Two major riverside schemes approved

Plans to build more than 750 homes across two high-rise schemes on the banks of the River Irwell in Salford have been approved.Salford City Council’s planning committee has waved through full applications by NW Build and Fortis Developments to create 751 homes in total on a plot bounded by the Irwell and Ordsall Lane, near Fairbrother Street and overlooking the Cornbrook tram stop. The applications focus on two neighbouring sites in independent ownership that would be developed separately if approved, but there has been close working relationships between the planning and design teams to coordinate a master-planned approach so they have been submitted together.Both proposals have been designed by the same architect, Purcell.The NW Build scheme involves creating five blocks rising five to nine storeys high around a central courtyard on a vacant plot known as Site 1. It was originally envisaged that there would be 460 homes in total but this figure has since been revised down to 375.There would be 39 studio, 115 one-bed, 150 two-bed and 71 three-bed homes, as well as 3,778 sq ft of commercial floor space and 95 parking spaces.Meanwhile, the Fortis scheme involves replacing a 39,471 sq ft warehouse with five blocks ranging from five to nine storeys in height around a central courtyard on a plot known as Site 2. The original submission proposed 460 homes but this amount has now been reduced to 376.There would be nine studio, 132 one-bed, 144 two-bed and 71 three-bed homes, alongside 3,918 sq ft of commercial floor space and 91 parking spaces. A public ‘pocket park’ is also earmarked for the south-east corner of the site next to the river at the end of a new pedestrian walkway linking Ordsall Lane with the waterfront.