Salford council to revisit 78‑storey Ordsall tower after conflict‑of‑interest ruling

Plans for a landmark development at Regent Retail Park in Ordsall, Salford, including a proposed 78‑storey tower, must be reconsidered by the city’s planning committee after the council’s legal department upheld a complaint that the original approval involved a procedural conflict of interest.

Development set to reshape skyline and housing supply

The scheme, designed by Matt Brook Architecture for Henley Investment Management, was granted planning consent in November last year. The application proposes a £1.3bn development on the retail park site comprising 3,300 homes across ten buildings, one of which would rise to 78 storeys — a height that would make it the tallest tower in the North West outside London and the third tallest in the UK after the Shard and 22 Bishopsgate.

The proposals also include 10,000 sq m of retail and community space intended to replace the existing shopping centre. Henley bought the retail park from M&G in 2020 for £16m.

Local opposition and earlier delays

The plan has already faced substantial local resistance. More than 460 objections were submitted to the planning application and over 4,300 people signed two petitions opposing the scheme before it was approved. The application was deferred for three months last year amid concerns over its affordable housing offer and possible traffic impacts in the surrounding area.

A campaign group, Save Regent Retail Park, lodged a formal complaint earlier this year alleging a conflict of interest involving the chair of Salford’s planning committee, Phil Cusack. At the time of the committee hearing that approved the scheme, Cusack was listed as a director of Salford council’s affordable housing company, Derive. The campaign group argued that Derive might later be involved in providing social rent homes for the scheme’s affordable housing element.

"There had been a ‘procedural conflict of interest’,"

Those concerns have now been upheld by the council’s legal department, which found a procedural conflict of interest in the way the decision was reached. The ruling means the application remains on the council’s planning portal but will need to be brought back before the planning committee for fresh consideration.

What’s at stake for Salford

The setback is the latest in a series of delays for Henley’s proposals. If constructed as promoted, the development would deliver a substantial number of new homes and replace the existing retail offer with modern retail and community space — but it also raises questions about local infrastructure, transport, and the character of Ordsall’s skyline.

• Homes proposed: 3,300
• Tallest building: 78 storeys
• Estimated value: £1.3bn
• Retail/community space: 10,000 sq m
• Previous objections/petitions: 460+ objections; 4,300+ petition signatures

The council has not announced a new date for the planning committee to reconsider the application. The decision to require a fresh committee hearing is procedural, but it places renewed focus on how the council manages conflicts and on whether the revised process will alter the fate of a scheme that has already been contentious with residents.

Next steps

The application remains live on the Salford council planning portal and is expected to return to committee at a future meeting. For local residents the key issues will remain unchanged: how many genuinely affordable homes will be delivered, what traffic and transport measures will be put in place, and whether such a tall building is the right fit for Ordsall.

For a city that has seen rapid change in recent years, the case highlights how planning decisions, transparency and local voice remain central to Salford’s development. With the application due back before councillors, the debate over scale, homes and neighbourhood impact is far from finished.