Manchester's regeneration was given a multi-million pound boost, alongside the creation of a new ministerial group to support City leaders in bidding for further projects.
Hazel Blears announced that English Partnerships have earmarked around £10 million to accelerate the delivery of Sportcity, the largest concentration of sporting venues in Europe. The money will be used for site preparation, in order to unlock the huge potential for leisure, commercial and sporting activity and create new jobs.
Ideas that have been put forward for the site include a new BMX centre, and extreme sports centre including a snowboarders half-pipe, scuba pool, abseiling and climbing walls as well as a sky-diving simulator and white-water rafting course.
The development of Sportcity is expected to create 1,600 new jobs and will be a key part of East Manchester's wider regeneration drive. The Government is extending the New East Manchester Urban Regeneration Company to 2014, who will invite proposals for the new Sportcity site, and spearhead a series of local regeneration projects, creating a total of 4,000 jobs.
The Government is also working with councils in Greater Manchester on their plans for a Multi-Area Agreement to be signed this summer to boost jobs, transport, investment and housing through greater co-operation.
The ministerial group, which will be chaired by Hazel Blears, will support Manchester city leaders as they progress longer-term projects, including:
The announcement follows publication of a general review of the alternatives to casino-led regeneration.
A new independent report concludes that the £2 billion New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme is delivering real improvements to people's lives, raising satisfaction and bridging the gap between some the most deprived neighbourhoods and the rest of England.
Thirty-nine deprived areas including in Lambeth, Bradford, Plymouth, Manchester, Leicester, Hackney, Oldham, Middlesbrough and Hull are making huge strides in improving quality of life and opportunity.
Key findings covering NDC areas between 2001-02 and 2005-06 show:
In all 32 of 36 indicators used show improvement with a more mixed picture in the other four. The report shows that 'evidence of change at the area level is overwhelmingly positive'.