'But don’t look back in anger,' I heard you say

How Greater Manchester can build the future without destroying its past

Central Manchester is experiencing an economic boom which is reshaping its skyline, with around 70 towers planned or under construction. It’s an exciting time for the city, but such rapid growth comes with a risk of its remarkable built heritage being swept away – when it could be harnessed and reused as a vital part of a sustainable 21st-century city. At the same time, the boom has not reached the region’s outer boroughs, many of whose fantastic historic buildings face decay or demolition.

In the face of these threats, SAVE published an urgent report, Boom Not Bust: How Greater Manchester can build the future without destroying its past. Written by architecture and heritage experts Eamonn Canniffe and Mike Ashworth, the report focuses on Manchester city centre plus Oldham and Rochdale to make a wider point about what is at stake. It is a celebration of the region’s fine historic buildings – and an urgent call to arms.

We sent copies to the region’s key politicians including mayor Andy Burnham and launched the report with talks and walking tours in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale to showcase the buildings – including inside the beautifully restored grade I-listed Rochdale Town Hall. The report triggered significant local, national and international newspaper and TV coverage.

Since the report we have:

• Added all the eligible buildings in the report to SAVE’s Buildings at Risk register.
• Advocated against the partial demolition of a listed former carriage works in a conservation area.
• Been invited to speak at a public inquiry into plans for a massive development in a conservation area in the Northern Quarter which would have bulldozed four historic warehouses. We were delighted when the plans were thrown out.
• Written to support an urgent listing application made by a local campaigner for 18th-century Medlock Mill which is facing partial demolition and redevelopment. Also known as Hotspur Press, it is Manchester’s oldest standing textile mill and a rare surviving example of a transitional stage in mill technology from water to steam.

All this work builds on SAVE’s long relationship with Greater Manchester. Our first report on the city was published in 1982: The Disappearing Cathedral Conservation Area. High-profile past cases include the campaign to save a historic part of the city centre – including a synagogue, police station and pub – from demolition to make way for a 40-storey development. Working through the planning system, we commissioned Alec Forshaw, an independent planning consultant, to examine the proposals. We submitted a 12-page report debunking the developer’s claims and also supported a legal challenge by the Manchester Civic Society and commissioned an alternative vision from architect Ian Chalk.

We also successfully campaigned to protect a transcendental 1950s mural of national significance inside the empty Church of the Holy Rosary in Oldham. The international art world got behind the campaign and the mural of “dazzling beauty”, by George Mayer-Marton, has now been listed, with a plan to reuse the building taking shape.

We will continue to keep a close eye on Manchester’s remarkable historic buildings in the face of significant threats. And we will celebrate projects that give them new life, such as the Landmark Trust’s brilliant transformation of the Station Agent’s House in Castlefield.