'It's simply the wrong approach': The fight to save Manchester's historic warehouses will begin next week

They are either an integral part of the character of Manchester city centre or delapidated relics that should be bulldozed, depending on your point of view. But a tussle over the future of historic warehouses at Shudehill is about to begin.

SAVE Britain’s Heritage will give a statement at a major planning inquiry into plans to demolish a series of 19th century warehouses in the area. The proposals by developer Interland Holdings Ltd for a new high-rise tower block of up to 19 storeys were refused by Manchester City Council in April 2023 on heritage and design grounds.

But the developer appealed the decision. The plans are now the subject of a two-week long inquiry, opening on October 24.

SAVE raised concerns about the scheme back in April 2019. It is against the proposed demolition of four unlisted Victorian warehouses between Shudehill and Dantzic Street, and the partial demolition of the grade II listed 29 Shudehill. The group also objected to the new tower block of 175 flats proposed, all within the supposedly protected Shudehill Conservation Area.

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Manchester City Council is set to defend its decision to refuse the scheme, focusing on the harmful impact of the demolition of the Victorian warehouses within the Conservation Area, the design of the tower block and doubts over the deliverability of the scheme as a whole.

SAVE will be making its statement on the opening day of the inquiry this Tuesday, October 24, at Manchester Central Convention Complex.

Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE, said: "SAVE is