Skip to content

Anger as 'under-served' area to lose B&M to housing

Ethan Davies
Local Democracy Reporting Service
LDRS A general view of a large flat-roofed warehouse style shop with a large sign reading B&M home store & garden centreLDRS
Councillor Murtaza Iqbal said the B&M store was "something they rely on"

Plans to build 115 homes on the site of a B&M store in an area of Manchester "under-served" by shops have been criticised by councillors and residents.

The proposal for the large store next to Mauldeth Road rail station in Ladybarn was approved at a planning committee meeting on 20 February.

It was the second attempt by developers Triple Jersey Ltd to build on the site after its first proposal was withdrawn in the face of strong opposition.

However, Labour councillor Murtaza Iqbal told the Manchester City Council planning committee "we can and should expect better".

"We are under-served with just one [shop] already, and Tesco just over the border in Didsbury," he said.

"It's not the removal of a shop, it's the removal of something people rely on."

Triple Jersey Ltd A computer generated image showing a row of town-house style buildings with a paved square in the foreground, where a woman and her daughter are embracing and a man sits on a bench with a phone to his ear.Triple Jersey Ltd
An artist's impression of the finished development

He said the scheme must provide benefits for the community and not only "profits for developers".

Council officer Des Jones, however, said the authority could not prevent the application going through over affordable housing worries, as Triple Jersey had '"voluntarily" included eight affordable homes.

Legislation states they are only legally required to do so if a project is expected to make 20% profit.

Speaking after the planning permission was granted, 74-year-old Jean Smith, who has lived on Mauldeth Road for 48 years, said she and her husband already have a "horrendous time with parking".

Neighbour Vivien Powell, 75, also had worries about parking, and said she felt for the B&M employees affected.

She said: "I've been right against it. I enjoy going to that shop, I know the staff there."

Councillors voted eight to three in favour to approve the application.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.