Residents of Weaste are fighting plans to build 35 homes on the site of Winterbottom Reservoir, a former community fishery and green space closed to the public around nine years ago. More than 150 objections have been submitted on the council's planning portal, alongside letters from ward councillors and MP Rebecca Long-Bailey.
Yasmin Holgeth, a 37-year-old NHS worker, said she regularly stops to look through a 1.5-metre gap in a brick wall along Liverpool Street to see the reservoir. "It settles my mind coming here to look at the reservoir," she said. "I wish we could still get onto it, but I come and look through this crack in the fence and it gives me a sense of calm, watching the herons, the fish swimming about."
Development plans and support
Developer Martin Bury has tabled plans to concrete over the lake, which stretches from Liverpool Street to Dodd Street, and build 35 new homes. The project has been supported by social housing landlord ForHousing, which says it would provide 'much-needed' affordable homes and bring privately-owned land back into public use. According to its website, the projected construction start date is February 2027.
ForHousing's executive director of investment and growth, Clare Tostevin, said: "Our plans for Edgewater View will see 35 much-needed social homes built for local people on land that is currently unused and privately owned, bringing the site back into public use. Over the past year, we've been working closely with the council on the site design to make sure the scheme is right for the area. As part of the ongoing planning process, the drainage for the scheme will be carefully considered as part of approval by the council, ensuring that all requirements are met."
Community opposition and history
Residents argue the reservoir is a vital community asset. Vivienne Kelly-Dolen, 71, a retired NHS worker, said she was 'horrified' to learn about the plans. "It would just be a massive loss to the whole community. People used to travel here to fish, bring their children, and watch the wildlife. We need to get that back. It's really precious, and when that's gone, that's it."
Doreen Burns, 79, who volunteers at the Cornerstone cafe, said her husband used to fish at the site, with anglers keeping the reservoir in an 'immaculate' state. "We're one hundred years old as a city this year, yet we're not protecting spaces like this, which are more than a hundred years old and part of our history," she added.
The land, formerly linked with Weaste's cotton-spinning industrial history, was once part of the Chandos Sports and Social Club. The club was forced to sell the plot to survive, according to its treasurer Irene Travis, after struggling with maintenance costs for the fishery and bowling green.
Flooding concerns and campaign
Campaigners also worry about flooding. A previous attempt to fill in the reservoir reportedly ended in 'disaster', with the lake claiming a digger and nearby homes left with flooded basements. Jane Jones, who has lived in Weaste for most of her life, said: "The area is known to flood, but in all the decades I've lived here, I'd never had any problems until they tried to drain the reservoir. I came downstairs one day to find my basement, where my husband keeps thousands of pounds of tools, centimetres deep in water."
The council's flood risk manager Matt Ryan said in a statement on the planning application that plans as they currently stand would 'lead to onerous maintenance issues and a risk of flooding'.
Four people commented in favour of the development. People close to the Chandos Sports and Social Club say members have been left with the chore of tidying up and fixing fencing to stop trespassers and vandals. "That wouldn't happen if this was all housing," they said.
A petition to save the reservoir has gathered more than 240 signatures. MP Rebecca Long-Bailey said: "It's such a community asset, it's of vital historical importance, it's also a vital biodiversity site right in the heart of Salford teeming with wildlife and fish. The ultimate goal is to turn it back into a community fishery that local groups can use for their mental health. At the moment it's just being left and not opened up to the community in the way it should. I hope the developers rethink their proposal."
Local councillors Paul Doyle and Charlotte Youd have lent their support to the campaign, though they acknowledged there was a 'long road ahead' to returning the reservoir into a community asset.
