IN Brief:
- Aviva Investors has submitted a revised Atlas Business Park development application near Manchester Airport.
- The latest council record describes seven industrial and storage units, replacing an earlier five-unit scheme refused in 2023.
- The revised site excludes Green Belt land, incorporates an existing vacant building for demolition, and remains under consultation.
Aviva Investors has submitted a revised planning application for an industrial and logistics development adjoining Atlas Business Park in Wythenshawe, Manchester. The scheme is intended to deliver approximately 400,000 sq ft of employment space close to the airport, after an earlier proposal was rejected in 2023. Manchester City Council’s current application describes the demolition of one existing unit and construction of seven units with industrial, storage, distribution, and ancillary office uses, together with servicing, access, landscaping, and related infrastructure.
The proposal covers land around Styal Road and Simonsway, including part of the former Ferranti electronics factory site. The boundary has been reduced from approximately 23 acres in the earlier submission to about 19 acres, allowing the revised layout to avoid the Green Belt land that formed part of the previous scheme. It also takes in the vacant former Vodafone building, reported to extend to around 90,000 sq ft, which would be demolished to prepare the development site. That demolition, together with the reconfiguration of service yards and access, would form part of the enabling programme if planning permission is granted.
Manchester City Council refused the earlier proposal in 2023, citing Green Belt concerns and insufficient assurance about the impact on Manchester Airport’s operational integrity or safety. Aviva’s latest plan moves development westwards and removes the protected land from the proposed boundary. The rearranged plots and circulation areas must still be assessed against planning policy, transport impacts, and airport safeguarding requirements. The changed boundary addresses one aspect of the previous refusal, while the application remains subject to the council’s determination.
The formally lodged application, PLA-2026-002082, proposes seven industrial, storage, or distribution units with ancillary office accommodation. These would accommodate Class E(g)(iii) light industrial, Class B2 general industrial, and Class B8 storage or distribution uses, with Class E(g)(i) offices where ancillary to the principal uses. The earlier 2023 application proposed five units. The current planning description and unit-specific drawings identify seven units in the revised development now under consideration. The application was validated on 23 October 2026 and remains under consultation.
The proposed uses place different demands on internal building layouts and external servicing. Distribution space needs vehicle manoeuvring and loading arrangements, while light industrial and general industrial occupiers may require different access, floor configurations, and utility connections. The submitted layout includes service yards, parking, landscaping, amenity space, and infrastructure, with vehicular access from Simonsway. How those components are coordinated will influence the buildable area of each plot and the treatment of the development’s edges alongside existing employment uses and the local road network.
The site’s location near Manchester Airport brings additional issues beyond conventional commercial development. Airport safeguarding can affect the assessment of building heights, lighting, construction cranes, and other aspects of a project, while traffic movements and access must be considered alongside surrounding roads. Manchester City Council cited the airport’s operational integrity or safety when refusing the earlier scheme. The current application is therefore being evaluated against a previous decision that identified both the protected landscape boundary and operational constraints as areas of concern.
Technical material lodged with the application addresses transport, ecology, drainage, ground levels, earthworks, heritage, lighting, and aviation considerations. The documents support scrutiny of how the revised buildings, yards, and access might function on the smaller site. Drainage and site levels are especially important to coordinating demolition, the new building footprints, and service access. Airport safeguarding assessments are another part of the planning case, given the development’s proximity to flight operations. The council will assess the submitted evidence and any consultation responses before determining whether consent should be granted.
Turley is advising Aviva on planning, heritage, communications, and economic matters. Hale Architecture is involved in design, with BEA Landscape, Ridge, and Christopher Smith Associates also named among the project advisers. Their work supports the technical submission and preparation of the planning scheme. Construction procurement and mobilisation will follow separate developer decisions after the planning process. The team will need to coordinate the demolition site, building footprints, access, and specialist reports if the proposal progresses towards delivery.
Manchester City Council validated application PLA-2026-002082 on 23 October. The published consultation deadline is 16 November 2026, with a target determination date of 22 January 2027. These dates govern the planning process, while the sequence of work on site remains dependent on the outcome. If consent is granted, the developer would need to progress detailed design, conditions, procurement, demolition, and construction logistics before the proposed units could be delivered. No construction contractor or confirmed start date has been identified in the application material reviewed for this story.
A revised boundary and the inclusion of the former Vodafone building now define the potential construction site at Atlas Business Park. The proposal seeks to provide roughly 400,000 sq ft of industrial accommodation through seven units, supported by access from Simonsway and associated service infrastructure. Council consultation continues to 16 November, after which the application will move towards determination. Its next established milestone is a planning decision on the revised seven-unit layout; demolition and construction will depend on that decision and any conditions attached to consent.
