SalfordOnline.com readers are sending in pictures on Facebook of the enormous 100-tonne high-reach demolition crane, which has also been used on recent tower block demolitions in Wythenshawe.
The 14-storey ‘Orchard’ tower blocks – Apple Tree Court, Pear Tree Court and Peach Tree Court – were built in the 1960s as part of the Hanky Park slum clearances of the 1960s.
All will be knocked down to make room for new housing under the £430m Pendleton Together PFI project.
Pear Tree will be tackled first by demolition contractors Forshaw Demolition, then Peach Tree Court, followed by Apple Tree Court, with each block expected to take around six weeks each to clear entirely.
The demolition is expected to be completed by late October 2014.
The plans were approved in June 2008 by the Salford Council cabinet.
The first tenants to receive the demolition notices in June 2009 included Pear Tree Court, Holcombe Close, Brydon Close and the odd numbers on Edgehill Close.
In June 2010 notices were then issued to tenants living in Apple Tree Court and Peach Tree Court.
Main image by Melinda O’Connor
