Manchester (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Mayor Andy Burnham praised Stockport’s development success, announcing plans to triple its Mayoral Development Corporation’s scope for further regeneration.
At an event celebrating the fifth birthday of the town’s mayoral development corporation, the Greater Manchester Mayor showered praise on “the Brooklyn to Manchester’s Manhattan” for developing the ideal for swift and impactful conversion. Andy Burnham has also approved tripling the scope of the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation following a five-year term that has started regeneration in the west of the town centre.
How has Stockport transformed under the mayoral development corporation?
Burnham said: “I could not have imagined what was possible when the MDC was first proposed.”
“I think [the MDC has] accomplished something that many others have attempted to look at and failed. [Stockport] is the first that I can think of to come up with a strategy for how you regenerate a proud English town, but tilt it towards the 21st century. I can’t think of anywhere else having accomplished that.”
How many homes are planned for Stockport’s regeneration?
According to the mayor, overall, Stockport wants to produce 8,000 homes within the MDC, deciding to lean into the concept of town centre living to stave off threats to development in its Green Belt. The densification of the town centre will also strengthen the business case for Metrolink’s arrival into the town. The MDC, and the pace of development it has encouraged, is why Stockport “has sights on it from all over the country”, Burnham expressed.
How can Stockport’s model influence other English towns?
The mayor said he is also optimistic of replicating Stockport’s triumph across the city region.
“[Stockport’s success] it is why we’re looking at MDCs right across Greater Manchester,”
he stated.
At the end of his speech, Andy Burnham threw down the gauntlet to the room full of stakeholders from the public and private sectors who had assembled to honour five years of the MDC. “You’ve not just transformed your town, I think you’re going to transform many others across England as devolution grows in the next decade. I’m looking at you all now in the eye, you’re going to have to make the next five years even better. Now, if you can, then there’ll be no stopping Stockport.”