Part 1
ITEM NO.
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REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR SUSTAINABLE REGENERATION
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TO THE LEAD MEMBER FOR PLANNING ON 27th JULY 2010
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TITLE: PROPOSED COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER FOR SALFORD
CENTRAL.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
That Lead Member for Planning approves :
(1) The making of a Compulsory Purchase Order under section 226(1)(a) and
226(1A) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by Section
99 and Schedule 9 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004) and
section 13 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 for
the acquisition of land and new rights within the area described in the report
and shown edged red and shaded yellow and blue respectively on the plan
attached at Annex A of this report, being land which it thinks, if acquired, will
facilitate the carrying out of development, redevelopment or improvement on
or in relation to the land and that such development, redevelopment or
improvement is likely to contribute to the achievement of the promotion or
improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being of the
area, as described in this report.
(2) That the City Solicitor, acting in consultation with the Strategic Director for
Sustainable Regeneration, on the basis that there is a compelling case in the
public interest to make the Order:
(i) takes all necessary steps to secure the making, confirmation and
implementation of the Order including (but not limited to) updating the draft
Statement of Reasons, attached as Annex B, as deemed appropriate, the
publication and service of all notices and the presentation of the Council’s case
at any public inquiry;
(ii) acquires interests in land within the area subject to the planning
Compulsory Purchase Order either by agreement or compulsorily;
(iii) completes agreements with landowners and others having an interest in
the area to be the subject of the planning Compulsory Purchase Order
including where appropriate seeking agreements effecting the delivery of any
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part of the development and making arrangements for the relocation of
occupiers.
(3) That the Strategic Director for Sustainable Regeneration progress, in parallel
with the making of the compulsory purchase order, the closure of any
highways and/or passageways within the Order area as necessary.
(4) That the Order be named the:
“Salford City Council (Salford Central No.1) Compulsory Purchase Order
2010”.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On 3rd September 2008 the Lead Member for Planning
approved, in principle, the use of the Council’s compulsory purchase powers to
assemble land for the Salford Central regeneration project. Further to this decision
the acquisition of land and property interests has been progressed, where possible,
by agreement and the redevelopment proposals themselves have now been granted
outline planning consent. In order to be able to progress the redevelopment
proposals it will be necessary to ensure that title and possession of all the land and
property required for delivery of the scheme can be obtained and it is now
considered appropriate to further support the regeneration by the making of a
planning compulsory purchase order. Negotiations to acquire by agreement will
continue in parallel with the compulsory purchase process.
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: Draft Statement of Reasons.
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KEY DECISION:
YES. Item 6 – Property Update.
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DETAILS:
1.0
Background
1.1
Salford City Council entered into an Overarching Development Agreement
with English Cities Fund (ECf) and Central Salford Urban Regeneration
Company Limited on 15 December 2006, to secure the regeneration of the
Salford Central area.
1.2
The City Council assets within this area are to be transferred to ECf at an
appropriate time for development to take place but the majority of land
within the area was in third party ownership. ECf have been making efforts
to assemble the site through negotiation and major site assembly has
taken place. However it is now considered that further site assembly is
unlikely to be possible within a reasonable timeframe, or at all, without the
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use of compulsory purchase powers.
1.3
On 21st January 2010 planning consent was granted for a scheme that
would enable comprehensive regeneration to take place in this important
part of Salford.
2.0
The Order Land
2.1
The land to be subject to the proposed compulsory purchase order is
referred to in this report as the Order Land.
2.2
The Order Land is bounded by Cleminson Street to the north, New Bailey
street to the east, the River Irwell to the south-east, Trinity Way and North
star Drive to the south and Adelphi Street to the west.
2.3
The Council and ECf between them already own nearly 50% of the Order
Land and negotiations with the remaining owners will continue with a view
to achieving the voluntary acquisition of all the interests in the Order Land
which are needed to facilitate the development.
