A project to enhance three pocket parks on Moston Lane is set to start soon as part of a range of investment works to improve the north Manchester high street.
Last summer local residents responded to a consultation around a new Moston Lane Development Framework that gathered feedback to help guide future projects in the area, and to set out a clear vision for the Lane. Find out more below.
Funding has now been secured through the UK Share Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to improve the three local green spaces along Moston Lane, responding to feedback from local people that they were underused because they felt unsafe and unwelcoming.
The Peace Gardens, St Dunstan’s Green and the Simpson Memorial Hall Garden will each welcome investment over the next three months to create areas of peaceful tranquillity on Moston Lane, encouraging people to spend time on the high street.
In addition to improvements to the front garden of the Simpson Memorial, further repairs will take place to the building itself, as well as works to fix the existing windows and roof.
In the coming months, Moston Lane will also use Government funding to improve the environment making it cleaner and greener. This will include alleygating and improving commercial waste collection in a move that will help reduce littering.
Highways investment on the Lane and adjacent backstreets will see some loading bays adjusted and speed cushions installed to improve road safety and help prevent dangerous parking.
And new housing in Moston remains a key priority to meet high demand and the Council is working with Registered Provider housing partners to deliver quality housing, which together amounts to £3m grant investment for new homes.
One Manchester has now completed 60 new homes – a split of 10 social rent, 33 Manchester Living Rent, and 17 Rent to Buy – on the former college site behind Moston Lane, and Jigsaw Housing will complete 20 new social rent homes on Sulby Street in the coming months. Development work has also begun on the former Adelphi site on nearby Kenyon Lane to deliver 37 new age friendly affordable to be managed by Housing 21.
The Moston Lane Development Framework sets out to:
- Create a new local centre and public square for Moston with a clear ‘sense of place.’ A place that offers space for the community to come together
- To provide more opportunities for visitors to spend longer together in Moston Lane in attractive new spaces which can support a vibrant programme of events
- Make more of and enhance the existing green public spaces
- Support Moston to be an attractive, safe and vibrant neighbourhood
- Create improved and safer streets that provide walking and cycling opportunities for all – and a more connected neighbourhood that is less car focused
- To enhance the choice and diversity of quality affordable and market homes – and improve the quality and management of existing housing
- Provide new, sustainable homes that integrate with existing streets
- Support local businesses to continue to prosper and promote opportunities for new retail and commercial units to grow
Find out more about the Council’s investment in the city’s high streets and district centres
Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said:
“Moston Lane has the potential to be a brilliant, vibrant high street and following consultation last year, we know what local people want from their district centre and it’s great to see that the conversation that we started last year is now becoming reality.
“This investment will begin by improving the existing green spaces on the Lane, which are currently underused and under loved. We have a chance to create some spaces for quiet reflection in the area that residents and visitors to the area can sit, enjoy and find some peace.
“This is the beginning of a range of investments, including highways works and ongoing housing investment, to improve Moston Lane and create a real destination in north Manchester.”
