{"id":603747,"date":"2025-11-30T17:27:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/603747\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T17:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:27:29","slug":"the-battle-for-the-garden-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/603747\/","title":{"rendered":"The battle for the garden city"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campaigners say Wythenshawe’s \u00a3500m revamp has ‘a real sense of gentrification’, but Manchester council points out that it’s building 422 all-affordable homes to kick the project off. Ethan Davies reports on the battle for the garden city(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Forty words have loomed over Wythenshawe\u2019s civic centre for more than a year.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re on a council banner promoting its impending redevelopment. In three short sentences, copywriters highlight it\u2019s the \u2018original garden city\u2019, upsell the regeneration, and make a promise to Wythenshawe<\/a>\u2019s 100,000 residents: \u201cThis is just the start and we\u2019re gonna do you proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big promise for a town that needs a big lift.<\/p>\n

Most of Wythenshawe town centre is in the worst 20pc for deprivation in England. The area covering the civic is in the bottom 2pc.<\/p>\n

But Wythenshawe\u2019s also got a lot in its favour. It\u2019s close to the Airport, a huge employer. It\u2019s well-connected by bus and tram, and only a short hop to the motorway. Its park would be envied by countless Greater Manchester suburbs. And its garden city layout means there are a lot of family houses with greenery.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Manchester council is investing big here. Half-a-billion pounds will flow into the town centre \u2014 promising thousands of new homes, culture hub, food hall, and revamped public square \u2014 to \u2018create opportunities\u2019 for residents to \u2018share in Manchester\u2019s economic success\u2019, Bev Craig said announcing the project last year.<\/p>\n

(Image: Muse)\u201cIt\u2019s a bit eastern European\u2026 we will bring the garden city back\u201d<\/p>\n

The dream\u2019s about to become reality: Formal planning applications for 422 new homes, all for social rent, will be submitted \u2018imminently\u2019. Progress is expected to be quick: Within 18 months, the food hall and culture hub will be open.<\/p>\n

The broad idea is to get people into the town centre and make it a vibrant place once more, Joe Stockton explained to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on a recent tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a lot more activity to make it a completely different environment,\u201d Mr Stockton, a manager at Muse, the company Manchester council has partnered for the redevelopment. The food hall and culture hub cafe will have ground-floor seating to \u2018spill out\u2019 into a new square.<\/p>\n

\u201cCosta is always busy,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s very few options to sit down and enjoy it. There\u2019ll be a new public square.\u201d<\/p>\n

But scattering tables and chairs across the civic won\u2019t be enough to bring the masses in, both Mr Stockton and executive councillor for development Gavin White, accept.<\/p>\n

(Image: @Manchester Libraries and archives)<\/p>\n

The civic opened in 1963, when concrete was architects\u2019 material of choice. Its liberal use in the 60s was hit-and-miss: It gave Manchester a new landmark in Piccadilly\u2019s City Tower, designed to emulate a circuit board. It also gave Mancs the Church Street multi-storey, a monstrosity the council now plans to pull down.<\/p>\n

Concrete, combined with typical Mancunian cloud, gives Wythenshawe a persistent drabness even bright shop signs can\u2019t shake. It feels like a place where you come to run errands efficiently, not \u2018linger\u2019 for long periods catching up with loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit eastern Europe,\u201d Coun White admitted. \u201cThe civic has lost that \u2018garden city\u2019 element.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was to combat anti-social behaviour in the 90s,\u201d he added, glancing at the imposing black gates, locked nightly until recently.<\/p>\n

(Image: Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the project aims to \u2018bring the garden city back\u2019, Coun White added. Trees are in, those gates are out, and new paving will go down.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be flanked by 422 flats and townhouses, all available for social rent, set to be built where offices Brotherton House, Alpha House, and C2 The Birtles are now.<\/p>\n

The civic\u2019s regeneration sounds great on paper, but there are worries under the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople living here for generations will lose out\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big fear is that Wythenshawe will be an offshoot of the Airport,\u201d Kate Maggs, chief executive of Woodhouse Park charity Better Things, explained. She\u2019s a member of the Wythenshawe Central Network (WCN), campaigning for more affordable housing and new disabled supported housing.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cAll these houses will go up mainly for people working at the Airport and people living here for generations will be the ones to lose out. There\u2019s a real sense of gentrification.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are asking for is 40pc of affordable housing, the council has committed to 30pc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another WCN campaign is to give residents more of a say in the regeneration, Rev Dr Kate Gray said: \u201cI think there\u2019s a sense they do not feel listened to about that. That\u2019s a concern of mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that people are consulted so they are done to, but they join in the existing processes set up by the organisations.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Rev Dr Gray added Muse \u2018are not being tokenistic\u2019, but need to do more: \u201cIt\u2019s moving at pace. It\u2019s a risk to devolve power and co-designing work. That\u2019s part of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut since we have the expertise and are well placed, we can respond to that with the structures we already have in Wythenshawe.\u201d<\/p>\n

One WCN suggestion is planners incorporate specially-designed housing for people with autism and learning disabilities who need some support, but not residential care. It\u2019s something Sue Thomas-O\u2019Flaherty \u2014 mum to Declan, her 28-year-old son with Down\u2019s Syndrome \u2014 wants.<\/p>\n

(Image: Sue Thomas-O\u2019Flaherty)<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething similar to Village 135 we feel would work for adults with learning disabilities or autism that do not need intense support,\u201d the 60-year-old said. \u201cManchester council say they want to provide housing for all people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say they want to create a truly equal and inclusive city. In order to do that, they need to listen to people who want to stay in Manchester.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have someone growing up in Wythenshawe going to north Manchester or further because of a lack of provision. They would be taken away from their family and things they access in their community and their friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LDRS understands Manchester council is discussing how local housing associations could support disabled people who need extra care on-site in Wythenshawe. A spokesperson added that, because the first 422 homes will all be available for social rent from Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, at least 20pc of the regeneration\u2019s estimated final total of roughly 2,000 homes are already affordable \u2014 and more will come.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Muse added: \u201cAlready the feedback we\u2019ve had has helped shape the plans. People said they wanted to see affordable homes and that\u2019s exactly what we are delivering in the first phase. But it doesn\u2019t stop here. This is a 10\u201315-year regeneration masterplan and the consultation will be ongoing throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n

The battle for the garden city<\/p>\n

Just behind the civic is Wythenshawe\u2019s old bus station which closed a decade ago. Overgrown and filled with debris, it looks like a post-apocalyptic go-kart track.<\/p>\n

It also serves as a reminder there is a lot of land waiting to be used \u2014 either as offices to help Manchester\u2019s economy, homes to ease the 19,000-strong social housing waiting list, or greenery to give people space to breathe.<\/p>\n

All sides of the Wythenshawe debate agree the land needs to be used. What it\u2019s used for remains a battle in the garden city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Campaigners say Wythenshawe’s \u00a3500m revamp has ‘a real sense of gentrification’, but Manchester council points out that it’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,8828,29712,285,16,15,2313,189265],"class_list":{"0":"post-603747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-manchester-council","13":"tag-manchester-development","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wythenshawe","18":"tag-wythenshawe-civic-centre"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115639833688986475","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}