Peel to ink Port Salford land deal 

The developer is to hand over 16-acres of Green Belt to the council in exchange for nine-acres needed to progress plans for a rail link designed to unlock land for the 3.4m sq ft logistics scheme.

The proposed rail spur would connect the Manchester to Liverpool train line in the south-west of the borough to the £56m freight rail terminal at the £60m Port Salford, Peel L&P’s multi-modal logistics scheme on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal.

James Whittaker, Peel L&P’s executive director of development, said: “We’re pleased to be working in partnership with the council to bring the rail terminal forward, which will create at least 2,500 jobs and secure a reduction in CO2 emissions of 14,900 tonnes a year by taking freight movements off the road.”

So far, around 300,000 sq ft of industrial accommodation, occupied by logistics companies Great Bear and Rhenus, has been developed.

However, the next phase of warehouses, totalling 1.3m sq ft, cannot be built until the rail link is in place. 

Under the terms of the land deal, to be approved by Salford City Council next Monday, Peel Investments would swap a swathe of agricultural land bordering Salford City Academy for a smaller plot between City Airport and Peel Green Cemetery. 

Peel will swap the area in blue for the area in red

The proposed rail spur would cut through the site before crossing Liverpool Road and connecting to the rail terminal west of the AJ Bell Stadium. 

Port Salford could lever £140m of private sector investment and create at least 2,500 jobs, according to a report to Salfor City Council’s property and regeneration committee. 

The project forms part of the wider Ocean Gateway growth plan for the North West to revitalise the Manchester Ship Canal Corridor, and is included within the Liverpool City Region freeport bid to the Government.

The land that Salford City Council is to acquire from Peel Investments under the terms of the land swap could be used for tree planting, according to the report.