Task 1: Essay An assessment of Mayfield, Manchester: to what extent does the regeneration scheme meet the public interest? By Nick Ferns
Introduction Mayfield is an area in the south-east of Manchester City Centre, adjacent to the central railway station, Manchester Piccadilly. Given its prime location, Mayfield is well placed to be one of the city’s flagship neighbourhoods, yet the site has remained derelict since 1986. The area is soon to be regenerated, with redevelopment commencing in 2020. This paper assesses the proposed scheme, examining its strategic vision as well as the policy, framework and risks underpinning its delivery. This work critically evaluates the value the scheme will create, considering the goals of the development and the wider public interest. Scheme overview Mayfield is a 24-acre site situated between the city’s inner ring road and Manchester Piccadilly station. The area has a rich industrial heritage: it was originally home to an enormous postal depot, printworks and a former rail station. Today the site is characterised by the depot, disused viaduct and railway arches, and factory buildings along the River Medlock. The site is extremely contaminated and requires extensive remediation (Manchester City Council, 2010). Mayfield has been subject to a number of failed redevelopment proposals over the years, in part due to the complexity of the site but also the lack of information available on the area. Land ownership, site condition and MCC’s aspirations (among others) were not previously in the public domain. The lack of market transparency has historically been a large deterrent for attracting investment in regeneration in the UK (Adair et al, 2003). until February 2020 when the first phase of a mixed-use regeneration scheme received planning consent from MCC. The scheme is anchored by a vision to transform Mayfield into a ‘world class urban neighbourhood’ providing 1,500 homes, 650 hotel bedrooms, retail and leisure space, and over 800,000 sqft of offices (Place North West, 2020) The River Medlock will be re-naturalised, forming part of a new 6.5-acre park – the city’s first in over 90 years (Gilmore and Doyle, 2019). Controversially, the masterplan also includes a ten-storey car park, despite the site’s highly connected location. In total the project is worth an estimated £1.4billion and will be delivered over the next 15 years (Place North West, 2020). With the forthcoming redevelopment of Piccadilly station to accommodate High Speed 2 (HS2), MCC’s overarching vision is for Mayfield to become a high-quality urban quarter, and a core part of central Manchester (MCC, 2018).