greater 2080 - amazon s3 · introduction greater manchester is changing. ... jobs over the...

Delivering a greater Manchester –

38

Delivering a greater M

anchester

Delivering a greater Manchester

greater2080MCR

Contents

Executive summary 3

Introduction 4

Connectivity is key 5

GM2080 – a fresh approach 7

The GM2080 strategy 11

Assessing station area potential 13

Wigan – taking a closer look 20

Wigan 2080 26

Conclusion 27

Contacts 28

Appendices 29

Delivering a greater Manchester – Executive summary

3

Executive summaryGreater Manchester is a region that is constantly evolving. From its rapid transformation and subsequent decline as one of the world’s first industrial powerhouses, Manchester has once again become a confident and modern global metropolis, set to rival an over-heated London. The city region is planning for the next stage of its trans-formation with the imminent re-launch of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), developed to meet the forecast growth in population to three million by 2040 and the consequent need for an additional 200,000 homes and 180,000 jobs.GM2080 has been launched by a think tank of leading Greater Manchester-based urban planning professionals, comprised of Broadway Malyan, WSP, GL Hearn and Skanska in response to the changing agenda for the next chapter in this transformation. It offers a new approach that both supports and challenges the current thinking on how to meet the demand of a rapidly growing metropolis. In response, we have developed a data-driven model that proposes to establish a series of Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) centred on a number of Greater Manchester transit hubs, town centres and suburban neighbourhoods. The model has undertaken an assessment of all of Greater Manchester‘s 97 railway stations using a set of benchmarked criteria to establish those locations that offer the greatest opportunity to deliver a successful TOC. The concept is simple in that it looks to significantly increase development densities in and around existing stations and town centres based on a walkable 800m radius to deliver a residential led model with a strong emphasis on place making, connectivity and community.The outcome of the assessment identifies the locations where targeted interventions would have the most impact, including Salford Crescent, Bolton, Wigan, Rochdale and Stalybridge. We have identified Wigan as a TOC Pilot based on its role as an important retail and administrative centre, its unique position in having two stations within 100m of each other and its status as being the only town in Greater Manchester to have a planned HS2 stop. The potential is huge and we have prepared this White Paper to set out our model to help support the growth of Greater Manchester through the delivery of a connected network of Transit-Oriented Communities, relevant today, tomorrow and into the future.

By 2040 the population of Greater Manchester will exceed 3 Million

A further 200,000 homes will be needed and over 180,000 new jobs created

Delivering a greater Manchester – Introduction

4

Delivering a greater Manchester – Connectivity is key

5

Connectivity is keyDelivering excellent and liveable places around integrated transit and development is a major aim for many cities. Not only does this approach have significant positive impacts on the quality of residents’ lives, it is also a key consideration in the investment decisions of institutions and developers.Sustainable Greenbelt and Greenfield locations with good quality public transport nodes will inevitably play a role as part of the portfolio of sites needed to address the housing shortage, both in the North West and across the UK.However, an attractive alternative lies in intensifying development density and maximising the potential of our existing town centres and brownfield land – a view expected to be endorsed following the review of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework set to be published in the autumn of 2018. What is clear is that brownfield land is the undoubted hero of urban intensification in Greater Manchester.While they are not without their challenges – remediation, demolition and contamination to name but a few – brownfield sites are often better connected, better located and generally suited to higher density development; as well as being less controversial and easier to navigate through planning.There are a number of government and Authority-led initiatives either already established or committed which will support future development around transport infrastructure. These include the arrival of High-Speed rail and plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail and the establishment of Transport for the North with a wide range of devolved statutory powers to lead and fund the future shape of transport across the North.Add to this Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Combined Authority’s (CA) stated aspiration to take ownership and operation of all of Greater Manchester’s 97 mainline railway stations

– although the Government is currently opposed to any transfer and their established ownership of and interests around bus interchange, Metrolink and other land holdings, and the potential explodes.

IntroductionGreater Manchester is changing.It is one of Europe’s fastest growing metropolis’ with a population set to exceed three million by 2040, generating a need for a further 200,000 new homes and 180,000 jobs over the intervening period to sustain this growth.Simultaneously, the work and lifestyle patterns that have been used as the blueprint for many urban environments no longer match Greater Manchester’s future needs. We must rethink and reshape our urban areas to satisfy a new set of expectations. This requirement is nuanced to each urban area, but they share the same aspiration: neighbourhoods and communities that are friendly and familiar, that are great places to live and work and support modern and healthy lifestyles.The election of the Metro Mayor, creation of the Combined Authority and devolution of statutory powers gives the region more control over its own destiny than at any point in recent times and a true opportunity to shape our future communities.

