Manchester fought off stiff competition from Blackpool and the Millennium Dome in Greenwich when it won the right to host the UK's first super-casino in January last year.

But the scheme was put on ice months later when peers rejected it by just three votes.

Whitehall insiders then deemed it “dead in the water” after Prime Minister Gordon Brown said regeneration might be a better way forward than building a super-casino.

The government has unveiled a compensation package for east Manchester, site of the planned super-casino.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced that English Partnerships have earmarked around £10m to develop Sportcity, the largest concentration of sporting venues in Europe. 

Proposals for the site include a new BMX centre, and extreme sports centre including a snowboarders half-pipe, scuba pool, abseiling and climbing walls as well as a sky diving simulator and white-water rafting course.

It has been claimed that this will create 1,600 new jobs.

The Government is also working with councils in Greater Manchester on plans for a Multi-Area Agreement to be signed this summer to boost jobs, transport, investment and housing.

The ministerial group will be chaired by Blears, and will bring representatives from Manchester City Council together with ministers from the Department of Health, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

It will support Manchester city leaders as they progress longer-term projects, including:

* An application for the Transport Innovation Fund, to increase capacity of public transport, and reduce congestion in the city
* A new Transport Hub to provide increased rail links across the North West, subject to a Network Rail study
* Refurbishment of the former Sharp building to house computer gaming company Redvision, and a hub for new games and media businesses
* Three new skills academies: on skills, facilities management and digital media.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:
"This £10m boost for Sportcity will unlock huge sporting potential in East Manchester and attract visitors from across the UK, and beyond. It's another piece of the jigsaw in Manchester's regeneration success story, and can help to create new jobs.

"The new ministerial group will also ensure that success continues well into the future by giving the Government's support to city leaders as they drive forward new jobs, more skills and better transport for our communities."

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