Growing Places finances Peel’s Partington retail project

Peel has received a loan from the £100m Greater Manchester Investment Fund to develop a new district centre in Partington, Trafford anchored by Tesco and Heron Frozen Food.

Peel said it expects to start on site within four to six months and the 17,000 sq ft centre will take eight months to build.

There will be nine units, with seven already prelet to Tesco, Heron Frozen Food, a bakers shop, a bookmakers, a national charity shop, a newsagents and a fish and chip shop, with two units still available.

The new centre will also provide 7,000 sq ft of flexible first-floor space accessed by a lift, and the first occupier upstairs will be a hairdresser.

A new square accommodating market stalls will be constructed, along with a 126-space car park.

Louise Morrissey, director of land and planning at Peel, said: "We are confident that this development, once built, will make an enormous difference to Partington and will result in the creation of a vibrant new community shopping centre with much improved amenities for the people of Partington.

"We have waited a long time to bring this scheme together, with market conditions preventing development until now. We have been able to bring this development forward at this time with the help of the Greater Manchester Growing Places Fund, a division of Greater Manchester Investment Fund, which has provided us with a cash flow loan to facilitate the building of the shopping scheme in what remain difficult economic times.

"Tesco have shown a great commitment to Partington, enabling the whole scheme to proceed with a reliable household brand.

"This is a classic example of everyone working together to help make something happen. We would like to thank Trafford Council Members and Officers, all the Town Councillors for their continued help and support with these proposals. We would also like to thank the residents of Partington Village for their patience and understanding."

Mike Blackburn, chairman of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, overseeing the Greater Manchester Investment Fund, said: "The Greater Manchester Investment Fund supports projects that drive economic growth and jobs. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was impressed with the development proposal from Peel for a new neighbourhood centre and has invested Growing Places funding from GMIF. The development will also support longer term the wider regeneration of the area."

The new centre is part of the wider vision for Partington, which includes the delivery of 550 family homes at Lock Lane and Hall Lane on the canal water front and the provision of a Green Loop providing a four mile recreation route circling the village.