Chapel Street and Salford Central

Chapel Street

Chapel Street is the old civic centre of Salford and the area enjoys a rich built heritage, with a number of noteworthy listed buildings including the Grade II Cathedral of St. John and Cathedral House and the Grade II former town hall. Exciting plans to revitalise Chapel Street will celebrate this stunning architecture and will bring unused buildings back to life with new and exciting uses.

Occupying a prime location, the Chapel Street corridor links The University of Salford's main campus, through the historic heart of Salford, to the area around Salford Central Station and the riverbank opposite Manchester's successful business district of Spinningfields.

The holistic regeneration of Chapel Street will transform the area for the benefit of existing and potential residents, businesses and visitors. It will be a unique offer at the heart of the Manchester City Region.

A revitalised Chapel Street will link the University of Salford and The Crescent to a new high quality environment for living, working and relaxing, with a vibrant and distinctive collection of shops, cafes and leisure opportunities. Pedestrian friendly streets and public transport improvements will make exploring and travelling to the area easy and enjoyable.

In March 2010 the transformation of Chapel Street received final approval with over £10 million investment secured from the North West Development Agency and European Regional Development Fund to turn Chapel Street into a 'City High Street'.

What's happened so far?

Works commenced on-site in March 2011 and will see traffic calmed, pavements widened, new high quality public realm and a new public space in front of Salford Cathedral. In total, some 14,000 square metres of public spaces will be improved creating the right conditions for further investment by the private sector.

Works have already taken place to revitalise the area's most valuable public spaces:

Bexley Square was the subject of public realm enhancements during 2010 which featured new paving and lighting alongside new street furniture to create a more attractive setting for the listed former town hall.

Salford Cathedral's gardens were also the subject of attention, bringing the previously private area into public use. Improvements included an extensive planting programme and the introduction of a bespoke seating feature, providing an appropriate setting for the city's cathedral.

Bexley Square and Cathedral Gardens are linked by St John's Walk which also benefited from improvement works, which featured a newly paved pathway and planting scheme, enhanced street lighting and cleaning of the sculptural feature in the centre of the walkway. The improvements sought to provide a high-quality pedestrian linkage between the two spaces, enhancing connectivity and promoting the use of the route by residents and visitors.

The redevelopment plans for Chapel Street, which are being led by the city council with developer partner English Cities Fund, were unanimously approved by Salford City Council in January 2010 following more than two years of consultation with the community and stakeholders. When complete, the final scheme will generate some 11,000 jobs, 220,000 square metres of commercial floorspace for office, retail, and leisure development, 849 homes and 390 hotel rooms. The regeneration of Chapel Street is supported by an active community of local residents, businesses and creative industries. The delivery of change in the Salford Central area is guided by a local planning framework consisting of the Salford Central Planning Guidance and Salford Central Development Framework.

Salford Central

Located to the north of Spinningfields, Salford Central train station is set to become an integral part of the area's development. The station itself has already benefited from major investment in new entrances and facilities. Work is progressing with Network Rail and Transport for Greater Manchester to develop future proposals for the station alongside the Northern Hub that would provide greater regional and national connectivity, more trains stopping at the station and improved station facilities. It is likely that delivery of the improvements will be from 2015 onwards.

Who to contact

Name

Central Salford Development team

Address

Digital World Centre
1 Lowry Plaza
Salford Quays
M50 3UB
Map to this location

Telephone

0161 686 7411

Email

karen.hirst@salford.gov.uk

This page was last updated on 29 February 2012