Highways and Extended Car Parking Areas, Manchester

Client: : Southway Housing Trust and Groundwork Manchester Salford Stockport Tameside & Trafford Location: : Manchester Value: : £5.1 million (12 sites)

HDD worked with Groundwork MSST&T over a period of 5 years on an ambitious ‘Environmental Improvement Programme ‘ (EIP) for Southways Housing Trust in south Manchester.  HDD in association with Groundwork MSST&T developed the initial EIP feasibility strategy setting out a programme for £10.4 million of investment in external areas to several thousand units of social housing stock.  The programme considered more than 100 cul-de sacs and avenues and the external spaces of 54 streets were comprehensively remodelled.  The works were technically, legally and logistically complex and re-configured land under multiple ownerships (Southway Housing Trust , private owner-occupiers and Manchester City Council adopted highway). The schemes reconfigured roads, pavements and gardens to address:

• a chronic lack of parking and inefficient parking at hammerheads,
• narrow pavements and carriageways frequently blocked by inappropriate parking,
• unsightly surfacing and kerbs affected by vehicle overrun,
• failing pavements and drainage,
• degraded boundaries and front gardens.

Working closely with Groundwork MSST&T HDD’s duties included:

• commissioning all relevant surveys, developing feasibility proposals through concept, developed and technical design stages,
• detail and illustrating a palette of adoptable and non-adoptable finishes,
• provision of plans and materials for consultations, applications, and approvals by tenants, owner occupier, highways and planning authorities, statutory undertakers and legal representatives,
• submission of multiple planning applications,
• liaison with the Highways Authority over adoptability of the schemes including of Sustainable Drainage (SuDS) elements,
• developing and maintaining Cost Schedules and Cost Planning models,
• developing full production and contract  information