City shopping centre needs improving, mayor says

Salford Shopping Centre in Pendleton is home to a mix of shops as well as food and drinks outlets

A new masterplan is needed to improve a major shopping centre visited more than six million times a year, a city's mayor has said.

Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett said he wanted to see the council and landowners work together to create a new blueprint for Salford Shopping Centre in Pendleton after the authority had "invested large sums" in the surrounding area.

Known locally as Salford precinct, the shopping centre has an annual footfall of about 6.5m visits a year according to its owners Praxis Holdings.

The firm was approached for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The 81-unit shopping centre was first built in 1972 and has been refurbished several times in its fifty-year history.

Mr Dennett said: "We have invested large sums of money in and around the precinct.

"If you look at some of the infrastructure that we've put in, the pavements, the bus stops, we have our credit union there, there's a new youth zone very close to there.

"For me there's a huge opportunity here to start to join up the dots and hopefully work together."

The city mayor stressed the importance of the precinct's affordable shops, calling it an "absolute hub" in the community.

His comments come after the government recently announced Pendleton could get up to £20m of funding over the next 10 years as one of several "trailblazer" neighbourhoods across the country.

Meanwhile, £13m Salford Youth Zone has recently opened, providing activities for young people seven days a week.