ManchesterAirport

Tameside

Stockport

To Sheffield

To Leeds

To Preston

Rochdale

Oldham

Manchester

Trafford

BoltonBury

Warrington

Wigan

Salford

Greater Manchester

Delivering a greater Manchester – Connectivity is key

6

Delivering a greater Manchester – GM2080 – a fresh approach

7

GM2080 – a fresh approachGM2080 is a new methodology developed by a Think Tank aimed at helping Greater Manchester unlock the dormant potential of its transit hubs and town centres. Its data-driven approach identifies the areas that will help Greater Manchester deliver its growth aspirations by providing the strongest development opportunities and in turn helping create one of Europe’s most liveable metropolises.The members of the GM2080 Think Tank are at the forefront of delivering integrated transit-led developments across the world and include international urbanists and architects Broadway Malyan, planning and socio economic consultancy GL Hearn, developer / contractor Skanska and movement and mobility experts WSP. Crucially, while the Think Tank team are global city specialists, every member is a Greater Manchester citizen with a passion for making positive urban change to this great city region.The GM2080 strategy considers existing and future transport infrastructure, which, on implementation can facilitate the resurgence of the urban centre. Using data collection and objective analysis, it is able to identify locations and sites with the greatest potential for investment, establishing a robust baseline and informing bullet proof business plans to support decision-making.Through innovative urban regeneration and a focus on the creation of transit-oriented communities (TOC), the GM2080 strategy aims to:

• Deliver 100,000+ new urban homes across Greater Manchester

• Embrace changing urban lifestyles and demographics• Re-imagine town centres as vibrant

destinations and points of origin• Provide accessible social infrastructure

that serves mixed-use communities• Employ existing transit infrastructure – to maximise

connectivity between city facilities and to better integrate employment, residents, culture and lifestyle

• Generate long-term revenue opportunities for local authorities through better collaboration between private and public sectors

Brownfield land is the undoubted hero of urban intensification in Greater Manchester

Delivering a greater Manchester – GM2080 – a fresh approach Delivering a greater Manchester – GM2080 – a fresh approach

The GM2080 Think TankInternational experts Passionate placemakers Greater Manchester citizens

Delivering a greater Manchester – GM2080 – a fresh approach

10

Delivering a greater Manchester – The GM2080 strategy

11

The GM2080 strategyThe United Nations working group ‘UN Habitat’ – a group directly involved in the study of urban place-making around the world – recommend a benchmark population density of 150 people per hectare (PPH) for successful, healthy and liveable communities, although it is recognised that this is not always achievable or recommended in all circumstances. However, in the context of an increasing population in the UK and a crisis in the provision of new housing, this seemed an appropriate starting point on which to assess the current status of development across Greater Manchester.Preliminary analysis of all the train stations in Greater Manchester suggested that, with the exception of Oxford Road, they are all significantly below this recommendation.The stations were then reassessed using the Network Rail categorisation, where stations are ranked from A–F based on frequency of service and connection, ridership and staffing levels. While much attention has been applied to Category A / B stations such as Oxford Road, the Think Tank focussed on Category C / D stations as those with the most realistic development potential for an urban renaissance at through a TOC strategy, an approach that adds commercial benefit through access to transport but critically also aims to realise social value and provide a ‘plan led’ approach for local and transport authorities. A shortlist of C and D stations was then identified for a second stage of more detailed assessment.

