Retailers of Regent Road Retail Park may be allowed to return to the park, as land developed propose plans to rejuvenate the space.
This follows the plans by the Investment management company Henley, had plans to close the retail park to make way for new high rise residential buildings.
The plans would have seen the retail park demolished and replaced with a 70+ story skyscraper, the UK’s tallest outside of London, providing 3,300 homes.
However, the proposed plans have been contested locally, with a petition to stop the plans reaching 2,200 signatures.
Following the petition from locals, developments to the Regent Road Retail Park have been been delayed until February, with them originally planned for this December.
One spokesperson for Henley, Katy Issacs outlined the plans to hopefully allow retailers to return to new, more sustainable plots once the works are complete.
As she said: “We want to put in, in principle, a large park in the centre of it, lots of retailer community space at the bottom, and then flats on top of it.
“We’ve spoken to all of the commercial tenants on site, and they’ve all been invited back.”
So far, two national retailers have confirmed that they would be interested in returning to the site, although they can’t be named for legal reasons.
Katy acknowledged the current concerns, as she stated: “It’s a long process and it’s also really scary for people who live in the area and it’s a lot change and we’re very keen to listen and work with them but I think at the moment it is quite strong objections and we understand that.”
Alongside concerns over the potential decrease in retail space, locals have raised concerns over increased traffic in the already busy Regent Road, a main road that stretches through Salford into Manchester.
One local resident, Nic Leonard, who originally posted the petition wrote “the increase in traffic needed to build these TEN apartment blocks including the third tallest in the UK outside London will make an already dire situation unbearable.”
And this was also shared by Salford Liberal Democrat chair John Grant, who is campaigning for “a balanced and community-focused development rather than a ‘concrete jungle.”
With Councillor of the Quays Ward, Paul Heilbron added: “We don’t need thousands more unaffordable apartments in an already densely populated area with traffic and parking challenges,
“We believe any redevelopment should include essential shops, services, and green spaces to serve the existing community.”
However, Katy Issacs confirmed that there have been initial talks with social housing developers to make some of the housing ‘affordable’, as well as hopes to improve transport connections and include traffic calming measures.
And if the proposed plans are to go through, Henley have said that it will be completed in two phases, meaning not all of the shops would be closed at one time.
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