Developer’s proposals to honour Salford’s industrial canal firmly rejected

A developer currently building 296 apartments on Oldfield Road has been told to go back to the drawing board after their proposal to commemorate the heritage of the site was rejected.

The company, Zerum, acting on behalf of the developer, proposed that the heritage of the industrial canal be honoured solely through naming and branding.

Salford City Council’s decision states that it “agrees that the approach of naming and branding the development, whilst welcomed, does not go far enough in commemorating the site’s heritage.

“Despite the requirement of the condition (“and retained thereafter”) it cannot be guaranteed that this branding and signage will remain part of the development in perpetuity.”

The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society (MBBCS) was founded in 1987, with the aim of restoring the canal.

Al Franco, a Trustee of the MBBCS, said: “We thank Salford Council for inviting us to give our observations on the developer’s proposal and welcome the robust response of their planning department.”

Local MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said: “ It’s important that this significant location, the first canal linked coal wharves in Salford, next to the railway company dwellings
that were immortalised by LS Lowry, are properly commemorated.”

It was a condition attached to their planning approval that ”prior to the first occupation of the development hereby approved, a scheme to commemorate the heritage of the site and adjacent area within the new public realm shall be submitted to, and approved in writing by, the Local Planning Authority.

“The approved scheme shall be implemented prior to the first occupation of the development and retained thereafter.”