Threshold

Peop

le p

er h

ecta

re

Stations

Gath

urst

Roch

dale

Dave

npor

t

Bram

hall

Oxf

ord

Road

Wig

an W

alga

te0

20

100

80

60

40

120

Preliminary analysis suggest that existing station areas are below TOC PPH thresholds

Delivering a greater Manchester – The GM2080 strategy

12

Delivering a greater Manchester – Assessing station area potential

13

Assessing station area potentialThe second stage assessment takes the form of a ‘TOC Matrix’ tool, which assesses each station area using a number of criteria that can be tailored to suit specific targets or outputs. This study looked at an area of 800m radius from the station location (this equates to a circa 10 minute walk and is a useful gauge of a walkable community) and assessed each under the following categories:

Market potential• Deprivation• TOD demographic• Population increase• Catchment• Property value rise• Travel to work patterns• Ridership

Development readiness• Ease of land assembly• Housing land allocation• Non-developable land• Building coverage

TOC characteristics• Public transport accessibility• Human density• Development density• PT and soft mobility usage• Number of amenities

Category C and D station list

Cat C• Altrincham• Bolton• Manchester Oxford Road• Rochdale• Salford Central• Stalybridge

Cat D• Cheadle Hulme• Hazel Grove• Marple• Wigan Wallgate

Altrincham

Bolton

Manchester Oxford Road

Rochdale

Salford Central Stalybridge

Cheadle HulmeHazel Grove

Marple

Wigan Wallgate

Map of selected stations


14


15

The Matrix

This data is gathered from open-source sites such as GM Open Data Infrastructure Map, Ordinance Survey, HM Land Registry, Environment Agency, Borough Councils and Census, but is scored using a bespoke analytical process developed by the Think Tank (See “Appendix 1: TOC Matrix Methodology” on page 29). Each station area is measured against the selected criteria, and the weighting of each criterion can be adjusted according to specific project aspirations.The TOC Matrix aggregates all of the diverse indicators and converts them into a score out of 100 under the different categories as well as an overall score. Using a colour gradient of green to red, this ranks the station area’s TOC potential as Established, Mature, Emerging or Embryonic.Unsurprisingly, as an established location, Manchester Oxford Road scores highly in all areas within the study, but of much more interest are the station areas that sit at the Emerging level. Arguably, the Emerging stations have the most potential of all of the stations. These stations perform well on some or most of the three assessment criteria, meaning there is still scope to capture value but unlike the Embryonic stations, these can potentially be achieved from investment by private investors rather than just the public sector.Emerging station areas tend to be in urban neighbourhoods with interchanges and emerging markets. They are areas that are typically built-up with good existing or potential public transit links that can support redevelopment at higher than existing densities.

Ready

Plan

500m

1km

Categorise the Stations

Station Scoring

Station Typology Designation

Station Area Evaluation StrategyPotential

Assessment of Potential

TOC In-progress / Evidencing Potential

TOC highly suited / FocusedPotential

TOC Ready / Established Performance

TOC to be done / Long-term Potential

EMBRYONIC

EMERGING

MATURE

ESTABLISHED

Station Area Potential process


16


17

MarketPotential

DevelopmentReadiness

TODCharacteristics Score

Overall

Rank

Stations

Manchester Oxford Road 1 1 1 1 75.9

Salford Crescent 9 2 5 2 45.6

Bolton 2 6 2 3 43.9

Wigan Wallgate 10 3 4 4 39.6

Rochdale 8 4 3 5 39.4

Stalybridge 7 5 7 6 36.7

Altrincham 6 10 6 7 33.6

Cheadle Hulme 3 7 9 8 33.0

Hazel Grove 5 8 8 9 31.3

Marple 4 9 10 10 29.0

Station Area Potential scoring

The outputs of the Matrix suggested that the locations where targeted interventions would have the most impact were Bolton, Rochdale, Stalybridge and Wigan.A number of factors interplay with the shortlist, and the team selected Wigan as having significant potential. This was due not least to its unique position within Greater Manchester in having two stations within 100m of each other, its wider role within the North West as the only Greater Manchester town to have a planned HS2 stop and an existing public sector investment programme within the town.The comparative scoring process had identified high TOC Emerging potential, and although it scored relatively low on market potential, this suggests opportunity for change with market potential being improved through strategic interventions, which can bring rewards for both the public and the private sector if they work in partnership.As a final exercise, the team undertook a review and analysis of the TOC Matrix findings for Wigan to review each criteria score and identify recommendations / interventions to address.

It is these locations that give the greatest opportunity for growth and which could benefit most from targeted TOC interventions – a form of ‘Urban Acupuncture’


18


19

“The GM2080 initiative has shown a credible, data-led approach to identify strategic brownfield sites that could create vibrant communities around rail infrastructure”

Adam Wisher, Development Manager for LCR Ltd, said:

“The GM2080 initiative has shown a credible, data-led approach to identify strategic brownfield sites that could create vibrant communities around rail infrastructure. LCR’s experience, alongside our partners in the private & public sector, shows that creating integrated transit-led developments such as Kings Cross, Stratford International Quarter and the emerging Mayfield, requires a long-term vision and patient approach.

