Thousands of new homes are set to be built
The Victoria North development is already well under way(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
A new high school is set to be built for a ‘new town’ within a long-neglected area of Manchester.
Manchester council said that a new secondary school for the Victoria North project has been given the go-ahead by the Government. The 11-16 years co-educational school will be run by Dixons Academy Trust.
It will be at the heart of a plan to regenerate an area between Collyhurst and the city centre. The plans include the building of 15,000 new homes between Victoria station and Queen’s Park in Collyhurst over the next 15 years, in seven new and existing neighbourhoods.
A new Metrolink station is also planned to serve the area. Manchester council said the 430 homes have already been completed, with another 550 currently on site.
A further 4,801 homes are yet to gain planning approval as part of the first phase of the project. Coun Julie Reid, executive member for Early Years, Children and Young People at Manchester council, said: “Getting the go-ahead for this brand-new school marks a significant moment for this part of the city, both for families already living locally and for all the many more who will move here in the future as the Victoria North new town ambitions are realised.
“It’s brilliant news for the area and alongside our existing secondary schools in the area is going to help ensure our families now and in the future have access to a great local educational offer with a place in a good school.”
The area has been designated as one of the first 12 ‘new towns’ that it promised to build at the last general election. The Government also announced a £3 billion investment in providing new specialist places in mainstream schools for pupils who have special educational needs.
Coun Reid said: “We very much welcome the additional funds announced today to develop specialist provision in mainstream schools, which aligns with the approach we’ve been taking in Manchester for the last few years now to meet the needs of our children and young people locally who have special educational needs. We look forward to hearing what our allocation of these funds will be, so that we can further extend this work.”