A city suburb is set for a major revamp after locals cried out for urgent attention to be given to the area now full of shuttered shops. Earlier this week, investment plans for Newton Heath in Manchester were unveiled that aim to rejuvenate the main shopping strip, responding to residents’ concerns about its dilapidated state.
Vinny Bond, a 69 year old Newton Heath local for 40 years, shared with the MEN: “It needs doing up. They need to attract people into the place. You look at the main street and there’s shuttered up shop frontages when they should be open. It’s long overdue”.
Following a public consultation on the suburb’s regeneration, Manchester city council has revealed ambitions to construct a new public plaza, upgrade and enlarge vital communal amenities like the library, alongside the introduction of innovative health care centres.
The initiative also lays out plans for sparking life into the high street, particularly Old Church Street – but many around the country will recognise the modern obstacles that now face physical shopping spaces.
Old Church Street has faced the same epidemic that so many high-streets have encountered around the UK, with a once-thriving shopping area having has seen its businesses and community facilities diminish over the years.
Locals have come out in force to voice their opinions, taking to social media to post. User lou1974 commented: “It was a fantastic place to shop and you couldn’t move on [Old] Church Street and the market. However, over the past 25 years it’s been run into the ground.”
Over on Facebook, Babs Bailey-Hughes shared her sorrow about the street’s decline, reminiscing, “It’s so sad how it’s turned out now. As kids we used to go to Church Street every Saturday and spend hours on there looking round the market and shops”.
The sense of community loss was echoed by Sian Charlesworth, who posted, “I grew up in Newton Heath and the heart of the community was the market, sadly it was ripped out and has never been the same since”.
The cherished Newton Heath market, which had been at the core of community life for more than 80 years, unfortunately shut its doors in 2010.
Nicola Booth took to social media to voice what she misses, saying, “Bring back the market butcher and fruit and vegetables shop and a nice cafe”.
Further comments came from Karen McCarrick Evans, who lived in Newton Heath for 53 years before moving in 2018. She reminisced, “Church Street was a great place when I was a kid – it was like going to town; there wasn’t anything you couldn’t buy”.