“Whilst a number of the opportunities identified in GM2080 will be smaller in scale, they will be no less challenging to bring forward and will require a collaborative approach working with central and local government, the rail industry and local landowners, occupiers and stakeholder groups.

“If done right, the opportunities identified can help drive delivery of jobs, homes and investment for the GM economy and create gateways for these transit-oriented communities”.

Delivering a greater Manchester – Wigan – taking a closer look

20


21

Newdevelopment node

Existing neighbourhood

Existing hub

High Low

Intensity

TOC scenario one – Station Super-node

1 Station Super–node• High intensity redevelopment of the

immediate (400m) station area only• Concentrated high density / tall buildings focused

around the station with station plaza• Residential / Employment / Leisure• Circa 10+ storey

Wigan – taking a closer lookAfter engaging with Wigan Council, the Think Tank embarked on a more detailed study of Wigan, reviewing both the physical context (topography, infrastructure, historic environment etc) and the political context (planning, policy, local plans and SRF / SPD etc) and plotting the data in GIS mapping.The site analysis (SWOT and wider influences), brownfield land, and authority land ownership audit then informed the emerging visions of a masterplan for ‘Wigan 2080’ leading to the development of three scenarios:

1. Station Super-node2. Station District3. Connected Hubs

While the GM2080 strategy is driven by data, the imagination and experience of stakeholders is a critical aspect of the process


22


23

Newdevelopment node


Existing hub

High Low

Intensity

TOC scenario three – Connected Hubs

3 Connected Hubs• Targeted and strategic development of smaller

catalyst sites within the 800m area (think urban acupuncture!) connected by key routes

• Fluctuating density, tallest around immediate station, falling away after and picking up again at new development nodes

• Network of high quality public realm and street improvements to link these new nodes

• Public Realm focused on streets and network of smaller public realm spacesEach scenario was assessed and scored independently by Think Tank member groups before those scores were aggregated. While the GM2080 strategy is driven by data, the imagination and experience of stakeholders is a critical aspect of the process. The outcome of the scoring highlighted strengths and weaknesses of each scenario, and informed a ‘hybrid’ solution which emerged as a preferred scenario.

Newdevelopment node


Existing hub

High Low

Intensity

TOC scenario two – Station District

2 Station District• Selective redevelopment of 800m area, taking large sites

and developing them if / when they become available• Can be seen as organic growth and regeneration• Flatter urban form made of mid-rise buildings• Public realm focused on larger green spaces

within each development cluster• Circa 5 / 6 storey (think Barcelona)

A transit oriented community in Wigan(See “Appendix 2: Masterplan Narrative” on page 30)

Delivering a greater Manchester – Wigan 2080

26

Delivering a greater Manchester – Conclusion

27

ConclusionThe GM2080 strategy provides a robust data-driven approach to assessment of key development opportunities in Greater Manchester.Our TOC methodology can help meet the needs of the burgeoning population and workforce requirements of the region through a new generation of transit focussed settlements across the region.Embracing changing urban lifestyles, this strategy can promote Greater Manchester towns as both destinations and places of origin and provide mixed-use communities that cascade social and economic benefits.Vitally, GM2080 provides an approach to deliver commer-cially viable development in our urban cores that provide long-term revenue opportunities for local authorities.The GM2080 strategy is flexible, adaptable and scalable and has demonstrated that TOC principles can support increased levels of density development, realising the potential of Greater Manchester’s urban centres and delivering exemplar healthy and liveable places.The GM2080 Think Tank is now in discussion with a number of local authorities, developers and investors about the application of the TOC principles and if you would like to know more, visit the greater2080mcr.com or contact the Think Tank leads (See “Contacts” on page 28).

Wigan 2080The development of the preferred scenario was informed by a commercially realistic view of investment and development opportunities, acknowledges the existing built environment, historic landmarks and supports growth around the existing railway stations including education, retail, leisure and civic uses.The plan looks to establish a core TOC development area to the south of the station zone, and improve the physical connectivity across the railway lines, which currently sever the town centre. It seeks to establish concentrated development across key hubs around the TOC area, and link these together through ‘corridor’ improvements including traffic and highway review, improved public realm and the creation of new and improved public spaces.This would include, for example, opportunities to accommodate use of autonomous vehicles, changes in how town centre retail works, and implementation of smart-technology throughout (See “Appendix 2: Masterplan Narrative” on page 30).

