What’s behind Greater Manchester’s zero-carbon homes recovery plan?

Greater Manchester leaders are consulting on their vision for new homes, enhanced natural assets and revitalised town centres, known as The Places for Everyone plan.

Nine of the Greater Manchester districts - Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Salford, Rochdale, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan - are involved in the long-term plan which looks at jobs, new homes, and sustainable growth

It aims to maximise the use of brownfield land and urban spaces while protecting green belt land from the risk of unplanned development, and is linked to the authority’s plan for a zero-carbon future and good jobs and growth.

Public consultation on the vision opened last week and runs until October 9; you can get involved here.

Places for Everyone sits alongside a host of initiatives that are being rolled out across the city-region, including:

• Green Spaces Fund

  • Green spaces are a vital asset for local communities, and throughout the pandemic they have provided real benefits for residents’ health and wellbeing. Greater Manchester will work to bring forward plans for a Green Spaces Fund to help every community across the city-region improve and enhance local pocket parks and public green spaces.

• Green space enhancement work

  • Steps are being taken across Greater Manchester to transform and revitalise green spaces, bringing them back into public use for the benefit of local communities. Manchester city centre will see the creation of its first public park in the Mayfield development, spanning 6.5 acres of lawns, meadows and biodiversity areas. In the Victoria North regeneration programme, a 113-acre River Park will connect the seven emerging neighbourhoods of the project and open up the Irk River Valley for the first time in decades through high-quality public park and green space, along with new walking and cycling routes to encourage active travel. Salford is now home to the 154-acre RHS Bridgewater, the country’s fifth national garden, offering local residents free weekly access and supporting volunteering, community health and wellbeing, and the local economy. In Oldham, Northern Roots is creating the UK’s largest urban farm and eco-park, supported by Greater Manchester’s Environment Fund and Local Nature Recovery Strategy.

• 30,000 zero-carbon homes for social rent

  • As part of Greater Manchester’s Homelessness Prevention Strategy, Leaders will publish a plan to deliver 30,000 zero-carbon homes for social rent. A new commitment to work to radically improve temporary accommodation standards will also focus on families experiencing homelessness.

• Mills Strategy

  • Textile Mills are a defining feature of the Greater Manchester landscape. Their future is at risk unless new uses can be found. With the support of Historic England, Oldham Council has produced a Textile Mills Strategy which highlights the potential role that mills could play in providing high quality housing and employment opportunities, while taking into account the viability challenges that exist.

• Town Centre Mayoral Development Corporations

  • Mayoral Development Corporations (MDC) are statutory bodies created to bring forward the regeneration of an area, providing a blueprint for how devolved powers can help deliver new housing, sustainability, public transport infrastructure, and innovation at a local level. Building on the success of the Stockport MDC launched in 2019, the first in the country to focus on a town centre location, further work is under way to identify opportunities to support regeneration in other districts.

• Nature Recovery

  • Greater Manchester will shortly publish a report from its recent Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) pilot with Natural England. The pilot sets out the priorities and opportunities to tackle the biodiversity emergency and enhance the natural environment, both for nature and for wider benefits to our environment, economy and society. It also sets out the practical actions to needed to deliver on this.

* Note: the video accompanying this article was filmed previously at the launch of the scheme in July.