3.0
Planning Policy Framework
3.1
The regeneration of Salford Central is being guided by two specific
documents which set the planning policy framework for the area:

The Salford Central Planning Guidance was approved by the City
Council in March 2008. The Guidance has been prepared to:
o Provide an important contribution to the successful planning
of the area in a situation where a comprehensive approach to
regeneration and enabling development will be required.
o Explain in more detail how the City Of Salford Unitary
Development Plan policies will be applied within the Salford
Central area.
o Set out the guidelines which the Council as Local Planning
Authority will use as a material consideration in determining
applications for planning permission and other matters in the
Salford Central area.
o Establish a set of principles to ensure the appropriate mix of
uses and high quality design in new development.

The Salford Central Development Framework was approved by
the City Council in May 2009. This follows on from the Planning
Guidance and sets out in detail how the principles in the Guidance
are reflected in the development of the character areas and
individual sites. It ensures that future development delivers real
benefits for Salford Central and creates an attractive and vibrant
place that meets the needs of residents and businesses. The
Framework:
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o identifies new land uses including residential, office, retail,
leisure and community facilities;
o establishes the layout of new buildings to ensure high quality
of urban design;
o identifies new routes to improve connections across the area;
o sets the height and scale for new buildings;
o identifies areas for new and improved public space.
3.2
The English Cities Fund submitted a hybrid planning application on 27 July
2009 for the comprehensive regeneration of the Salford Central area. This
was unanimously approved by Salford City Council on 21 January 2010.
The application was referred to the Secretary of State as it was considered
that despite clearly advancing the objectives of key policies in the City of
Salford Unitary Development Plan (UDP), upon a strict reading, the
proposal did not accord with part of the adopted development plan policy
ST9 of the UDP (Retail, Leisure, Social and Community Provision). It was
confirmed on 22 March 2010 by the Government Office for the North West
that the Secretary of State’s intervention would not be justified and that it
did not require his determination.
3.3
The application seeks to build on the success of the Spinningfields
development in Manchester and seeks to extend the city centre into an
under-used part of Salford. It is proposed (and supported through planning
obligations) that value captured from this commercial development will be
used to subsidise non-viable development along Chapel Street and to
significantly improve the public realm and environment on Chapel Street
and in Salford’s historic core. Thus, the scheme will aim to secure the
regeneration of an area that has been a long-standing aspiration of the
City Council.
3.4
The Masterplan supporting the application proposal will deliver new
connections through the area and into surrounding neighbourhoods;
including later stages for the wider development at the Islington Estate,
Adelphi Street and Middlewood area. The balance of movement will be
shifted towards pedestrians, cyclists and public transport from the present
dominance of vehicles that currently pass through the area along Chapel
Street.
3.5
Detailed planning permission has been approved for improvements to
Chapel Street itself, which are considered critical in the adopted
Development Framework to connect the disparate parts of the Chapel
Street corridor into a single, vibrant neighbourhood linked to the planned
commercial core near Salford Central Station. Within the planned
commercial core, detailed permission has also been approved for an early
improvement to the public realm of Stanley Street that will meet the landing
of the approved Spinningfields footbridge, planned for completion in 2010.
This will pave the way for a future piece of quality public realm (to be
known as Stanley Square), an important civic space and arrival point into
the new commercial heart of the City.
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3.6
Outline planning permission (including the approval of layout and access
arrangements) has been approved for the Masterplan-led regeneration of
the 17.7 hectare area for:
•
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Up to 197,010sq.m of office, studio and workshop floorspace
(B1);
Up to 24,255sq.m of commercial floorspace (A1, A2, A3, A4 and
A5) with A1 retail floorspace limited to no more than 10,810sq.m.