The strategy aims to acknowledge, and be flexible enough to accommodate, future changes in lifestyle and movement patterns over the course of the plan

Delivering a greater Manchester – Contacts

28

Delivering a greater Manchester – Appendices

29

Appendices

Appendix 1: TOC Matrix Methodology

The Transit Oriented Community (TOC) Matrix is a decision-making tool that has been developed for Greater Manchester and builds on the metropolis’s vision and objectives for regeneration. It provides a consistent way to assess each station and offers insight to direct station development recommendations and priorities. It provides a foundation for planning and investment strategies around transit hubs on the TfGM network.The tool incorporates key performance indicators from a variety of disciplines (urban planning, transport, infra-structure, economics and real estate) and therefore synthesises disparate sets of data into a consistent and compelling analytics tool. The aim of the TOC Matrix is to assist in the evaluation process by enabling a range of quantitative and qualitative criteria that may affect each transit hub. The matrix comprises 17 indicators, grouped into three categories.The indicators can be both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Data for the quantitative indicators were drawn from open data made available from each of the Borough Councils, the Greater Manchester Open Data Infrastructure Map (GMODIN) and reliable UK sources.The categories have been chosen for their ability to balance economic, transport and development factors as well as current and future trends. Based on discussions with stakeholders and the Think Tank’s own experience of the region, each indicator was given a weighting to allow key issues in the region to influence the score to a higher degree. The chosen criteria were selected for both their appropriateness to Greater Manchester and the availability of reliable open source data. The selected criteria are:

Market PotentialMarket potential assesses each station area’s ability to support new development considering demand and attractiveness to investment. It is measured through a number of indicators that include major drivers of demand such as current public transport

ridership, regional transport patterns, market vibrancy and the socio-economic make-up of local residents.

• Deprivation• TOD demographic• Population increase• Catchment• Property value rise• Travel to work patterns• Ridership

Development ReadinessDevelopment Readiness explores whether the legal, physical, and infrastructure framework of the station area is ready to support new development assessing major drivers of supply in the land market.

• Ease of land assembly• Housing land allocation• Non-developable land• Building coverage

TOD CharacteristicsTOC characteristics compares the station areas compatibility and potential to deliver good develop-ment that is aligned to TOC principles of high density, mixed use development in a walkable environment that has good access to high quality public transport.

• Public transport accessibility• Human density• Development density• PT and soft mobility usage• Number of amenities

ContactsTo discover more, please contact:

Danny Crump Director of [email protected] 07785 462272

Andrew Bradshaw Head of Planning for the North [email protected] 07548 711262

Richard Jones [email protected] 07796 274586(See “Appendix 3: The Partners” on page 32)


30


31

but this is because MCR Oxford Road distorts the scoring with such a high allocation of units (7,455). It is also promising that several of the brownfield sites are over 1 hectare in size although these sites (Westwood Park, Frog Lane and Eckersley Mill) are all on the periphery of the 800m. Also encouraging is the level of council owned assets in the station area which totals 35.2 hectares of land. It has not been possible to quantify this for all 10 stations but a visual inspection of the GMODIN site would suggest that this is higher than most others.Non-developable land in Wigan is exclusively concerned with flood risk (Flood Zone 3 / 1 in 200 years) which can be mitigated through the design of any new development although there may be a cost implication for this for developers. The flood zones are mainly to the south-west of the station on the periphery of the 800m zone around the Eckersley Mill site.Ways the masterplan helps improve Development Readiness:

• A review of all of the council owned assets reveals a high potential to unlock land. The consolidation of assets to release more brownfield land for development, especially within close proximity to the station could give Wigan a competitive advantage compared to its peers and therefore the masterplan has responded to this by targeting strategic publically owned land in the medium-long term as a way to bring about significant regeneration.

• The masterplan takes a long-term view on the development of the station area with strategic acquisition of land and amalgamation of plots to bring forward for TOC development.

