Big wheel lined up for Trafford Centre over festive period

Intu Properties has applied to Trafford Council to erect a big wheel reaching to a height of 35m, or 115ft, in the car park of the Trafford Centre as part of its Christmas entertainment plans.

It would be the first time the Trafford Centre has hosted a big wheel. The wheel reserved pending planning approval is the same model as used in Piccadilly Gardens several years ago, and slightly smaller than that outside the Corn Exchange more recently, which is less transportable and unsuited to shorter stays.

Manchester-based De Koning Leisure owns and will operate the wheel, built last year in the Netherlands by Reuzenrad Bouw Lamberink, on a shared turnover rent with Intu.

The enclosed-carriages wheel will occupy around 5,000 sq ft of the car park and have a capacity of 144 passengers.

Intu was advised by Leach Rhodes Walker, Aaron & Partners, Geotechnics and Mott Macdonald.

Pending planning the wheel is due to operate between 11am and 10pm from 1 October to 31 December.

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This will give a lovely view of the car park.

By Paul

To look at what, exactly?

Pointless.

By zebith

Trafford??????? lol

By JOAN

I’d rather have a wheel here than ruining our city centres. Thankfully the Manchester one has gone.

By Rudd

Wheel in Liverpool on the waterfront next to the world famous Albert Dock is not in the city centre, and looks stunning like the surroundings.

By JOAN

Wheel on the Liverpool waterfront actually looks great when i visited from Manchester i agree when we had the wheel in Manchester city centre it looked awful and tacky with ygly views of high rise flats.

By frank

The Albert Dock is not “world famous”. How utterly deluded.

By Delusional

Define “world famous”; its a fairly meaningless expression, as it only takes one person outside of the UK to know of the subject.

I can say that I’ve spoken to Americans and Australians who knew of the Albert Dock and wanted to visit, so by that (low) threshold, it is indeed “world famous”.

By zebith

Albert Dock is on the Liverpool waterfront which is actually world famous !
The Albert Dock is actually the first non-combustible warehouse system in the world and neighbouring Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse is a grade II listed building and is the world’s largest brick warehouse.

By frank

The Liver biulding was the worlds first skyscraper )

By frank

Britons first skyscraper with clock face larger than Big Ben in the capital

By frank

Trafford is a mess i live there .

By Jackie

Trafford has the highest house prices this side of the pennines and the best schools outside of London.

By AJB

Trafford is a mess Jackie? God help the other boroughs of GM then.

By Anonymous

Trafford Centre is packed in the run up to Christmas. And so are the car parks. Great idea to reduce the space.

By DH

Seems a good idea as can see a long way from the Barton Bridge including Manchester City Centre…ALBERT DOCKS is indeed WORLD FAMOUS ……

By Schwyz

You would have thought that in 2016, Manchester would have moved on from this type of dreary gimmick. Wheels are fine if they are like the London eye, but not if they are like that Chav magnet in Piccadilly gardens we had to endure a few years ago.

By Anonymous

Neither Albert Dock nor the scouse waterfront is remotely “world famous”. Liverpool is known for the Beatles and LFC and that’s pretty much it. To claim otherwise is simply delusional (if amusing to the outsider) self aggrandising nonsense.

By Delusional

It’s a World Heritage Site and is the largest group of Grade 1 listed buildings in the country! Speaks for itself really!
I don’t like the Trafford Centre, I’ve been once and vowed never to go again.

By Alfie

Most people in the UK couldn’t tell you where the Albert Docks are.

By Karl

Look mam, I can see the sewage works!!

Speaks to Peel holdings lack of comprehension of what is attractive. Only they could thing that people want a better view of a motorway, an artificial ski slope and their horrifically ugly shopping centre with all it’s tacky mock Roman or Greek tat.

By Noblelox

They all know where Liverpool is… the Trafford Centre???… I don’t think so.

By Alfie

Trafford is slumsville

By David

So reducing the amount of car parking at Christmas and increasing the queues on the M60 is god idea?

By ChesneyT

Come on people.

Whatever the view from the top, the kids are going to see a big wheel and ask Mummy and Daddy to go on it. “Oh, Pleeease” result = ££££££ for the operator provided there is enough footfall in the vicinity i.e. the massive TC car park.

It’ll only occupy about 30 car park spaces.

By Optimist

Good grief, the standards of comments on this site is getting worse than the morons on SSC. He said / she said. Give it up. You’re embarrassing yourselves

By tricky

Liverpool waterfront is one of the world’s great waterfronts and without doubt Europe’s greatest,with the possible exception of Oporto.

By Elephant

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