No A1 unit will exceed 500sq.m with the exception of a
1,200sq.m A1 foodstore planned for Zone E, which is intended
to serve the new community being created;
Up to 2,005sq.m of leisure uses (such as crèche, day centre,
gallery space) (D1);
Up to 19,110sq.m of hotel floorspace in the form of two hotels of
up to 250 and 140 bed spaces (C1 hotel);
Up to 849 dwellings (apartments and townhouses) (C3);
New public open space and civic spaces;
Highway improvements (new accesses, new streets,
realignments);
New pedestrian and cycle routes, including the formation of a
new riverside walk and open spaces as part of the City Council’s
Irwell River Park;
Up to 2,167 parking spaces (public on and off-street, and
private);
Public realm improvements.
4.0
Scheme Benefits
4.1
The proposals will lead to the formation of some 9,500 potential work
opportunities across a breadth of sectors for full, part-time, seasonal,
permanent and temporary positions. This will significantly contribute
towards changing the socio-economic profile of the area and local
neighbourhoods through greater accessibility to employment and the
associated improvements that increased income brings. The proposals
also seek to significantly add to the overall economic activity of the
Regional Centre and provide employment opportunities to the Manchester
City Region.
4.2
The commercial uses that will provide the work opportunities will be
focused into larger, Grade A offices within the commercial core, to add to
the adjacent Spinningfields development and will be accompanied by
associated and complementary retail, food and drink and leisure uses,
which will animate streets, the new public spaces and links. Chapel Street
will provide a more diverse mix of office, studio, workshop, commercial,
retail, food and drink and leisure uses to attract local businesses, start-up
businesses, creative industries and foster links between the University of
Salford and the city centre.
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4.3
A mix of new housing opportunities for apartments and townhouses
appropriate to the city centre location will be provided to address the
present imbalance of housing opportunities represented by social housing
within the Islington and Trinity Estates. The greater variation in the mix of
households (and incomes) will form a more diverse and sustainable
community that will be able to support the planned local shops, services
and facilities.
4.4
Irwell River Park, the regional park proposed for Salford, Manchester and
Trafford, will be advanced by the development through the provision of
pedestrian and cycle links along the river and through the site, with three
new attractive public spaces formed along the route.
4.5
The proposal will offer a unique opportunity to build on and deliver the
continued growth of the Regional Centre, permanently reverse the
prolonged decline in the post-industrial period and transform the Chapel
Street area to create a distinct, vibrant and vital heart of the City of Salford.
5.0
Land Assembly and the need for Compulsory Purchase
5.1
A large proportion of the Salford Central area, as previously mentioned,
was in third party ownership and/or control. Although various strategic
acquisitions have been completed or are in the process of being completed
it is clear that the acquisition by agreement of all the land required to
facilitate the redevelopment proposals will not be possible within a realistic
timeframe or even possibly at all.
5.2
The Overarching Development Agreement provides for Compulsory
Purchase costs and indemnities to be provided by ECf to Salford City
Council in the case of a Compulsory Purchase Order being made and also
provides that the City Council will strongly consider the making of a
Compulsory Purchase Order, should there be a compelling case in the
public interest for them to do so and provided the policy framework and
financial resources are acceptable.
5.3
As mentioned above planning permission has been granted for the
redevelopment proposals and this will be an essential part of the case for
Compulsory Purchase.
5.4
As part of the compulsory purchase process it will be necessary for the
Council to be able to justify its proposals for the compulsory acquisition of
the land and be able to defend such proposals at a public inquiry. In the
first instance this justification will be contained within the ‘Statement of
Reasons’, a draft copy of which is attached, Annex B.
6.0
Compulsory Purchase Powers
6.1
Consideration has been given to the most appropriate body to undertake
the Compulsory Purchase of the required land and property and the most
appropriate powers to be used.
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6.2
Both the Homes and Communities Agency and the North West
Development Agency currently have Compulsory Purchase powers
available to them and could undertake such action as stakeholders in the
Central Salford URC.
