Christie Hospital has been refused permission to build a multi-storey car park in Withington (previous MCFly story on this). The Planning and Highways Committee of Manchester City Council met at 2pm today. After representations for and against from interested parties, one of the comittee members, Cllr Andrew Fender (Labour, Old Moat), a former chair of the committee, moved that the committee was “minded to refuse” the application. This was seconded and passed.

Cllr Chris Paul (Labour, Withington) has been actively involved in the campaign against the car park. He told Manchester Climate Monthly “There was a site visit this morning and around 200 people turned up for that. Senior representatives from all the schools. Lots of residents. Planning Committee members got a proper feel for the size of the site and, through helium filled balloons, a bit of an indication of the height. That was critically important I think. No one at all wanted the proposed car park. And the committee listened intently to a wide range of views.

“There is of course an enormous groundswell of support for The Christie, and everyone who spoke expressed that support. It is very important for Manchester that highest quality scientific and clinical research goes on in our city. We hope that The Christie come back with proposals that work better for the neighbourhood and which show them in a good light as institutional neighbours who listen and who respond well…. Residents want to help and residents would be pleased to provide Focus Groups, a Community Conference, even a Planning Mediation to help The Christie get it right.”

A Christie Hospital spokesperson supplied the following statement: “Director of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) Professor Nic Jones said: “The Manchester Cancer Research Centre partners remain committed to working with the City Council and stakeholders to enable us to provide the vital facilities needed to continue our world-renowned cancer research. The MCRC has a clear vision for the expansion of research that will be crucial to underpinning advances in the treatment of cancer patients, both here in Manchester and across the globe. We are committed to ensuring that the benefits of the resources secured for the provision of these world-class facilities are delivered as soon as possible in a region where cancer rates continue to be well above the national average.”

More to follow.

Marc Hudson
mcmonthly@gmail.com