Trafford finalises local plan for government submission
The local authority has outlined where it expects developers to deliver the 19,077 homes, 5m sq ft of employment space, and 1.7m sq ft of offices required by Greater Manchester’s Places for Everyone.
Trafford Council’s emerging local plan has reached its next milestone, with councillors voting to open the latest draft for consultation on its legal soundness ahead of the document being submitting to government in December. Trafford Council hopes to have the local plan adopted in 2027 or 2028.
Local plans are requirements from central government and provide an overview of where development should take place. The plan developed by Trafford Council would be effective up to 2039.
As part of Greater Manchester, Trafford’s local plan sits alongside the combined authority’s broader place-based strategic framework: Places for Everyone.
In order to meet the goals of PfE, the emerging Trafford local plan includes more than 20 allocated sites for residential, office, and industrial development – in addition to the two sites already allocated in PfE: Davenport Green and New Carrington.
Davenport Green is allocated for 2,500 homes and 645,800 sq ft of commercial floorspace in PfE. New Carrington is allocated for 5,000 homes and 3.8m sq ft of industrial floorspace.
Trafford’s emerging local plan has already been through several rounds of public consultation, notably during the spring and autumn of last year.
Subsequent changes have included the removal of more than 40 allocated sites from the plan – most of these situated in the North of the borough. The removal of the sites shows a shift in focus for the council’s local plan, with the local authority opting to only featuring allocations for sites that can host a large amount of development.
Trafford Council officers had decided that many of these smaller sites would not benefit from allocation in the local plan and would come through via planning regardless.
Other changes included adding quantified housing mix targets by locality, providing a clear viability review mechanisms around affordable housing, and expanded policies around co-living, HMOs, and self-build homes.
Even with the removal of more than a dozen sites from North Trafford, this part of the borough still has the most development allocations within the local plan, accounting for 76% of the sites included.
Of the allocated sites, 75% are brownfield land and another 10% represent a mix of brownfield and greenfield land.
The site with the largest residential allocation is Trafford Wharfside, which is allocated 8,400 homes within the plan period. The largest employment site is the Kellogg’s Plant, with 484,400 sq ft of employment space allocated. The largest office site is Trafford Waters with 861,100 sq ft of offices allocated.
The local plan also issues policies around carbon emission reductions for development and a mandate that projects be energy efficient, support renewable and low-carbon energy, factor in climate resilience, and deliver measurable biodiversity gains. Developments must also avoid unnecessary demolition and reuse materials when able. Contributions to wider infrastructure improvements, particularly around transport, are expected.
In addition to housing and employment land, the local plan also provides for 3,200 acres of open space. However, this is comprised mostly of existing open spaces.
Returning to development: you can find a list of the sites allocated for development within the local plan below. The list does not include the PfE allocated Davenport Green and New Carrington.
Numbers in parathesis are the total number of homes that the site is expected to hold – but not necessarily within the period of time within the local plan.
- Wharfside – 358 acres, 8,400 homes (15,000 homes)
- Civic Quarter – 133 acres, 4,000 homes and 538,200 sq ft of offices
- Trafford Waters – 74 acres, 2,200 homes (3,000 homes) and 861,100 sq ft of offices
- Pomona – 37 acres, 1,950 homes (3,200 homes) and 753,500 sq ft of offices
- Stretford Mall – 9 acres, 750 homes and 107,600 sq ft of offices
- Land west of Skerton Road in Old Trafford – 6 acres, 540 homes
- 499 Chester Road in Old Trafford – 1 acre, 285 homes
- 88-118 Chorlton Road in Old Trafford – 4 acres, 188 homes
- Land on Brixham Road in Old Trafford – 3 acres, 145 homes
- Land at Lacy Street in Stretford – 2 acres, 52 homes
- Empress Mill, former Trafford Press, Veno Building and adjacent land – 3 acres, 146 homes
- Land at Thomas Street in Streford – 8 acres, 180 homes
- Kellogg’s Plant – 29 acres, 484,400 sq ft employment space
- Site of SCA Hygiene Products in Trafford Park – 7 acres, 116,300 sq ft of employment space
- 2 Brindley Road in Old Trafford – 10 acres, 204,500 sq ft of employment space
- Land at Okafield Road in Altrincham – 4 acres, 100 homes
- Land at New Street in Altrincham – 2 acres, 88 homes
- Land at Moss Lane and Balmoral Road in Altrincham – 2 acres, 60 homes
- Land at Dairyhouse Lane in Broadheath – 8.5 acres, 129,600 sq ft employment land
- Land at Stanley Square in Sale – 1.5 acres, 75 homes
- Land at Sale Lido and Oaklands Drive in Sale – 2 acres, 50 homes
For those wishing for more detail on the sites, the site allocations start on page 266 of the draft local plan pdf.
