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Revised Draft Local Plan, Chapter 9: Area policies

Creating a fairer Salford by:

  • Ensuring that areas of major change develop in a way that mitigates the negative impacts borne by deprived communities, such as poor air quality, and positively enhances the environment.

9.1 Some parts of Salford are likely to see substantial change over the next few decades, and this chapter sets out policies specifically for those areas. Other areas of the city are also important, but the policies in the other chapters of this Local Plan are considered to provide sufficient guidance to manage development within them.

City Centre Salford

9.2 The City Centre lies within both Manchester and Salford, and is already hugely important not just to the Greater Manchester economy but to the North of England more generally. It provides around 10% of all jobs in Greater Manchester, and the scale of opportunity within the City Centre means that this figure will increase significantly over the next few decades. Continued investment in the very good public transport accessibility of the City Centre will be needed so as to ensure that these employment opportunities are accessible to residents across Greater Manchester and beyond, providing an enormous labour market that will help to attract businesses to the area.

9.3 The City Centre is mainly contained within the inner relief road, but importantly now extends beyond to surrounding areas such as Middlewood, Chapel Street and the Crescent in Salford, and NOMA, Ancoats, New Islington and Oxford Road in Manchester. Over recent years, there has been significant developer interest in areas within City Centre Salford with major office and apartment developments under construction and with planning consent.

9.4 The continued growth of the City Centre will require a careful balancing of its various functions. The priority must be to protect its fundamentally important economic role, and so those areas of City Centre Salford that form part of the main central business district should be used predominantly for office, tourism and cultural development. However, there will still be scope for a very large increase in the resident population alongside this, taking advantage of the lifestyle opportunities that a City Centre location can offer, and supporting sustainability objectives by enabling people to live close to where they work and socialise. The majority of new residential development within City Centre Salford will be in the form of apartments, exploiting the area’s locational advantages. Selected opportunities to deliver houses at a high density will add to the mix of accommodation available.

9.5 The scale of development and densities envisaged make the provision of green infrastructure within the City Centre particularly important, contributing to a high quality urban environment and helping to address issues such as the urban heat island, biodiversity and flood risk. The high density urban environment can present particular challenges in this regard and all potential options to ‘green’ developments will need to be explored.

9.6 It will be important for each part of City Centre Salford to have its own easily recognisable identity, providing a series of neighbourhoods that have a distinctive character but also contribute to a coherent and integrated City Centre. This neighbourhood character will be based not only on the uses within them, but also their heritage assets, green infrastructure, public realm, design, and local facilities. Irwell River Park will have a vital role in connecting the neighbourhoods and the spaces within them, providing cycling and walking links through the City Centre to Ordsall Waterfront and Salford Quays. New connections across the river will promote movement between different parts of the City Centre and to key assets such as The Meadow.

Policy AP1 - City Centre Salford

The City Centre, which is located in both Manchester and Salford, will see a further strengthening of its position as the most significant economic location in the country outside London. It will continue to provide the primary focus for business, retail, leisure, culture and tourism activity in Greater Manchester, and will be a priority for investment in development and infrastructure improvements.

City Centre Salford, which describes those parts of the City Centre within Salford, will continue to undergo considerable transformation, developing as a series of distinct but interdependent neighbourhoods, each with its own strong sense of place, making a major contribution to the city’s success:

  1. Greengate – The medieval heart of Salford, the area is now emerging as a new mixed-use neighbourhood distinguished by its cultural vitality and high quality public realm stretching through it and connecting across the river to Manchester. Key elements of Greengate’s future development will include a new park (allocated in Policy AP2), a new Greengate Boulevard fronted by active ground floor uses and providing a direct physical connection between the historic Market Cross and the grade II* listed Collier Street Baths, further high-density housing, and re-invigorated heritage assets.
  2. Chapel Wharf – The area will maintain its diverse mix of uses and range of heritage assets, providing an important link between Greengate and New Bailey, and a key connection between the Salford and Manchester parts of the City Centre.
  3. New Bailey – The area will continue to be primarily characterised by office, leisure and tourism uses, forming part of the commercial core of the City Centre, with excellent connections across the river to Spinningfields in Manchester. Significant improvements to Salford Central rail station will further enhance the attractiveness of the area.
  4. Middlewood, New Bailey West and Wilburn Basin – These areas will provide residential-led mixed-use neighbourhoods that make the most of the waterfront settings (the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal, the River Irwell and Wilburn Basin, respectively).
  5. Chapel Street and Islington – Chapel Street itself will be further enhanced as a key corridor into the core of the City Centre, with high quality public realm and flanked by historically important buildings. This will provide a strong focus for further mixed-use development across the area, which will be carefully designed to respect the numerous heritage assets.
  6. Adelphi – This residential-led mixed-use area will take maximum advantage of the attractive riverside location overlooking The Meadow, providing a high quality setting for the area’s open spaces and riverside walkway.
  7. Crescent, University of Salford and Innovation Park – The area will provide a distinctive western entrance to the City Centre. Its historic buildings, coupled with enhanced views and connections to surrounding open spaces, will offer an attractive context for further development. The green character of Peel Park will be extended across the A6 around Fire Station Square, and high quality public realm will unify the important cluster of heritage, cultural and university assets, providing a strong, active focus for the area. The university campus will continue to be improved (see Policy ED4), and the adjacent Innovation Park enhanced for knowledge-based uses (see Policy EC5/2). Primarily residential uses will be focused in the south-east of the area. The line of the former Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal provides an opportunity to open up new green infrastructure through the south of the area.
  8. The Meadow and Peel Park – The Meadow and Peel Park will provide the largest integrated area of greenspace in the City Centre, with improved connections to surrounding areas.

