Everything Everywhere challenges Salford towers plan

TELECOMS group Everything Everywhere has threatened legal action over a planned development in Salford Quays.

According to planning documents it says Bredale Developments’ plan for a pair of towers near Exchange Quay in Ordsall could affect a nearby telephone exchange servicing 650,000 customers.

The group – the combined T-Mobile and Orange businesses – said it will launch a judicial review if the application is approved in its current form.

The Northern Irish developer wants to build a major mixed-use scheme on the site containing a 15 and a 23-storey tower.

It will include a 204-bed hotel, 45 aparthotel suites, 150,000 sq ft of offices, 13,000 sq ft of leisure and around 8,000 sq ft of retail.

The scheme was approved in November 2011 but this permission was soon rescinded after it emerged a nearby landowner had not been notified of the plans. Bredale then spent eight months finalising its ownership of the freehold.

During that time Everything Everywhere presented its case to Salford City Council, arguing that its objection was a material planning consideration that could not be dealt with by a condition tagged onto an approval.

A report commissioned by Bredale claimed the new towers would not affect mobile signals, but this view was contested by Everything Everywhere’s own study. This, however, suggested the signals could be re-engineered around the development.

The council is confident a compromise can be reached by restricting the start of the development until the issue of the signals has been resolved.

It said: “Despite EE’s concerns, we are satisfied that the proposed condition sufficiently control development such that no harmful works can commence until such time as the necessary mitigation is in place, and both the applicant and EE have agreed what that mitigation is likely to constitute. In the circumstances, it is not deemed appropriate to withhold the granting of planning permission.”

Council planners consider the scheme to be a “landmark” building which will play a key role in the regeneration of the Ordsall Riverside area.

“It is considered that the scheme will provide positive benefits in delivering a mixture of uses to the area, in a sustainable location and with appropriate conditions the proposal will sit comfortably alongside the adjacent land uses.”

A decision on the scheme will be deferred ahead of a legal agreement when Salford’s planning committee meets on October 18.