Former England cricket captain Freddie Flintoff is enjoying his new tenure as co-presenter of BBC's Top Gear TV show. The experience will make a nice contrast with his bruising brush with Manchester City Council's planning committee.

The Flintoff-fronted property vehicle Logick Developments suffered a rebuff late last year when it proposed a 35-storey residential development in the historic Castlefield district at Arundel Street. The plan was rejected by councillors despite advice from planners that the scheme met Manchester City Council's development criteria.

“The erection of a 35-storey tower and 10-storey building would, by virtue of its siting, scale and appearance result in a form of development that would be overly dominant and would harm the form, character and setting of the Castlefield Conservation Area and the setting of the adjacent Grade II*-listed former St George's Church,” the planning committee concluded in October 2018.

Now the application has been revised, as a report to the planning committee describes.

The tower is cut by one-third from 35 storeys to 23 storeys, to minimise the impact on the listed building and the adjacent residential properties. Instead of being glass, it is now to be built of brick like the rest of Castlefield, and the smaller building goes down by one or two storeys. More trees and planters, and “active frontages” are promised.