An ambitious plan for a multi-billion pound regeneration around a new-look Piccadilly station can be revealed by the M.E.N. Town hall chiefs want to unlock the rewards of the planned High Speed 2 rail link long before it arrives – in a regeneration bonanza dubbed the ‘opportunity of the century’. Planners want to create a new ‘gateway quarter’ modelled on Amsterdam and New York.It would be centred around the new HS2 terminal – and a grand new entrance plaza replacing the existing front of Piccadilly station.
The plan would also include:
A leafy boulevard linking London Road with east Manchester, ending in a park on Fairfield Street – creating a green corridor between the Medlock Valley and the city centre.
A ‘Spinningfields-style’ business centre between Great Ancoats Street and the Rochdale and Ashton canals.
An ‘East Village’ of waterside homes, shops and offices in Piccadilly Basin.
10,000 new homes between Piccadilly and the Holt Town area of Bradford.
New homes, green spaces and offices on the former Mayfield Depot site.
Sure there will be some kick back on the plans but honestly from Piccadilly Station to Great Ancoats Street is pretty poor. Heck part of it is the red light zone. I do wonder about Piccadilly Basin which currently is a nice quiet part of the city but as long as none of the Northern quarter is taken over, I don’t have much of a problem.
Senior firestarter at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial social geek event organiser.
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