Scale of Eccles housing ambition revealed as 1,270-home masterplan emerges
A vision aimed at unlocking the town’s potential has been unveiled by Salford City Council and its development partner Muse, alongside fresh images of how Eccles could look in years to come.
Following an initial round of community consultation last year, Muse and Salford City Council have crafted a draft masterplan for the well-connected town, which has long been a regeneration priority for the local authority.
The emerging vision for Eccles’ regeneration features plans for 1,272 homes on the site of the defunct shopping centre, including houses and apartments within blocks rising up to 12 storeys.
A refreshed retail offer will replace the ageing retail complex, which the council acquired for £4.3m in late 2022 and is currently being demolished.
Spaces for cafés, food and drink uses, and health and wellbeing services form part of the vision. The feel of some of Eccles’s key streets and public spaces, including Albert Street, Peel Street, and Vicarage Road will be improved, making it easier for people to navigate the town on foot.
Church Street and St Mary’s Gardens will also be given makeovers that include new lighting, seating and enhanced as greener, more welcoming public spaces, with improved lighting and seating.
The homes planned within the development would be a mix of private sale, private rent, and social and affordable housing.
A mixed-use community hub providing space for events would be provided as part of the scheme.
Last summer, Salford City Council and Muse formed a long-term partnership to transform Eccles and unlock its potential.
The scheme is designed to reinvigorate Eccles town centre. Credit: via Turley
John Searle, deputy chief executive at Salford City Council, said: “Eccles has so much potential that can be unlocked to benefit the town’s residents, visitors and workers, and I am so pleased to see these plans come forward at pace.
“Insights from the initial community conversation late last year have helped the team to craft the developing masterplan, and it is vital that the community continue to be involved in shaping the next phase.
Searle urged residents to get involved in shaping the proposals.
“This is a rare opportunity to come together and help guide the long-term future of the town centre and I encourage all residents, visitors, businesses and stakeholders to get involved and have their say.”
A four-week community conversation has now launched.
You can view the plans online or in person at at Eccles Town Hall on Saturday 14 March, from 10am – 2pm, and Wednesday 18 March, from 3pm – 7pm.
An online webinar will be held on Wednesday 11 March, from 6pm – 7pm. The consultation ends at the end of March.
Alex Vogel, senior development manager at Muse, added: “We want to ensure that Eccles is a place that people genuinely want to spend time in and where local businesses thrive. Muse is proud to be working alongside Salford City Council to help unlock this lasting, positive change.
“While the masterplan is still at an early stage and more detail will come later down the line, it builds on the strong foundations already established through extensive conversations with the local community last year.
“The voices of people who live here, visit here and work here are key, and we want as many people as possible to get involved and tell us what they think as the plans continue to take shape”.
The Eccles project team features Jon Matthews Architects, Planit, Turley Strategic Communications, and Identity Consult.
Bring it on
By Frank
If they get this done Eccles has it all, excellent transport links, Trafford Centre, Monton and Worsley on its door step and 10 minutes into the centre of Manchester. Great place to live
By Bob
Block of flats that were built couple of years ago are still half empty….no one can afford them
By Anonymous
Affordable my arse. Affordable to whom. Eccles was once beautiful until salford took over. Then the worst was to come. Morrisons arrived and shut down individual businesses and made it a ghost town
By Anonymous
Sound good to me I love flat with garden is excellent because I’m garden person 👍🏻 Good luck Eccles 👍🏻
By G J Kitchener
I think a big part of regeneration projects such as this one should be the beautification of the building stock. It is not just about public realm and mixed use. People want to live in beautiful places. If the revamped high street is still lined by horrible post-war buildings it will never succeed as it could if these were somewhat improved.
By Anonymous
Eccles was thriving until they built the motorway which bulldozed half the town centre, cutting it off from Ellesmere Park and downgrading its train line from four to two tracks. This plan looks excellent – we’ve already seen from central Manchester how place/residential-based development can breathe new life into an area, and Eccles will be the same. The next step ought to be to reduce the width of the M602 to re-instate the four-track railway through here, and ‘cap’ off the sunken motorway to build a park on top .
By Anonymous
Timescale for these plans is ridiculous, 15 years apparantly
By Anonymous
It’s a shame Eccles has such a woeful train service. With such quick journey time into Manchester, so much potential could be unlocked by increasing the current hourly service.
By Heaton Chapel
4 years to get to a few pictures and broad ideas is shameful.
By Tannoy
Whatever they do will be an improvement on what’s there now though not on the Eccles of old which sadly will never be back. As has been pointed out out location and transport wise Eccles has it all, it just needs the investment and love that’s been promised and it should become a great area to live in.
By Anonymous
A market town so bring back a great outdoor market
By Jj
Eccles, a thriving g market town was destroyed by short sighted city pla news starting in the late 1970s. The cinema, taken, the large co-op building demolished for Aldi, the busy long established hub – the market, closed. West One and Morrisons put the final nail in the coffin of Eccles. Once a town people were proud to call home. That sense of pride was stripped by the wreckless development ( that’s a euphemism) imposed on Eccles.
Eccles was sacrificed to large businesses, who relocated out of Eccles, leaving the wasteland it has sadly become. Much the same in many towns throughout Britain – city planners who didn’t live in the communities they destroyed.
By Anonymous
Feels more like a residential development than a town centre development.
By William
I can’t see the historic and pride of place Eccles Cross on these plans. Please confirm it will remain ? Eccles
By Anonymous
Where are all those people going to park their car?
By Anonymous
On this plan is there no place where the new and existing residents will be able to park their car. The train line is not very efficient and the tram is very slow…
By Anonymous
Eccles is a ghost town since being taken over by Salford Council. We need shops instead of heading to Trafford Centre, which is ok for some people, but once upon a time you could walk from Brookhouse Estate, along Liverpool Road, towards Eccles Town Centre, eyeing up all the shops along the way and then head to the outdoor market for lots of items, veg, sweets, lingerie items, carpets etc. We want this kind of town back without all pubs, betting shops, barbers and the like blighting our landscape. Come architects get a grip and design a wonderful town where people can be proud to live here. Instead of building new houses, why not modernise old ones instead of knocking them down – waste of tax payers money.
By Sue
The shopping centre served its purpose. The shopping offer was never amazing it just ticked a few boxes. Most big names went into liquidation. Woolworths closed down yonksxago which signalled a decline. The motorway right bang in the middle didn’t help. Hopefully this new start will be worth it.
By Bluelight
Parking charges and badly thought out redevelopment destroyed Eccles, the council are 100% responsible for the economic destruction of the town. Now it’s been run down it’s being sold off to developers. Let’s hope it isn’t ugly as hell like the new Farnworth redevelopment
By Anonymous