The new £250million 'fully walkable neighbourhood' being tipped to transform Greater Manchester town centre forever

Residents in Stockport will be able to have their say for the first time on plans for a new 'fully walkable neighbourhood' in the town centre.

Currently known as Stockport 8, it will see the creation of 1,200 new homes as well as shops, offices, spaces for independent businesses and new green spaces on eight acres of land either side of King Street West.

Those behind it say it will 'reconnect the site to nearby neighbourhoods and the town centre' and 'bring life back to what was once a thriving residential neighbourhood under the railway arches.'

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It is part of a wider £1billion investment in the town centre which includes the new Stockport Interchange with an accompanying park and tower block as well as the redevelopment of and creation of a new residential area around the historic Weir Mill.

The Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) have teamed up with the English Cities fund - a joint venture between Homes England, Muse and Legal & General - for the Stockport 8 scheme.

A planning application for the site is set to be submitted next summer 2024, with a target completion of the first phase by Summer 2027.

And locals will get their say on the plans for the first time early in the new year. A draft masterplan is to be released and will be explained at a series of drop-in events, at online Q+As and on their website. Leafllets will also be sent to thousands of homes and businesses around the site.

Eamonn Boylan, interim chair of Stockport MDC said: “English Cities Fund’s considerable emphasis on a robust and collaborative public consultation and community engagement programme in its