Council officers want homes and a multi-storey car park on the former Altair site, not a food store. The Executive decides on Monday 19 October; no home count yet.
The empty land behind Altrincham Interchange, long known as the Altair site, should be used mainly for homes rather than a supermarket. That is the recommendation to Trafford Council’s Executive, which meets on Monday 19 October.
Under the recommended option, the 320 surface parking spaces used by Move Altrincham and the Interchange would move into a multi-storey “mobility hub”. That frees the rest of the land for housing.
The report does not say how many homes. It commits the council to nothing beyond more survey and design work. It is still the first firm direction for the site since the council took it back in 2024.
What the Executive is asked to approve
The report to the Executive asks members to:
- approve the principle of residential-led development on the Oakfield Road and Moss Lane site
- approve more work to “de-risk and ready the site for market”, paid for at first with grant
- let the council’s Place director agree grant funding and other contracts needed for that work
The meeting starts at 6.30pm at Trafford Town Hall in Stretford. The papers are on the council’s agenda page.
Homes or a food store: the choice
Officers say the site cannot take everything. It is hemmed in by the Interchange, the ice rink and Move Altrincham, so the council has to pick one of two directions.
| Retail-led | Residential-led (recommended) | |
|---|---|---|
| Main use | A food store with “significant dedicated surface level car parking” | Homes, with some ground-floor shops and other uses |
| Housing | Some, around the ice rink and Moss Lane | “Delivery of housing units at scale” |
| Parking for Move Altrincham and the Interchange | Would need replacing | Kept, inside a multi-storey mobility hub |
| Money | An earlier sale receipt, cut by the cost of dealing with the ice rink and replacement parking | Viability “challenges”, returns over a longer period, phased |
The report says the case for homes is strong. Building close to the Interchange supports “higher-density development”. Putting the parking in one hub could release land for public space and better walking routes. The report also allows for “increased height and massing where appropriate”, designed with the town’s heritage in mind.
On money, it calls the choice “finely balanced”. Selling part of the land to a food store operator stays open as a fallback, the report says.
What happens to the ice rink
The rink is on a long lease to Planet Ice and stays for now. The report says a homes-led plan “works alongside the existing ice rink”. The rink “could form part of a future residential phase”. The phased approach gives Planet Ice time “to consider its long-term plans and willingness to invest in the Altrincham site”.
So the report does not close the rink, and it does not guarantee its future either.
The money so far
According to the report:
- the council has spent £2.03m on the site, mostly to buy it back, backed by a Savills valuation
- owning it is cost neutral, because car park and ice rink income covers the borrowing costs
- the next stage of work will cost about £400,000
- the council has won £200,000 from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Good Growth Fund towards it
The report adds that housing schemes across Greater Manchester “typically require financial support to be viable”. It expects this one to need help too, and plans bids to Homes England and the combined authority.
Nearly 20 years on the shelf
The 4.5-acre site was under a development agreement from 2007, but nothing was built. In November 2024 the council agreed to exit that agreement and bought the land back, ice rink included, the report says.
Since then the combined authority has paid for a masterplan and options study, which is now finished. The council’s own announcement on 12 October quoted Cllr Liz Patel, Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration.
“It’s been some years since the redevelopment of this key town centre site was considered,” she said. “We want to properly explore how it could now be redeveloped for maximum benefit of the town, the community and the local economy.”
What comes next
If the Executive agrees, the next stage includes:
- site surveys, focused on cost risk
- early design work and initial pre-application planning advice
- engineering on drainage, foundations and levels
- funding talks with the combined authority and Homes England
- choosing a housing development partner, through a development agreement or a joint venture
The results go back to the Executive with updated designs. A planning application would follow later and be decided on its own merits, the report says.
No public consultation is planned yet. The report says “a full consultation plan will be developed in the next stage”.
What it means for you
- Parking at Move Altrincham does not change yet. The surface car park stays until any scheme is built. The council’s plan is to fold those spaces into a multi-storey hub, not to lose them. Our parking in Altrincham page has the current car parks and tariffs.
- Planet Ice stays open. Nothing in the report ends the lease.
- You cannot comment yet. There is no planning application or consultation. You can watch Monday’s decision, or email a question by 4pm on Friday 16 October to democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk. Public questions must relate to an item on the agenda.
- No supermarket is planned for now. That option is not dead. The report keeps a sale to a food store operator open.
We follow the town’s bigger schemes on our Altrincham planning news page.
The same Executive meeting considers the draft budget, which proposes Sunday and evening parking charges in Altrincham: our report on the parking plan.
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