The swanky new spot you could spend the night… but you won’t want to

Longsight could soon have a brand-spanking-new destination where you can spend the night — but you won’t want to.

That’s because the suburb’s police station is set for a big refurbishment — so GMP can start using its cells again. A new planning application has revealed that the force cannot use its custody suite at its base in the south Manchester area because ‘standards in policing have developed since the building originally opened’ around 25 years ago.

That means GMP ‘mothballed’ the 57-cell custody suite, according to a planning statement from Corstorphine & Wright, the firm which has put forward the redesigned station.

Under new plans, the Grindlow Street station will only have 44 cells. They have been developed in tandem with GMP, the firm adds.

“It is Greater Manchester Police’s own input into the design process which is key in delivering not only an operationally viable, but operationally efficient, building,” the statement goes on. “Each force throughout the country has their own unique way of approaching day-to-day management of a suite, with their own preferred operational methods, and acceptable (or otherwise) risks.”

Those plans also include a move to ‘infill a central exercise yard’ to add 118 sqm (1270 sq ft) to the station, and extend a van dock to ‘remove an existing bottleneck at peak times’. The station will continue to operate 24/7, it will retain all 153 parking spaces, and access points for both police staff and visitors will also remain the same.

You can view and comment on the plans, until May 17, online here or by searching for ‘139753/FO/2024’ on Manchester council’s planning portal.