TOC Characteristics: As with the previous category, Wigan Wallgate scores reasonably well on these indi-cators – consistently ranking in and around the top 3 of the stations assessed, despite some mixed messages and contradictions in the findings. Promisingly, Wigan Wallgate demonstrates a strong foundation for TOC development with a good number of people already using public transport or walking / cycling to work. This is despite a Walkability Route Audit Tool (WRAT) assessment being undertaken which suggests that the quality of the public realm is below the minimum level of provision (a score of 68 with the minimum level of provision being 70). This is something that has been recognised in the Wigan Local Plan Core Strategy (2013) as an area for improvement. Despite this Wigan Wallgate still has the 3rd highest level of walking or cycling of all of the stations assessed.Conversely, despite an above average GMAL value, public transport use for commuting is the lowest of all stations assessed (9%). It is unclear why this might be the case as GMAL accesses walking time

to public transport access points as well as capacity and frequency of service. It does not consider speed, over-crowding or ease of interchange which might be factors that are discouraging people from using public transport. Some of these issues have already been identified in the ‘Wigan Transport Hub Study’ by Halcrow for TfGM and Wigan Council which identified poor interchange between Wigan Wallgate, Wigan North Western and main bus interchange stations. Improving the public realm and station environment could help Wigan Wallgate become a much more successful TOC area. The £16m investment secured to redevelop the bus station should go some way to helping some of these issues.The indicator that Wigan Wallgate scores worse on in this grouping is the activity density (population + employment) which at 33.3 people per hectare is very low when compared to best practice of 100+ for successful TOC areas. In Wigan Wallgate’s case the density is lower than some stations that are more suburban in nature (such as Cheadle Hulme). However, despite this low density, Wigan Wallgate has one of the highest estimated GFAs of all stations and a housing mix that suggests it is oriented towards higher density typologies (e.g. townhouses and apartments). It is difficult to explain exactly why this is the case but some possibilities could be that there are high vacancy rates (Wigan has a commercial vacancy rate of 26% across the borough) or that the building stock not being used efficiently (unit sizes that are too generous, large warehouse-type development which has a low employment density etc.).Ways the masterplan helps to improve TOC Characteristics:

• A site visit and survey to review of the building stock was undertaken which identified that the land to the south of the station was particularly low density and inefficient from a density perspective. The industrial nature of this area also means that it has a poor townscape quality. Due to these reasons this area offers Wigan’s greatest opportunity and potential to implement major change and the masterplan reflects this by the introduction of a new mixed use quarter that includes amenities for the local community in the long-term vision.

• The masterplan introduces employment uses with higher employment densities such as retail and office, especially directly adjacent to the rail station.

• The masterplan includes a series of placemaking and public realm improvements to further encourage walking and cycling in the wider station area with a particular focus on the station area (and links to bus interchange) to improve passenger experience and ease interchange between different modes of transport.

Appendix 2: Masterplan Narrative

When looking at creating a new masterplan and framework for development for Wigan town centre, the Team started by interrogating the results of the TOC matrix to identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing urban structure.Market Readiness: Of all of the TOC Matrix indicator groups, Wigan Wallgate performs worse in the ‘market potential’ category compared to the other indicator groups, the low increases in residential property prices (3.88% compared to regional average of 6.34% and 10.7% in Altrincham) distorts this in particular.However, low current scoring isn’t always a prediction on future performance and low current and historic performance could also demonstrate that the Wigan Wallgate station area has strong potential to change. Of all of the indicator groups, market potential can see the greatest improvement through strategic interventions.For example, whilst the immediate station area shows a low property price rise, when compared to nearby areas such as Aspall New Spring (18.12% increase) it may demonstrate strong growth potential for investors. Also, whilst other indicators handicap Wigan, there are also some indicators which show promise. Wigan has the third highest station entries / exits of all of the assessed stations and when combined with Wigan North Western station it is comparable with the 2nd highest station (Bolton) which shows that the immediate station area has sufficient footfall to support local businesses. With a high retention rate of retail expenditure (91%) this is a positive sign for Wigan. Of course, this will hopefully improve further as Wigan will be the gateway to the north high speed rail (HS2) with the west coast mainline joining the high speed network just to the south of Wigan and connecting to Birmingham in just 35 minutes and London Euston in 1h 23minutes, bringing more than 8,000 extra seats per commuters per day.From a social benefit perspective, Wigan Wallgate station area is a relatively deprived neighbourhood (averaging an IMD ranking of 6685.90) but is not as deprived as regional peers Bolton (2888.63) and Rochdale (2080.08) which shows both the potential for social benefit through regeneration as well as providing a potential customer base who have an income profile that

could support local real estate markets and therefore de-risking investment in the area.Ways the masterplan helps improve Market Potential:

• Deprivation scores can be improved through the regeneration of the station area through TOC principles which have the potential to increase access to housing (of all tenure types), enhance the living environment, reduce crime and provide access to education and community facilities.

