Shops and homes planned in Chorlton makeover
A DRAMATIC plan to change the face of central Chorlton has been revealed – and it will be very different.
The shopping precinct and former leisure centre would be knocked down and replaced by new stores and housing.
And 70 luxury homes would be built on open space off Ryebank Road, near Longford Park.
It is part of a masterplan for Chorlton to be discussed at tomorrow’s council meeting ahead of a massive public consultation.
Under the plans, Chorlton precinct, which is owned by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund [GMPF], would be demolished to make way for new shops along Manchester Road and a total of 190 new homes – including a row of townhouses to the west of the site and several sets of new apartments.
The plans state the precinct is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and could be redeveloped to ensure Chorlton’s shopping district can ‘build on its existing success’.
It could also provide muchneeded housing, it says, but is unclear whether any of these homes will be classed as ‘affordable’.
The aim is to open up the site’s access to Manchester Road, onto which the precinct currently turns its back.
Meanwhile, the former leisure centre, which was closed in 2015 and replaced by the new Hough End centre, would be sold by the council under plans for new affordable ‘rent-to-buy’ housing.
Bosses at the independent Unicorn co-operative supermarket plan to work with landlord Southway to open a cafe on the ground floor.
That building has already been designated as an ‘asset of community value’, which means other local groups could bid to take it over instead.
On Ryebank Road, a little further out of central Chorlton, Manchester Metropolitan University is planning to sell off the remains of its old campus.
The open land, near Longford Park, would have 70 new executive houses built on it.
Chorlton councillor Matthew Strong said that while the proposals would help ease south Manchester’s housing crisis, he has concerns about the proposals for the precinct – and stressed new homes must be affordable. He said: “Any substantial housing developments across Chorlton should result in an increase in affordable housing in the local area.
“There needs to be much better balance between retail and housing units than is being proposed, so although I welcome the fact local people will be able to have their say in this consultation, residents, traders and shoppers will feel these current plans are a long way from being suitable.”
He also said it was essential no local businesses are not ‘forced out of the area’. Coun Sheila Newman agreed that currently there are too many flats planned in comparison to shop units, adding that she would like to see more parking provided in the plans.
And Coun John Hacking raised the pressure on local services such as schools and GPs as an initial concern.
Chorlton precinct was sold to the pension fund in 2014 for £10m. Council chiefs have been keen to develop it.
The former leisure centre on Manchester Road is currently empty.
MMU’s plans for Ryebank Road form part of its huge decade-long estates strategy, which has already seen it sell off its former Didsbury campus for executive housing.
Council insiders hope that any luxury homes built on the Chorlton site – which is currently used as recreational space by Chorlton residents – would help to crosssubsidise affordable housing elsewhere. Coun Matthew Strong