Liberal Democrat councillor calls on the council to “get regeneration right”

The Quays’ Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Heilbron is calling on the council “to get it right” for future regeneration projects to come in Salford. 

The Democrats have called on the council today (February 14) to prioritise “the needs of the community as a whole at the heart of its framework.”

The Democrats stated they believe in sustainable and affordable housing, “where people have the right to live in vibrant communities with full amenities accessible to them and their families.”

There have been multiple development proposals for MediaCity and the Salford Quays over the last few years, including the ‘Salford Quays 2030 vision‘. The 2030 vision plan spans 23.30 ha (hectares) and is said to have the potential to bring over 3,000 new homes and more business opportunities across circa 75,000 sq metres.

Newly elected Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Heilbron said: “One of our main pledges is to stop unsustainable overbuilding in our communities by ensuring that all development has appropriate infrastructure, services and amenities in place through our Sustainable Homes for Sustainable Communities Campaign.”

Overall, the Quays team stated they want to see “adequate” business units, green spaces, amenities and affordable housing factored into the proposals. They believe this can be done through actively consulting communities about the areas they live in.

If developments go ahead, the Quays Liberal Democrats are also calling for public service increases to be guaranteed to offset the population increase.

The increase in public services would include additional police on patrol, increased school places and extra trams and buses.

Councillor Paul Heilbron added: “The Quays has seen 7/800 per cent increase in population in a decade and this is only going to go up.

“We need the livelihoods of residents to be maintained with adequate infrastructure, public services, social provisions, amenities and green space at every step of the journey to cater for the population increase.

“We can only regenerate once, we need to make sure we get it right for all residents in the community.”

The Manchester Crane survey, is a report that measures the volume of development taking place across Salford and Manchester.

According to the report Salford has experienced a record year, with over 3000 new homes under construction across eight schemes in the Salford Central area of the city.

Mayor Paul Dennett commented: “Residential growth is up, but as the report outlines, diversity across housing options is still required in this area, and this is something I am fully committed to achieving.

“As our population grows and with an increased desire to live and work in the city, we do need to create more affordable homes across all parts of the sector and ensure they form part of sustainable neighbourhoods.”