Public consultation opens for Red Bank scheme – part of ambitious Victoria North plans

The masterplanning of the 5,500-home Red Bank neighbourhood, part of Victoria North, the massive regeneration project which aims to change the face of north Manchester, has gone out to public consultation.Victoria North is part of ambitious scheme by Manchester council and the Far East Consortium which aims to build 15,000 new homes in north Manchester.Red Bank is one of seven major neighbourhoods being developed as part of the £4bn project.The plans for Red Bank will see the transformation of largely brownfield land north of the city centre into a brand new, mixed-used neighbourhood with a focus on low-carbon housing and sustainable riverside living.Proposals include up to 5,500 new homes across a range of tenure types and sizes, including affordable homes, as well as new social and community infrastructure.The Red Bank area suffers from a legacy of former industrial uses and the JV has already successfully secured £51.6m from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund to deliver key infrastructure works and address some of these challenges.Crucially, this initial investment will also fund major improvements to St Catherine’s Wood and the River Irk, which will form the first phase of the new City River Park and become the heart of the new neighbourhood.The first phase of community engagement is to introduce a vision for the neighbourhood and the consultation process ahead, as well as gathering initial feedback to guide the design of St Catherine’s Wood.The consultation will run from 14 October, and will invite community stakeholders to provide their input to the Red Bank neighbourhood masterplan and inform the design process.The first phase of the consultation includes two drop-in sessions at GRUB on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd October, where local residents will be able to meet the wider team behind the project.