Individual developments shall be fully integrated into, and contribute to the success of, both the neighbourhood within which they are located and the City Centre as a whole.

Uses and scale of development

City Centre Salford will have a wide range of uses reflecting its importance within the wider City Centre, with a significant level of development and expansion of its roles as a key business location, tourism, cultural and leisure destination, and home to a series of residential neighbourhoods:

  1. Business, tourism, cultural and leisure development will be appropriate across the area with around 150,000m2 of new office development being provided, although higher levels would be supported including through the potential expansion of Salford Innovation Park. Development in New Bailey, and between New Bailey Street and Dearmans Place, shall be predominantly for offices, tourism, cultural and leisure uses, reflecting its role as part of the central business district.
  2. The continued enhancement of the facilities at the University of Salford campus will be supported, with student housing focused within and immediately around the campus. The western end of the University of Salford area will remain predominantly in use for university-related activities and other knowledge-based uses.
  3. Residential-led mixed-use development will be appropriate across the rest of City Centre Salford. Around 10,460 dwellings will be delivered within City Centre Salford, primarily in the form of apartments but they may also include houses built at high densities.
  4. There will be a considerable increase in retail floorspace, leisure uses, community and social facilities (including health and education facilities) and other amenities to support the growing residential, business and visitor populations, and contribute to the vitality of City Centre Salford. These facilities shall be focused on prominent frontages, busy intersections with high footfall, and where they can add vibrancy and best meet the needs of the neighbourhood.

Transport and movement

A key objective will be to successfully improve connections between the various neighbourhoods within the City Centre, including by overcoming the physical barriers presented by the inner relief road, Crescent/Chapel Street, the railway viaducts, and the River Irwell. Examples of such enhancements will include a new footbridge from the Crescent across the River Irwell, enabling The Meadow and Peel Park to act as a key green space in the City Centre and forming part of the wider Irwell River Park, and a new pedestrian bridge between New Bailey West and the St John’s quarter in Manchester, connecting areas of substantial growth.

Further major improvements to the rail stations in the area will be sought. The continued improvement of Salford Central Station, including works which would allow more services to stop at the station, will enable it to function more effectively as the main western rail gateway to the central business district of the City Centre.

The expansion of the Metrolink network through the area will be sought, including a new Metrolink line from Victoria in Manchester to Salford Crescent Station, a new Metrolink line connecting Salford Quays and Salford Crescent Station, and the conversion of the rail line between Salford Crescent Station and Wigan to tram-train use. When combined with other station improvements, including better integration between different forms of public transport, this will help to strengthen the role of Salford Crescent Station as a key local and regional transport interchange.

Environmental quality

Each neighbourhood will develop its own distinctive character within the wider City Centre, delivering a high density of development in a quality public realm setting that promotes walking and cycling, provides green infrastructure, incorporates a variety of functions, and is fronted by activity. This will be done in a way that protects and enhances City Centre Salford’s important heritage assets and their setting, including its conservation areas and key landmarks such as Salford Cathedral, St. Philip’s Church, Sacred Trinity Church and Collier Street Baths. All development will be expected to contribute to the provision of high quality public realm across City Centre Salford.

Measures will be taken to ensure that the railway infrastructure, particularly the prominent viaducts, becomes a much more positive feature within City Centre Salford. This will include seeking opportunities to deliver additional and improved pedestrian routes through the viaducts, securing active uses in the railway arches that add to the vibrancy of the area, greening the infrastructure, and enabling appreciation of the heritage interest. Development shall respond positively to the viaducts and support these opportunities.

