Building Sustainable Communities
Salford Quays could become an overdeveloped "supercity" in the next ten years, a councillor has warned.
Paul Heilbron, of Salford Lib Dems and a resident in the Quays, said plans to build thousands of homes in the area could change it beyond recognition, and leave residents without adequate public services.
Salford Quays looks certain to grow in future, with plans for major housing schemes approved in MediaCity and Pier 7, and an application tabled to build a further 3,000 homes at the nearby Regent Retail Park, which is less than 10 minutes away by car. This is alongside plans for a £200-million redevelopment of Salford Soapworks bringing 450 apartments, and a scheme for more than 1,000 homes on Michigan Avenue.
Mr Heilbron warned that Salford Quays residents are already struggling with a lack of local services, with just one building for medical centres serving the ward and trams "bursting" with commuters.
He said: "Salford Quays is going to be a city centre in the next five to ten years, but the people who live here have not come for that. It's a completely different lifestyle.
"We've got a super city being built. People come here because it's not a city centre, but it's not out in the Lakes either. These plans are sacrificing what Salford Quays is now, and it's going to be a city centre which no one asked for.
"Our public services have flatlined or gone backwards, trams are absolutely bursting all the time. I'm calling for an extra medical centre for the ward, we have one for the whole of the Quays and Ordsall. Are there going to be more police stations or fire stations? There's nothing to cater for the extra population."
He added: "The Quays Liberal Democrat team are pro-regeneration in our area, but we are sceptical about the sincerity of the [future] plans due to Labour’s track record in our great city of over building flats and under developing our public services, social provisions and vital infrastructure."
Salford's Lib Dems have called for a number of measures to be taken ahead of new development schemes in the area, with more police and school places, healthcare facilities, extra trams and buses, and measures to offset pollution.