Manchester city centre’s baby boom has brought a wave of new families to town. The families come with a wave of needs that they believe will not be addressed anytime soon.
Principally, as the Manchester Evening News revealed last week, their needs include access to green space for little ones to ‘be free’ in, and education provision. Even with new parks coming up, many are not near enough to be convenient, they said.
Although the city centre already has one primary school — New Islington Co-Op Academy — and another one on Crown Street in Deansgate is set to be built for 2024, parents fear they’ll have to move to suburbia when their children hit age 11.
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To find out what the council’s plans are to cater for this growing group, the MEN spoke to councillors from across three city centre wards — Piccadilly, Deansgate, and Ancoats & Beswick — to find out how they think the issues should be tackled. It became clear that while the political will exists to work on a new high school and parks, those in the know think it’s an uphill struggle to secure the necessary resources.
“I think we have got it a little bit wrong”
"What we are seeing now is a return to the historical norm of people living in the city centre. ‘City Centre Living’ has been a sometime-policy of Manchester Council council for half a century, but we haven't addressed the strategic question of who and what the urban core of Manchester is for,” Sam Wheeler, who represents the Piccadilly ward, said. "Very dense residential areas without the amenities of life; parks, schools, clinics, community centres, do not lead to humans flourishing. We need a holistic approach to city centre living, not just city centre existing.”
His view and ambitions were shared by Labour ward colleague Adele Douglas, who is the council’s deputy Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure. She also has just become a mum, with her daughter Clara turning one recently.
“We want people to stay and be a permanent home for people in all stages of life. I think we have it really, really right for people aged 18-30ish, and 50-upwards,” she said. “It is that maybe age 28 to 45, when you are going to have school-age children, where I think we have got it a little bit wrong with infrastructure and activities for kids.
“If you live in Northern Quarter, what option do you have to send kids to scouts or ballet classes? There’s a little but there’s not a lot. We look at the city from the perspective of it being good for business and what’s good for young professionals, so there’s nightlife and that was the economy — but now those people have grown up.”
Irene Robinson, recently elected to represent Ancoats & Beswick for Labour, would also like to make her ward a place people can call home from cradle to grave. She said: “We want everyone to be no more than 15 minutes walk from a park. That's not going to be without its challenges as it can be difficult to get around with a pram.
“There's going to be changes at all levels. I do not want people to move away from here because there's not a dedicated high school. That’s something more long-term we will have to look at. I think we should have more of a mixed community here. Cutting Room Square has that residential element in mind with licensing hours. It's not built to be a party street, it's somewhere people live.”
“It is what a modern, progressive, European city would do”
Despite the appetite for more parks and schools, there are hurdles in the way. The city centre’s only non-Labour councillor, Alan Good, says some of those issues lie within the council currently. The Liberal Democrat Ancoats & Beswick man said: “My frustration lies with the planning system – it is a key reason why as [city centre spokesperson] Pat Karney says we are ‘decades behind most European cities’.
“Developments have been pushed through that cover every spare bit of open land, driven by a desire to maximise profit for private companies. The system appears to take no account of whether the plans actually benefit those who live here.
“New places like Mayfield will be great, but it will be a 15 minute walk across multiple dual carriageways from families in Ancoats. We need bigger ambition, we need a park on everyone’s doorstep.
“There is nothing stopping Manchester Labour passing a policy tomorrow to include green open spaces and community facilities in each new development as well as to announce plans to build play areas on public land the city owns. It is what a modern, progressive, European city would do.”
Joan Davies, Labour for Deansgate, did come up with a solution — building a new high school near to the University’s North Campus. She explained: “I would love to see a secondary school. There used to be one — Cheetham Simon school for the arts. The council cannot build schools as national legislation does not allow it.
“It would really be nice to have secondary school on what is now the edge of the city centre but finding the resources to make it happen is a long way away.”
Does the council have a plan?
With such a push to welcome long-term residents and families back to the city centre, the MEN asked the council if it had an official policy in place to ensure they are welcome for the long-haul. Council leader Bev Craig said that work has been ongoing over the years, but did not say if a specific plan in place for city centre families.
She said: “The city centre has evolved significantly over the last two decades. From the days when only 500 people lived in the city centre in the 1980s we now have more than 70,000 residents. A figure which is set to surpass 100,000 in the next decade. The Council is committed to ensuring the city is a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone to live and the city centre is consistently voted as one of the most exciting places to live, as shown by the global liveability index.
“The Council has, over the years been, been working to make the city centre a place where families want to live from building to schools to new parks and green spaces. This is why we are starting to see more families stay in the city centre, but we are on a journey and change will take time. Outside of London there isn't a big culture of families living in the city centre.
"We want to add to the existing parks and green spaces like Angel Meadows, Sackville Park and Parsonage Gardens but we have bigger ambitions. Evidence of that can be seen across the city, such as at the new Mayfield Park, currently due to be completed in the summer which will provide a green and welcoming environment and is the first new city centre park for 100 years. I think that alone sends a great message about what we're trying to do as a Council in the city centre with more exciting plans like River City Park.
"We know that good quality public realm and green space is important to residents and became even more so during the pandemic. We want more high-quality green spaces and public realm which supports healthy lifestyles. As an example, Phase 3 of development in Ancoats and New Islington will include the expansion of green space at Ancoats Green as well as the creation of green streets that prioritise pedestrians and cyclists over cars and a play area.
"The support that people need in the city centre has to be expanded to match demand and that's why we are looking forward to our second city centre school on Deansgate, and plans have also been submitted for a new GP practice alongside the school in Deansgate Square that will provide infrastructure and a sense of belonging for people who want to make their home in the city centre.
"We're by no means finished and want to make sure people know that we will continue to embrace new ideas and solutions which will make the city centre an attractive and desirable place to live."
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