High Legh
The High Legh neighbourhood is located within the wider area of Openshaw adjacent to the border with Tameside. It is bounded to the south by Ashton Old Road; to the North by Crabtree Lane and the Ashton Canal. To the east is the Tameside border and the western boundary is the former branch of the Ashton Canal.
Located just minutes away is the Openshaw District Centre, currently undergoing major redevelopment to provide new shops alongside leisure facilities. It also offers excellent access routes into the city centre down Ashton Old Road as well as just a few miles from the M60 outer ring road.
Leisure
Openshaw Park, which has undergone significant improvements and includes two children’s play areas: one for children under five years old and the other for children over five. The park also contains excellent sporting facilities with a football pitch marked out during the summer months and a tennis court available for public use.
Nearby Sportcity offers residents access a wide range of world-class sporting facilities including the National Squash Centre, Regional Tennis Centre, National Cycling Centre, indoor and outdoor running track, state-of-the-art fitness suite and the English Institute of Sport. All of these facilities can be used by the local community, as well as being used by some of the country’s top athletes.
The proposed £40m retail facility in Openshaw will provide residents with 13 new retail units, varying in size, as well as a brand new supermarket alongside a state-of-the-art leisure and fitness centre.
Residents from High Legh worked together to create the Sandywell Millennium Green - a park built as part of a community project which contains a football pitch as well as a play area for children.
The Eastern Bypass, a piece of land originally scheduled to be used for a road, has now been converted into a green space and is used for recreation.
Sportcity
Ashton New Road, Manchester
Telephone: 0161 220 3800
Openshaw Park
Parkhouse Street, Openshaw
Telephone 0161 223 8278
Education and Learning
High Legh has access to three excellent primary schools. It is also ideally situated for access to Manchester College of Arts and Technology. And the newly built Children’s Centre at St. Clements Primary School.
Higher Openshaw Community Primary School
Saunton Road, Openshaw, M11 1AJ
St Barnabas’ Church of England
Parkhouse Street, Openshaw M11 2JX
Wetherby StreetChildren's Centre
Wetherby Street, Higher Openshaw, M11 1NU
Manchester College of Arts
Openshaw Campus, M11 2WH
Varna Street Primary School
Varna Street, Openshaw M11 1WP
Telephone: 0161 223 3569
St Clements Children’s Centre
Melville Close, Higher Openshaw, Manchester M11 1LR
Telephone: 0161 371 9029
Community
Residents from High Legh have access to a number of community resources from the surrounding areas.
The Mill Street Venture Centre in Openshaw runs a number of community groups. Various demand-led training courses take place from food hygiene to time management. Having a Voice and Community Pride are also run from the centre as well as mental health support programmes.
Crossley House Youth Centre in Openshaw runs a variety of schemes for young people in the area including ‘Music Stuff’ which provides music education and training, youth clubs, sports and other fun activities. With pool tables, games and a café, it is a great place for young people to socialise in a safe and supervised environment.
Sporting Edge is a brand new community sport centre situated in Openshaw. The £1.1m offers a range of sporting activities including football, cricket, basketball, rugby, and badminton as well as a computer suite to provide training and free internet access to local people.
Crossely House Youth Centre
755 Ashton Old Road, Openshaw M11 2HB
Telephone: 0161 223 2373
Mill Street Venture Centre
591 Mill Street, Openshaw M11 2AD
Telephone: 0161 223 3418 or 0161 223 4438
Sporting Edge
Fairfield Road, Openshaw
Telephone: 0161 301 1412
Health
High Legh is served by the new state-of-the art health on Ashton Old Road. The centre provides a wide range of services to local people including midwifery and antenatal, family planning, physiotherapy and counselling services and also houses the popular GP Surgery of Dr O’Driscall.
Openshaw Health Centre
Dr O’Driscall
0161 370 2133
Evolution of High Legh
The Neighbourhood Planning process started in 2003 and NEM’s Private Sector and Housing Market Renewal Teams are working with residents and Mosscare Housing Association to develop the Neighbourhood Plan.
The focus of the plan will be about the ongoing Neighbourhood Management of the area. There are several development opportunities including the new Openshaw District Centre, due to be built on the former Poulton Street clearance area and on part of the Alstom site. This received full planning approval in April 2007 and work is expected to start on site in 2008. A large amount of investment and refurbishment work has taken place in recent years particularly the refurbishment programs undertaken by Manchester City Council’s Private Sector team and Mosscare Housing Association. Mosscare Housing Association have also built around 40 new dwellings in the neighbourhood, ranging from 3 bedroom houses to bungalows.
The developers Redrow Homes received planning permission in May 2007 to build 12 new family homes on the former Louisa Street clearance site. Work is expected to start on site in 2007.
Work has been undertaken in High Legh to improve the open space within the neighbourhood. The “Green Streets” project has seen several road corners landscaped to create green space for the community use. Improvements are planned for the Millennium Green and the Eastern By Pass.
Population
The current population for High Legh is 1,466 consisting of 706 males and 760 females.
Documents and reports