Manchester City Council has submitted a planning application to begin the process of making the Red Bank neighbourhood ready for development, bringing brownfield land back into use.

The initial phase of works has been made possible through a £51.6 million funding award from the government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), which will address a series of infrastructure constraints and allow the delivery of new homes and green spaces, including the first phase of a new City River Park within the Red Bank neighbourhood.

The planning application seeks approval for enabling works including invasive tree and vegetation removal, creation of a temporary haul road and demolition of the Creamline Dairies buildings, in association with the future delivery of the new Red Bank neighbourhood. The application includes a commitment to increase biodiversity by at least 10% as a result of the overall development.

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Red Bank will see the delivery of up to 5,500 new homes across a range of types and tenures, including affordable homes, as well as supporting social and community infrastructure. This includes key improvements to walking, cycling and public transport routes, creating an accessible and highly sustainable community, close to the city centre.

Red Bank is one of seven neighbourhoods that make up the Victoria North regeneration area.

Red Bank is currently characterised by underused brownfield land – with the largest brownfield site being the 25-acre former Red Bank carriage sidings – which closed for rail use in the late 1980s, and which has often been blighted by fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

The site is currently inaccessible due to a mass of low quality self-seeded, invasive species of trees and vegetation. Preparing the site for development will kick-start a wider programme of investment, which will introduce more appropriate and valuable trees and plants as part of the long-term commitment to developing an attractive, green neighbourhood.

Further planning applications will be submitted on a phased basis during 2022 seeking permission for the main infrastructure works, improvements to St Catherine’s Wood and the first elements of the City River Park. These will be followed by applications for residential development. Initial public consultation exercises relating to the redevelopment commenced in October 2021 and further consultation events will be undertaken in December 2021 and continue as proposals for the wider neighbourhood are further developed.

Victoria North is a joint venture programme between Manchester City Council and developer Far East Consortium (FEC).