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   £10.8 million kick-starts Chapel Street redevelopmentThe Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is granting £10.76 million to launch the redevelopment of the Chapel Street area in Salford. Investment will provide the public infrastructure needed to set in motion a major mixed-use redevelopment scheme in the heart of the city, which will eventually generate over £650 million in private sector investment. The redevelopment plans for Chapel Street, which have been led by Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company (URC) with developer partner English Cities fund (ECF) were approved by Salford City Council in January 2010 following more than two years of consultation with the community and stakeholders. Funding of £8.97 million from the NWDA and a further £1.79million under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is managed in the Northwest by the NWDA, is included to establish high quality public spaces and highways which the developers say will connect future retail, housing, leisure and office developments. Paul Lakin, Director of Land and Property at the NWDA, said: “The proposals for Chapel Street will create a vibrant new city centre in Salford and I am pleased that this funding means we can begin to turn these plans into reality. This illustrates how our targeted interventions can help to stimulate private investment and support economic recovery. "The Chapel Street area has huge potential but needs significant public investment to create the type of environment which is essential to attract high levels of private investment. "It will be a monumental project which will mean more jobs, economic vitality and a better future for both Salford and Manchester." Chapel Street links Salford, including MediaCityUK, to Manchester city centre and currently carries some of the highest traffic flows into Manchester city centre from the west. The first phase, which will start immediately, will be a package of junction improvements and highway configuration to divert traffic away from Chapel Street. These works will take place at Broad Street/Albion Way; Albion Way/Liverpool Street and Regent Road/Oldfield Road junctions. Once the first phase has completed in autumn, a series of improvements in public spaces will begin on Chapel Street. This second phase includes new street furniture, lighting, signage, tree-planting and widening of footpaths; new public squares at Salford Cathedral and St Phillips Church to provide better connectivity to the historic core of Salford and new pedestrian crossing points.In total, some 14,000 sq metres of public spaces will be improved. Cllr Derek Antrobus, Salford City Council lead member for planning at Salford Council, said: “This funding is critical to get the plans off the ground and we are grateful to the NWDA for their support. These major highway works and public space improvements are essential in order to create the right conditions for major investment by the private sector.”
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