Frequently asked questions

Welcome to the FAQ section. Here we have compiled a list of commonly asked questions and answers about the strategic regeneration framework which outlines the vision for Mayfield's redevelopment. If you have a question that is not listed below, or you would like more information about some of the answers, then please visit our Your comments section, where you can send a message to the project team.

What is a Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) and what status does it have?

The purpose of the Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) is to guide investment in major developments, public realm and infrastructure in the Mayfield area. It will provide the economic and spatial context for ensuring that the impetus provided by the Civil Service Campus proposals is harnessed to deliver transformational change. This is to be done in a way that enhances Piccadilly and the adjacent areas of the city centre and connects to the adjoining communities within Ardwick and New East Manchester.

The SRF will help to ensure that development in the area is designed, implemented and managed in a comprehensive and co-ordinated manner through collaboration between landowners and the City Council. This will ensure that the regeneration opportunities offered by the Civil Service Campus proposals are maximised for the benefit of the wider community. Given the current level of investment interest in and immediately around the area, it is essential that such a framework is in place.

What are the key drivers for the SRF?

The vision for Mayfield is to become a new mixed-use urban quarter of local, regional and national importance.

For Manchester, it will extend the high quality environment that already characterises most of the city centre, introducing a major new park, enhancing connectivity and maximising wider regeneration benefit.

For central Government, Mayfield will contain a pioneering sustainable office campus aimed at setting new standards for the Civil Service estate, facilitating a major local and national relocation programme and delivering significant operational benefits.

What is the design rationale behind proposals for the Masterplan and the Campus?

The SRF will provide a robust set of principles within which both diversity and design quality can thrive, where priority is afforded to creating an integrated piece of urban fabric, with continuity, community and human scale as the enduring aspiration.

The design aspirations for the masterplan can be referenced back to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment's (CABE) guidelines for successful masterplanning, which can be summarised as aiming toward:

If the SRF/Masterplan is approved, does it mean that the Mayfield Campus development will definitely go ahead?

The development of the SRF/Masterplan is an important part of the Feasibility Study stage, in terms of demonstrating that it is possible to deliver a high quality campus on the Mayfield site capable of accommodating 5,000 civil servants. As such, it sets out what it is intended to deliver on the site should the project proceed.

The decision on whether the Campus development will proceed depends on the results of the Feasibility Study, which will consider a number of other important aspects as well as the Masterplan. These include the benefits of the project, its likely costs and any issues that may impact on delivery. When the study is completed and the results analysed a final decision will be made on whether to proceed. The Feasibility Study is due to be completed by the end of 2009.

What consultation has taken place over the SRF/Masterplan proposals, and have any objections been raised?

A significant amount of consultation has already taken place with key stakeholders including potential Government occupiers, statutory bodies, landowners and other key parties.

Manchester City Council MCC and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) have been involved in developing the masterplan and SRF from an early stage. They form an integral part of the project team also made up by BRBR, Office for Government Commerce (OGC) and Government Office for the North West (GONW).

The City Council has played a key role in developing the SRF and masterplan to ensure that it supports the revitalisation of Manchester's Eastern Gateway, complementing existing and proposed developments in adjacent areas of the city centre, and, establishing connections to local communities immediately adjoining, within Ardwick and New East Manchester. In addition, through the City Council, comments and input to the SRF and masterplan has been received from the City's masterplanning advisors for the area, Urban Initiatives.

Regular meetings have also taken place with Manchester Mayfield Consortium who own land between the River Medlock and Mancunian Way. The engagement has been proactive and has allowed the masterplan to evolve with their support, in a manner that will ensure their land is ideally positioned to both capitalise on the substantial investment and regeneration impetus provided by the Civil Service campus and also maximise the contribution to the overall regeneration of the Eastern Gateway and surrounding communities.

A programme of workshops and consultation meetings have taken place with a range of statutory bodies and stakeholders including:

Following consideration by the Executive Committee in November 2009, consultation on the SRF was expanded and a programme of public consultation will happen throughout January 2010, supported by a public exhibition event. The feedback received will inform the final version of the SRF which will be endorsed by the City Council during February 2010.

Details of the timing and location of the public exhibition event will be made available from this website.

Will the SRF create wider regeneration benefits for local communities and Manchester?

The Office Campus will secure the regeneration of a 9 hectare site at a prominent City Centre gateway location. A significant proportion of the site is currently contaminated and derelict, and the Office Campus would provide the critical mass of occupiers and investment to act as a catalyst for transformational change in this area of the City Centre of regional or even national significance.

An objective of the SRF is to ensure that the sustained economic growth of the City Centre translates into improvements in quality of life for all Manchester residents. The masterplan seeks to establish good, publicly accessible connections to the deprived communities which border the site, traversing the barrier created by the Mancunian Way and Railway lines, and creating public realm and a major new urban park – equivalent in size to Piccadilly Gardens and Sackville Gardens combined – which can be enjoyed by the working and resident communities of the City Centre, Ardwick and Piccadilly.

The Masterplan includes details of redevelopment plans for land to the south which is in private ownership. What involvement have the parties owning this land had in the Masterplan and how definite are these plans?

Consultation with Mayfield Manchester Ltd, who own or control a significant proportion of the land to the south of the River Medlock, has been extensive. Mayfield Manchester Ltd had already undertaken Masterplanning studies of its own land ownership area and has shared this work with the BRBR team in a proactive manner, contributing to the evolution of the masterplan and design principles outlined in the SRF.

The plans for the southern part of the site appear ambitious in the current market – how deliverable are these plans?

Land to the south of the River Medlock is ideally placed to capitalise on the substantial investment, regeneration impetus and extension of the city centre quality uses that the Civil Service Office Campus will create.

Land to the south of the river is in a number of ownerships and development here will be prompted by market demands. While the aspiration is to deliver the office campus and park within the next five years, the timeframe for redevelopment to the south of the River Medlock is undefined. Therefore, the principles of a clear and simple urban block structure guides both sides of the scheme to ensure that each develops in a mutually supportive way. It is expected that the aspiration and success of the Campus to the north will engender a comparable quality of development in the south.

How will the Masterplan – including public realm – be delivered?

A detailed procurement strategy will be developed during the next phase of the project. This will consider different degrees of probability, different risk profiles and different financing routes. The Masterplan will necessitate a detailed site assembly strategy with the obligations of each party established.

Is it possible to deliver a highly sustainable development on such a site?

At the heart of the Mayfield SRF, the Civil Service Campus is intended to achieve groundbreaking levels of sustainable performance to place the Government estate at the forefront of the drive to achieve carbon neutrality for non-domestic buildings by 2019. By linking the Campus to adjacent existing or proposed developments in the vicinity it should be possible over time to achieve a zero carbon urban quarter.

Manchester City Council also has the aspiration to become a leading low carbon city by 2020 and is currently developing a Climate Change Action Plan to deliver this strategy. Mayfield could play a leading role in this initiative.

Who are the key parties behind the proposals for Mayfield?

The key stakeholders for the Mayfield SRF consist of representatives from the key landowners, potential occupiers and City Council as follows:

Who are the team of professional team and what are their credentials for a scheme of this type?

The Mayfield Project Partners are being supported by a high calibre professional team with recognised urban design credentials and leading specialisms in the field of progressive, sustainable working environments for public and private sector clients.

The team are: