Greater Manchester Development Update
Last week, NJL Planner Hamish Rigg attended the Greater Manchester Development Update, hosted by Place North West at Bridgewater Hall. The event brought together senior figures from the property, planning, investment and public sectors for a series of presentations, panel discussions and Q&As. While the discussions covered a huge amount of ground, several themes stood out. From the role of public investment in unlocking development, to the challenges around viability, skills and infrastructure.
Some of the key takeaways from Hamish...
Investing in science, innovation and the future economy
The event opened with Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood and Bruntwood SciTech, who spoke about the opportunity to position Manchester at the forefront of science, technology and innovation. His focus was on the role that commercial real estate can play in supporting emerging sectors, particularly through the development of laboratories, technology and innovation-led workspace. A key theme was the importance of public-private partnerships in making this happen. Oglesby highlighted the Good Growth Fund as an example of how public investment can help create the conditions for further private-sector investment in infrastructure and development.
He also made the case for greater Government investment in emerging sectors such as AI and technology, arguing that Manchester needs to continue creating high-value jobs and opportunities as part of its future economic growth.
The Good Growth Fund: a starting point, not a silver bullet
The Good Growth Fund was a major focus of the panel discussion, which brought together Tony Walsh of the National Wealth Fund, Colin Thomasson of CBRE, Laura Blakey of GMCA and Stuart Rogers of Muse.
The £1 billion Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund, announced by the GMCA, is intended to support new homes, town centre regeneration, employment and infrastructure, with funding directed towards local priorities as part of Greater Manchester's wider devolution settlement. The consensus from the panel was that the Fund is making a difference, but it is not a silver bullet. It has helped unlock schemes that might otherwise have struggled to get off the ground, particularly where social and economic viability is more challenging. However, significant barriers remain.
Two issues came through particularly strongly:
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Viability: rising costs and challenging development economics continue to make some schemes difficult to deliver.
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Skills: shortages across the construction and development sectors are another major constraint on Greater Manchester's ability to deliver at the pace required.
The message was therefore less about the Good Growth Fund being the answer to Greater Manchester's development challenges, and more about it being an important starting point. There was also a clear argument for similar long-term investment programmes to be rolled out more widely across the country.
Bev Craig: growth has to be about people and place
Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig was arguably the star of the event. Reflecting on a decade of growth across Greater Manchester, she highlighted the region's performance compared with the rest of the country and reiterated her ambition to deliver 50,000 genuinely affordable homes by 2039. What stood out was the way she consistently brought the conversation back to people. The Good Growth Fund may be about investment, business and development, but the ultimate objective is improving people's lives, whether that's supporting children in Middleton and Moss Side, creating better places to live, or improving access to jobs and opportunity. That means the public sector and property industry need to work together on strategic development and infrastructure, rather than viewing these as separate agendas. Transport was a particularly important theme.
Greater Manchester's continued growth will require significant investment in its rail infrastructure. As the Mayor put it: “You can't continue to be one of the fastest-growing city regions in Europe if your growth is reliant on platforms 13, 14.”
It was a succinct illustration of a much wider challenge: development cannot happen in isolation from infrastructure. The Mayor also acknowledged the difficult political balance between delivering what people want today, such as investment in high streets, and planning for what communities will need in 10, 20 or 30 years. Her challenge to the business community was clear: the private sector also has a role in building public support for long-term ambition.
The new NPPF: development versus design
The planning panel — Jon Suckley of Asteer Planning, Rebecca Coley of Trafford Council and Christopher Katkowski of Kings Chambers — naturally turned its attention to the new National Planning Policy Framework.
The panel described the revised NPPF as broadly pro-development, with discussion around the presumption in favour of sustainable development, increased density around stations and the changes introduced through Annex A.
However, Christopher Katkowski identified two areas that could become important battlegrounds:
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The interpretation of “materially inconsistent” Local Plans in relation to Annex A.
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The relationship between NPPF Policy L3 on achieving appropriate densities and Policy DP3 on design principles.
The second point was particularly interesting. While the new framework creates a strong presumption in favour of development, there is also a greater expectation around the quality and appropriateness of design. The potential tension is clear: how do you maximise density and support growth while ensuring development remains appropriate for its context? As the planning system begins to interpret and apply the new NPPF, this could become a significant issue for developers and planning authorities alike.
Trafford Wharfside: a major opportunity for Greater Manchester
The event concluded with an update on Trafford Wharfside, the proposed redevelopment of around 370 acres of land around Old Trafford, being brought forward by Trafford Council and Manchester United with Allies and Morrison. The scale of the opportunity is significant. The site is around half the size of Manchester City Centre and has the potential to accommodate a range of new neighbourhoods, homes, commercial space and supporting infrastructure. With consultation currently open until 22 October, this is certainly one to watch. For anyone who hasn't seen the proposals yet, they're well worth a look.
Final thoughts
The overall message I took away from the event was that Greater Manchester's growth story remains incredibly positive, but the next phase will be considerably more complicated. There is clearly a willingness from the public and private sectors to invest, and programmes such as the Good Growth Fund are helping to unlock development. But investment alone isn't enough.
Viability, skills, transport infrastructure, planning policy and public support all need to move in the same direction if Greater Manchester is going to deliver the homes, jobs and places it needs.
Perhaps most importantly, the discussion reinforced that development isn't ultimately about buildings or investment figures. It's about people and places. Greater Manchester has ambitious plans for the next decade and beyond. The challenge now is turning that ambition into delivery.