Campaigners and locals have banded together to stop the closure of a 300-year-old pathway alongside the River Irwell in Salford.
Residents and local activists have been campaigning against the ‘warped logic’ to close a section of the walkway behind the Ralli Quays on Stanley Street which has been left to ruin. The closure of the path comes as property and investment giants Legal & General plan to build a multi-million pound multi-storey office and hotel block which would see the right of way along the River Irwell be erased.
Salford Council are in favour of the proposal and see the development ‘significantly expanding’ the city’s public realm and ‘not losing it’. Council officials say the matter pertains to decisions made 15 years ago to create ‘Irwell City Park’, a large stretch of waterfront connecting Manchester, Salford City Centre, Salford Quays and Trafford Wharfside. However, designers were met with ‘physical constraints’ regarding the built environment around the tow path.
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Designers found the section of the path ‘too narrow and degraded’ to be considered safe and the council also say that investigations into the repairing and widening that section of the towpath would be ‘unfeasible, without costly reconstructions’ to Irwell Bridge.
However, campaigners like Dr Morag Rose, Steven Lindsay, Don Lee, Gloria Gaffney and Mike Butler have been at the forefront of the fight to keep the path open. They do not object to the plans of a the 12-storey office space and hotel, but believe the towpath is salvageable and can be a great benefit to residents and homeless people.
Most recently, thanks to the campaign which has 'captured the imagination of the public', the Department for Transport announced plans to hold a public inquiry into the matter "in light of the outstanding objections".
Steven Lindsay, from Manchester, said: “The starting point here is that we have what we have. No-one at the minute is saying you need to turn it into something massively better. We’re just saying leave us with what we have, and then if people can find the money to make it better, then we can make it better.
"But at the minute they’re saying ‘it’s not very good good, because we’ve let it not be good, it’s not very accessible’ because they’ve never bothered making it accessible. So therefore we’ll close it, which seems like a warped logic to me.”
As part of the plans a new route through the hotel site would be opened to the public for walking and cycling, but this would only be open between the dawn and dusk along with the route across Stanley Street on the New Bailey estate. Campaigners, however, say these options are not ‘viable’.
Dr Morag Rose said: “There are two reasons why the alternative options are not viable, one is the alternative route along Stanley Street, that’s what we call a permissive route which means that you are there by the permission of the owners, not by right of public ownership, so it can be taken away at any time. The alternative if you come along the towpath will be diverted through a hotel lobby, that will obviously be open at certain times.
“To me it’s a gross example of enclosure. It is basically stealing public land for private profit and depriving us of what should be our heritage.”
“It’s really heartbreaking and frustrating. There’s a lot of people who have really documented the effects of gentrification and social cleansing on the city centre, how we lose something quite precious when we don’t have places that are not for commercial use."
Councillor Mike McCusker, lead member for planning, transport and sustainable development, said: “Our original intention was to improve and upgrade the existing towpath as part of the development. However, this was not deemed possible due to safety concerns with this particular section.
“The new proposed access, which was welcomed by Manchester Ramblers Association, is a compromise that allows us to pursue the goal of creating a huge area of high quality, useable green space for local residents to enjoy. It is important to remember that this development is also significantly expanding Salford’s public realm, not losing it.”
A spokesperson for Legal & General said: "It has been Salford City Council’s policy and preference since 2008 for the Irwell River Park route to be redirected from this short stretch of the Irwell on to the new Stanley Street as it is safer and provides step free access.
"Our scheme, which secured planning consent in January 2022, was designed around the masterplan for the area but importantly does not block the towpath and does not need to be redesigned to continue to allow public access to the waterside.
"A stopping up application has not been made by Legal & General. We are actively engaging with both the Council and interested parties to develop a solution that works for as many people as possible.”
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