Toxteth Street
Toxteth Street is located approximately 3 miles east of Manchester city centre adjacent to the Openshaw district centre. The area has excellent access to the city centre via Ashton Old Road and plans for a new district centre will transform the neighbourhood into a vibrant hub for the community.
The newly opened Sporting Edge provides residents with top-class sporting facilities on their doorstep as well as community and learning facilities. And the brand new Openshaw Health Centre is located just minutes away on Ashton Old Road, just a moment’s walk from the tranquil retreat of Delamere Park.
Leisure
A new £1.1 million community sports facility was given the go-ahead in October 2006. ‘Sporting Edge’ will create 3 external floodlit, all weather 5-a-side astro-turf football pitches and an extension to the sports hall built to provide wider community activities.
As part of Openshaw’s ongoing regeneration, a major plan to create a district centre has commenced. Dransfield Properties, who specialise in retail development, have been chosen to carry out the massive project that will see a new retail development built on an old warehouse site on Fairfield Road in Openshaw. Currently the outline plan will provide for a large food-store alongside a range of smaller retail units, as well as office space and a health and fitness centre.
A private members bowling club is situated in the Toxteth Street neighbourhood. Although only open to members, the AEU Club can be hired out for events such as weddings and parties.
Development plans for Toxteth Street include the creation of a pedestrian priority green route, linking the Ashton Canal to the North and Delamere Park to the south of the neighbourhood. Delamere Park is situated close to the Toxteth Street area and provides residents with excellent access to two bowling greens and two tennis courts. This large area also houses a five-a-side football pitch, a bowls pavilion and a children’s playground.
Education and Learning
In 2005 St Peters High School, situated in the centre of the Toxteth Street neighbourhood, was demolished to make way for the new housing development. A brand new school was built and opened in Gorton in 1999 to accommodate St Peters existing pupils. It has an intake of 1,000 students aged between 11 and 16 and has a rich diversity of ethnic pupils.
A new children’s Centre at St Clements Primary School opened in 2006 offering links to speech and language services, as well as an increase in day-care at Wetherby Street Children’s Centre from 30 places to 50. Antenatal drop-ins, a pre-school special needs service and smoking cessation sessions are just some of the other services that are available. The centre also has close links with family support, adult education services and childminders.
Because of its positioning in Openshaw, residents of Toxteth Street have access to a variety of primary schools. The Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT) is also situated on the edge of Openshaw providing higher education to students throughout Manchester.
Varna Street Primary School
Barrass Street, Openshaw M11 1WP
St Barnabas’ Church of England
Parkhouse Street, Openshaw M11 2JX
Manchester College of Arts and Technology
Openshaw Campus, M11 2WH
Community
The Toxteth Street neighbourhood is the home of the Eden Project. Based just off Ashton Old Road, the centre offers a range of services to the local community. Originally commissioned by the Salvation Army, the project is run exclusively by volunteers and has become an integral part of the community.
The Eden Project runs a wide range of initiatives including youth activities and family support programmes. A toddlers’ group provides a safe and fun environment for parents/carers and their toddlers, while the kids’ club provides a welcome rest for carers of 4-10 year olds during the school holidays.
Youth activities include dance clubs and a weekly youth club. Mentoring programmes, run by the faith motivated initiative, include academic tutoring for pupils who wish to improve their school work, as well as one-to-ones for young people who do not attend, or are at risk of exclusion from school.
Eden Project
10 Fairfield Road, Openshaw M11 1EW
Telephone: 0161 371 5044
Mersey Baptist Church
Mersey Street, M11
Telephone 0161 370 3622
St Clements Church of England
Ashton Old Road, Openshaw M11 1HF
Telephone: 0161 370 1535
St Anne’s Roman Catholic
1537 Ashton Old Road, Higher Openshaw M11 1GR
Telephone: 0161 370 1615
Health
Openshaw’s state-of-the-art surgery is currently under construction and is due to open in 2007 and is located very close to the Toxteth Street area. This will provide residents with a wide range of services including midwifery and antenatal, family planning, physiotherapy and counselling services. A community alcohol team will be based at the centre and alternative medicines such as acupuncture will also be available.
Dr O’Driscoll BJ
2-6 Capital Road, Higher Openshaw M11 1LA
Telephone: 0161 370 2133
Dr Ansari & Partners
Burman House, 1479 Ashton Old Road, Higher Openshaw M11 1HH
Telephone: 0161 371 8199
Evolution of Toxteth Street
With the assistance of Housing Market Renewal funding a neighbourhood planning process began with residents from the Toxteth Street area in 2001. The Neighbourhood Plan has undergone a number of revisions in the light of community consultation to reflect the aspirations of the local community. The scheme will transform the area with new housing, face lifting of retained housing and commercial buildings, and environmental works set within a remodelled and high quality public realm. The neighbourhood remodelling will result in the physical environment being greatly improved with innovative use of public spaces. The residential developments will be of the highest quality of design and construction, providing for the long-term sustainability of the area.
In April 2003 Lovell Partnerships Ltd were chosen as the neighbourhood’s preferred development partner. The expected ten-year implementation programme will be delivered in stages; existing residents will be relocated to new build homes with businesses relocated nearby.
The outline planning application for Toxteth Street was approved in October 2006 and consultation in November enabled residents to view proposed external designs and floor plans. The new housing will include 432 new homes, consisting of two and three storey townhouses and a small number of two bedroom apartments, all in a traditional brick design yet with all the benefits and comfort of a modern, cost efficient home.
Population
Toxteth Street neighbourhood is located on the border of Manchester and Tameside and consists of terraced housing, commercial units along Ashton Old Road, a number of active community facilities and the former site of St Peters School. It is a small neighbourhood within the Openshaw area and has access to all amenities and ongoing developments in the area.
The Toxteth Street area currently has a population of 1008 and people of which 507 are male and 501 are female.
Documents and reports