Neville 'I didn't expect such criticism after football'

Granada
Manchester
Environment
Wednesday 12 July 2017 at 10:52am

Gary Neville says he didn't expect such criticism when he retired from football.

Gary Neville has abandoned plans to knock down the Sir Ralph Abercromby pub and former Bootle Street police station after admitting his original designs for Jackson’s Row were ‘flawed’.

Replacement designs are being unveiled at Central Library today.

He told Granada Reports' Andrew Fletcher that he didn't expect such criticism post football:

New architect Stephen Hodder said he had ‘started with a clean sheet of paper’ to redraw the huge development after being asked by the council to review it in February, in the wake of Historic England’s warnings that it would create ‘high level of harm’ to the setting of the nearby town hall and Central Library.

Today, Historic England has responded to revised proposals for the St Michael’s scheme for the centre of Manchester.

In February Historic England expressed serious concerns about the previous scheme for this site but we have been advising the developer and Manchester City Council on revised proposals and think positive steps have been made towards delivering a better scheme for this special part of Manchester.

Catherine Dewar, Planning Director in the North West for Historic England said:

We are very pleased that such positive progress has been made at St Michael’s. The new masterplan still needs work but it’s getting there. We strongly believe that this extraordinary area of Manchester deserves a thoughtful scheme which responds to its surroundings, contributes to the neighbouring streets and welcomes people in. The new proposals are much closer to achieving this and have the potential to enhance the character of the Deansgate/Peter Street conservation area, rather than dominate it, as the previous scheme threatened. We are happy to see that the front building of the former police headquarters complex will now be kept and that the Sir Ralph Abercromby pub will be incorporated into the development because although they aren’t listed, these buildings have soul and tell important stories about our city’s past. We also welcome the fact that there is now only one tower in the scheme which has been moved to a different part of the site, further away from the Town Hall, and twisted around. This change means it has much less of an impact on the grand civic buildings here, including the nationally-important Grade II* listed Central Library, Grade I listed Town Hall, and Grade I listed St. Ann’s Church. We recognise that the right development on this site could create a better environment for those who live and work in Manchester, adding life and vibrancy to these streets. We will continue to advise the developer and council as the plans progress.