Featured image credit: Manchester United
Trafford Council has launched a tender process to secure a consultant team to help shape a high-profile strategic masterplan for the regeneration of the Trafford Wharfside area, of which Manchester United’s stadium project will be a focal point.
The successful consultant will work with Trafford Council alongside the Premier League club, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and other key partners to deliver a “transformational and sustainable international destination” for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors.
A report which went to the Trafford Council Executive revealed the regeneration proposals could create around 48,000 new jobs in the borough and add £4.2bn (€5.01bn/$5.21bn) to the local economy.
The vision, given the green light by the Executive, supports the Council’s priorities to reducing health inequalities, supporting people out of poverty and addressing the climate crisis. It intends to create a greener, more natural place in which to live and visit.
The Wharfside Strategic Masterplan would cover a much wider area than previous planning documents and could deliver up to 15,000 homes over the lifetime of the project, compared to the earlier envisioned figure of around 5,000. The tender process launched yesterday (Tuesday), with offers accepted through to February 24.
Cllr Liz Patel, Trafford Council’s Executive member for Economy and Regeneration, said: “The Trafford Wharfside masterplan offers a regeneration vision for a hugely important area within Trafford which takes in the world-famous sporting institution that is Manchester United as well as other major sites including the Imperial War Museum and the Manchester Ship Canal.
“We are now on the lookout for a world-class consultant team to shape the vision for the area. This is a hugely exciting project and working with our partners and private developers, we will be looking to create thousands of new homes, new neighbourhoods and help create a world-class setting for the Manchester United stadium.”
In recent days, United’s plans to regenerate the area around Old Trafford have been backed by the UK Treasury, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves championing the project as a “shining example” of the government’s plans to promote economic growth.
United welcomed the announcement of government support for the project, which centres on the development of a new “world-class” stadium. The club is yet to announce whether it will pursue a redevelopment of the current Old Trafford or build a new stadium from scratch.
The GMCA last week set out plans to form a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) for the Old Trafford area of Manchester. The GMCA set out an ambitious 10-year plan to “turbocharge growth” and deliver tens of thousands of new jobs and homes for its residents through pioneering a new way of delivering large-scale development and transformative regeneration.
Proposals would see the whole Greater Manchester system mobilised to deliver £1bn of investment every year for the next decade and build homes on a scale and at a pace not seen in the past 20 years.
At the heart of the plan is the creation of a single pipeline for growth, which would target investment at six Growth Locations across Greater Manchester. The area around United’s stadium in Old Trafford has been listed as a focal point of the Western Gateway Growth Location, with plans to create new housing, commercial and public space around a new 100,000-seat stadium, or a refurbished 87,000-capacity ground.
The Old Trafford Regeneration Scheme is said to represent the biggest sports-led regeneration scheme in the UK since the London 2012 Olympic Games. The GMCA’s masterplan comes after the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force this month announced that it had completed its initial feasibility work to explore options for a new or redeveloped Old Trafford.
An Options Report has been submitted by the Task Force to executive bodies at United, the GMCA and Trafford Borough Council. The Task Force, which was set up last March to oversee options for the regeneration of the Old Trafford area, has determined that a redeveloped Old Trafford could increase the capacity of the existing stadium to 87,000, while a new-build stadium would allow capacity to reach 100,000.
United said that both options remain under consideration, with the club set to decide on its preferred approach ahead of the summer.
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