Pets' Corner, both play areas and the basketball courts each close in turn as Longford Park's £6m rebuild starts. The council's programme runs to July 2027.

Building work on the £6m rebuild of Longford Park is due to start at the end of this month. Trafford Council has published the programme showing which parts of the park close, and when.

Most of it will be shut in sequence rather than all at once. The programme runs until July 2027, with the areas people use most closed over this autumn and winter.

The contract with the Rochdale-based Casey Group was signed on 23 July and the council confirmed it as “sealed” on 10 August (Trafford Council). More than £3m of the money comes from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with the rest from other partners.

What closes, and roughly when

These dates come from the Longford Park Capital Works Programme Summary, published by the council on 3 August. It is a summary chart drawn to months, not a day-by-day schedule, so treat each period as approximate:

  • Pets’ Corner: September 2026 to January 2027
  • Longford Hall footprint: September 2026 to January 2027
  • Shippon building: September to November 2026
  • Longford Brook: late August to late September 2026
  • Pump track: late September to November 2026
  • Grand Lawn and Ha-Ha wall: October to November 2026
  • Formal and wildlife gardens: late November to December 2026
  • Play area (south): late November 2026 to January 2027
  • Lighting: December 2026 to February 2027
  • Basketball courts: late January to late March 2027
  • Walled garden: late January to March 2027
  • Footpaths and roads: February to June 2027
  • Play area (north): March to late May 2027
  • Long Barn and pavilion toilets: late August 2026 to July 2027
Timeline chart of the fourteen work packages at Longford Park from August 2026 to July 2027, with Pets' Corner running September 2026 to January 2027.
The council's capital works programme, read off its published chart. Source: Trafford Council, 3 August 2026.

Two points matter for anyone planning a visit with children. The two play areas are done at opposite ends of the programme, so one should be open while the other is closed. The toilets are inside the Long Barn package, which runs for the whole eleven months.

The council says only that it will “close certain areas for safety during work” and will post access updates on its project announcements page. It has not published a list of dated closures.

Pets’ Corner: the promised return has not been announced

Eight months after the animals left, the record on Pets’ Corner has gone quiet.

The council announced on 26 November 2025 that the animals would leave on 19 December so their enclosures could be rebuilt. Two goats, chickens and ducks went to farms in Cheshire. They were “due to return to their newly renovated home in spring 2026”, and the council said it would announce the return on its announcements page (Trafford Council).

That has not happened. As of today:

  • The council’s announcements page carries no return announcement. Its most recent entry is dated 23 July 2026.
  • The Pets’ Corner page on the Friends of Longford Park website has published nothing about Pets’ Corner since November 2025. Volunteers have run the facility since 2014, when council cuts closed it.
  • The construction programme published this month schedules the Pets’ Corner works from September 2026 to January 2027.

Spring 2026 ended three months ago. We could not confirm from any first-hand source whether the animals have come back, and neither the council nor the volunteer group has said. On the published programme, the enclosures they left are not finished until January 2027, thirteen months after they went.

The Friends group names the goats as Gandalf and Frodo, and lists chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits and ducks alongside them. Pets’ Corner runs on public donations and animal sponsorship, which continue whether or not the animals are on site.

What the money buys

The project is called People, Place and Nature, and the works are more than a tidy-up (Trafford Council):

  • The Long Barn becomes a sustainable, energy-efficient community space.
  • The footprint of Longford Hall, the former home of John and Enriqueta Rylands, is reinterpreted so visitors can see where it stood.
  • A pump track is built for bikes and scooters. It is not among the facilities the council currently lists for the park.
  • Longford Brook is worked on, part of what the council describes as managing flood risk. The Friends group has published research by local historian Richard Bond into the historic watercourse and its link to Ryebank Fields.
  • 81 large standard trees go in, plus shrubs and native hedgerows, in the autumn and winter planting season, replacing trees felled in February.

Longford Park is Trafford’s largest park and sits in a conservation area.

What it means for you

If you visit with small children, check before you travel between now and January. Pets’ Corner, the southern play area and the Longford Hall area are all in works over the same autumn window, and the toilets are inside a package that runs the whole eleven months. The council’s announcements page is the only place it commits to posting access changes.

If you use the park to get somewhere, the footpaths and roads package does not start until February 2027 and then runs to June. The through routes are the last thing to be disturbed, not the first.

If you want to be involved, the council has published volunteering opportunities for the duration of the project.

Planning activity elsewhere in the borough is tracked on our Altrincham planning news page, and current disruption on the roads is on our roadworks and travel page.