itectura l qua lity and has been carefu lly con sidered in relationship to Crown Square and th e oth er developments described. Approval has al so been give n to an ex tensio n to Rylands Lib rary des igned to be in character with th e ex istin g

(Above) Proposed City Magistrates Courts, Crown Square, designed by Messrs. Yorke, Rosenberg and M ardall, Architects, in association with the City Architect, Mr. S. G. Besant-Roberts. (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects) .

Lo wer part of the Civic Area development showing Crown Square with new Education Department Offices designed by M essrs. Leach, Rhodes and Walker, Architects.

building . In th e Upper Civic Area between Deansgate and th e T own Hall planning approval has been given for a major private office development th oug h it is not certa in at this point in tirn e when th e dev elopment will be carried out. Th e comp letion of th e Lower Ci vic Area, particularly around Crown Squ are wil l present an opportunity to make Crown Squ are into a major pedestri an paved an d planted space and powers are bein g so ught in the Par li amen tary Bill for 1967 to make poss ibl e th e clos in g of streets to vehicul ar traffic for environmental reasons . An assessment of th e po ss ibl e need for future civic accommodat ion was prepared by the City Architec t and th e City Planni ng Off icer which has imp ortant plann ing implications for th e area.

Aerial perspective of the Advisory Scheme prepared in 1962 for the area between the Town Hall and the Courts of Justice .

19

2()

The Market Place and Cathedral Area professional consu ltants to work with th e local

Following discussions between th e D epartment , authorities and other interests concerned with th e

th e City Engineer and th e City Engin ee r of Salford , need to improve the surroundings to th e Cath ed ral.

it has been found possible to mod ify th e alignment A repor t setting out guide lin es has been publish ed

of th e City Centre Road to the north of Exc hang e an d this ca ll s attention to th e inadequacy of th e

and Victoria Stations in Salford; th e previous Cath ed ral surroundings at th e present time.

alignment from Alb ert Bridg e along th e Ri ve r lrwell

an d up Cannon Stree t had caused a number of

importan t eng in eer ing and planning difficulties,

particularly with regard to th e re lati onship between

th e Cath edral and th e Market Pl ace Area. Th e new

ali gnment has mad e it possib le to modify th e

orig in al Advisory Sch eme for th e Cath ed ral Area

and thi s has now bee n discussed with th e

Royal Fin e Arts Commission and th e Cath ed ral

Authoriti es; a rev is ed scheme for th e whole of th e

Market Pl ace Area up to th e River lrwell , submitted

by private developers, has now receiv ed out lin e

co ns ent. The new proposals provide for improved

connections with th e Cathedral Precin ct and an

area of public open space in keeping with th e

character of this historic part of th e City . Th e

scheme, an d ind eed several other develo pm ents

approved in th e Parson age area wi ll make it possible

to open up a frontag e to th e river so th at in th e

lon g term a riversid e way may be provid ed. It is also

fitting to commend th e far-s ighted outlook of th e

Cath edral Authoriti es who have not on ly had th e

Cathedra l cleaned but have appo inted

Model of the Cathedral Area Advisory Scheme with the M arkel Place proposals on the left and Corn Exchange proposals on the right.

The Market Street Area Furth er study of th e Advisory Sch eme for th e heart

of th e City' s shopping area has resu lted in a number

of modifications and discussi ons with prospect ive

developers have continued, particul arly for the area

between Market Stree t and Withy Grove.

Comprehensive Development Area proposals for

th e Market Stree t Area were submitted to th e

Minister of Housing and Local Governm ent in

September 1966. Negotiations wh ich had been

tak in g pl ace over a number of years with Messrs.

Arnd ale Prop erty Trust Ltd . cu lminated in th e

submiss ion of an outline pl anning application at th e

beginning of this year fo r th e area between

Market Street and Withy Grove. In view of th e fact

that an inquiry into th e C.D.A. propo sals would be

necessary, an d also in view of th e va rious

objections which had been rece ived into both th e

C.D .A . and th e planning app li cation, th e Minister of

Housing and Local Governm ent cal led in th e

app li ca tion and informed th e Corp orati on th at he

proposed to hold an inquiry into both th e C.D .A .

and th e app li cation; th e inquiry is likely to be held

towards the end of 1967.

The fi rst phase of th e Market Centre Development

has now been completed and is virtually full y let.

It is worth noting that most of the shopping spaces

take th e form of small units particularly suitable

for the smaller shopkeeper. D emo lition of th e old

G.P.O. building has now been comp leted and th e

second phase should co mm ence thi s year. Thi s

sc heme will provide a new head Pos t Office with

shopp ing at gro und and basemen t leve ls linked

to the Market Centre across Brown Street at

basement level; it is hoped th at sub ject to further

traffic investigations it may be possible to c lose

Brown Street allow ing fr ee pedestrian movement

and amen ity treatmen t betwee n th e two halves of

t he sc heme at ground leve l. A number of other

important buildings are still under cons tru cti on;

the Oddfellows building in Fountain Street, off ices

and showrooms in High Street / Church Street , and

th e co-o rdin ated building developmen t for th e Sun

Alliance- London Assurance Group and the

Di stri ct Bank in King Street , where a new open

space ava il ab le to th e public, forms an integra l

part of the sc heme.

The new M arkel Centre designed by Messrs. Cruicl<.shank and Seward, Architects.

The Nicholas Street Area C.D.A. proposals have now been prepared for th e

area ea rm arked for an Arts Centre and it is hop ed

th at furth er progress w ill be made towards th e

rea li sati on of thi s important sc heme in th e near

future. In this part of th e City the Pi ccad illy Plaza

offi ces and hotel, th e St. J ames's Club in

Charlotte Stree t, and th e T elephone Building in

George Street have all been co mpl eted. Detail ed

co nsent was given to a new Bank of England

building on Portl and Street, to th e rear of the

Pi ccad ill y Hotel ; thi s is anoth er majo r project of hi gh

quality and it is hoped th at work will begin thi s year.

A new building for th e Commercial Union

A ss urance Co. has been co mpleted on a site

ad jacen t to th e City Art Gall ery and specia l care

was tal1en in th e design to create a sa ti sfactory

re lation ship between th e two buildings.

(Top) Proposed new Northern Regional Headquarters for the 8.8 .C. designed by Building Design Partnership, Architects, (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects).

(Middle) SI. James's Club and Offices, Charla/le Street, designed by Messrs . Gun/on and Gunlon, Architects, (Perspective by courtesy of the Architec ts).

(Left) Commercial Union Assuran ce Company building, Mosley Street, designed by Messrs. Dan iel Walney Eiloarl Inman & Nunn , Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of /h e Architects ).

21

Model of the Advisory Scheme (or the Central Station Area and M osley Street area includin g the proposed Aris Centre.

22

Central Station Area A fifth Advisory Sch eme which had to be

necessar ily of a tentati ve nature at this stag e was to

prepare for th e area which indicated one way in

which this part of th e City Centre might be

deve loped; th e area includes th e Central Station

Train Hall which is li sted as a building of sp eci al

architectural and hi stori ca l interes t and is shown

as retain ed, possibly for use as an Exhibition Hall ;

th e area is particularly suitabl e for major car

parking terminal faci liti es and would also be

suitabl e for res id ential accommodat ion, a measu re

of office and oth er us es as we ll as open space.

A policy report concern ed with the vital qu estion

of re-introdu cing res id ential accommodat ion into

th e City Centre was approved and th e

Smithfi eld Market Area, th e Byrom Stree t Area and

th e Central Station / Lower Mosl ey Street Area were

considered suitabl e areas and are now being

studied furth er to determin e their residential

potential. Th e Smithfi eld Market Area, about 14 acres

in ex tent, provid es th e opportunity for a first c lass

resid ential scheme which could completely transform

the character of th e northern fring es of th e Centre.

Th ese areas, deve loped in th e mai n for

res id enti al us e, would not only bring som e life to th e

Centra l Area at all tim es, but would also stimul ate

other forms of development.