6.3
However, following detailed consideration, it is believed that the City
Council is the most appropriate body to undertake Compulsory Purchase
and the most appropriate power to facilitate the land assembly process is
contained within Section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
6.4
By virtue of section 226(1)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
(as amended by Section 99 and Schedule 9 of the Planning and
Compulsory Purchase Act 2004), the Council, as the Acquiring Authority,
on being authorised to do so, is able to acquire land by compulsory
purchase means if it thinks that it will facilitate the carrying out of
development, redevelopment or improvement on or in relation to the land.
Under section 13 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act
1976, the Council may be authorised to purchase compulsorily new rights
over land which would include, but not be limited to, the provision of 2 new
pedestrian routes through re-opened railway viaduct arches.
6.5
The Council cannot exercise its power under section 226(1)(a) unless and
in accordance with section 226(1)(A) it thinks that the development,
redevelopment or improvements will achieve any one or more of the
following objects:
- the promotion or improvement of the economic well being of the area;
- the promotion or improvement of the social well being of the area; or
- the promotion or improvement of the environmental well being of the
area.
6.6
The acquisition of the land will facilitate the carrying out of development,
redevelopment and improvement of the land, through the implementation
of the Development Proposals set out in this report. The Development
Proposals will address the problems set out in the draft Statement of
Reasons and will result in the public benefits detailed in Section 4 of this
report.
6.7
For the reasons set out in this report and in the draft Statement of Reasons
it is considered that there is a compelling case in the public interest for the
compulsory acquisition of the Order Land and that nothing short of
compulsory acquisition of the land and rights required will facilitate the
much needed improvement of the Order Land. It is considered that without
the use of the Council’s compulsory purchase powers the land required will
not be assembled within a reasonable timeframe, or possibly at all.
7.0
Delivery and Funding
7.1
The City Council, and its partner the URC, took the decision to enter into a
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partnership arrangement with a significant private developer. This
approach was taken to break through the barriers that had inhibited
previous schemes in terms of an inability to attract investment, an inability
to address landownership issues and an inability to address speculative
and temporary uses.
7.2
English Cities Fund was appointed to the role of lead developer and an
Overarching Development Agreement has been entered into by the three
parties.
7.3
In summary the Overarching Development Agreement caters for the
comprehensive regeneration of the area in a phased manner, recognising
that viability will differ for different sites and infrastructure,
7.4
The Overarching Development Agreement addresses this issue by
providing for the setting up of a Development Trust Account which will
enable value to be captured from the development of the commercial core
which would then be used to bring forward improved infrastructure and
public realm and to enable what would otherwise be non-viable
development in the Chapel Street area to come forward.
7.5
The development partners recognise that the process of delivering the
necessary large scale and sustainable regeneration cannot be achieved in
a piecemeal manner and because of the fragmented ownership
regeneration is likely to be delivered over a considerable period of time.
8.0
Human Rights and the Case for Compulsory Acquisition
8.1
The Human Rights Act 1998 places direct obligations on public bodies
such as the Council to demonstrate that the use of compulsory purchase
powers is in the public interest and that the use of such powers is
proportionate to the ends being pursued.
8.2
The Council must be sure that the purpose for which it is making the Order
sufficiently justifies interfering with the human rights of those with an
interest in the land affected. It is acknowledged that the compulsory
acquisition of the Order Land will amount to an interference with the
human rights of those with an interest in the Order Land. These include
rights under Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on
Human Rights (“ECHR”) (which provides that every natural or legal person
is entitled to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions) and Article 8 of the
ECHR (which provides that everyone has the right to respect for his private
and family life, his home and his correspondence).
8.3
There must be a balancing act between the public interest and the
individual’s rights and any interference with these rights must be necessary
and proportionate. “Proportionate” in this context means that the
interference must be no more than is necessary to achieve the identified
legitimate aim. In this instance officers are of the view that there is a
compelling case in the public interest for the compulsory acquisition of the
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Order Land which outweighs the interference with the rights of those
affected. Further, it is the officer’s view that it will not be possible to acquire
the land and interests needed to deliver the development by agreement
within a reasonable timeframe, or possibly at all.
