Announced this morning: the BBC’s �400m North Project - taking BBC Sport, Children’s BBC, Radio Five Live, Formal Learning and New Media out of London - has opted for Salford’s MediaCity:UK.

Media Guardian, which published the news as a story before the BBC itself, quotes an official statement saying that this decision “marks a significant step forward in realising a vision for a less London-centric BBC”.

Here’s the original press release and the BBC’s follow-up article. Note the final decision will not be taken “until the licence fee settlement is known”. At the moment Salford Quays has a period of exclusivity.

The BBC’s current Manchester base - New Broadcasting House on Oxford Road - will close in 2010.

Personally, I was hoping the “creative village” solution, incorporating ITV and situated in the city centre, would be chosen.

The shortlisted Media Zone - on Manchester’s “Central Spine” just off Whitworth Street - also looked promising:

I can undestand why they’ve gone for the Quays though - anything in Manchester city centre is or will be restricted for space. The Central Spine option covered just 20-acres, compared to the Quays’ 200-acres.

Despite being just two miles away, Salford Quays feels like a different universe to most Mancunians.