The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has recently commenced consultation on a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) for Stockport Town Centre West, which will be open until 10 March 2019. It covers 130 acres, spanning the areas of Stockport town centre which are situated to the west of the A6.

The idea behind it is to speed up the transformation of the western area of Stockport town centre in order to create a new urban village on the outskirts of Manchester. It is expected that it will provide up to 3,000 new homes along with a mix of complementary uses and infrastructure to support the new community. It will be the first of its kind in the Greater Manchester area.

The focus on town centre development accords with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's objectives for the revised Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (see Planning for Greater Manchester's economic future). The Development Corporation is a successful model for securing regeneration, following examples in London for the Olympic legacy village and the redevelopment at Oak Common. Issues regarding governance, accountability and funding are critical to ensure the success, but the principle is highly welcomed.

It provides a good opportunity to create a high-quality urban neighbourhood, bringing the overall area into positive higher density use. The regeneration of the area of land from the Stagecoach depot along the River Mersey has been talked about for a long time. It is in need of regeneration given its prominent location in the town centre and will be a great opportunity to create high-quality waterside living. The area is centred around excellent public and sustainable transport links, which provide easy connections to Stockport and the wider Greater Manchester area.

We would expect residents to benefit from higher levels of affordability in terms of housing prices when compared with Manchester city centre. It continues the proactive approach that Stockport Council has been taking to development within its town centre with notable schemes including the Stockport Exchange commercial development and the Redrock leisure development.

We are interested to see how the MDC will operate in practice. However, speeding up the development process and providing a single body with the powers to acquire land and facilitate development, along with the ability to procure private sector development partners with the experience and expertise to undertake large-scale regeneration projects, can only be a good initiative.

Given Stockport Council’s substantial landholdings in the area to the east of the A6, including Merseyway Shopping Centre, we’d anticipate the Council will be working up significant regeneration plans also for that area too. We look forward to seeing how the plans and projects will link together.

Further information

Contact Savills Manchester Booth Street