Manchester’s next revolution: Regenerating Old Trafford with public-private ambition

It was one of our greatest Prime Ministers, Benjamin Disraeli, who said, “What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow”. He was, of course, talking about the Industrial Revolution, of which Manchester was the beating heart. 

The city, and indeed the neighbouring boroughs of what is now the Greater Manchester city region, have been at the vanguard of innovation ever since, whether that be in the fields of science, industry, urban regeneration or political reorganisation (see devolution). It is therefore no surprise that the region now finds itself at the centre of what could be one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe. At least according to the recent proclamations of the government.

In the fanfare of growth-based announcements made last week by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, came government backing of a multi-billion-pound redevelopment of the Old Trafford area, with Manchester United’s world-famous stadium as the centrepiece. A great headline grabber. The plans, which have been on the drawing board for some time, could see a brand-new stadium built as part of a scheme to create 5000 homes and 48,000 new jobs in an area that has been somewhat down at heel for many years. Something to be welcomed, surely.

Where matters begin to fall slightly flat is when you delve beneath this upbeat rhetoric to reveal that there is no explanation of how exactly the government will support the proposal. Although Reeves has said she would champion the project as a ‘shining example’ of her government’s plans for economic growth, there was no detail on how such support would manifest itself.  

Whilst the stadium element of the plan is more than likely to be funded by the football club, there would be at least some expectation on government to support the surrounding regeneration efforts alongside Trafford Council (the local authority) and other partners.

Given the cash-strapped position of national and local government, the private sector will have to do some of the heavy lifting. Welcome changes to planning regulations will no doubt be helpful here, and the government is making a start at putting the right conditions in place for developers. But getting the construction ball rolling will require public sector input in the form of cash, and not just warm words from politicians.

Manchester, of course, is no stranger to public-private regeneration partnerships, particularly sports-led regeneration.  The redevelopment of the Eastlands area, to the east of the city centre, was spurred-on by public sector investment from the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Yet this area’s resurrection into a sports and entertainment powerhouse (Ethiad Stadium, Co-Op Arena, Sportcity, National Cycling Centre etc etc) from the ashes of post-industrial decline only gained real traction with the involvement of private sector players, most recently Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group.

Of the Old Trafford plans, City Region Mayor Andy Burnham himself said last week, “On the east of Manchester, if you look at what’s happened there… Imagine that being balanced on the west of Manchester with another major football campus”. A great aspiration.

But these plans will only become reality with strong local leadership, arguably already in place, backed up by a financial commitment from central government as well as the private sector (and not just Manchester United). The proposals have the ability to transform not only the immediate Old Trafford area but also give positive benefits to the wider city region and north west of England, whilst grabbing national (and international) headlines because of the football club at the heart of the plans. 

The government could hold this project as a glittering (or shining) example of local-led nationally-supported regeneration, demonstrating the growth agenda in action rather than just in words. All we need now are the details from Reeves and Co. Sooner rather than later. The opportunity is there and with the public sector leveraging investment in partnership with private enterprise, steered by strong local leadership, success is highly likely. After all, Manchester has done it all before.