Victor, the development arm of Salford-based MC Construction, has gained planning
approval for its first scheme – four modern mews houses in a cobbled courtyard in
the emerging Piccadilly East neighbourhood of Manchester city centre.
The proposals, which have received the green light from Manchester City Council’s
planning and highways committee, are for four-storey townhouses on Ducie Street
with designs by architects Corstorphine & Wright. Paul Butler Associates acted as
planning consultants.
The houses will be constructed on land which is presently a car park and lies at the
south east corner of Paradise Wharf, next to ‘The Stables,’ a converted Grade II
listed commercial block wholly owned by Victor. The southern elevation, which will
be the rear of the properties, will overlook the Ashton Canal.
With three bedrooms, open-plan living spaces, roof terraces, large recessed
balconies and integrated garage, cycle and storage areas, the homes are designed
to appeal to families seeking the convenience of the city centre from a sustainable
location, close to transport links.
The development will be called Paradise Mews and, to blend with the heritage
surroundings, the houses will be built mainly from red brick with small, recessed pop-
ups in glazed cladding providing access to the roof terraces.
The provision of significantly sized homes will add to the mix of housing provision in
an area set to experience significant activity. The recently-completed Oxygen Tower
sits on nearby Store Street, where plans have been approved for Clarion Housing
Group and H20 Urban to deliver 66 apartments for shared ownership and for
developer M1 Piccadilly to build a luxury gold residential tower.
McCauls’ Laystall Street scheme will deliver 89 discounted homes along with 8,000
sq ft of workspace. The council has also granted permission for a three-year period
for a mixed-use development with retail, office and leisure facilities, including a
beer hall and night market, at the former Presbar Diecastings site next door to
Paradise Wharf.
Mike Purcell, a director of MC Construction and Victor’s development director, said:
“We have been securing brownfield sites in close proximity to transport hubs for
several years and are pleased to have received consent for our first Victor
development.

“MC Construction will act as main contractor for the scheme, which utilises our in-
house resource and ensures we oversee the development throughout the
construction phase.
“Since purchasing the site in 2018 from architect Ian Finlay, we have seen strong
investment and development in Ancoats and, more recently, in the immediate
vicinity. We are delighted to build on Ian’s work which commenced in the 1980s
when he showed both foresight and courage in his restoration of The Stables.”
Ian Finlay said: “The designs present a set of stunning high-end homes in what is
fast-becoming a highly-desired location. We named the site Paradise Wharf at a time
when the area was anything but utopian and described as a twilight zone.
Witnessing the continued transformation of this part of Piccadilly is a long-held
aspiration.”
David Lowe, managing director of MC Construction, said: “The city centre is currently
dominated by a multitude of high-rise apartments and very few houses, a gap we are
helping to address, albeit in a modest way. This scheme will provide much-needed
family homes in the city centre.”
Work is due to start in early 2023 with practical completion expected approximately
12 months later.

Exciting multi-million pound plans to completely transform Altrincham Leisure Centre
into a fabulous state-of-the-art facility have been approved by councillors.

Trafford Council’s Executive has given the green light to plans for the large scale
refurbishment of the popular facility – branded move Altrincham – on Oakfield Road in
the town centre.

The centre will now benefit from a 25m swimming pool, a 20m learner pool, a pool pod
to improve accessibility, a combined lobby area with pool viewing and café, a wet village
change, an inclusive changing places toilet and a health and wellbeing spa facility. There
will also be a wellness assessment room, an enlarged fitness suite, fitness changing and
dry change areas, two flexible studio spaces, an immersive indoor cycle studio, a four-
court sports hall and storage, a gymnastics hub and staff rooms and offices.
The new mix of facilities at Altrincham Leisure Centre has been developed with support
from Sport England to deliver long-term sustainable leisure provision that gives the best
health and wellbeing outcomes for residents – a long term commitment to the local
community from Trafford Council.

The designs also include the replacement of the fossil fuel (gas) heating system with Air
Sourced Heat Pumps and Solar Panels, which are significantly more sustainable options
than the existing systems, and support Trafford Council’s carbon neutral action plan. A
large scale online consultation event was held with residents in January this year – and a
total of 576 people responded to the consultation and were largely in favour.

The investment supports the Council’s strategy and commitment to get more people
moving more often, helping improve health and wellbeing, and is part of its Physical
Activity Strategy, ‘Trafford Moving’.  It forms part of a borough-wide long-term strategy
to support the health and wellbeing of local residents through access to affordable,
sustainable, accessible and exciting, modern leisure facilities. It follows the
redevelopment of move Urmston in March 2020, and will see further refurbishments
carried out on a phased arrangement, with Altrincham Leisure Centre earmarked as the
first to be transformed followed by both Stretford and Sale.
 
Jo Cherrett is CEO of Trafford Leisure, a community interest company wholly owned by
Trafford Council, which manages leisure in Trafford on behalf of Trafford Council, using

any profits and assets for community benefit.  She says: “We are ecstatic to finally get
the green light from Trafford Council on the full refurbishment of Altrincham Leisure
Centre. We know it has been a long time coming, and we can’t wait to breathe life back
into the building, future proofing it for future generations. However, we want to
reassure customers that during the temporary closure there be access to alternative
local options for physical activity and sport, so that clubs, lessons, memberships and
activities can continue wherever possible.
 
“This refurbishment isn’t simply a lick of paint, it’s a multi-million-pound investment,
bringing modern leisure facilities to the people of Altrincham. The local community in
and around Altrincham are passionate about their town and have an overwhelming
desire to see their community thrive. When we re-open our doors, the modern, fit-for-
purpose leisure venue will be an inspiring space to help local residents with every aspect
of their wellbeing. It will become the second site Trafford Leisure will open under the
new brand name, move.
 
“move Altrincham, with its new extension, will offer more than 5,500 square metres of
sport and leisure activities to help Trafford Leisure achieve its vision of becoming the
most active place in England. The refurbishment will include the replacement of the fossil
fuel (gas) heating system with Air Sourced Heat Pumps and Solar Panels, which are
significantly more sustainable options than the existing systems and support Trafford
Council’s action plan to be Carbon Neutral by 2038. When move Altrincham opens, the
facilities, services and our team of wellbeing experts can help you move to more every
day. Together, let’s get Trafford moving more. move Altrincham will showcase that there
really is opportunity for physical activity for everyone.”
 
Trafford Council Leader, Cllr Andrew Western, said: “This is fantastic news for the people
of Altrincham and the surrounding areas. Health and wellbeing is of major importance to
Trafford Council and I am delighted that we will now be able to completely transform
Altrincham Leisure Centre into an amazing 21 st  century facility for everyone to enjoy.
 
“This centre will be truly inspirational – like our move Urmston site – and I for one can’t
wait for the work to be completed. We are investing millions of pounds into this project
as we believe that is the right thing to do to ensure residents are given top-class
facilities to ensure they can improve their health, fitness and wellbeing. Thank you to the
Executive for supporting these truly exciting plans.”
 

The proposals are subject to further consultation and securing planning permission which
is expected to be submitted in Autumn 2022.

The centre will be closed over Christmas 2022 to prepare for the work being carried out
in January 2023. The full refurbishment of Altrincham Leisure Centre is estimated to take
up to 18 months.