Three more developments bite the dust

THREE massive waterside developments in Salford have become the latest victims of the credit crunch.

Canopus Towers, an artists' impression shown here, the much acclaimed pair of skyscrapers, and expected to be one of Manchester's most sought after addresses, is not to be, now completely fenced off with the developers, BS Construction, going bust, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Another waterside development, the £600 millions 'urban village' on the Irwell has also stopped, a victim of the present financial situation.

This Canopus development has had a rocky ride, the local planners being advised by a government body three times not to approve part of it, the £180m Canopus scheme at Greengate on the banks of the river, but the local council granted permission in December 2007.

The widely publicised Middlewood Locks development, would have included 1,700 new homes on the partly restored Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal, and was billed as 'Manchester's contemporary waterside quarter'.

According to Councillor Derek Antrobus, of Salford's planning department, all three development had stopped because of 'financing issues'.

It was not so long ago that Council Leader John Merry stated:

"We are confident that the whole of the regeneration of that area will be completed."

But now, Planning Officer Tim Hartley admitted they were unlikely to find someone to take on the towers.

The Middlewood Locks development was approved in 2003 and the further plan a year later. The four acres site would have included four blocks of apartments, private gardens, underground parking, and steps to a riverside man-made beach.