Ap art from th e developments taking place within

areas for which Ad visory Schemes have been

prepared, th ere are severa l oth er schem es under

construction. Pi ccad illy Station, following

electrification of th e lin e to London , is now

completed and a new office block with shopp in g

units and in c luding with a reco nstru cted and

landscaped station approac h is under construction.

Th e completed schem e should provid e a more

fitting gateway for rail pass eng ers arriving in th e City .

Draft City Centre Proposals Following the joint report of th e City Engin ee r and

Surveyor , th e Transport Manager, th e Chi ef

Constable and th e City Planning Officer, on Car

Parking in Central Manchester, a basic element in

any town centre pl an, th e D epartm ent has taken

part in var ious consultations and furth er detail ed

study in connection with th e report and th e need to

implement car parking proposals as soon as

possibl e. Th e D epartm ents of th e City Engin ee r and

th e City Planning Officer have been working as a

tea m on probl ems co nn ected with highway and land

use pl anning; very cons id erabl e progress has been

(left) Proposed new Bank of England, Par/land Street, designed by M essrs. Fitzroy Robinson & Partners, Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects).

(below) Perspective of London Assurance Group development under construction in King Stree t designed by M essrs. Breit and Pollen in association with A. L. Brotherton & Partners. (Perspective by courtesy of the Architects).

made in settling the app ropri ate primary and

secondary highway network for th e City Cen tre in

relat ion to future land uses, and th e rev ised

proposals will also be th e subject of a joint report

of th e var ious officers concern ed. Th e resolution

of th ese probl ems tog ether with th e Car Park ing

Report referred to, has now made it possibl e to finalise

th e draft City Centre Map and Policy proposals.

Th e growing importance of th e reg ion al functions

carried out in th e City Cen tre may now be seen

more c lea rl y; apart from th e rapid ex pan sion of

faciliti es for high er ed ucation , th ere has been

steady growth in th e number of regional offices of

Governm ent departments, th e proposals for th e

B.B.C. Reg ional Headquarters, th e establishm ent

of th e Nation al Computing Centre, th e first

installm ent of which is th e completion of a building

to house th e computers th emselv es, th e decision to

es tablish a major Busin ess School within th e

High er Education Precinct and more evid ence of

furth er expansion in banking. Th e quality and

environment of th e City Centre still leaves a great

dea l to be desired, though many buildings have been

cl eaned including th e Cath edral and th e old T own

Hall; in consultation with th e Civic Tru st, studi es

are being undertaken to see if furth er areas may be

reserved for th e pedestrian; St. Ann's Squ are and

Crown Square which len d th emselves to partial

or compl ete closure to traffic, are cas es in point.

Although th e presence of underground services

makes tree planting in the City Centre difficult,

possibl e sites for a consid erabl e number of trees

have bee n suggested and th ese are now being

stu died in detail by th e City Engin ee r from th e

se rvices as pec t.

Manchester Higher Education Precinct During the period under review the Amendment

(lop left) Model of the overall plan for the Educa tion Precinct. Planning Consultants : Messrs. Wilson & Womersley . (Photograph by courtesy of the Consultant).

Humanities Building, M anchester University , designed by Building Design Partnership, Architects. (Photo­graph by courtesy of the Arch itects).

to the approved Developm ent Plan for th e Education

Precinct, was submitted to the Minister of Housing

and Local Government together with two concurrent

Compulsory Purchase Orders for land for new

Education projects; a Public Inquiry was held in

January of this year and the Minister's decision

is expected later in th e year. In addition the

Clifford Street and Higher Ormond Street Housing

Act Compulsory Purchase Orders, promoted to

clear unfit houses in th e Precinct area, were

submitted to th e Ministry, public inquiri es held,

and the Orders have bee n confirmed with minor

modifications.

Whilst this statutory work was being carried out,

th e preparation of more detail ed proposals for th e

Precinct, following on the Interim Report of

Septemb er 1964, has gone ahead rapidly. The

Final Report of the Consultants ''' has been rece ived

and accepted in principl e by th e Precinct Joint

Planning Committee and has been referred to the

constituent memb ers, i. e. the City, the University,

th e Institute of Sci ence and T echnology, and th e

United Manchester Hospitals.

On th e ground, th e Sci ence Quadrangl e at the

University is virtually complete and th e Economics

and Soci al Sci ences Building in Dov er Street and

th e Humaniti es Building s including th e University

Th eatre are finish ed; th e Arts Building Stage Ill

and th e Math ematics Building are under

construction; th e latter is particul arly s ignificant

as it in corpo rates th e fir st stage of th e upper

level pedestrian deck to be implemented

Proposed College of Music designed by Bickerdike , Allen and Partners, Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects) .

throughout areas of new development in the Precinct

to provide for pedestrian circulation separate from

vehicles. In addition, new buildings for the Town

Planning and Architecture Schools, Computer

Sciences, Busin ess School, Medical School Stag e I,

Precinct Centre including shops and residential

accommodation, two churches and an Ecum enical

Chaplaincy are in building programmes and should

be under construction by 1968/69. On the City's

sid e, the College of Art and Design Extension

is complete and new buildings for the Co lleg e of

Adult Education and a Hall of Resid ence for 200

students are in the 1967/68 building programm e. Th e

site of th e Colleg e of Music is now being cleared

and construction should start early next year.

Th e Institute of Science and T echnology has now

developed most of Area 'A' north of Mancunian

Way, between Sackville Street and London Road

and a start has been mad e on th e final proj ect in

this part of th e Campus at th e junction of

London Ro ad and Mancunian Way.

Furth er design work is being carried out on th e

planning of Area 'B' between Sackvill e Stree t and

Princ ess Street and on th e first stage of th e

residential accommodation in th e Stud ent Quarter

in th e main body of th e Prec inct, to start in 1968/69.

For th e United Manch ester Hospitals , a start has

now bee n made on th e new St. Mary 's Maternity

Hospital on th e north side of Hath ersage Road and

thi s will eventually provid e 175 beds and repl ace

th e old St. Mary 's at present lo ca ted on th e co rn er

of Whitworth Street W est and Oxford Stree t.

Detail s of all th e projects co mpl eted, under

23

construction or hav ing received planning permission

in th e period under review are shown in

App endices 10, 11 and 12 (pages 44, 45 and 46) .

Th e City Planning Officer, at the request of the

Precinct Committee, convened a Working Party on

Sports Facilities in the Precinct and following a

series of working meetings a report of th e Working

Party was prepared; this has been approved by the

Joint Committee and has been referred, with the

Final Report to the constituent members .

* All the projects mentioned are being developed in

accordance with the overall proposals prepared by

Messrs. Hugh Wilson and Lew is Womersley, the

planning consultants for the Precinct.

and the positive results of all this activity should

begin to be clearly seen over th e next few years.

24

(left) Pedestrian link between the College of Art and Design and the recently completed extension designed by the City Architect, Mr. S. G. Besant Roberts.

Proposed new SI. Mary's Maternity Hospital, Halher­sage Road, United Manchester Hospitals, designed by Walkins, Gray and Partners , Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects) .

(below) Perspective of proposed Mathematics and Social Sciences and Electrical Engineering complex, Institute of Science and Tech nology designed by Messrs. Cruickshank and Seward Architects (Drawing by courtesy of the Architects).