Delivering a significant increase in the quantity and quality of City Centre Salford’s green infrastructure will be a high priority, including through:

  1. Ensuring that new development takes an innovative approach to the incorporation of green infrastructure within a high-density context
  2. Providing a riverside walkway and connected open spaces, including a new Greengate Park (see policy AP2), that are integrated into the wider Irwell River Park and designed to enhance the ecological role of the river
  3. Providing open space incorporating walking and cycling routes, public realm improvements and heritage interpretation features along the line of the former Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal, and securing its restoration wherever practicable

Expansion of City Centre Salford

Further expansion of City Centre Salford may be appropriate, provided that this does not adversely impact on the successful development and functioning of the existing neighbourhoods within it, as identified in points A to H above. Any such expansion will be carefully managed to ensure that it does not compromise the availability of a wide selection of employment sites and premises across the city (see policies AP5 (Employment areas close to the City Centre and Salford Quays) and EC6 (Existing employment areas)), and must be guided by a masterplan which is produced in accordance with the requirements of policy EF2 and endorsed by the city council.

Figure 2 city centre Salford

Greengate Park

9.7 Greengate is bounded by the River Irwell, Victoria Bridge Street, Chapel Street, Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way, as shown on the diagram in Policy AP1. The area is the oldest part of Salford, and benefits from an exceptional location within the City Centre, next to Manchester Victoria rail station and the Medieval Quarter in Manchester. This central location makes the area suitable for high density development, but it is essential that this scale of growth is matched by the size and quality of the area’s green spaces and public realm.

9.8 City parks are a vital element of growth, providing greenery, structure, beauty and breathing room to high density neighbourhoods, enabling people to connect with nature, and making a major contribution to quality of life. A new park within Greengate is therefore fundamental to the area’s ongoing redevelopment and future success, particularly given the overall scale of development that the area will accommodate. The size of the proposed Greengate Park reflects the level of use that is expected given the huge growth in the resident, business and visitor populations of the area. It will be important that the design of the park and surrounding developments fulfils the potential offered by this size and location.

Policy AP2 - Greengate Park

A new high quality green space will be provided at the heart of the Greengate area. This park will be of sufficient scale to fulfil a wide variety of functions, meeting the needs of those living and working in the area, and drawing in visitors to support local businesses and cultural activity.

The park will be designed to:

  1. Respond to the rich heritage of the area, including the historic routes of Greengate and Gravel Lane;
  2. Complement and be fully integrated with the other public spaces and streets in the area, including Greengate Square, Greengate Boulevard and Market Cross;
  3. Function as a cohesive whole, ensuring that Gravel Lane does not act as a barrier to movement or activity within the park;
  4. Fulfil a range of functions, including bringing nature into the City Centre, incorporating trees and biodiverse planting areas, and being capable of holding events; and
  5. Accommodate a shared space alongside the railway arches that will enable activities to spill out into the park and allow for essential servicing requirements.

Development immediately surrounding Greengate Park shall be designed to maximise access to, and promote the use of, the park. This shall include the incorporation of active frontages at ground floor level in all buildings and railway arches surrounding the park, to generate activity and interest.

Salford Quays

9.9 Since the 1980s, Salford Quays has gradually been transformed from derelict docklands into a vibrant mixed-use area with well-established tourism, employment, retail, leisure and residential functions, taking advantage of the high quality environment and waterside setting. Although the area has seen very significant levels of investment in recent years, there is still enormous development potential. Balancing these various important functions will be a key challenge for the area’s continued success.

9.10 The development of MediaCityUK over the last decade has helped to establish a major cluster of digital and media uses at Salford Quays, with potential for considerable further expansion. The area also has a wider business function and is one of the primary office locations within Greater Manchester. It will be appropriate to deliver a large supply of new employment floorspace to support these important roles and the economic growth of Greater Manchester.

9.11 Salford Quays is one of the main tourism destinations in the sub-region, and there is potential both to expand this role and to improve integration with surrounding tourism locations such as the City Centre, Old Trafford and the Trafford Centre in order to increase the attractiveness of Greater Manchester as a visitor destination. It is also a residential neighbourhood in its own right, characterised by high density homes, with a very large number of additional dwellings anticipated. The environmental quality of Salford Quays is a major contributor to its identity and success, and further enhancements will be sought.

