Planning Permission Approved for Homeless Accommodation in Manchester

We recently provided free support to Manchester-based charity, Embassy, who were looking to develop accommodation for those who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless in Manchester. Embassy’s work started with the repurposing of a luxury tour bus to provide emergency shelter and support to vulnerable adults. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have had to look at other options for moving forward.

The focus is to provide individual accommodation and develop the site known as Embassy Village, which is located beneath a series of railway arches in Manchester city centre. The proposals are for the construction of 40 high quality modular homes, along with a village hall, a reception pod and outdoor space for recreation, socialising and growing vegetables. The buildings themselves will be created from shipping containers and will be suitably adapted for their specific uses.

The Embassy Village site will be managed around the clock and will provide support and work to residents to provide invaluable life skills. The aim is to help people find work and access private accommodation, whilst remaining part of the community.

A number of companies and organisations have provided their services free of charge to assist with a planning application for Embassy Village including Wardell Armstrong who undertook an air quality assessment. The assessment was requested by Manchester City Council because of the proximity of the site to the inner-city ring road, which experiences a high volume of road traffic.

The assessment focuses on air quality at the development site, particularly for those areas where the residential accommodation is proposed. Data for the assessment has been obtained from free sources, with support provided by other members of the project team, and dispersion modelling has been carried out to ensure the suitability of the site for the proposed uses.

The results of the assessment suggest that air quality is not a significant issue at the site, despite its location, and that there are no material reasons in relation to air quality why the proposed scheme should not proceed (subject to appropriate planning conditions).

We were delighted to hear that Embassy Village was granted planning permission last week! 

The project is also supported by a wider professional team who are all providing their services for free:

Main image design by Jon Matthews Architects.