Review of the Development Plan Th e Development Plan for the City was submitted

to th e Minister of Housing and Local Government in

1951 and approved in 1961. The Town and Country

Planning Act 1962, requires that Developm ent Pl ans

be reviewed every five years from th e date of th e

Minister's approval. During the fifteen years since

the Plan was prepared very considerable changes

have take n place, in particular the revision upwards

of population trends, th e unforeseen rate of

increase of motor cars and, of course, very

significant changes have taken place in th e

commercial and industrial structure. Th e Land Use

Survey , which is a statutory requirement of any

Revi ew, was designed to take full advantage of

computer application and to be capable of

continuous revision. Work on th e outside survey

was carried out by a team of temporary ass istants

in the summer and autumn of 1965 and now the very

complex task of processing th e survey data for feeding

to the computer is taking place. Whilst th e Land Use,

Industry and Employment Surveys and analyses

acco unt for th e major part of the research

programme undertaken as part of th e Review,

a study of the City in its regional context, as well as

basic research into population changes, has also

been carried out. Studi es of th e age/ sex structu re of

both planned and voluntary migrants from th e City

in recent years will also allcw an accurate

assessmen t to be mad e of th e structure of

population in 1981. Detailed studies of the ag e and

and household compos ition of population s in

c lea rance area tog eth er with predictions as to

th e ways in which th ese might change have

Id

been undertaken. Th ese will provid e a much firmer

bas is for the design of redevelopment areas in th e

City; the processing and presentation of this work

prog ramme is well advanced . Th e Depa rtment has

con ti nued to make its contribution to th e

S.E.L.N.E.C. Land Use/Transportation Study . Much

of t his study is of necessity concerned with

Land-Use planning and projections of Land Use,

Industry and Employment information. The survey

prog ramme already desc ribed provided essential

material for th ese forecasts in sufficient detail to be

of va lue for the purposes of th e study.

In 1966, th e Depa rtm ent of Education an d Science,

asked local authoriti es to und ertake a survey of

facilities for sport and physical rec reation ; th e survey

in Manchester was carried out jointly by th e Edu cat ion ,

Parks, Baths and Pl anning Departments. Th e results

provide a compre hens ive record of the provision

an d use of faci liti es and have been mad e ava il ab le

to the North W est Sp orts Council. Th e City

Pl ann ing Officer is Vice-Ch airman of th e T echn ical

Pan el of t he Sports Cou nci l and th e Departm ent is

takin g an ac tiv e par t in th e Council 's research

prog ram me.

Tran spo rtat ion is th e most exactin g prob lem facing

an urban planning authority . Fo ll owing a joint report

on Rapid Tra nsit to th e City Council in January 1966

th e Manches te r Rapid Transit Study was

establi shed. Work on thi s proj ec t consis ts of two

complemen tary studi es; on e in wh ich th e

comparat ive feasib ility of different sys tems is being

investi gated by a firm of co nsultants , and on e in

Whi ch Offi cers o f th e Departm ents represented 011

the study, tog eth er with officers of British Rail and

the Ministry of Transport , are studying th e

possibiliti es of making better use of th e area's

existing transport facilities . The Planning

Department has been involved in both aspects of

the study. In co-operation with th e Consultants,

De Leuw, Cath er and Partn ers, in association with

Hennes sy, Chadwick, O'H eo cha and Partn ers ,

environmental criteria have been formulated for

ap plication to Rapid Transit proposals . Th e study of

ex isting facilities has called for extensive research

into th e re lati onships between land deve lopment

and transport in the area, and into th e operational

problems of co nstraints on road use.

Brookfield Court, designed by the North of England Building Design Consortium, an example of increasing private residen tial schemes.

Development Applications Th e appendices, particularly Appendi x 13 (page 47)

present an overall statistical breakdown of the

volume of statutory work undertaken. Behind th e

statistics th ere are people and more than 150 a week

visit the Department to discuss their planning

probl ems or ideas for development. Th e aim of

improving pl anning standards, to encou rage a higher

quality of development and to co-ordinate th e

various separate private projects requires skill and

determination and above all time and patience.

In th e last reso rt, the success of any plan depends

on th e quality of work carried out on th e ground,

an d development control is regarded as a positive

process of planning as opposed to a ro utine

acti vity. Th e work in considering appli cations for

development has been re-o rganised, and

streamlin ed, and co nsiderab le improvemen t in

adminis trati ve procedures and record ing method s

has been mad e. Th e va lue of cons ultation

is nowh ere more apparent th an in th e attempts

made to cut down th e number of cases which

ac tu ally com e to an Appeal to th e Mini ster of

Housing an d Lo ca l Governm ent. Of 69 appea ls

following a refusal of planning permi ss ion by th e

Council lodged with th e Mini ster in th e two years

from 1st April 1965, only 17 actu ally went to appea l,

28 have been withdrawn and discuss ion s are

proceeding with th e remainder.

Two reports , th e fir st putt in g forward a draft pol icy

on th e spacin g and d is tributio n of petrol stations on

which th e Mi ni stry of Housin g and Lo ca l Government

have been asked for th eir views, th e seco nd

deali ng with Tree Preserva tion were presented.

25

Civic Trust Awards 1966

26

(above) Commended. District Library, Stretford Road, Hulme, designed by the City Architect, Mr. S. G. Besant Roberts. (Photograph by courtesy of the City Architect .)

(right) Award. Owens Park Student Village , Fallowfield, designed by Building Design Partnership, Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of the Architects) .

(below) Commended. Albany Court, Everett Road, Withington, designed by Peter Jordan , Architects. (Photograph by courtesy of ihe Architects) .

blic Relations

The Department has bee n stretch ed to th e limit by

the in creas ing vo lum e of public relations ac ti viti es,

visits of all kinds, talks , req uest s for articles, etc .

Public re lations and consultations are recognised

as an esse nti al part of th e planning process-a

valua ble bridge betw ee n th e planning authority and

cit ize n. Th e possibilities for positive work in this

direction are ve ry co nsid erabl e and a great dea l

remai ns to be don e to ex plain th e City's policies

and improve th e imag e of planning; neve rth eless

des pi te limited technical and fin anc ial reso urces ,

a co ns id erabl e contribution has bee n mad e to

publ ic relations work generally by memb ers of th e

Depa rtment.

Perhaps th e most important event was th e

Dep artment's first public exhibition staged in th e

Town Hall Exhibition Centre for three weeks in

October 1965. At leas t 10,000 peo pl e visited the

ex hib ition, and lectures were given to about 1,000

pup ils from Manchester schools. Although th e large

mode l was remov ed from th e Exhibition Hall for th e

per iod of th e World Cup eve nts, it is now th e centre

p iece of a permanent display which has bee n seen

by many thousands of peo pl e, including a large

nu mber of distinguished visitors from home and

ove rseas. From tim e to tim e it has bee n

sup plemented by various building projects

desig ned by th e City Architec t and th e Direc tor of

Hous ing. Th e larg e working mod el continu es to

prov id e th e Departm ent with a day to day working

too l. An exhibition mod el covering th e City Centre is

bei ng built by th e Departm ent' s mod ellin g sec ti on

wh ich will fo rm pa rt of th e public di spl ay o f draft

planning proposals for th e City Centre. Many other

smaller mod els have bee n built and a furth er mod el

of th e entire City to a smaller scale is also in

course of preparati on which w ill be of direct

relevance to th e proposals contain ed in the rev iew

of th e D eve lopm en t Pl an.

Th e D epartm ent co ntributed a section on th e

replanning of th e City for an exhibition on display

at th e International Road Co ngress held in London

last yea r. Small er ex hibitions have bee n mounted

with more limited objectives for events such as th e

Careers Convention held at Wilbraham Road

T echnical School las t year.

Th e respons e from th e public to th ese initi a l

attempts to convey th e scale and character of

planning proposals has been most encouraging

and it is apparent that this is a very important aspect

of our work; th e need for a suitable home for a

perman ent exhibition dev oted to th e rep lanning and

rebuilding of th e City has become very apparent.

Pl anning and the rebuilding of th e City f eatured

prominently in th e itinerary on th e occasion of the

Prim e Minister's visit to this City in May 1966, and

th e D epa rtm ent was delighted to ass ist in exp lainin g

th e City's va rious planning proposals. During this

period th e Minister of State for Economi c Affairs,

th en th e Right Honourabl e Geo rg e Brown, th e

Mini ster of Transpo rt, th e Right Honourab le

Barbara Castl e, and more recen tly th e Mini ste r of

Hous in g and Loca l Gov ernment, th e Right

Honourabl e Anthony Greenwood, have all vis ited

th e City and seen th e ex hibiti on of

pl annin g and reco nstru cti on propo sa ls. Th e

Th e Prime Minister, the Righi Honourable Harold Wilson , 0.8 .E., M.P ., accompanied by the Lord M ayor, Alderman Bernard S. Langton , C.B .E., J.P ., visited the exh ibition of planning and redevelopment proposals in May 1966. (Photograph by courtesy of the "Manchester Evening News" ).

