Mayoral clout to unlock glut of GM mega-projects moves closer
Next week, Salford City Council’s cabinet is expected to approve the creation of a Mayoral Development Zone for the Western Gateway growth location, which encompasses several large regeneration projects in the city and neighbouring Trafford.
The Western Gateway has been identified as having “significant potential” for a “transformative programme of employment space, housing, and culturally led regeneration”, according to a Salford City Council cabinet report.
The MDZ would bring Salford City Council, Trafford Council, and the GMCA together round the table with external partners such as Homes England, National Highways, Network Rail, and the Department for Transport, to explore routes to unlock the various project that fall within the scope of the proposed zone.
These include:
- Port Salford – A tri-modal freight transport hub and close to 5m sq ft of employment space.
- Eccles town centre – the regeneration of the town centre is a priority for Salford City Council, which acquired the shopping centre in 2022.
- City of Salford Community Stadium – Salford City Council controls the stadium itself and the 27 acres around it, which is earmarked for employment space.
- New Carrington – The regeneration of the former Shell Petrochemicals site earmarked for 5,000 homes and 3.7m sq ft of employment space by 2040.
- Trafford Waters and TraffordCity – Controlled by Peel, the sites have the potential for thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of sq ft of employment and leisure uses.
- Trafford Civic Quarter – Includes major projects such as Lumina Village and the redevelopment of the former GMP headquarters.
- Old Trafford Regeneration – A new stadium for Manchester United that could cost around £2bn plus the regeneration of the surrounding 300 acres into roughly 17,000 homes.
One of the major barriers to the delivery of these schemes is infrastructure. Whether road or rail, each of the above projects requires significant funding.
For example, Bids for cash to pay for significant highway and rail infrastructure needed to unlock the delivery of 5.5m sq ft of industrial space in the Salford section of the growth zone – specifically at Port Salford and around Salford Community Stadium – have been rejected on seven separate occasions, according to an earlier report to Salford City Council’s cabinet.
Funding will also be required to relocate rail freight from the interchange close to Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium to pave the way for the construction of a new ground. Meanwhile there is also a funding requirement for a link road to unlock land at New Carrington.
Salford City Council will be the first to sign off on the creation of the MDZ, with Trafford Council and the GMCA following later this month.
I get the benefit of focusing through a delivery vehicle, but where does the cash come from for all these development zones and their staffing costs and where will the public money come from to subsidise these long list of schemes?
By Anonymous
The key to the success of these projects is better public transport. The capacity of the metrolink needs increasing, the existing rail links need to be made available for passengers not just freight and the use of the canal network for water buses should be seriously considered.
By Anonymous
Really an underground system is needed in Manchester. With that the city can grow exponentially.
By Anonymous
They should force Williams car dealership off that land by the Trafford Centre and turn it over for housing while they’re at it.
By Anthony
Why should essentially public money be used to move rail infrastructure to help a PLC move into a new stadium? Surely that is a cost for United?
By Gareth Lyons