Plans to ensure Gay Village keeps its unique identity

FEARS ICONIC PART OF CITY CENTRE IS LOSING ITS DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER

A ‘LONG-TERM’ plan for the future of Manchester’s Gay Village has been promised amid fears the district could lose its identity.

Concerns have been raised that the area is following in the footsteps of Soho in London, by gradually having its distinctive and historic character undermined.

The worries erupted as a result of the council’s plans for the area around Portland Street, which feature the redevelopment of a number of sites on the edge of the Village - including the Thompsons Arms pub, Chorlton Street bus depot and the Sackville Street car park on which part of Pride takes place each year.

Of the 30 or so responses to a consultation on the plans, a range of broader worries about both the future of Pride and of the Village itself were received by the town hall.

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said several ‘important elements’ had surfaced during that process.

“The biggest issues that were raised were probably not about the proposed form of development per se, but about the relationship with the rest of the Gay Village area and concerns... about the particular character of the Village being undermined as has happened in other parts of the country,” he told councillors at their latest executive meeting.

“I think the example that has been used quite specifically is that how Soho, which once had particular characteristics, is now kind of ‘any area, anywhere,’ rather than having any of its old character at all.”

He said a ‘long-term sustainable’ future - one that would be ‘as much about the daytime as nighttime’ would now be the focus of a new council strategy for the Village, which would seek the views of anyone living, working or with an interest in the area.

That would also include a commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for Pride, he said.

During the consultation for the Portland Street masterplan - which earmarks the Sackville Street car park on which the festival takes place for a mixed-use development, as well as three other sites - a string of concerns were raised by both individual residents and friends’ groups.

Those fears, outlined in a report on the issue tabled to councillors, included claims the masterplan ‘failed to address the Village as a safe space for the community and as a place for individual to express themselves in unique ways’ and that it ‘places a higher value on commercial returns and revenue generation than the existing community.’

Another said ‘the LGBT community requires assurance that they will not be pushed out of the city centre,’ while fears were also raised that city centre redevelopment would harm memorials such as the Alan Turing bench in Sackville Gradens and the Transgender Memorial.

The council report insists development ‘will not lead to displacement of the LGBTQ+ community from the Village area.’

While no planning application has been lodged for the car park, the masterplan - which was signed off at the meeting - considers it acceptable for redevelopment.

Coun Bev Craig, who leads on lesbian issues for the council, raised concerns about the masterplan when it was first tabled to the executive before Christmas.

She said some ‘distance has been travelled’ since then, adding: “A lot of work has been done with the public has demonstrated the need for a coherent and cohesive plan that works with people with an interest in the village.”

The Portland Street masterplan agreed outline proposals for four plots bordering the Village, including 55 Portland Street. Council leader Sir Richard Leese