27

Department itself has received visits from many

distinguished overseas visitors; Members of

Pa rli ament from Tanz ania, representatives of the

Leningrad City Sovi et; the Mayor of Nairobi ; th e

High Commissioner for Kenya, and parties of

Journa lists from Denmark, Cyprus, Japan, India

and Norway . A number of other distinguished

technical and planning specialists have also visited

th e Department through the intermediary of the

British Council.

Throughout the period the demand for speakers and

visits to th e Depa rtm ent has increased steadily.

Many organisations have visited the exhibit ions

and/or heard senior members of the Department

explain the City 's planning proposals. In all over the

last two years about 150 lectures and talks have been

given to perhaps about 2,000 people. Th ese have

inc luded a lecture to Planning Officers from Japan,

a visit from senior officers from th e Department of

Economic Affairs, and a visit from Commonwealth

Journalists as well as a wide range of social and

professional organ isations in Manchester.

Th e various publications produced by the

Departm ent are listed in an appendix; articles

prepared by the Department have appea red in

various technical journals, newspapers and

magazines and throughout relations with the Press

have been cordial.

28

Staff and Education

Whilst the Department has been fortunate in building

up an inter-professional planning team of high

calibre, the shortage of qualified planners continues

to make its elf felt in a number of ways. At a time of

national shortage th ere is always a possibility of a

premature "brain drain", unless the prospect for

promotion and advancement within the

organisation are satisfactory. In fact, there is a

relatively small team engaged on planning work

in th e City whilst the volume of work and areas of

responsibility are constantly growing. The past

twelve months have presented certain difficulties,

due primarily to the "squeeze" and the period of

severe restraint which followed. In view of th e fact

that a number of suitable applicants have expressed

the wish to join the Department it is to be hoped

that the present difficulties will be removed as soon

as possible. The wider economic and technical

implications of th e City's tremendous rehousing

effort and indeed th e increased volume of

redevelopment in the City is now more widely

appreciated and th e work listed in the technical

appendices certainly suggests that planning gives

value for money spent. The cost of running the

Departm ent works out at less than a twopenny rate

which compares very favourably with other urban

planning authorities such as Liverpool,

Newcast le-upon-Tyne and Coventry, where the

rates of development and redevelopment do not

compare in magnitude with Manchester. In these

circumstances wh at is now called Personne l

Management and careful atten tion to the needs of

staff, has received increasing consideration within

the limitations imposed by economic and

adm inistrative restraints.

Po st graduates undertaking part-time planning

courses cont inue to make a very important and

cont inuing contribution to th e Department's work.

An increasing number of graduates in the re lated

disciplines of economics, geography and soci ology,

are app lying for posts although the shortag e of

architect and engineer planners continu es to make

itself felt and this is a serious national problem in

relation particular ly to urban planning. Th e nu mber

of architects qualifying as planners has dropped

from over 300 in 1951 to 200 in 1966, and in th e case

of engineers from 150 in 1951 to less than 50 in 1966

There is often no financial advantage to be gained

from obtaining the second qualification in planning

and with more than adequate opportunities in

engineering, this very serious trend is accelerating.

On joining th e Department th ese graduates

either commence or continue part-time courses

for the Diploma in Town Planning at eith er

Manch ester University or the Leeds School of

Planning; they have one day free a week during terr

time to attend lectures and the Corporation pay 75'.)­

of University fees and certain other expenses.

At the present tim e eleven members of th e staff

are engaged on part-time planning courses of this

kind. Three 'Open Days ' have been held, attended

by a total of 180 University students, som e of whom

subsequently applied for posts in the Dep artmen t.

Senior members of staff have attended Careers

Conventions at grammar schools and have

explained to parents and pupils th e opportunities fa

careers in the planning profession.

The City Planning Officer and Deputy City Plannint

Officer have served as External Examin ers at

Liverpool University School of Civic Design and the

Leeds School of Planning respectively; a nu mber o·

senior members of th e staff have continu ed to

ass ist in the training of planners, lecturing and

supervising studio work.

Appendices

Page 1 Members of Staff

30

2 Housing Needs and Land Resources 32

3 Housing Statutory Work and Major Public Enquiries 33

4 Major Housing Schemes Approved 35

5 Progress of Planning Briefs 38

6 Important Buildings completed in the Central Area 39

7 Important Buildings under construction in the Central Area 40

8 Major Planning Approvals In the Central Area 41

9 Major Planning Approvals outside the Central Area 43

4n Buildings under construction, in the Higher Education Precinct . 44

IV

11 Buildings completed, in the Higher Education Precinct 45

12 Major Planning Approvals granted, Higher Education Precinct 46

13 Applications for Permission to Develop Land 47

14 Analysis of Planning Applications considered 48

15 Analysis of Planning Decisions 49

16 Site Selection 50

17 Miscellaneous Information 51

Appendix 1

City Planning Department-members of Staff 31 March 1967

30

CITY PLANNING OFFICER

J S Millar BArch DipCD MTPI ARIBA

DEPUTY CITY PLANNING OFFICER

E A Rose DipArch DipTP MTPI ARIBA

ASSISTANT CITY PLANNING OFFICERS

City Centre and Special Projects

J K Billingham MArch DipArch DipTRP ARIBA

Development and Research

TV Hughes BA MCD DPA AMTPI

Redevelopment and Renewal

B Parnell BSc CEng AMIMunE

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

D W C!erc

CHIEF ASSISTANT PLANNING OFFICERS

B Barnett BSc AMTPI ARICS

D J Burns BA MCD AMTPI

J Dean DipTP CEng AMTPI AMIMunE AMIHE

R G Maund BSc DipTP AMTPI

F Mortimer

M D Pedley BA MTPI

H Seddon DipTP MTPI

SENIOR ASSISTANT PLANNING OFFICERS

F Bardsley BScTech CEng AMICE AMIMunE

M C Bradshaw MA DipTP AMTPI

G V S Clague BArch DipTP AMTPI

S Cooper BSc DipTP AMTPI

Miss E B Curtis DipTP AMTPI

R K Eastham DipArch DipTP ARIBA AMTPI

P M Eveson BA DipTP

J S Field DlpTP AMPTI

I N Goldthorpe DipArch DipTP AMTPI ARIBA

J R Hill DipTP CEng AMIMunE AMTPI ARICS

T Mellon BA MCD

P J Radcliffe BA DipTP ARIBA

J Reynolds DPA

K Taylor BA DipTP AMTPI

P F Truelove BA DipTP AMTPI

R F Truscott BSc DipTP AMTPI

J Waddington DipTP AMTPI

G W Wood DipTP AMTPI

M D Woods DipTP CEng AMIMunE AMTPI

GENERAL ASSIST ANT PLANNING OFFICERS

Miss R D Armitage BA

Miss P D Blow BA DipTP

RS Brackley DipTP

LG Coop BA

G Fletcher DipTP AMTPI

G R Goodall MSc BA

A E Guy LL B Barrister at Law

Miss I M Hodgkinson BA DipTP

G R Howell BSc DipTP AMTPI

SN Leach BSc

L P O'Reilly MA DipTP

PLANNING TRAINEES

Miss A B Batty B Sc

M J Brough BA

G 0 Hall BSc

D S Kaiserman BA

RP Ross BSc

C J Shepley BA

PLANNING ASSISTANTS

Mrs M Ballam

E J Bartley

Miss I Caldwell

Mrs M Cochrane BA

J W Gray

Mrs AM Jones

AC Jones

Miss J M Laidlaw

F Latham

L Meehan

SC Meyrick

JG Millett

DB Pickard

J S Robertshaw DipAD DA(Manc) LSIA

PC Seymour

G Shaw

J Swindells

A Walker

G J White

GENERAL ASSIST ANTS

J E Berry

Miss P A Brown

JR Collins

Mrs M Drake

Mrs M J Hancock

G H Mellor

G L Penny

H W Wilson

MODELLING

E Cootes

S Johnson

L McNally

R J Mitchell

DRAUGHTING

Miss A J Bayley

Miss T A Boyle

Miss S E Breeze

Mrs A Cowley

Miss P M Essam

Miss C A Hodgson

Miss B F McDiarmid

Miss J Parker

Miss JR Pitt

Miss L C Sadler

ADMINISTRATION

Miss E P Connor

Miss J McQueeney

Miss S A Murray

Mrs E Smith

W H Snowden

Miss L M Stephens

T A Thornton OMA

GT Tiani

SECRET ARIAL

Miss E C Close

Miss A King

TYPING

Mrs M Casanove (Typing Supervisor)

