Cranes pierce the sky at the end of Nicola Woods' street on the outskirts of Manchester city centre.
When it comes to the city's rapidly expanding skyline, she and her neighbours have a front row seat. They have watched on from their council estate as skyscraper after skyscraper has shot up in recent years - each one higher than the last.
In Collyhurst - an inner city area once named among the most deprived in England - the extraordinary growth of Manchester city centre has all felt rather distant. Home to a proud, tight-knit community, this corner of north Manchester feels a world away from the opulence of Deansgate Square or Spinningfields.
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But as the city centre continues to expand, its perimeter has creeped out in all directions. To the north of the city, the impact has already been felt in Ancoats and parts of Miles Platting.
Now Collyhurst stands on the brink of huge change. A staggering 15,000 new homes are to set to be built in the area over the next 20 years as part of Victoria North, a joint venture between Manchester council and Far East Consortium (FEC).
Several new housing developments have already been finished and locals say they have noticed a change in the area as a result.
Around the corner from Nicola's rented home in Reather Walk is a new-build estate where three-bed properties have been selling for more than £300,000. She claims a 'divide' has already emerged between the new arrivals and those who have lived in the area for years.
"We've never seen so many rich houses," she explained. "They're building them everywhere.
"They stand out like a sore thumb. The people who live in them have obviously got money.
"They've wrecked the community by pulling houses down. Everyone used to know everybody but now you don't even know who your neighbour is.
"They [the council] don't do anything for us, we're left on our own. We pay our council tax but they don't cut the grass or sweep the roads.
"There's nowhere for our kids to play. There's a park but it's been taken over by the rich."
Nicola is not alone in having noticed the influx of wealthier people - a change that is reflected by figures that claim Collyhurst falls under one of the richest areas in Manchester.
Households in the City Centre North & Collyhurst MSOA (Middle Layer Super Output Area) have an average net annual income of £37,700, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
An interactive map released by the ONS last year also showed that the same area was among the least deprived in the city. Just 29pc of people living in City Centre North & Collyhurst were found to be suffering from at least one area of deprivation in either their housing, health, employment or education - compared to 36.3pc in nearby Harpurhey South and Monsall.
Yet it's a picture that many locals believe is inaccurate. Veronika Latif moved into her two-up-two-down in Keele Walk in 2015 and scoffed at the notion of Collyhurst being one of Manchester's wealthiest areas.
"This is not a rich neighbourhood," she said. "I think it will be eventually.
"That seems to be the plan but it's mostly council houses at the moment. If you want rich people, go to Didsbury."
The £4bn plans for the 'new north Manchester' are set to completely transform the face of Collyhurst forever, and are expected to add 35,000 people to the city in all. Along with the homes, developers hope to build a new primary school, tram stop, parkland, GP surgeries, and walking routes.
In essence, Victoria North will see the construction of an entirely new town within walking distance of the city centre. Huge swathes of land around Collyhurst have already been cleared as part of previous schemes that failed to materialise.
Plans to transform the area have been in the pipeline since as far back as 2006, when the council first decided to ask the then Labour government for funding for regeneration work. The area was earmarked for a landmark Private Finance Initiative (PFI) - one of the biggest in the country - that would have seen 1,300 new homes built as part of a £250m scheme.
But when the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government took power following the 2010 General Election, that plan was torn up, with austerity policies following the financial crash. Since then, housing in the area has been demolished or upgraded - but current plans go much further.
While many have cautiously welcomed the investment, some who have lived in Collyhurst their whole lives say they fear they are being 'pushed out'.
Anne Worthington moved into her home in Osborne Street in 1971, when her family moved there from Beswick. She was just 17 at the time and fell in love with it - so much so that years later she ended up buying it through the council’s Right to Buy scheme in 1998.
"When we bought it, this was a problem estate," she explained. "We've always been committed to the area though, we know the good and we know the bad.
"There's still deprivation around here. As far as I'm concerned, it's managed decline.
"The amount of rubbish that's allowed to build up, I clean the street myself. If I didn't do that, we'd be living in a s*** tip."
While Anne acknowledges that change is needed in Collyhurst, she worries that her home could be knocked down as part of the regeneration.
"The population is expanding so we've got to build somewhere," she said. "We're open to improvements and welcoming people in.
"People say 'not another new-build' but they are selling, so there is obviously a desire and a need for them. There's a massive plot of land over the road and it would be great if they built on that, but I don't want them to knock my house down while they're doing it.
"We want to stay so hopefully they leave us alone. These are good family homes, it would be a sin to demolish them.
"I fear we're going to be pushed out."
Despite the uncertainty, Anne hopes to live in the property, which she shares with her husband, for the rest of her life and says she is carrying on as normal.
"You have to try and forget it," she said. "Do you let the building around just crumble because it's not worth the upkeep?
"I refuse to live like that. We're carrying on as though we're always going to be here."
For Anne, the loss of many of Collyhurst's pubs has made it harder for long-term locals to socialise with the newer residents.
"The pubs were our social gathering places," she explained. "It was where we got to know new neighbours.
"We don't really get to meet the new people now. That's been the biggest change around here."
Robert Marsden, 79, was born and bred in Collyhurst and says he is hopeful for the future of the area, which he says has been 'forgotten' in recent years.
But like Anne, he fears his home could be demolished as part of the Victoria North plans. He also worries that the proposed new homes will be out of reach for the existing community.
"They have said they might be demolishing these and will give us 100 grand towards a new house," the 79-year-old said. "You can't buy a house for that.
"All these new houses are good for the area but the prices are a bit dear for what they are. It's a lot better than it used to be around here though."
Manchester City Council has previously insisted that Right to Buy owner-occupiers affected by the plans will be given 'full support' to purchase and move into a new property in the area.
Coun Gavin White, the council's executive member for housing and development, said: “It is entirely understandable that there are a range of emotions and opinions relating to the current and future development in Collyhurst.
"It has been a long-standing ambition of the council to regenerate and improve Collyhurst for all the local community, it is an area we are really focused on investing in.
“It is our aim that it becomes a more sustainable neighbourhood, with varied and expanded housing that can cater for all residents. It is also important that other services such as schools, shops, public transport links, parks and community facilities are built up alongside housing to retain a sense of connection and cohesion among residents, new and old alike.
“The first phase of development in Collyhurst is under way with the delivery of a new park, 130 new, low carbon, council homes as well as 144 homes which will be available on the open market. This has come off the back of extensive consultation and engagement with the community, with residents consulted about how they could be affected as well as working with them to ensure they have a say in the future of the development.
“The retention of the existing community is an essential part of this process and as the development continues this will remain at the heart of what the council does.”
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