Council leader Tom Ross on the Wharfside Regeneration Masterplan
How Trafford Wharfside could look (Image: Allies and Morrison Architects )
A vision to transform Old Trafford into a ‘world class’ place to live, work and visit has now been revealed.
Heralded a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’, the catalyst for the project will be the new 100,000-seater Manchester United Stadium. But the plan goes far beyond that.
Trafford’s Wharfside Regeneration Masterplan promises around 15,000 new homes, 48,000 new jobs, a possible new train station, green spaces and places for a new community to come together to eat, drink, shop and play.
Council leader Tom Ross wants to transform the land around the Old Trafford football grounds into a place where new and existing residents and businesses can thrive. He has lauded the Wharfside regeneration masterplan a ‘foundation’ for ‘future success’ in Trafford.
He said: “What other local authority wouldn’t tear their right arm off to have the opportunity to be able to create something like this? We will make Trafford Wharfside a world-class place to live, visit and work […]
“We want more people to be able to share in our borough’s success. More people able to live in Trafford, work in Trafford and enjoy Trafford. So, what we are doing today is laying down the foundations for future success.
“For future generations to inherit a borough that is better for them. That is greener for them, that is more open, with more jobs and more homes available for them. To live next to the most famous club in the world that has the World Class facilities to match.”
As a resident in the area himself, Coun Ross said this would be a ‘very exciting thing to have on [his] doorstep’. But the council has to ‘make sure it works’ for existing residents, too, he said.
He added: “It isn’t something that stands as an island separated from what’s going on in the rest of the borough. We want to make sure that we’ve got good access to healthcare and education provision.
“Most importantly for me, I want to make sure that the young people have opportunities that come from this regeneration, whether that be through jobs potentially in training or housing, affordable housing to move to when they get older.”
No target has been set at this stage for how many of the new homes will be built as either ‘affordable’ or ‘social’ housing. However, Coun Ross said he wants to see ‘as much as possible’ fall into these categories.
The proposed regeneration of the Old Trafford area(Image: Allies and Morrison Architects )
While the masterplan has now been revealed, a lot of details around the scheme are still to be worked out. These include discussions around delivering the services new and current residents will need.
Coun Ross said those discussions are already underway: “They’re the first questions that residents are asking and will be asking and quite right too […] We’ll look at future school places both at a primary and a secondary level and look at what we need to do to work with existing schools to expand or develop new school sites as well.
“In terms of healthcare, we’re already having those discussions with our local NHS partners around what the future looks like with this redevelopment and wider pieces across the north of the borough as well. [We recognise] that people need access to GPs, to dentists, first and foremost, so we’re looking at ways of doing that and working closely now with the local NHS so we get it right in the medium to long-term.”
Getting transport infrastructure right will also be a key challenge when it comes to such a large development. The council is aiming reduce the number of people driving into the area, particularly on game days, with ambitions to improve public transport to the Wharfside area.
Tom Ross, Labour leader of Trafford Council(Image: Trafford Council)
Among the potential options is the reopening of the former Manchester United Station. Coun Ross said: “That will clearly serve people coming in to go and watch Manchester United play, but will also serve the new population that lives around that northern part of Trafford and indeed the Quays area as well.
“So that again will involve working with our transport providers, you know, local Transport for Greater Manchester Network to make sure that we can deliver that.”
He added: “I experience getting stuck in traffic on matchdays or seeing people park in front of my house, so anything that reduces that is a benefit.”
The council believes the scheme could create around 48,000 new jobs. These would be across a ‘huge range’ of industries, Coun Ross said.
“You’ve got to look at the design, architecture, construction, road and highway management, public transport management. That’s all part of it. The jobs that will come with the club, the jobs that will come with different businesses that open up in the area.
“There’s a huge range of different jobs that are available. So we’re already working with existing colleges like Trafford College to look at what this can look like in terms of their future courses to make sure that we’re ready for what’s about to happen and we’ll work on a Greater Manchester level as well to make sure that we’ve got the right skills to support what is a massive regeneration project.”
The Wharfside masterplan promises a ‘network of attractive neighbourhoods’(Image: Allies and Morrison Architects )
Progressing the vision for the area to this stage has not always been smooth sailing, however. United had originally been in talks with Freightliner to acquire land behind the Stretford End, but those talks stalled, resulting in the club finding a new site for its proposed future stadium.
The council hopes the Freightliner land could still be brought into the development, however. Coun Ross said those conversations will be ongoing, but housing could eventually be built there instead.
He said: “That’s not for now. That’s a longer term conversation that we’ll continue to have with Freightliner. I would say going ahead a few years from now, that’s when we’ll start to see that particular element of land being potentially developed, but that dialogue’s really important with Freightliner still.”
It is not just the Old Trafford area that will benefit from this investment, Coun Ross believes. He said: “There’s a new stadium to look forward to. For people that are looking for jobs and opportunities, there’ll be a huge amount of opportunity available there.
“For people who’ve grown up in Trafford and wish to stay in Trafford, a prospect of affordable housing. For people that enjoy a walk into the city centre along the canal, a much more attractive prospect there.
“For people that like a night out by a riverside or a waterside, more potential in terms of what we do along the waterfront. So there’s loads of ways in which the existing residents of Trafford will benefit from this project.
“It’s a long term project and it won’t be built tomorrow, but each step of the way we want to make sure that we work with our existing residents and businesses.”
While finding funding for the stadium itself is the responsibility of the football club, questions remain over how the rest of the project will be funded.
Coun Ross said grant funding will be key to this, but he believes that will be forthcoming: “There will be grant funding coming through because the government’s priority at the moment is housing. So that means that there will be active conversations with the government, with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with Homes England about how we deliver that.”
A public consultation on the scheme is expected to be launched later this month, with Coun Ross urging residents to get involved and make their thoughts known.
To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login