Miss J Chittleborough

Miss S E Gillbank

Mrs NL Keiiy

Miss BE Lowe

Mrs S Taubenhaus

Miss M Wood

31

1, •

Appendix 2

Housing Needs and Land Resources

32

A Needs

Total Housing Needs mid 1961-mld 1981

2a Municipal Houses built mid 1961 to December 1966

b Houses built by private developers mid 1961 to December 1966

c Estimate of private houses likely to be built January 1967 to mid 1981

d Houses built under Town Development Schemes:

Wlnsford

Macclesfield Crewe

416

1,250} ..:...2 4,000 .

416

2,625

Housing needs adjusted to December 1966

B Availability of Land to mid 1981

Land within the City (January 1967)

New land

II Redevelopment of Cleared Areas

Land outside the City (January 1967)

Sites In the course of development or immediately available

II Other sites:

Marple

Altrincham

700

1,000

Bury, Unsworth, and Walshaw 2,480

Wilmslow, Brook Farm etc. 2,700

dwellings 86,980

17,469

2,051

2,339

3,041 24,900

62,080

3,918

28,234 32,152

5,481

6,880 44,513

Deficit Balance 17,567 =

Appendix 3

A. Slum Clearance and Redevelopment

Period 1.4.65 to 31.3.67 Period before 1.4.65 Comprehensive Redevelopment Area Clearance Areas C.P.O's made Public C.P.O's Clearance Areas C.P.O's made Public C.P.O's Remarks

declared Inquiries confirmed declared Inquiries confirmed No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs. No. Dwllgs.

I. RESIDENTIAL

Ancoats, Miles 3 1022 9 1564 9 1564 1 116 12 5848 9 5577 9 5577 9 5577 Major part of the work completed before 1.4.65. Platting, Collyhurst Redevelopment is now susbtantially completed.

Beswick 5 1746 5 1492 6 2716 5 2651 3 2428 1 1224 - - - - An area of some 300 acres to be completely redeveloped by mid 1970's. Clearance work commenced.

Brunswick 1 1069 1 1069 - - - - 2 1276 2 1276 2 1276 2 1276 Substantially cleared and redevelopment progressing rapidly.

Cheetham 7 2294 3 529 3 529 - - 1 137 - - - - - - Major clearance procedure just commencing.

Gorton 1 493 - - - - - - 1 1029 1 1029 1 1029 1 1029 Rebuilding has commenced but the main clearance procedure yet to be undertaken.

Harpurhey 3 672 4 1701 2 1465 2 1051 3 2282 2 1253 2 1253 2 1253 Clearance and redevelopment under way but the major part of renewal still to come.

Hulme 1 29 1 593 1 593 1 593 13 8582 12 7989 12 7989 12 7989 Statutory work completed. Redevelopment Is now under way.

Longsight 2 1643 - - - - 1 1087 2 1645 2 1645 2 1645 1 558 Clearance and redevelopment under way with the major areas still to be Implemented.

Openshaw 3 1685 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Statutory work just commencing.

II. INDUSTRIAL 4 742 6 1184 7 1465 7 1744 10 2479 5 1395 2 839 1 492 Land now becoming available and site allocations for displaced Industries commencing.

Ill. City Centre and 1 86 4 594 4 594 2 463 3 508 - - - - - - Land now becoming available for education purposes. Education Precinct

33

B. Major Public local Enquiries

Subject

Acquisition of land at Walshaw and Unsworth, Bury, for resettlement of Manchester families.

Acquisition of land at Wal shaw and Unsworth, Bury, for resettlement of Manchester families.

National Coal Board application for permission to mine under the City.

Proposed use of land by the City at Victoria Avenue East, zoned for open space, for residential purposes.

Amendment of the Development Plan and compulsory acquisition of land for education purposes In the Education Precinct.

34

Date

September 1965

March 1967

March 1966

January 1967

January 1967

Remarks

The City Council made C.P.O's and planning applica­tions on 243 acres of land at Bury. Bury County Borough and other bodies objected and following an Inquiry the Minister confirmed the Orders with the omission of 10 acres and subject to special Parliamentary procedure in July 1966.

Hearing before a Committee in the House of Lords into Bury's objection to the Minister confirming the C.P.O's. The Committee upheld the Minister's decision with the exclusion of 30 acres at Walshaw.

The Minister called an Inquiry into the Implications involved in the N.C.B. application for total extraction of the Crombouke and Roger Seams to the north­east of the City Centre. The City Council objected mainly on the grounds that ensuing subsidence would occur under areas that have been recently redeveloped or where redevelopment is imminent.

The Minister called an Inquiry Into the City Council's application to develop 70 acres of land for residential purposes. This land formerly occupied by temporary bungalows is zoned for open space. The shortage of land for dwellings inside the City led to the proposal.

Inquiry into the City Council's proposal to designate land for education purposes and for the purposes of the B.B.C. which is zoned for residential uses at present. It was also held into the designation of the land as subject to compulsory acquisition.

Appendix 4

Major Housing Schemes Approved A. Public

Location Site

I Details No. of Dwellings Approved

Collyhurst Road Redevelopment Area Two 13-storey blocks 128 flats 4.8.65

* Hulme Comprehensive Redevelopment Stage Ill (part) 9-storey flats, 4 and 6-storey maisonettes, 2 and 3-storey houses 719 dwellings 1.12.65

* Stage IV 4-storey maisonettes, flats and 2-storey houses 441 dwellings 1.12.65 " " " * Stage V 6-storey maisonettes 924 dwellings 1.12.65 " " "

*Wythenshawe Civic Centre Four 8-storey blocks 344 Aged persons flats 5.1.66

Wythenshawe Scout Drive 2-storey 38 dwellings 2.3.66

*Lodge Street, Harpurhey Redevelopment Area 13-storey flats, 4-storey maisonettes, 3-storey flats, 2-storey houses 560 dwellings 2.2.66

* Nelson Street, Miles Platting Redevelopment Area 13-storey flats, 4-storey maisonettes, 2-storey flats, 2-storey houses 323 dwellings 2.2.66

Rusholme Platt Court 3-storey flats and maisonettes 26 dwellings 6.4.66

Thomas Street, Gorton Redevelopment Area 4-storey maisonettes, 2-storey houses 528 dwellings 4.5.66

* Gibson Street, Longslght Redevelopment Area 6-storey maisonettes 501 dwellings 25.5.66

* Wellington Street, Beswick Redevelopment Area (part) 6-storey maisonettes 344 dwellings 6.7.66

* Gorton Abbey Hey Lane One 15-storey block 72 flats 5.10.66

*Turkey Lane, Harpurhey Redevelopment Area 6-storey maisonettes 745 dwellings 5.10.66

* Hulme Comprehensive Redevelopment Stage Ill (part) One 9-storey block, 4 and 6-storey maisonettes, 2-storey houses 323 dwellings 1.2.67

Gorton Annersley Terrace One 15-storey block and single storey bungalows 90 dwellings 1.3.67

total 6106

*Outline applications only.

