The council has a vision is to create a 'fairer, greener, healthier and more inclusive city for all'.
To help us achieve this vision we have identified some key priorities to tackle the problems people in Salford are currently facing in our corporate plan, This is Our Salford.
View our corporate plan, This is our Salford
I had the honour of joining the official launch of Eden in Salford’s New Bailey area.
At the recent elections, I ran on a platform of delivering a greener, healthier, more prosperous Salford. And I’m delighted that Eden as a development fits into and contributes to this vision for our city.
With the Europe’s largest living wall, Eden is a strikingly distinctive addition to Salford’s skyline, and its green credentials and holistic approach to sustainability put in firmly in the tradition of Salford leading the way on innovative thinking.
Eden is the UK’s best certified building in the country for energy performance, and an inclusive, whole life approach to sustainability has been implemented to make the building as resource efficient as possible, with enhanced ventilation, low carbon heating and cooling and highly energy efficient hot water.
Importantly, Eden will help attract new, green-focussed business to what is already a thriving area around New Bailey, helping create a modern industrial base to rival that in Salford during the heyday of industrialisation, and creating a number of new jobs and opportunities for people across our city.
Along with Council colleagues, I also recently attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Salford Youth Zone in Pendleton.
The new youth zone will collaborate and support the ongoing work of partners and Salford’s commitment to ensure young people in the city thrive, providing children and young people with access to trained dedicated youth workers and state of art facilities.
This will amazing resource for Salford’s youth and supports our mission of turning Salford into a Child Friendly City.
It was a privilege to be an the opening for Every Line is Me, a new exhibition at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery celebrating the work and life of Harold Riley, one of Salford’s most beloved and well-known artists.
Harold’s love of his home city, its heritage and people inspired him to document a unique insight and perspective on Salford’s rich social history and the remarkable changes that have happened in the city over 70 years. His legacy and love for Salford will live on through his formidable collections and his prolific charitable work.
Harold will always be forever in our thoughts and I was delighted to be a part of this special evening with his beloved Ashraf and family.
It was wonderful to spend last Sunday enjoying We Invented the Weekend down at the Quays. Only Salford could pull off such a dynamic, eclectic festival, one that remains free to keep culture fun and accessible for all.
Introducing the legendary Peggy Seeger was a particular highlight for me, but there was a range of activities from music to sports to workshops which made the event so amazing.
Our city is lucky to have some special people and partners, and I'm grateful to the whole WITW team, the BBC, MediaCity, Salford Culture and Place Partnership, Wayne Hemingway, the sponsors and the wonderful people of Salford for creating this incredible festival.
It was a pleasure to help open this year's Chinese Dragonboat Racing Festival at Salford Quays earlier this month.
I believe this is the largest Dragonboat Race in Europe I’m very proud that this exhilarating, culturally significant event continues to be held here at the Quays in the great City of Salford. It's an honour that Salford gets to host this exciting event, which celebrates an ancient tradition whist showcasing our wonderful city to the world.
The sharing of this tradition, along with the wider festival, is a wonderful celebration of Salford and Greater Manchester’s long-standing Chinese diaspora’s heritage, culture, sport and cuisine.
Importantly, this festival demonstrates our cities non-negotiable commitment to diversity, to equality and to inclusion.
Along with a delegation from the Council, I represented Salford at the UKREiiF - The UK's Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum which took place in Leeds last month.
I spoke at two events, both of which I used to emphasise the importance of the work that Salford is doing through Dérive, where we a leading the way nationally through the delivery of hundreds of high quality, sustainable and affordable council homes.
I also spoke on a panel about renewal and regeneration, where I made the case that social housing must be at the heart of any regeneration for it to be successful.