• Ensure businesses capitalise on the high station footfall by providing development opportunities with commercial space close to the station that is surrounded by improved public realm and public spaces. The masterplan also fosters greater north-south connectivity in the town centre by creating a number of new connections over the railway line as part of the station redevelopment.

• There is a clearly opportunity to live in Wigan but travel nationally – the masterplan design exploits this by providing residential and office space within easy walking distance of the station.

• Consideration of physical connection of stations to maximise benefit outputs. The masterplan does this by fostering greater north-south south connectivity in the town centre by creating a number of new connections over the railway line as part of the station redevelopment as well as creating a series of public realm links to other key nodes and activity areas through a network of paths, parks and squares.

Development Readiness: Wigan Wallgate performs well in this category, consistently scoring in the middle of the assessed stations. The number of parcels regis-tered with the Land Registry is below average which suggests that land ownership is less fragmented than most which could help with assembling land for new development in the station area. This is tempered somewhat by a higher than average building coverage score (25%) but given its urban nature in comparison to some other more suburban stations, the score is good when compared to peers (Rochdale, Bolton, MCR Oxford Road) with Bolton having a 60% coverage.There is also a good level of brownfield land around that station which has housing units allocated to it. On face value it scores considerably under the average


32

Appendix 3: The Partners

Broadway MalyanBroadway Malyan is a global architecture, urbanism and design practice dedicated to creating cities, buildings and places with a strong sense of purpose and identity. With 60 years’ experience, our multidisciplinary teams work from initial concept to delivery offering expertise at every stage of the design process with particular sector expertise in education, hospitality, masterplanning, residential, retail and work-place. The practice has had a studio in Manchester for almost two decades and has been involved in a wide range of projects, most recently having been appointed by Transport for Greater Manchester on its Streets for All initiative. www.broadwaymalyan.com

WSPWSP is one of the world’s leading engineering professional services consulting firms. We are dedicated to our local communities and propelled by international brainpower. We are technical experts and strategic advisors including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals. We design lasting solutions in the Property & Buildings, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Power & Energy sectors as well as project delivery and strategic consulting services.With 7,800 talented people in the UK and more than 43,600 globally, we engineer projects that will help societies grow for lifetimes to come. WSP has been involved in many high profile UK projects including the Shard, Crossrail, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Manchester Metrolink, M1 Smart Motorway, the re-development of London Bridge Station, and the London Olympic & Paralympic Route Network. www.wsp.com / uk

SkanskaSkanska, a leading developer and contractor, is an inclusive and responsible business that is helping to build for a better society. Known for major projects, such as Ordsall Chord, the Gherkin and Crossrail, we are building, upgrading and maintaining the country’s infrastructure.Drawing on our Scandinavian heritage, we are green, innovative and progressive. We bring together people and technology, as part of our quest to make construction a safer and more collaborative industry.Operating around the world in selected home markets in Europe and the US, Skanska is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange and headquartered in Sweden’s capital city. www.skanska.co.uk

GL Hearn GL Hearn are one of the UK’s leading real estate consultancies. At GL Hearn, we provide trusted commercial real estate advice to developers, investors and occupiers in both the public and private sector. Our services are defined by insight, commerciality, professional experience and research We are more than planners, valuers, rating specialists, retail and housing consultants, and community communicators; we are innovators in our field and we become our clients’ trusted partners in every project we do. Our clients’ success is our success.For every project we are entrusted with by our clients, we are working to create tomorrow’s prosperous and connected places. www.glhearn.com

“The GM2080 initiative has shown a credible, data-led

approach to identify strategic brownfield

sites that could create vibrant

communities around rail infrastructure”

Delivering a greater M

anchester

greater2080mcr.com

Adam Wisher, LCR Ltd

greater 2080 - amazon s3 · introduction greater manchester is changing. ... jobs over the...

Documents