Controversial student flats and Etihad’s £300m expansion to be decided next week

Plans for controversial student housing will be put to a vote at a meeting next week where councillors will discuss seven developments in Manchester. One of the student blocks planned in Hulme which has already been knocked back twice after a local campaign against it is back on the agenda for a third time.

The planning committee will also decide the fate of Manchester City’s £300m expansion of the Etihad Stadium which would increase its capacity to 62,000. A new fan zone for up to 3,000 people and a 400-bed hotel is also proposed.

The demolition of a Victorian building in the city centre to make way for offices will also be debated. It comes after the committee called for a site visit before making a decision on the development which is opposed by national heritage bodies.

Councillors said they also wanted to see the site off Oxford Road where more student accommodation – including a tower up to nine storeys tall – is planned. This scheme which has been subject to objections from several local groups is back on the agenda three weeks after the last planning committee meeting.

Plans for three towers near Piccadilly Station with space for 1,224 students are also due to be discussed alongside a proposal for a seven-storey office and laboratory at Manchester Science Park. An application for 22 affordable homes in Higher Blackley is on the agenda for the next planning meeting too.

Here are all the decisions to be made when the planning committee meets at the town hall on Thursday (July 27) for the last time before the summer break.

11-storey student block in Hulme

The controversial student block at the former Gamecock pub in Hulme has already been rejected by the committee twice. Last October, councillors voted against the development despite three storeys being chopped off the design.

It came after local residents behind the Block the Block campaign said the 11-storey tower was still too tall, describing the development as ‘overdominant’. The committee was ‘minded to refuse’ the application and asked town hall planners to address concerns over the scale of the block and lack of parking.

Since then, developer Curlew has added three more accessible parking spaces to the scheme. However, despite staying the same height, council staff have said there is ‘no basis’ to refuse the application, recommending it is approved.

Etihad Stadium’s £300m expansion

The plans to extend the Etihad’s north stand would add an extra 7,900 seats taking the total capacity to 61,968. The current club shop would be knocked down to make way for an eight-storey building featuring a new store, ticket office and museum as well as workspace for small businesses and start-ups.

A nine-storey hotel with 391 bedrooms and 10 suites would also be built next to a new covered fan zone and event space with a 3,000 person capacity. Three letters of support have been received in relation to the application alongside five objections which have raised concerns about the design – some specifically about the hotel – and the impact of the expansion on the local community.

Planning permission was granted to expand the Etihad Stadium in 2014, but only the south stand was extended at the time. Town hall planners have now backed the latest application subject to an agreement with the football club which includes allowing local clubs and schools to use parts of the Etihad Campus.

Three towers for 1,224 students near Piccadilly Station

The Chandos Hall student accommodation building and a nursery in Echo Street were demolished after planning permission was granted for three towers on the site in 2018. But the project stalled due to the pandemic.

Three years on, fresh plans for 27, 21 and 16 storey buildings on the Echo Street sites were submitted to the council. Unlike the previous proposal, the latest application would be exclusively for students with 1,224 bedrooms available of which 196 would be offered at a discounted ‘affordable rent’.

There have been no objections to the scheme which is backed by Manchester Metropolitan University. Town hall planners have recommended it is approved.

Student flats with nine-storey tower near Whitworth Park

Residents associations, tenants unions and a heritage group have objected to the plans for student accommodation off Oxford Road. The scheme involves converting listed Victorian villas and building a new block of up to nine storeys.

Earlier this month, the planning committee was told the new tower planned near Whitworth Park would be ‘oppressive and overbearing’ for residents. Councillors said they wanted to visit the site before making a final decision.

Developer Cityside said the city needs more student accommodation and that 10 pc of the 261 beds would be offered at a discount to students who need it. The council’s planners have backed the proposal recommending its approval.

Demolition of Victorian building for 14-storey office block

The planning committee also deferred its decision on a 14-storey office block in the city centre. The scheme – which would see the listed Reedham House demolished – has been subject to objections from national heritage groups.

Under the plans, some Grade-II listed buildings would be retained with 4,849 sqm of office floorspace created altogether. However, town hall bosses have told the committee that the Victorian building on King Street West has been heavily modified since it was used as a showroom for horse-drawn carriages.

But councillors were concerned by the comments from Historic England and Save Britain’s Heritage. Planning officers at the council have recommended the application is approved – but it must be signed off by the government too.

Seven-storey office and lab in Manchester Science Park

Plans for a seven-storey office and laboratory building south of the city centre have also been backed by council officers. An ‘internationally significant health research organisation’ would occupy two floors with the rest of the building to be occupied by other organisations in the life science and healthcare sectors.

The site between Greenheys Lane and Pencroft Way which is in Manchester Science Park is home to the Greenheys building, two empty terraced houses – one of which is a takeaway – and a furniture store as well as a car park. The £52m scheme by developer Bruntwood is expected to create around 730 jobs.

Four objections have been received relating to the design of the building, its use and its impact on traffic and the residential character of the area. However, the planning department has concluded that the proposal should be approved.

22 affordable homes in Higher Blackley

Another affordable housing scheme is set to be approved by the committee this month with plans for 22 homes in Higher Blackley on the agenda. The development planned on the site of a former nursery in Longhurst Road is part of a council project which aims to create hundreds of new affordable homes.

Project 500 involves Manchester council selling small plots of land it owns to affordable housing providers at a discount to be developed. Earlier this month, the committee approved plans in Openshaw which are also part of the project.

Now, the committee will consider plans for 14 houses and eight apartments by housing association Great Places. The Higher Blackley scheme has been subject to one objection claiming that the land is a ‘greenfield’ site – but planning officers have supported the proposal saying it should be approved.