35

B. Housing Associations

Location \ Sile Details No. of Dwellings Approved

East Didsbury Millgate Lane 3-storey block of flats 25 flats 5.5.65

East Didsbury King sway Two 5-storey blocks of flats 48 flats 26.5.65

*Victoria Park Conyngham Road One block of flats 88 flats 7.4.65

Newton Heath Briscoe Lane Eight 1-storey flats and 2-storey flats 22 flats 7.4.65

Blackley Blackley New Road Three and two storey flats 48 flats 1.9.65

Withington Wilmslow Road Two 3-storey blocks of flats 12 flats 3.11.65

Fallowfield Richmond Road Two 3-storey blocks of flats 18 flats 5.1.66

*Chorlton Edge Lane 3-storey flats and 2-storey houses 76 flats 10 houses 4.5.66

* Didsbury Barlow Moor Road 3-storey block of flats 21 fiats 6.7.66

*East Didsbury King sway 3-storey block of flats 32 f lats 7.9.66

Levenshulme Grange Avenue 3-storey block of flats 18 flats 6.7.66

Dldsbury Dene Road 8-storey block of flats 48 flats 3.8.66

East Didsbury Miilgate Lane 3-storey block of flats 29 flats 7.9.66

• west Dldsbury The Beeches Erection of flats 71 flats 5.10.66

Victoria Park Conyngham Road Two 3-storey blocks of flats 20 flats 1.2.67

Levenshulme Central Avenue 3-storey block of flats 36 flats 1.2.67

* Levenshulme Slade Lane 3-storey block of flats 18 flats 1.3.67

*Withington Wilmslow Road 3-storey flats 60 flats 1.3.67

*Outline applications only. total 700

36

C. Private

Location Site Details No. of Dwellings Approved

West Didsbury Lapwing Lane Seven 3-storey blocks of flats 63 flats 4.8.65 *Dldsbury Spath Road/Lancaster Road Erection of flats 5.5.65 Chorlton Ivy Farm Three 3-storey blocks of flats 36 flats 5.5.65 Withington Wilmslow Road Two 3-storey blocks of flats 63 flats 7.4.65 Crumpsall Middleton Road Three 3-storey blocks of flats 18 flats 7.4.65

*Victoria Park Anson Road Flats and houses 32 flats 24 houses 26.5.65 *West Didsbury Lapwing Lane 4-storey block of flats 42 flats 1.9.65 *Whalley Range Whalley Road 3-storey block of flats 36 flats 6.10.65 Brooklands Cranleigh Drive 3-storey flats and houses 2-storey houses 12 flats 45 houses 6.10.65 Dldsbury Holmwood Road 2-storey block of flats 13 flats 5.1.66

*Dldsbury Dene Road/Wilmslow Road 3-storey block of flats 18 flats 3.11.65 Withington Heaton Road 3-storey block of flats 12 flats 1.12.65

*Didsbury Palatine Road Six blocks of flats 36 flats 6.4.66 Gorton Abbey Hey Lane 2-storey houses 26 semi-detached 1 detached 6.7.66 Chorlton-cum-Hardy Wilbraham Road Two 3-storey blocks of flats 90 flats 2.11.66 Dldsbury Tintern Avenue Five 3-storey blocks of flats 45 flats 2.11.66

*Newton Heath Jocelyn Street Residential development 4.1.67 *Gatley Park Road Residential development 1.3.67 *Dldsbury Mersey Road Erection of flats 1.3.67 *Dldsbury Fog Lane 3-storey block of flats 40 flats 1.3.67

total 652 '"Outline applications only. -

37

, . I

Appendix 5

Progress of Planning Briefs

38

Brief

I. RESIDENTIAL AREAS: Beswick Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

Longsight Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

Harpurhey Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

Openshaw Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

Cheetham Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

Gorton and West Gorton Comprehensive Redevelopment Area

II. INDUSTRIAL AREAS Bradford Industrial Area

Included within the Bradford Area: (I) Carlisle Street Redevelopment Area (ii) Kay Street Redevelopment Area

Approved by City Council

November 1965

August 1966

October 1966

August 1966 November 1966 }

Remarks

Clearance now proceeding in the Wellington Street, Devon Street and Napier Street C.P.O Liaison work is taking place with the Housing Department on detailed layouts.

Clearance proceeding in the Gibson/Syndall Street C.P.O's. Liaison work taking place with ti Housing Department on detailed layouts.

Clearance proceeding in the Turkey Lane C.P.O. Rebuilding has commenced In the Lodge Stre C.P.O. area and liaison work with the Housing Department on the details of future C.P.O's taking place.

Planning Brief nearly complete.

Planning Brief is In the course of preparation, the area is defined and survey work and consultations are proceeding.

The area has been defined and survey work is in progress.

This Brief covering the overall Bradford Industrial Comprehensive Redevelopment Area is course of preparation.

Prepared In conjunction with the City Estates and Valuation Officer to deal with the pressur· arising from the need for relocation of Industries disturbed by clearance elsewhere.

Appendix 6 Important Buildings Completed in the Central Area (April 196~March 1967)

Area of Uses-Square Feet

Location Brief Description Other Uses Sq. ft. Estimated Cost Offices Shops Storage

St. James' Square 9-storey offices and showrooms 53,000 11,000 - Car parking £450,000 (showrooms)

29 Peter Street 6-storey offices and showrooms 13,000 5,200 - Car parking £100,000 (showrooms)

City Road/River Place 3-storey warehouse 6,000 - 14,000 Car parking £90,000

Charlotte Street/George Street 15-storey club and offices 44,000 - - Club 27,000 £300,000

Piccadilly Plaza Hotel - - - Hotel £800,000

Piccadilly Plaza Office blocks 290,000 - - - £1,450,000

Commercial Union Assurance, Mosley Street 7-storey office block 40,370 - - Car parking £390,000

I Shops }

Bridge Street/Dolefield (Scottish Life House) 9-storey office block, shops etc. 60,000 2,000 - Showrooms 90,000 £360,000 P.H.

Quay House, Quay Street Offices and Shops 89,000 5,000 - Car parking £375,000

John Dalton Street/Ridgefield 6-storey offices and shops 18,000 5,600 6,300 - £150,000

Market Street/Brown Street (Market Centre) Office and shopping complex 49,000 52,000 - Car parking 25,000 £500,000

3/5 Charlotte Street (Sun Life) 4-storey office block 12,500 - - Car parking £75,000

York Street/George Street Telephone Exchange - - - £450,000

--- ---Buildings completed December 1963 - March 1965 £1,600,000

674,870 80,800 20,300 £5,490,000

= =

39

Appendix 7

Important Buildings under construction in the Central Area April 1965-March 1967

Area of Uses-Square Feet Location Brief Description

Offices Shops Storage Other Uses Sq. ft. Estimated Cost

35 Peter Street 6-storey offices and showrooms 16,000 5,300 - Car parking - £117,000 (showrooms)

High Street/Church Street 9-storey warehouse, showrooms and shops 36,500 59,500 - Car park - £300,000

St. Andrews Street G.P.O. Parcels Office 60,000 - - Parcels Depot 160,000 £1,100,000

King Street/Cheapslde District Bank 120,000 - 20,500 Canteen 21,000 £1,750,000

King Street/Pall Mall London Assurance Group, Office Development 88,300 - 12,800 Car park 15,000 £750,000

Fountain Street/York Street Oddfellows House 35,800 9,000 400 Car park 10,000 £300,000 (Includes Public House) Flats 5,000

Crown Square/Wood Street/Cumberland Street Office Block, Phase 1. (Education Offices) 125,000 - - - - £625,000

Piccadilly Station Approach Offices and Shops 159,500 21,900 - Petrol Fiiiing Station, Car Park - £1,000,000

Dickinson Street New wing to existing N.W.E.B. offices 66,000 - - Car parking - £330,000

