Press Releases

March 23 2006

World's first industrial suburb wins national regeneration award

A project to regenerate Ancoats in east Manchester, the world's first industrial suburb, has won a prestigious national regeneration award.  The Ancoats Urban Village project was announced as the winner in the Area Based Regeneration category of the 2006 Waterways Renaissance Awards at an award ceremony in London last night. The Waterways Renaissance Awards were established by The Waterways Trust and the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) and are now in their fourth year.

The Ancoats Urban Village project, led by New East Manchester Ltd, is centred on a conservation area adjacent to the Rochdale Canal in central Manchester. The site has the greatest concentration of Grade II and II* buildings in the city. By redeveloping and refurbishing the Ancoats quarter New East Manchester Ltd has, with its partners, created an urban village on a formerly redundant brownfield site, providing major sustainable environmental, social and economic benefits for the wider area.
 
The judging panel noted: "This is an outstanding project in an outstanding area and the panel expects it to regenerate this area dramatically. The panel particularly liked the high proportion of apartments suitable for families, the sensitive reuse of historically important buildings and the encouragement of low environmental impact design and construction methods. The panel was also encouraged to see such progress in a city that has not previously had a strong track record in canalside development."

Robert Hough, Chairman of New East Manchester Ltd said: "Over the last seven years, Ancoats Urban Village Company, now part of New East Manchester Ltd., has worked tirelessly with its partners to breathe new life into this historic part of Manchester and we can now begin to witness the renaissance.  New residents and businesses are moving into the refurbished mills and new developments creating a truly mixed use city quarter. The Ancoats Compulsory Purchase Order, undertaken by the NWDA at the request of New East Manchester, was the first CPO to be mounted by an RDA in the UK, and it is clearly paying dividends.  We are really pleased to have our work recognised nationally in this way."

Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive, said: "The regeneration of Ancoats is a key priority for the NWDA and we have committed significant funding to revive East Manchester and transform it into one of the city's key assets. This prestigious award is a great recognition of the significant achievements that have been made by all partners involved in the area's redevelopment to drive forward its renaissance."

James Maclean from Land & Water Group, sponsor of the Area Based Regeneration category, said: "The Waterways Renaissance Awards represent everything that The Land & Water Group believes in, and we share the Waterways Trust passion for maintaining and promoting the inland waterways that play such an important part of this country's history."

Roger Hanbury, Chief Executive of The Waterways Trust, said: "The regeneration of our waterways has gained such momentum that it is hard to think back to the time only a couple of years ago when canals were widely considered a liability rather than the asset we now know them to be. Reviving our waterways has transformed the environment, created business opportunities, and injected new life into areas which were once forgotten".