Northern Ireland's minister for social development visited Great Places' flagship Manchester regeneration area, Northmoor, as part of a whistle-stop tour of some of the region’s finest regeneration programmes.

Nelson McCausland and a party of high-ranking civil servants met residents and Great Places staff in the south Manchester district, which has undergone 15 years of creative improvements with many partners including Manchester City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency.

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The group listened to presentations at Northmoor Community Centre, chatted to residents and staff, and enjoyed a walkabout in the sunshine. They saw some of the area’s iconic Home Zone streets, transformed terrace homes and new-build family houses.

They learned about wide-ranging and innovative consultation and community development, plus the work of the area's community wardens, that have contributed to the success of the regeneration programme.

Minister McCausland said: "It was great to see such a range of different approaches to regeneration in one place and learn about how those things all work together to really make a difference.

"We are going through big changes in housing in Northern Ireland and our visit has given us a lot of new ideas from different perspectives to take away with us."

(CD)