Cheetham Hill is changing fast – and not everyone is happy about it

Cheetham Hill Road is its usual self.

Traffic is queuing at the junction of Trinity Way, snooker matches are taking place in a dimly-lit hall, and the sound of light industry fills the air.

But soon, Cheetham is going to be home to a 25-storey block of flats.

And top council bosses say it will ‘change significantly, with ‘more modern buildings’ to be unveiled as the authority seeks investment in the zones of the city which are between the urban core and the suburbs.

Cheetham Hill

It’s a prospect which some people are excited about, believing the area is in need of ‘some love’. But others are far from sure.

They worry that it’s only a matter of time before their shop, office, or takeaway is swallowed up by a developer to make way for another tower. And that, in turn, will change the character of Cheetham, which is already seeing change as the police and council clean up ‘Counterfeit Street’.

In a special report, we speak to the people who make Cheetham what it is — and about what they think of the impending change.

“This is an area which is going to change significantly”

What’s planned in Cheetham Hill?

This part of the city — sandwiched between the AO Arena, Manchester Fort shopping complex, and Cheetham Hill village — hasn’t seen the arrival of skyscrapers or mill conversions that other post-industrial areas on the outskirts of the city centre have.

To this day, the south end of Cheetham Hill Road is still characterised by light industry, its proximity to HMP Manchester, and the dodgy traders of ‘Counterfeit Street’.

It may not be a residential area right now, but there are still the landmarks of a community here.

Its church, St Chad’s, dates back to the 18th century.

Just over the road, on Empire Street, is the Joseph Holt Brewery, which was built in 1860.

The closest pub, the Derby Brewers Arms, is an example of redbrick Victorian architecture — but it’s also the home of electronic music nights which go into the small hours.

To developers and the council, this area’s location represents untapped potential, and so they are keen to bring it into the city’s centre orbit.

Tapping the city’s potential

That’s already happening just over the other side of the River Irk with the Victoria North project in Red Bank and Angel Meadow, which will see 15,000 homes built over the next decade-and-a-half to cater for 40,000 people.

It’s in this context that the new white tower will be built on the site of a small warehouse.

Developer Asim Ali, director of Benjamin Property Group, says he is ‘proud to be one of the first residential developments’ as the area transforms under the council’s Great Ducie Street Strategic Regeneration Framework.

“Our high-quality design from renowned architects Hodder + Partners will set the standard for development that follows in this area,” he added in a statement after planning permission was granted by the council on January 18.

One Park Place – just the beginning?

That meeting heard the tower, called One Park Place, will be in an area ‘where we will get a lot of new buildings’.

“This is an area which is going to change significantly,” added Dave Roscoe, the council’s deputy director of planning. “We have a lot of good quality modern designs coming forward, but we also need to protect and preserve important components of the area and its heritage.”

And some welcome that wave of change.

“The area needs a bit of love”

Great Guys takeaway, is a hundred yards north of where One Park Place will be. “It’s a good thing,” Shazad Nazir, the owner of 18 months says succinctly when he’s asked if he welcomes the new tower.

He thinks having around 150 flats nearby will be good for business.

“I’m not worried about the future,” he goes on. I like it. Of course [the area] needs a bit of love.”

His view is shared by Nadeem Qadri, another shop owner next door who has been in the area for seven years: “We are not worried. It’s better than the space.

“The area has changed, there’s a lot of new buildings.”

UCEN Manchester

Next door, Sean Martin works at Manchester Seeds, a vape shop.

He has only been there for three years, but he can identify some big changes in that time.

“Since the [UCEN Manchester] college moved in [to a new building on Bury New Road], you get a lot more foot traffic and people about, but with them getting rid of the shops at the bottom you are losing a lot — but then they are often illegal so you can’t have it,” he explains. “But they do bring a lot of business.”

That lost business might be replaced by residents nearby, ‘which could be good for business’, he adds, but overall he ‘isn’t sure’ about the development.

Asked why, he says: “It’s a big change. It’s only so long before they move up here. I don’t know if you want flats where you can see over the prison… it’s not the best view for a couple of hundred grand.”

Sean’s view that One Park Place could bring good — but also uncertainty — was one shared by other people working locally. The feeling in the area is that the buildings in which local businesses are based will become attractive to buyers who want to replace them with flats.

Ben Rich, a long-time employee at Topps Tiles, thinks development nearby ‘could only be good for us’ because ‘we’ll get a lot more eyes on the business’.

But like Sean, Ben thinks it’s a case of ‘if they come for us next’. “This is bigger than the plot there, so it could be next,” he adds, watching the rain lash down on the site where the new tower will go.

“We’d be lucky to stay here for another year”

Although there was some positivity and cautious optimism about the predicted wave of development in the area, it was not universal. Some traders, particularly those who will neighbour One Park Place, are firmly against it.

“It’s too tall,” Asif Salam says when asked about the tower. He is a partner at Salam & Masood law chambers, next door but one to the building site.

Asif’s worry is not based on self-preservation, as his chambers are in a listed building which ‘won’t go’, he says.

“We already have issues with parking,” he goes on. “It’s a very small road so everyone will be on the main road or on our land. It’s getting busier with the new towers.

“We are not full as yet, but when they are it will be very crowded. At rush hour there’s a lot of congestion, it can take half an hour to go to Cheetham Hill Market and that’s only a mile-and-a-half.”

More vociferous opposition in Cheetham Hill comes from Ramis Zeqo, who has owned the Steven Charles Snooker Centre for almost a decade. He thinks his business is on borrowed time in that location.

“We don’t support it,” he says. “There are so many buildings. From my business point of view the closer the buildings get, the more crowded it is for our snooker hall.

“They are trying to force us out. We have been here for 10 years in three months. I think we’d be lucky to stay here for another year.”

The feeling is even more acutely expressed by one punter, who shouts over: “They are pushing us out!”

In response, the council’s executive member for housing and development, Coun Gavin White, says the authority will ‘always look to work with’ the local community.

He admits the council sees Cheetham as somewhere with ‘untapped potential’ – but adds that it is also mindful of the area’s heritage properties.

A statement said: “We look at this part of our expanding city centre and we see the untapped potential of an area that is now seeing signs of major investment that will help the growth of the neighbourhood.

“One Park Place is an early sign of the interest that is growing in Cheetham – and the affordable housing as part of that development is hugely welcome.

“It also complements the wider ambition for the Ducie Street area, Strangeways and Cheetham Hill to invest in and create destinations of our high streets and district centres – supporting the local economies of these areas and creating opportunities for new jobs and for new and existing businesses and current employers to flourish – alongside new homes and retail space.

“But we know that there is a lot of history in this part of Manchester – and examples of impressive heritage properties – that we would look to preserve and protect as investment is brought forward.

“We will always look to work with a local community around major investment in their neighbourhood – and development proposals should be underpinned by meaningful consultation with local people and businesses.”

You can find out about One Port Street in Cheetham Hill on their website by clicking here