8.4
As has been stated above and set out in the draft Statement of Reasons
attached to this Report, the Development Proposals deliver key objectives
of Government policy and comply with the statutory development plan,
planning guidance and the development framework. The clear benefits to
the Council’s area that will result from the realisation of the Development
Proposals are referred to in this Report and the draft Statement of
Reasons that is annexed. Without the use of the Council’s powers of
compulsory purchase, the much needed regeneration and redevelopment
of the Salford Central area will not be achievable, as there is no possibility
that all of the land necessary to deliver the development will be acquired
by agreement.
9.0
Cost of Compulsory Purchase Action
8.1
The Overarching Development Agreement for the area provides a binding
commitment by ECf to be responsible for meeting all reasonable and
proper compensation payments made and costs incurred by the Council
arising from the use of Compulsory Purchase powers.
8.2
The undertaking also extends to any costs incurred by the Council which
are associated with any blight notices that may be properly served upon
the Council.
9.0
Conclusion
9.1
The use of Compulsory Purchase powers is a vital tool in delivering large,
mixed use regeneration schemes and indeed the making of a Compulsory
Purchase Order to assemble the development site was envisaged within
the Overarching Development Agreement entered into between the
partners.
9.2
As planning permission has now been approved for the proposed
redevelopment and as it is considered that further site assembly is unlikely
to be achieved by agreement it is considered that it is appropriate to
progress the making of a compulsory purchase order to support the
delivery process.
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES:
o Connecting People to Opportunities: Sustainable Community Strategy for
Salford 2009-2024.
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o The Salford Economic Development Plan 2009 – 2026
o The Salford Unitary Development Plan
o Salford Central Planning Guidance 2008
o Salford Central Development Framework 2009
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND IMPLICATIONS: Local residents and
stakeholders have been fully consulted and engaged in the development of the
proposals for the area which will include new offices, commercial, retail and leisure
uses which will be complemented by family housing and apartments linked by highquality public realm and civic spaces.
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Medium. If the compulsory purchase order is confirmed
then the parties to the Overarching Development Agreement will be able to progress
the comprehensive redevelopment proposals for the area. However if the
compulsory purchase order is not confirmed then alternative solutions will need to be
identified for the remaining land and property in private ownership together with
those properties/land which are already in the ownership of the City Council and ECf.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: Under the Overarching Development agreement ECf are
to be responsible for meeting all reasonable and proper compensation payments and
costs arising from the use of Compulsory Purchase powers.
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Norman Perry – Ext 2325 / Eversheds
Comments: Providing that there are sound reasons for the making of the compulsory
purchase order on planning grounds, then I cannot see any legal implications other
than the usual possible challenges from affected persons which could result in a
Public Inquiry at which the Council, and it’s development partners, would of course
present their case. Care must be taken however not to use the land for a purpose for
which it was not acquired. The Crichel Down Rules must be followed.
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Supplied by Frank O’Brien – Ext 2585
The Overarching Development Agreement for the area provides a binding
commitment/indemnity by ECf to be responsible for meeting all reasonable and
proper compensation payments made and costs incurred by the Council arising from
the use of Compulsory Purchase powers. This indemnity also extends to any costs
incurred by the Council which are associated with any blight notices that may be
properly served upon the Council
Such eligible expenditure will become a development cost within the eventual
property development schemes within the Agreement.
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OTHER DIRECTORATES CONSULTED: Not applicable.
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CONTACT OFFICERS: Richard Wynne
Tel. 779 6127
Phil Holden
Tel. 779 6069
Paul Walker
Tel. 793 3110
Chris Findley
Tel. 793 3654
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WARDS TO WHICH REPORT RELATES: Ordsall and Irwell Riverside
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