Salford is to benefit from a staggering £650million regeneration scheme which is set to provide 500 people with jobs as well as seeing more than 1,600 new homes built and around 1,250 council owned properties improved.
The scheme, set to take place over 30 years, has been backed by Salford Council, politicians and the community who set up a campaign.
The regeneration will also create 24 new small and medium business enterprises, provide skills training for 3,200 local people and 2,000 work experience opportunities.
Alongside the new homes more than ten hectares of new public space will be created including allotments, walkways, cycle routes and a community farm.
Local resident James Gillard said: “We’ve been planning it and dreaming about it for 10 years. Residents have worked hard with the council to get their vision for Pendleton brought to life and now after a decade in the making we are seeing change.”
The scheme will transform Pendleton which sits at the bottom one per cent of the UK for health depravation and has more than 40% of residents with no formal qualifications and only 41% of working age residents are in employment.
Ian Stewart, Salford City Mayor, said: “This is great news for local people.
“It’s a tremendous relief that all our behind-the-scenes work to persuade the Government to give the go-ahead, has finally paid off. I would like to thank all the team involved for putting Pendleton’s interests first.
“A lot of work has been done in recent years to regenerate the local area and provide new opportunities for local people. Despite severe cuts to Salford, we’re doing good things in bad times.
“This scheme will help transform Pendleton, its homes and environment – it will bring real hope of a better future to local people.”
Work began on the project yesterday following confirmation from the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) that the scheme has approval.
It has taken many years of campaigning by residents and work will be delivered in several phases over the next 11 years, with the first of the new homes expected to be ready by early next year.
All of the refurbishment work to more than 1,000 homes is expected to be completed by early 2017.
Deborah McLaughlin, Executive Director for the North West at the HCA, said: “This is an excellent example of getting development going despite the tough economic times. The Council, its partners and Government have worked extremely hard to agree a deal that offers value for money and is attractive to long-term investors.
“Everything is now in place to begin transforming the Pendleton area and give residents the housing and job opportunities they need to prosper and rebuild their community.”
Hazel Blears, Labour MP for Salford and Eccles, added: “This is fantastic news for people in Pendleton. New homes, jobs and green spaces will give local people a huge lift and really help to improve their quality of life.
“It has been a long, hard journey to get to this stage for the Pendleton Together consortium and all those involved and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts. Although we have now won the fight, the hard work starts here and we need to ensure that we continue to involve local people in creating a development of the highest quality.”
Picture courtesy of cellanr via Flickr, with thanks.
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