Plans unveiled for 72 homes at Victoria Park

Developer and investor Britannia Group has outlined its ambitions to build a series of apartments and townhouses on the site of a former probation centre in the South Manchester neighbourhood.

The developer estimates the project’s gross development value would be £16.5m. A viability statement by Roger Hannah lists the base construction cost for the scheme as £10.6m.

Designed by Ollier Smurthwaite Architects, the project would see the construction of a 3.5-storey apartment block and a series of seven blocks made up of townhouses and flats on the premises of the old Victoria Park Probation Centre off Laindon Road.

The proposed apartment block would sit on the corner of Daisy Bank Road and Laindon Road, while the townhouses would be situated on the west of the 1.6-acre site.

The apartment block would consist of 23 one-bedroom flats and 14 with two bedrooms. Ground-floor apartments would have private gardens, while the other residents would be able to enjoy shared green gardens in the back. There would also be parking provided for the residents.

The other residential blocks would comprise 15 three-bed and 15 four-bed townhouses, two one-bed and two two-bed flats, and one six-bed house. The houses would have private courtyards and shared green space and a kitchen garden. Parking would be incorporated into the courtyards of the houses, with townhouses also having one allocated in-curtilage parking space.

Matt Ollier, director of Ollier Smurthwaite Architects, described his ambitions for the project.

“The scheme takes a derelict brownfield site suffering from anti-social behaviour and proposes high-quality houses and apartments for inter-generational living,” he said.

“A strong sense of community is promoted through the front and rear gardens, shared lawns and a kitchen garden. We are also incorporating a large number of existing mature trees along Daisy Bank Lane into the development.”

Britannia Group estimates the project’s gross development value is £16.5m.

Nick Carter, development director, Britannia Group said: “We are very excited by our plans to transform the site, especially bringing a large building back to the corner of Daisy Bank Road and Laindon Road and creating much-needed new family homes for the area.”

Avison Young submitted the plans for the scheme to Manchester City Council, following a consultation that was held in September last year.

In addition to Avison Young and Ollier Smurthwaite Architects, the project team includes arboricultural expert Trevor Bridge Associates, transport consultant Curtins, flood risk and drainage consultant The LK Group, air quality and lighting assessor BWB, environmental standards expert Crookes Walker Consulting, and fire consultant OFR Consultants. Hann Tucker is the noise assessor, GIA is the daylight and sunlight consultant, and the University of Salford is the archaeological consultant.