9.12 It will be essential that public transport improvements match the scale of activity within the area, helping to reduce private car use. Double trams are being provided on the Salford Quays line, which will increase capacity, and it will be important to maximise connections to the new Trafford Park Metrolink line to the south, which will provide further options. A much wider range of bus routes will also be needed, but the most effective way of enhancing public transport accessibility more widely is likely to be by securing high capacity rapid transit to rail stations in the City Centre, including Salford Crescent and Manchester Piccadilly. Although the emphasis must be on improving the use of more sustainable modes of transport, significant investment in highway improvements will also be required. This is likely to include junction improvements along Trafford Road, but the potential for new road, cycling and pedestrian bridges across the Manchester Ship Canal will also be investigated.

Policy AP3 - Salford Quays

Salford Quays will continue to grow as one of the most important economic locations in the country, making a major contribution to prosperity across Salford and Greater Manchester. It will see high levels of development up to 2037 and beyond, and will be increasingly recognised internationally as an excellent place to work, live and visit. The area is designated as a main town centre as shown in Annex B.

Uses and scale of development

Salford Quays will continue to be characterised by a wide mix of uses. Its business, housing, tourism/leisure, food and drink, and cultural roles will all be significantly expanded in a mutually supportive way, reinforcing the area’s interest, vibrancy and identity.

  1. Around 250,000m2 of new, high-quality business floorspace will be provided, supporting a highly diverse economic area as well as the continued expansion of the internationally important cluster of digital and media industries. Even higher levels of employment development will be acceptable, given the area’s strategic economic importance, provided the necessary supporting infrastructure is delivered. Business floorspace will be primarily located on and around Pier 9 and Anchorage Quay, with a smaller but still significant cluster around Exchange Quay.
  2. The tourism role of Salford Quays will be enhanced with the potential for additional nationally significant visitor attractions complementing the area’s existing offer. The development of additional hotels and visitor facilities will be encouraged.
  3. Around 6,750 new dwellings will be delivered, primarily in the form of apartments but may also include houses built at high densities. Residential development will complement rather than be at the expense of the important business and tourism functions of Salford Quays.
  4. A significant increase in retail floorspace, leisure uses and community facilities will be provided within the primary shopping area (and, if necessary, its expansion) shown in Annex B, meeting the needs of the major increase in the number of people working, visiting and living in Salford Quays. The expansion of retailing will be managed to ensure that it does not have a significant adverse impact on the vitality and viability of other designated centres.

Transport and movement

New development will be coordinated with the provision of new and improved transport infrastructure and services, with a very strong emphasis on significantly reducing the proportion of trips made by car. Improved bus access from across the city and additional rapid transit connections to the City Centre will be sought, including a new Metrolink line connecting Salford Quays and Salford Crescent Station, helping to ensure that the full potential of Salford Quays and the City Centre can be realised for the benefit of the Greater Manchester economy.

A reduction in traffic levels will be sought within the area bounded by Trafford Road, Broadway and the Manchester Ship Canal, helping to improve the environmental quality of the area. This will include carefully controlling the location of, and access to, parking for cars and buses.

Significant enhancements in walking and cycling routes will be required. This will include the construction of a new footbridge across the Manchester Ship Canal from Clippers Quay, enabling better connections to the new Trafford Park Metrolink line, and with provision for cyclists. Improved routes to the City Centre will also be delivered, including as part of Irwell River Park.

Environmental quality

The high environmental quality is a central part of the success of Salford Quays, and this will continue to be enhanced in order to maintain the area’s long-term competitiveness.

This will include:

  1. Ensuring that new development and infrastructure protects and enhances the distinctive identity of Salford Quays, based around the waterways, tree-lined walkways, high quality architecture and major public spaces;
  2. Providing a variety of public spaces that allow different user experiences and connect into the wider Irwell River Park;
  3. Considerably increasing the level of greenery across the area; and
  4. Balancing the recreational use of the basins alongside their role in supporting wildlife, ensuring the protection of the existing site of biological importance and the successful management of their water quality.

Salford Quays map

Ordsall Waterfront

9.13 Ordsall Waterfront is situated in a strategically important location between two of Greater Manchester’s key economic areas and tourism destinations, the City Centre and Salford Quays. As a result, the corridor has a significant profile, presenting prime redevelopment opportunities, and it has already seen several recent major apartment developments. However, there remain a number of sites that are under used and do not take advantage of the waterfront location, presenting further potential for redevelopment.

9.14 It is essential to the character and long-term success of the area that development takes full advantage of the location, opening up the waterside to public access, improving the quality of the existing waterside walkway, presenting an attractive backdrop that promotes its use, and incorporating green infrastructure wherever possible. A key priority is that new development should interact with public routes and spaces, providing strong frontages, promoting animation and overlooking. Opportunities to improve access across the water, especially to the key transport interchange of Cornbrook Metrolink stop, will be sought.

