Close to 300 Stretford homes up for approval

Trafford Council will weigh in on two applications next Thursday: its own proposals for 251 homes as part of the Stretford Mall redevelopment and Promenade Estates’ residential revamp of the former Stretford Memorial Hospital.

Both projects have been recommended for approval by council officers.

Stretford Mall

• Application reference: 118672/RES/26

The 50/50 joint venture between Trafford Council and Bruntwood has detailed its proposals for the first residential plot on the former Stretford Mall site off Chester Road.

The plans include 120 one-bed flats, 115 two-bed apartments, and 16 three-bed duplexes in three blocks reaching up to 10 storeys in height. There will also be a private courtyard for residents, a nearly two-acre public park, and to ground floor retail units on the southwest corner.

There are no affordable homes included in the proposals, which is being supported by £24m from the £2bn Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund.

The approved masterplan for the mall site requires a 25% affordable housing provision for its entire 800 homes. While this plot does not have any, the joint venture promised that the remaining 552 would include the 200 affordable homes required.

There is no car parking provided on site for residents. However, the scheme is next to a multi-storey car park.

The project team for the scheme includes Deloitte, Re-form, AHR, Royal Pilgrim, BB7, Renaissance, Curtins, Bidwells, TACE, Harley Haddow, GIA, Jameson Acoustics, BWB Consulting, Steven Levrant Heritage Architecture, Bidwells, Bruntwood, and Brooks Ecology.

Buttress is leading on the designs for the redevelopment of Stretford Memorial Hospital. Credit: Promenade Estates

Stretford Memorial Hospital

• Application reference: 118032/FUL/25

The birthplace of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis is due to be transformed into six apartments, should Promenade Estates be successful in its application for the former Stretford Memorial Hospital.

Promenade acquired the site in 2022 from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The most historic building on the site, Basford House, was once a maternity hospital. It is this building that will be reconfigured to form six two-bed apartments.

Elsewhere on the site, Promenade and its delivery partner Brack Construction would build 29 houses with between three and four bedrooms. The proposed house types include terraced houses, semi-detached residences, and detached ones.

There are 66 car parking spaces proposed as part of the project, as well as 106 cycle storage bays.

The project has an estimated construction cost of £15m.

If successful in its planning application bid, work could begin on site in September.

Daniel Hynd, managing director of Promenade Estates, was optimistic about the application.

“This has been a collaborative effort with the local authority’s planning and conservation teams, and I am pleased that it will shortly be before the committee for deliberation,” he said.

“We’ve been able to make Basford House safe whilst working up our wider proposals and will continue to work with the council’s heritage team during construction, should consent be granted, when more elements become accessible for inspection.  We want the development to be an exemplar for our ‘brownfield first’ strategy, and our desire to deliver high quality homes.”

Buttress Architects designed the proposals for Promenade Estates. The project team also includes LDA Design, Cre8 Land and Planning, Steven Levrant Heritage Architect, Tetra Tech, Mode Transport Planning, and Adept.