Boddingtons Brewery Redevelopment - Council Leader Breaks Promise (Manchester Liberal Democrats Online)

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Boddingtons Brewery Redevelopment - Council Leader Breaks Promise

October 25, 2007 3:46 PM

Former Boddingtons Brewery Site, Manchester

More Broken Promises from Manchester Labour

The Leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese faced criticism today after it was revealed that he has broken a promise he made to Boddingtons Brewery campaigners.

The City Council this morning agreed a new development framework bringing hotel, office, retail and leisure use to the site, creating 1,850 jobs. But the plans also include 480 units of housing -contradicting earlier promises by Council Leader Sir Richard Leese that the Council would prevent the site being used for housing.

When the brewery's Belgian owners announced its closure in 2004, there was an all-party campaign to save it and prevent the site being hived-off for lucrative housing redevelopment. At the time, Sir Richard Leese promised to stop housing being built on the site. But at Wednesday's City Council Executive Committee meeting, the Council Leader admitted he had gone back on his promise and was now supporting the construction of nearly 500 housing units on the old Boddies site.

Manchester Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Councillor Paul Shannon criticised the Labour Council Leader's U-turn:

"I welcome the creation of over 1,800 jobs for Manchester. Investment is much-needed in this part of the City Centre. I support the impressive plans for offices, hotel and retail/leisure use on the Boddingtons site. But property developers ASK also intend to build a huge new housing development on the site, even though prices are currently static in the city centre and many existing flats lie empty."

"As recently as December 2006, the Council's Chief Executive wrote to me to say that there was a "presumption against residential" on this site. Yet Labour politicians have today agreed 480 apartments on this site. Why have they changed their minds?"

"A promise is a promise. Richard Leese told campaigners he would use the Council's planning rules to stop the Boddies site being sold off to property developers for more housing. He has now broken his word by endorsing these plans to build 480 housing units. The Leader of the Council should apologise to the people he has misled."

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