9.15 New development should also support the functioning of Ordsall Lane as an attractive residential street, complementing the existing housing to the west. One of Salford’s most important and visited buildings, the grade I listed Ordsall Hall, is located on the opposite side of Ordsall Lane, and all development must ensure that its setting is fully respected. All of this will require great care in terms of the scale and design of development, and particularly the location of tall buildings, so as to avoid schemes that create an unattractive public realm along either the waterfront or Ordsall Lane.

Policy AP4 - Ordsall Waterfront

Ordsall Waterfront will continue to be developed as a primarily residential corridor. It will provide a key link between the City Centre and Salford Quays, with high quality development presenting a striking waterside setting and a dynamic urban streetscape along Ordsall Lane.

Uses and scale of development

The area will be predominantly residential in character, delivering around 2,100 new dwellings primarily in the form of apartments.

Small scale active uses at ground floor level, including local needs retail and leisure uses, will be permitted in prominent locations along Ordsall Lane and the waterfront, where they will help to serve the needs of the growing population and generate activity. Additional social infrastructure such as health facilities will be required to support the growing population.

Other uses compatible with the residential environment will be permitted, particularly at the northern and southern ends which are more commercial in character and more accessible by public transport.

Transport and movement

Development alongside the waterway must contribute to the provision of an attractive waterside walkway throughout the area, forming part of the wider Irwell River Park and connecting the City Centre and Salford Quays. The walkway must be of sufficient width to:

  1. Meet the requirements of Policy D9;
  2. Prevent a canyoning effect against the buildings fronting on to it;
  3. Allow pedestrians and cyclists to pass safely; and
  4. Ensure good visibility along the route.

Improvements to cross river/canal connections will be sought, potentially including a new footbridge from the waterside walkway across the River Irwell/Manchester Ship Canal, in order to improve access to the Cornbrook Metrolink stop in Trafford.

Development shall also accommodate existing, and provide new, high quality publicly accessible routes linking Ordsall Lane to the waterside walkway. This will include the provision of new routes:

  1. Along Worrall Street, aligned with the junction with Ordsall Lane and Oldfield Road; and
  2. Aligned with St. Clement’s Drive, leading to the grade II listed St Clement’s Church.

Environmental quality

The density of development shall reflect the opportunities presented by the area’s waterside location and strategic position between the City Centre and Salford Quays. Building heights shall avoid overly dominating dwellings to the west of Ordsall Lane. All development shall protect and enhance the setting and views of the grade I listed Ordsall Hall.

Ordsall Waterfront

Employment areas close to the City Centre and Salford Quays

9.16 There are three important existing employment areas on the edge of the City Centre and Salford Quays, at Eccles New Road, Liverpool Street and Cambridge, providing a range of valuable economic functions. Each of these areas has its own distinctive opportunities and challenges.

  • Eccles New Road lies immediately to the north of Salford Quays and already accommodates uses associated with the important digital and creative cluster there. The Salford Quays Metrolink line runs through the area, and the major health campus of Salford Royal Hospital lies just to the north-west, with Trafford Park to the south.
  • Liverpool Street immediately adjoins the City Centre, with high levels of ongoing development to the east, the University of Salford and the key interchange of Salford Crescent to the north, and the proposed Metrolink route between Salford Quays and Salford Crescent just to the west.
  • Cambridge lies to the north of the City Centre, with the Strangeways employment area adjoining it to the east in Manchester, but the major issue for the area is the need to take a coordinated approach to reducing and managing flood risk.

9.17 The success of the City Centre and Salford Quays is leading to increasing development pressures in these three employment areas, including for uses such as housing that would change their character and role. The central location makes it particularly important that the best possible use is made of these areas.

9.18 Further analysis is required to determine the scale and type of change that may be appropriate in each of these employment areas, having regard to their individual potential and their considerable current contribution to the economic success of the wider area. Where change is suitable, this will need to be carefully managed to ensure that it results in high quality development that delivers successful areas, rather than incremental schemes that compromise the effective functioning of each area or adversely impact on any important uses to be retained. It will also need to be ensured that any redevelopment does not detract, or divert investment away, from the key locations of the City Centre and Salford Quays.

Policy AP5 - Employment areas close to the City Centre and Salford Quays

Masterplans will be produced for the Eccles New Road, Liverpool Street and Cambridge employment areas, and any development within them will be expected to accord with the relevant masterplan in accordance with Policy EF2. Each of these three areas will continue to be protected as an existing employment area, where applicable and in accordance with Policy EC6, unless such masterplans indicate otherwise.

Employment areas close to city centre Salford

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