707,100 95,700 33,700 £6,272,000

Buildings under construction December 1963-March 1965 £4,270,000

40

r.--·

Appendix 8

Major Planning Approvals April 1965-March 1967

,,

· ~·

.,

' I~

i

:· ·I Area of Uses-Square Feet

c Location Brief Description Other Uses Sq. ft. Estimated Cost

Offices Shops Storage

l

r London Road/Travis Street Offices, Showrooms, and Petrol filling Station - 11,000 - Motel } (showrooms) Public House 28,000 £1 85,000

}: Restaurant Petrol Station 17,000 Car Park 12,000

Market Street/Spring Gardens Head Post Office, Offices Shops, etc. 77,500 60,000 18,000 Flats 2,000 £1 ,000,000 (Post Office)

St. Andrew's Street/Travis Street G.P.O. Parcels Office 60,000 - - Parcels Depot 160,000 £1,100,000

Dickinson Street New wing to existing N.W.E.B. Offices 66,000 - - Car parking £330,000 ,;

Market Street/Cross Street Offices and Shops Areas not given Car parking -':

* King Street/Cheapside District Bank 120,000 - 20,500 Canteen 21,000 £1,750,000

Liverpool Road/Wellington Place Warehouse, Showroom, etc. - 8,000 13,000 Garage 9,000 £80,000 (showrooms)

*Fountain Street/York Street Oddfellows House 35,800 9,000 400 Car park 10,000 £300,000 (includes Public House) Flats 5,000

Crown Square Magistrates' Courts Total area of courtrooms, offices etc., 170,000 £2,500,000 '

*King Street/ Pall Mall London Assurance Group Office Development 94,500 - 12,800 Car park 15,000 £780,000 I

*Crown Square/Cumberland Street Office Block Phase II (part ) 98,500 14,000 16,700 Car parking 16,000 £690,000 (showrooms, Public House

*Detailed approval following previous outline approval and restaurant)

between 1963-1965

i 41 ' ·"'"'"- - ~ ~ -···~

Area of Uses-Square Feet Location Brief Description Other Uses Sq. ft. Estimated Cost

Offices Shops Storage

Queen Street/Lloyd Street Office block 107,000 13,400 - Church Hall 2,000 £600,000 (showrooms) Car parking 42,000

Miiier Street/Rochdale Road/Dantzic Street Warehouse, showrooms, multi-storey car Areas not given -park etc.

Store Street/Boad Street, Ancoats Warehousing and/or light industry Areas not given -

Baird Street/Portugal Street, Ancoats Warehousing and/or light industry Areas not given -

Portland Street/York Street Bank of England 74,300 - - Banking 51,000 £2,000,000 Car parking

16/20 St. Mary's Parsonage, etc. Regional Headquarters and offices for North Areas not given -Western Federation of Building Trades Employers

14/22 Parsonage Office block, showroom, 34,000 - 18,500 Car parking 11,000 £250,000 Flats 4,500

2/6 Parsonage Office block 35,000 - - Car parking 8,000 £300,000 Canteen 6,000

* Charles Street/York Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock Office block and petrol filling station 40,000 - - Car parking 3,500 £167,000

Market Place/River lrwell Comprehensive commercial development 130,000 300,000 - Hotel 59,000 £3,200,000 Car parking Landscaped and pedestrian areas

* Crown Square/Cumberland Street Offices Phase II (balance) and Phase Ill 288,000 - -Car parking £1,440,000

*Rylands Library, Deansgate Extension - - -Stockrooms } 17,500 £90,000 Flat

Oxford Road/Charles Street BBC Regional Headquarters 78,000 - 45,000 Studios

} --- --- Garages 210,000 £4,500,000 1,338,600 415,400 144,900 Workshops ---

= = Catering, etc. 879,500 £21,262,000 =

42

Appendix 9 Major Planning Approvals outside the City Centre (excluding Housing)

Location Proposal Date Approved Estimated Cost

Shopping Centre, Bury Old Road, Thomas Lock-up shops, offices and supermarket with 3.11.65 £390,000 Street, Tyson Street, Cheetham Hill car parking facilities (nearing completion).

Civic Centre Complex, Wythenshawe Public entertainment building comprising theatre, 4.5.66 £1,200,000 public hall, sports hall, library, swimming pool, restaurant and concourse.

Houghend Hall, Mauldeth Road West/Nell Lane 4-storey office block with car park area and 25.5.66 £140,000 Chorlton-cum-Hardy reconstruction and restoration of Houghend Hall.

Park House, Park Road, Gatley (a) 2-3/storey office block 7.9.66 (b) 3-storey office block £120,000 (c) Housing development

Thomas Street, West Gorton 2-storey research and development building and 5.10.66 £600,000 11-storey laboratory and office building.

Fairfield Street, Chancellor Lane, Dark Lane Multi-storey warehouse with ancillary offices and 4.1.67 £800,000 and Union Street, Ardwick showrooms.

Site bounded by Nicolas Road, Manchester Shops, offices, clinic, maisonettes, garages, and 1.2.67 -Road, Barlow Moor Road and Wilbraham Road, car park, after demolition of existing properties. Chorlton-cum-Hardy

43

Appendix 10

Buildings under construction, Higher Education Precinct at 31st March, 1967

Estimated

Development location Authority Cost

Arts Buildings Stage 3 Spa Street Manchester University £554,000

Mathematics Building Oxford Road/Wilton Street Manchester University £700,000

Chemistry Building Sackviile Street Institute of Science and Technology £1,800,000

Electrical Engineering and Mathematics and Social Sciences Buildings

London Road/Mancunian Way Institute of Science and Technology £1,231,000

National Computing Centre Stage 1 Oxford Road/Mancunian Way Ministry of Technology £150,000

St. Mary's Maternity Hospital York Place/Hathersage Road United Manchester Hospitals £2,500,000

St. Augustlnes Church and Deanery Grosvenor Square Salford R.C. Diocesan Trustees £140,000

£7,075,000

Cost of buildings under construction December 1963- March 1965=£6,182,000

44

Appendix 11

Buildings completed, Higher Education Precinct, April 1965-March 1967

Development

Williamson Building Stage 2. Pathology and Bacteriology

Williamson Building Stages 3 and 4, Botany and Zoology

Physics Building

Humanities Building Stage 2

Mobberley Building Stage 3

Economics and Social Sciences Building Extension

Simon Engineering Building Extension

Students Union and Residential Tower

Moffatt Building Extensions and conversion

Chemical Engineering Building Extensions

Civil Engineering Building Extension

College of Art Extensions

College of Commerce

Cost of buildings completed December 1963-March 1965=£2,200,000

Location

Oxford Road/Brunswick Street

Oxford Road/Brunswick Street

Upper Brook Street/Brunswick Street

Spa Street

Oxford Road/Burlington Street

Dover Street/Rumford Street

Brunswick Street

Altrincham Street

Altrlncham Street/London Road

Lower Albion Street/London Road

Sackville Street

Rosamund Street West/Boundary Street West

Aytoun Street

Authority

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Institute of Science and Technology

Institute of Science and Technology

Institute of Science and Technology

Institute of Science and Technology

Manchester Corporation

Manchester Corporation

Estimated Cost

£383,500

£220,000

£1,150,000

£519,000

£50,000

£200,000

£228,000

£900,000

£97,000

£292,000

£119,000

£600,000

£560,000

£5,318,500

45

Appendix 12

Major Planning Approvals granted, Higher Education Precinct, March 1965-April 1967

Development

Arts Buildings Stage 3

Mathematics Building

*Economics and Social Sciences Building, Extension

*Civil Engineering Building Extension

Electrical Engineering and Mathematics and Social Sciences Building

Staff House Extension

National Computing Centre Stage I

St. Mary's Maternity Hospital

*St. Augustine's Church and Deanery

Northern College of Music

College of Adult Education

*Detailed Permission following an earlier outline

46

Location

Spa Street

Oxford Road/Wiiton Street

Dover Street/Rumford Street

Sackvllle Street

London Road/Mancunian Way

Campus, North of Mancunian Way

Oxford Road/Mancunian Way

York Place/Hathersage Road

Grosvenor Square

Oxford Road/Booth Street

Oxford Road/Cavendish Street

Authority

Manchester University

Manchester University

Manchester University

Institute of Science and Technology

Institute of Science and Technology

Institute of Science and Technology

Ministry of Technology

United Manchester Hospitals

Salford R.C. Diocesan Trustees

Manchester and Salford Corporations, Lancashire County Council, Cheshire County Council

