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Port Salford: Community 'badly let down' as Peel given go-ahead without road and rail links


Salford City Council planners have given the green light to Peel Holdings to bring in their first tenant into Port Salford without road or rail links being in place.

The decision was passed on Tuesday 31 March.

Councillor Roger Jones for Irlam opposed the move and told SalfordOnline.com that local residents and councillors had been “badly let down” by council officers.

He said: “We have been telling the local community over the past five years, that all road and rail links would be in place before Port Salford opens.

“Local councillors feel badly let down by this decision.

“I did not agree with the comments of the planning officers but I was pleased that councillors from Irlam, Barton, Cadishead and Winton opposed Peel’s application.”

It was a condition of the original 2009 planning application that a new access road to bypass Peel Green from the A57 Liverpool Road to the huge multi-modal freight terminal at Barton would be completed – along with a rail link to the Manchester to Liverpool line – before firms moved in.

But council officers agreed with Peel that increased traffic on the A57 Liverpool Road would not be a problem.

The report says: “It is acknowledged that congestion is high at peak times…[but] additional traffic from the proposed warehouse which would equate to less than [a 1% increase] would not cause a noticeable increase in congestion.”

It also points to most HGV deliveries being made in the very early morning and mid-afternoon, outside of the busy rush-hour.

SalfordOnline.com reported in early March how frozen food distributor Culina planned to bring 280 jobs to the first operational warehouse at Port Salford.

Port Salford: Culina Logistics 280-job bid to be Peel’s first tenant

The new 107m-long warehouse comprises 26,300 sq m – around 17% of the total capacity of Port Salford.

Peel says it is working hard to complete the new road but it is facing delays and timescales have now shifted from from September 2015 to March 2016 – the same time its first warehouse will be completed.

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Tom is SalfordOnline.com's News Editor and community co-ordinator.