Back in March 2020, literally a few weeks before we all went into lockdown, we ran a piece entitled…
Everything We Know About Manchester’s Zoo So Far…
As usual, the enigmatic Daisy Miles did some uncovering of just what exactly was going on with the proposed 100-acre site – brainchild of former zookeeper and zoologist Johnpaul Houston.
The Manchester Zoo website (at the time and now) explains how they’ll bring “the wildlife of the world to Manchester… creating an immersive experience and pairing incredible animal habitats with exciting new technology.”
Sounds brilliant.
Initially plans were afoot for the zoo to be in Trafford, however talks quickly moved over to Rochdale Council with the proposed site near Hopwood Hall.
With the advent of COVID and lockdown, Daisy’s article is the last we heard of the project, and it seems like it may be the last anyone has heard about the whole thing. As Place North West has reported, since then plans and applications have not been forthcoming from anyone associated with the project.
Planning consultancy Barton Willmore explain how they’ve seemingly lost track of Johnpaul Houston, and a planning application was expected before the end of 2020 but nothing appeared.
A quick look at their social media channels, the Zoo hadn’t posted anything on their Facebook page for a full year until yesterday (10th May) when they’d been contacted by Place North West for an update on the mystery. Here’s the post…
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our supporters, both in and outside of the industry, for the kind…
Posted by Manchester Zoo on Monday, 10 May 2021
So that’s not the most informative bit of information – so it’s all still a bit of a mystery. Are we going to get a new zoo in Manchester? By the looks of this – probably not, no – which is a shame.