Manchester Corporation

Estimated Cost

£554,000

£700,000

£200,000

£119,000

£1,231,000

£80,000

£150,000

£2,500,000

£140,000

£693,000

£311,000

£6,678,000

Appendix 13

Applications for permission to develop land 1st April 1965-31st March 1967

1.4.65-31.3.66 1.4.66-31.3.67

April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Total Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. M ar. Total Grand 1965--66 1966-67 Total

------- - -------- - - -- - - --- - --------------- - - ----------

Applications for private 159 124 169 133 145 184 118 134 207 98 150 117 1738 115 162 145 161 159 158 124 112 146 103 152 160 1697 3435 development approved

--------------------------------------------------

Applications for private 40 32 37 27 28 36 35 27 36 15 26 16 355 29 32 28 31 20 18 14 22 25 17 29 22 287 642 development disapproved

--------------------------------,_ ----------------

Applications to display

80 35 99 39 70 68 55 41 66 24 57 42 676 40 54 30 51 41 48 47 34 48 33 46 37 509 1185 advertisements approved

-----------------------------------------------------Applications to display adverti sements 7 2 11 4 6 10 9 4 16 2 10 6 87 8 22 13 9 11 8 2 3 4 2 4 2 88 175

disapproved

------------------------------------------------------Applications for Corporation ~evelopments 6 3 7 5 12 9 7 11 9 4 15 9 97 11 5 12 12 10 7 3 12 8 6 17 8 111 208

approved

-------------------------------------------------------

292 196 323 208 261 307 224 217 334 143 258 190 2953 203 275 228 264 241 239 190 183 231 161 248 229 2692 5645 ---------- = --= --= ----------·------------= ----------

47

Appendix 14

Analysis of Planning Applications Considered January 1965-December 1966

1965 1966

Use Total Approved Not Approved Total Approved Not Approved

1. Residential (a) Redevelopment 149 117 32 109 88 21 (b) New development - - - 3 3 -

2. Industrial 79 56 23 92 67 25 3. Offices 81 58 23 85 72 13 4. Shops and Restaurants 51 22 29 34 16 18 5. Petrol Stations and Repair Garages 59 17 42 27 12 15 6. Domestic Garages and Lock-up Garages 293 2n 16 244 223 21 7. Mineral Workings 1 - 1 1 1 -8. All other Classes of Building and other operations 836 746 90 766 709 57

Changes of Use 9. Residential Caravans - - - 1 1 -

10. Car Sales 8 6 2 10 6 4 11. Car Parks 22 18 4 39 35 4 12. To Offices 56 30 26 56 32 24 13. To Shops 38 28 10 46 33 13 14. To Industry 34 24 10 49 39 10 15. All other changes of use of land and buildings 440 366 74 435 372 63

Advertisements 16. Posters 114 76 38 115 60 55 17. Public Information Panels 18 18 - 19 18 1 18. Illuminated Signs 577 545 32 472 427 45 19. All other types of advertisements 41 35 6 38 29 9

2897 2439 458 2641 2243 398

The periods shown In this table are based on the returns supplied annually to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in accordance with Circular No. 52/61-Statistics of Planning Applications.

48

Appendix 15

Analysis of Planning Decisions 1963-1966

Total Approved Nol Approved

1963 1964 1965 1966 1963 1964 1965 1966 1963 1964 1965 1966

Residential 156 152 149 113 117 114 117 92 39 38 32 21

Commercial 371 368 316 467 259 234 179 337 112 134 137 130

Industrial 139 172 113 141 106 137 80 106 33 35 33 35

Miscellaneous 1741 1804 1569 1276 1607 1650 1389 1174 134 154 180 102

Advertisements 890 795 750 644 774 718 674 534 116 77 76 110

Total 3297 3291 2897 2641 2863 2853 2439 2243 434 438 458 398

-49

Appendix 16

Site Selection: 1st April 1965-31st March 1967 (see notes (a) and (b) below)

Committee No. of Projects Total Area (acres)

50

Children's 4

Education: (1) F.E. Colleges 1 (2) Primary Schools 13 (3) Special Schools 3

Health: (1) Nursing Services 8 (2) Mental Health Services 4 (3) Sanitary and General Services 7

Parks 1

Watch 1

Welfare Services i5

Total 57

Note (a) From the date of the setting up of the Department in December 1963 until March 31st 1965, sites were selected for 8 projects of the Education Committee (26.650 acres; £589,000), 2 of the Health Committee (1.000 acre; £107,000) 8 of the Welfare Services Committee (7.824 acres; £560,000), and 2 of other Committees (0.880·acres; £252,000). Note (b) At 31st March 1967, site requirements had been notified to the Department for some 200 projects. These would involve at least 550 acres of land and capital expenditure on buildings of over £16 million.

5.080

3.820 60.000 7.245

5.390 3.240 0.310

0.030

1.100

9.890

96.105

Approx. Capital Value of Bui/dings (£000)

340

397 1,263

308

380 330

41

25

65

704

3,853

" 1i

i I

j

'

Appendix 17

Miscellaneous Information

Planning Appeals

Advertisement Appeals

Certificate of Alternative Develop· ment (Section 17 of Land Compensation Act1961)

Land Charges

Purchase Notices (Section 129 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1962).

Total Lodged Allowed

1st April 1965-31st March 1966 36 1 1st April 1966-31st March 1967 34 1

Dismissed

1 2

Details of Appeals allowed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government 1965/66 Erection of 3-storey block of flats with garages, atter demolition of existing property. 1966/67 Single-storey car showroom and office. Details of Appeals Dismissed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government 1965/66 Erection of petrol filling station and repair garage.

Withdrawn

20 9

1966/67 Erection of 2-storey warehouse, single-storey office and showroom block and car park area.

In Abeyance

12 7

Awaiting Decision

2 4

Awaiting Inquiry

7

Recent Pending

4

Use of ground floor, part of first floor and outbuildings of house and surgery as offices, and conversion of part of first floor Into self-contained flat.

Total Lodged Dismissed Withdrawn Awaiting Decision

1st April 1965-31st March 1966 6 Nil 5

~1s~t~A-"--pr_il_1_9_66-3~_1s_t_M~ar_c_h_1_9_67~~~~-'-~~~~-6~~~~~'--~~~~N_il~~~~-'-~~~~-5~~~~-'-~~~~-~~~~~--'~~~~---'-1~~~~-

Details of Appeals allowed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government 1965/66 Nil 1966/67 Nil

Details of Appeals dismissed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government 1965/66 1. Bulletin board on gable wall of shop.

2. Six advertisement boards with fenced forecourt on vacant land. 3. Advertisement board on garage and storeroom. 4. Free-standing display case on forecourt of house. 5. Nine advertisement boards on cinema car park.

1966/67 1. Illuminated trade sky sign on roof of hotel.

1st April 1965-31st March 1966 1st April 1966-31 st March 1967

Purchase Notices, Local lnquiries-2

2. Illuminated advertisement board on rear elevation of shop. 3. Four illuminated commercial advertisements on offices. 4. Advertisement board on warehouse. 5. Bulletin board on shop.

1st April 1965-31st March 1966 1st April 1966-31st March 1967

1st April-31st March 1966 1st April-31st March 1967

Total Served

21 27

Accepted

16 14

18 21

10,741 10,658

Not Confirmed

3 1

Withdrawn

1 3

Awaiting Decision

1 9

Recent Pending

51

Designed by the City Planning Dept., and Printed by The William Morris Press Lid. , Wythenshawe, Manchester 22