A “new vision” to set out how Salford Quays could look and feel in 2030 has been launched by Salford City Council this week.
Following an extensive consultation process with businesses and residents last summer to help ensure that the Quays is “a place that works for everyone”, the blueprint for the redevelopment plans – which is titled ‘Salford Quays: A New Vision 2030’ – have now been unveiled, and name five “guiding principles” for the future of the neighbourhood, with the already-expansive and popular area expected to double in size over the next decade.
According to the Council, central to the vision is the proposal that the neighbourhood would further develop its own identity, with a “waterfront new town centre” to be built between MediaCity, the Lowry, and Cotton Quays.
It will feature an all-weather pavilion, as well as new cafes and restaurants.
There will also be distinctive neighbourhood identities that meet the different needs of those who “live, work, and play” in the Quays, and a year-round cultural programme is also set to showcase the city’s greatest artistic talents.
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A “new vision” to set out how Salford Quays could look and feel in 2030 has been launched / Credit: Salford City Council
The plans are also committing to creating a new historic or cultural walking trail to tell the Quays’ unique story as one of Europe’s most successful regeneration projects, so that its community feels better connected to our city’s roots and the people that made it.
Speaking on the unveiling of the plans, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “The historic regeneration of Salford Quays is one of our city’s greatest success stories [and] it has become a beacon of opportunity and inspiration for those working in our creative industries and for the vibrant and diverse communities who call it home.
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“As this neighbourhood flourishes, we must make sure that people are placed at the centre of the Quays’ future – this is at heart of the vision.”
Salford Quays is excepted to double in size over the next decade.
He continued: “Through this vision, the Quays of 2030 will not just be the landmark destination for culture, entertainment, media and skills in the North West, it will also be a neighbourhood that echoes the vibrancy of its communities, is better connected to the waterfront, celebrates its rich history and makes space for everyone.”
MediaCityUK managing director Stephen Wild said the plans put “people at the centre”.
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He said the area was “already a fantastic place” with many homes, employment and learning opportunities “and an unrivalled waterside leisure and cultural offering”, but he was excited by the chance to “grow and develop the area”.
Plans unveiled to deliver 50,000 council and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Plans to deliver 50,000 council and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes in Greater Manchester have been unveiled.
By removing ‘blockers’ to development and transforming disused public land into new housing schemes, Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig has set out her plan to tackle the housing crisis and deliver ‘a new generation’ of homes – with 50,000 new ‘genuinely affordable’ homes to be available across the city region by 2039.
It’s expected that 10,000 of these homes will either be built, on site, or in the pipeline with planning permission ready to go by May 2028.
To meet the scale of this ambition and deliver the homes the region needs, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) says it will need to ‘pull every lever at [its] disposal’, from remediating brownfield land, to bringing forward dormant sites in public ownership.
That’s why the Mayor will be asking Greater Manchester‘s public bodies to carry out a public land review and identify sites that could be brought forward to deliver homes.
GMCA has already used its Brownfield Housing Fund to support several schemes that are delivering thousands of affordable homes – including social rent homes – as part of the £2 billion Good Growth Fund.
If you’re unfamiliar, the Good Growth Fund is investing in a pipeline of projects to deliver new homes, regenerate town centres, create jobs, and build infrastructure to connect people and places.
“When I was Manchester City Council Leader, I built more council and social homes than Manchester had built in 25 years,” Bev Craig declared. “But we need to go further and faster in every bit of Greater Manchester.
“We will be leading by example when it comes to freeing up disused and dormant public land for development and I’m calling on other Government bodies to join us.
“I know first-hand the security that a Council house brings, and that’s why I am absolutely committed to delivering the Council and social homes that people here in Greater Manchester need, so everyone can have the foundation of a good life in our city region.”
Currently, land supply for 78,585 new homes of all tenures up to 2030 has been identified.
Greater Manchester is in line to receive an initial £1.8 billion from the Government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and the Mayor will meet with Government in the coming weeks to set out joint plans to achieve these ambitions.
Featured Image – Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
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Government sets out multi-million-pound plan to move UK away from animal testing in science
Emily Sergeant
A £22m push to ramp up the UK’s move away from animal testing in science is set to bring together cutting-edge tech and research.
The latest figures show there were 2.54 million animal testing procedures in Great Britain in 2025, which is down 3.8% on 2024, but with a further update due to be released later this year, the Government is now moving to ‘capitalise’ on that momentum with funding to shift the nation onto alternative testing options.
A dedicated national research hub and nine new high-tech projects are planned to develop ‘better ways’ to test medicines on human biology rather than animals.
According to the Government, this means treatments for conditions like cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could be developed ‘faster’ and ‘more precisely’ to not only help patients but crucially also move science away from traditional animal testing.
At the heart of the plans is a new Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub – based in Cambridge and backed by £20 million in Government funding, which will work to build and share models of human tissue, grown from NHS patients, to test new treatments.
The new hub will accelerate the development of testing on ‘organoids’ – tiny, simplified versions of a human gut, tumour or brain, using cells donated by patients.
From beating heart cells in a dish to AI that can predict how drugs move through the body, exciting alternatives to animal testing are transforming medical research.
We're investing £22m to help scientists develop the next generation of life-saving treatments. pic.twitter.com/1EWRQvwySa
— Dept. for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (@biztradegovuk) August 12, 2026
Because these ‘organoids’ retain crucial features of a patient’s own biology, they will help researchers learn how a real person may respond to a drug and provide additional insights that can complement information that is currently obtained from animals.
Scientists will then be able to use these cutting-edge techniques in their own labs to work out which medicines are worth pursuing.
Overall, it’s hoped that the move will slash the time it takes to get ‘potentially life-changing’ treatments to market.
Alongside the funding for the new Hub, nine cutting-edge projects aimed at identifying new methods of animal-free scientific testing – from beating heart cells in a dish, to lab-grown human ear models, and AI that predicts how medicines move through the body – are being funded.
Sadly, many of these still rely on testing on dogs and monkeys, as it stands.
“This marks another significant step forward in the UK’s move away from animal testing in science and research,” commented Science Minister Chris McDonald.
“This is all about backing our world-leading researchers and innovators to improve lives, giving them the tools they need to deliver more effective treatments for horrendous diseases like cancer, while also preventing the need for animal testing wherever possible.
“It’s also a boost for our life sciences sector, fuelling opportunities for new investment and new jobs, and ensuring Britain is better off.”
Emily Sergeant -
16th March 2022 
