The Manchester Northern Gateway is a key part of the city’s Northern Powerhouse initiative and covers substantial areas of brownfield and greenfield land between the M60, M62 and M66.

Despite this extensive motorway infrastructure, it is poorly connected and is relatively disadvantaged compared with other parts of the city, so a key purpose of our masterplanning study was to redress this imbalance between north and south - socially, economically and environmentally. Our experts were appointed by the Wilton Estate, which has extensive land ownership in the area, to prepare a masterplan which marries the aspirations of the local authorities with the regeneration ambitions of the landowners. 

The prepared plan included a 200 ha. green gateway in the north, running down a green/blue infrastructure corridor which separates the northern employment hub from the southern community hub. Also included was new public transport corridors connecting both sections to each other, and to the wider area. 

The green gateway in the north linked from a remodelled junction on the M62, via a parkway employment zone to an advanced manufacturing park/university zone, giving a total employment area of over 300 ha. and 50,000 new jobs. The southern community hub united education, health, retail, and leisure uses at the heart of a new community of over 10,000 homes. This area is connected by a dedicated public transport corridor, including a Park & Ride in the south and motorways in the north.