Funding boost for Collyhurst tram bid

Manchester’s £4bn Victoria North development has received £1.5m from Labour’s new towns programme to help compile the business case for a tram stop in the heart of the emerging residential area.

Developer FEC is Manchester City Council’s partner on the large project where 15,000 homes are proposed to be built in the two decades.

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of the council, called the project “one of the most ambitious urban regeneration programmes in Europe” She added: “We welcome the news that the new Government wants to work with us to help us build more homes and create more jobs for Manchester residents.”

The proposed location of the stop at Sandhills would serve North Manchester residents on the line out of the centre before it forks towards Bury in the west and Oldham and Rochdale in the east.

Tom Fenton, strategic partnerships director at FEC, said: “Today’s announcement is a really positive step for Victoria North as the notion of a new Metrolink stop at Sandhills is something that FEC and Manchester City Council have been promoting from the outset of the regeneration project.

“Being able to properly connect Victoria North and its existing residents into the wider employment opportunities across Greater Manchester has always been a key focus of the partnership and, whilst there is still a lot to be done before a physical stop can be realised, this is a major step forward around which we can continue to shape our future plans for a new neighbourhood centre and further social infrastructure to benefit the local community.”

The tram stop bid is supported by Transport for Greater Manchester, Homes England, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Mayor Andy Burnham.

The partners hope the new Metrolink station will become a focal point for further town centre investment in Sandhills.

Development guidance set out by the council last summer included replacement council homes, supporting continued owner-occupation where it exists, and affordable homes for rent and for sale.

Phase one is on site and will feature 244 homes in Collyhurst Village and 30 social rented homes in South Collyhurst. Work is due to complete in 2026.

Collyhurst is one of the early stages of the £4bn Victoria North. Credit: via planning documents

The wider development area stretches for nearly 400 acres from Vicotria station in the city centre out north-east to Queen’s Park.

There are seven neighbourhoods proposed, to be connected by green spaces and improved access to the River Irk. The tram link is aimed at reconnecting communities that have historically been economically inactive.

Cllr Bev Craig added: “Investment in a new Metrolink stop in this community would be an important driver to deliver the ambitious next phase of the Collyhurst regeneration story.

“Together with the news around the North Manchester General Hospital green light, this shows that Manchester is a priority for the new Government.”

In addition, prime minister Keir Starmer and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, in a joint statement, pledged £1m nationwide for government agencies, including National Highways, Natural England and the Environment Agency, to speed up planning approval of new homes.

There was £2m to support the Building Safety Regulator to “continue improving the processing for new-build applications”.

More than 100 sites have applied to become New Towns under the taskforce initiative chaired by Sir Michael Lyons. Around a dozen are expected to be named and work is envisaged to begin before the end of this Parliament. Each will contain at least 10,000 homes.

A clearing service to match buyers with vendors of “uncontracted and unsold affordable homes” has attracted “nearly 300 housebuilders, local councils and registered providers” since its launch two months ago.