LOCAL elections in Salford will not take place until 2026. But the political jostling is being stepped up already in one corner of the city.
In Ordsall there is an issue which towers above everything else. The forest of new apartment blocks now spreading across the River Irwell from Manchester city centre to Salford is creating tension and despair.
The forest is about to get denser.
Developers are proposing a £1bn scheme to build 3,300 'high quality' homes in ten 'unique' buildings on the site of the current Regent Retail Park, off the forever vehicle-rammed Regent Road.
It would mean the demolition of the existing 'outdated' cheap shops which include TK Max; Poundland, Home Bargains, Boots, JD Sports, a gym, and several charity shops, which serve the local community.
But the company behind it, Henley Investments, who purchased it in October 2020, claim to have a "strong track record of significant residential and commercial projects that positively contribute to the local area and their communities." They say that units for 15 to 20 new stores would be provided including, potentially, 'clothing, lifestyle and leisure stores, restaurants, cafes and bars, a fitness offer and healthcare services. There would also be a new urban park and an opportunity for all existing tenants of the retail park to come back.
Crucially, Henley says it is committed to delivering a material number of affordable homes' and is 'actively working with the local authority to finding a solution that sits externally to planning obligations and viability assessments! The grassroots reaction to this Utopian vision of a 'vibrant new neighbourhood' has been cynical.
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