First 500 homes get go-ahead at Middlewood Locks

Construction is set to begin early in the New Year on the first phase of Scarborough Group’s £700 million Middlewood Locks, after being granted detailed planning consent by Salford City Council.The scheme is being delivered by FairBriar International, a joint venture between the McCabe family’s Scarborough, Hualing Group, based in Xinjiang, China, and Metro Holdings, a Singapore-listed property development and investment group.Beijing Construction & Engineering Group is the contractor.The first phase will deliver 571 homes and associated commercial space, including convenience shops and restaurants, and extensive public realm in the form of canal side footpaths and cycle ways that will connect into the city centre.Residents are expected to move in in mid-2017.Middlewood Locks received outline planning consent in March 2015 from Salford City Council to deliver a mixed-use neighbourhood, which in total will provide around 2,000 homes and more than 750,000 sq ft of commercial development, including offices, hotel, shops, restaurants, a convenience store and gym.The project, designed by WCEC Group, is centred around three large basins of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal in Salford.