Four-year wait for 1m sq ft Carrington sheds nears crescendo
Wain Estates’ Junction scheme has been stuck in the planning system since 2022 but Trafford Council is set to approve it next week despite concerns about the loss of 10,000 trees.
The 1m sq ft industrial and logistics development on 78 acres west of Isherwood Road – part of the former Shell petrochemical site in Carrington – features three sheds of 500,000 sq ft, 400,000 sq ft and 80,000 sq ft, as well as 17 acres of open storage space.
Wain Estates submitted its outline application for Junction in 2022 and has revised the project at intervals in a bid to satisfy various objections, including in relation to the loss of an area of woodland that includes 10,000 trees.
Indeed, the loss of most of a 16-acre area designated as a site of biological importance is chief among the objections put forward.
However, Wain Estates has refused a request from Trafford Council to rework the proposals so that the woodland remains untouched, stating it would make the scheme unviable, according to a 135-page Trafford Council planning report.
By way of compensation for the loss of the SBI, the developer is proposing just shy of 40 acres of replacement woodland nearby to the east and south of the application site.
Trafford Council’s planning committee has been recommended to approve the application next Thursday. Officers claim that that the benefits of the scheme outweigh then harm caused by the loss of the SBI.
Among the benefits are a projected annual £100m GVA boost to the local economy and a £12m contribution towards the creation of the £130m Carrington Relief Road, a key piece of infrastructure for the 2,800-acre New Carrington masterplan.
Another benefit of approving the plans would be the potential knock-on effect with regards to unlocking the New Carrington masterplan. Wain Estates is the largest landowner within the masterplan and claims it requires a return on its investment to date to press ahead with other schemes it has approval for but has been unable to deliver due to cashflow issues. For example, “cashflow from Carrington Junction will allow the Sale West and Partington East [c.2,200 homes] residential schemes to come forward”, according to the planning report.
In total, New Carrington is earmarked for the creation of more than 5,000 homes and 3.8m sq ft of employment space in Places for Everyone.
Wain Estates, previously known as Himor, is working with Emery Planning and UMC Architects on its proposals.
To learn more about the plans, search for reference number 109755/OUT/22 on Trafford Council’s planning portal.
Replacement woodland? Trees cant just be replaced, it takes decades for trees to reach maturity.
By Anonymous
All that brownfield land to the west and they choose to build on the only vegetated section of the site. Poor Ents.
By Swampy
In the third to last paragraph it states the “emerging Places for Everyone plan” which is a mistake; the plan was adopted in 2024.
By Anonymous
You are quite correct! I’ve corrected the story to include the final New Carrington allocation numbers as well. Apologies for the time travel there.
By Julia Hatmaker
That’s just it – trees can be replaced. They grow on trees.
By Anonymous
That would be ‘climax’ not ‘crescendo’.
By Anonymous
A mature woodland contains decades of accumulated biodiversity, soil networks, and ecological complexity that a newly planted forest cannot replicate, which is why it cannot simply be replaced.
By Anonymous