Manchester City Council's planning committee has refused a plan for a 17-storey tower with 153 flats next to the Grade II-listed Marble Arch pub on Rochdale Road. Councillors voted on the proposal by the McGoff Group on Thursday 22 October.

The BBC and the Manchester Evening News, citing the Local Democracy Reporting Service, reported that councillors raised concerns about the effect of the tower on the pub, which has been serving customers since 1888, and about the lack of any affordable housing on site. Councillor Jon-Connor Lyons, speaking as a ward councillor, said he was “deeply concerned” about the impact on the Marble Arch. A council official said an independent viability assessment had found the scheme could not support on-site affordable housing.

Before the meeting, council officers had recommended approval. The council's planning summary accepted that “some visual harm” would be caused but said it would be outweighed by the public and regeneration benefits, the BBC reported. The McGoff Group said the scheme would deliver much-needed city centre housing and help regenerate the area.

The pub objected to the plans, as did the Victorian Society and the Campaign for Real Ale. The pub's objection called the building “overbearing and oppressive” and raised fears of damage from construction work next door. A representative of the pub told the committee that conditions during construction were likely to be “intolerable for customers” and that the business feared it would not survive the building programme.

The BBC said before the meeting that it had approached the McGoff Group for comment. We have not seen a statement from the company on whether it will appeal or resubmit.

Sources: BBC News, 23 October 2026; BBC News, 17 October 2026; Manchester Evening News, 23 October 2026 (both reports by the Local Democracy Reporting Service). This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.