'A deplorable decision...'
As Salford schools begin to close and all but 'essential' Salford Council meetings are cancelled, today's Planning Panel gathering to approve a huge development at Salford Quays is going ahead, despite almost one hundred objections to the scheme and many people wanting to go and voice their feelings.
The proposed development at Pier 7, or Waterfront Quay (to be re-named 'Cotton Quay') is for up to 1,495 homes, including towers ranging from 25 storeys to 48 storeys, plus 3,218 square metres of commercial, retail and leisure spaces, two hotels, outdoor swimming or 'harbour lido baths', a new access road, parking spaces including a multi-storey and two new bridges...all within a Flood Zone 2, which carries a 'medium risk' of flooding (for full details see previous Salford Star article – click here).
There have been 43 objection letters to the plans, plus a letter from Sovereign Point Residents' Association signed by 54 residents. Many were hoping to attend the Council meeting before the current coronavirus epidemic to voice their objections but now that has been put in jeopardy...
"We are utterly horrified by this decision which flies in the face of the direction of travel by the government and potentially puts our members (many of whom are elderly) at risk of illness (or worse)" states the Salford Quays Community Forum, adding that it is "A deplorable decision".
Objections by residents range from over-development, to light issues, loss of privacy, traffic issues, loss of existing green-space and open land, anti-social behaviour, and a lack of family and affordable housing.
The developer should be making financial contributions, via Section 106, for things like open space and public realm but the Council states that, because of the leisure facilities and provisions within the application, "there is no requirement for the development to provide a financial contribution towards off-site open space and public realm improvements".
The scheme should also be providing affordable housing as it is in a high value area (around 300 properties at 20%) – but again no figure has been mentioned only a possible 'clawback agreement', due to a viability assessment...
"A further update on this matter will be provided as part of the Late Information Report" states the Council report. As of this morning, no further details have been provided – and neither has the 'viability report' been published publicly, despite the Council promising that this would happen.
Instead, the reported £360million scheme will be paying just £1,229,500 to upgrade a Metrolink stop and a junction, plus various parking and traffic schemes.
"This looks like a council determined to rubber stamp this through with little interest in what residents are saying" tweeted LibDem prospective Quays candidate John-Paul Atley "None of the councillors live on the Quays, so their decisions don't affect their lives...Enough is enough."
Update: 12:45pm
The planning application was passed this morning with a figure of £850,000 for off site affordable housing - given that there should have been around 300 affordable houses, this works out as £2,833 per house! There is also a clawback mechanism in place for the rest of the money should profits be huge.
Update: 1:15pm
Sovereign Point Residents Association have issued the following press statement following this morning's meeting, attended by just five councillors...
Sovereign Point Residents Association (SPRA) accepts the need to redevelop the Pier 7 site, but have serious reservations about key elements of the Cotton Quay scheme.
We object to the 'twin towers' planned for the end of the Pier. They will totally overshadow our block. They will dominate the skyline and more iconic, better designed buildings such as the IWMN and Lowry Theatre. They will set a precedent for similar towers on the waterfront. They resemble storage stacking crates and lack any design quality. And they conflict with Salford's own policies on the appropriate height and location for tall buildings on The Quays.
We are also concerned about the scale of development and the impact that 1,500 extra dwellings will have. Trams are already overloaded at peak times. The local bus services are poor. Parts of The Quays highway are in a bad state of repair without any further traffic. There are no doctors, dentists or chemists on The Quays. Weekly convenience shopping is very basic. And it is accepted by the council that the scheme will provide only "limited, modest retail and community uses to serve local needs."
The type of housing will do nothing to address directly the city's 6,500 waiting list and growing homelessness problem. There is no social or affordable housing on the scheme, and no homes with gardens for families. Salford's planning policies seek to deliver a "diverse mix of accommodation of different types and tenures," in "lifetime neighbourhoods", and state that "at least 20% of new dwellings on every major residential development in Salford should be in the form of affordable housing", but Cotton Quay achieves none of this.
And the transient nature of the population the scheme caters for, coupled with the extra restaurants, bars and leisure facilities, will only add to the problems of crime and antisocial behaviour that The Quays has suffered in the last few years.
The developers of the scheme should be asked to go away and start again.
Colin Wood
(Secretary, SPRA)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
