The final consultation on Trafford's Local Plan closes at 23:59 on 18 September. Five town-centre sites in Altrincham and Sale are allocated for 373 homes, with 45% affordable in the south.

Residents have until 23:59 on Friday 18 September to comment on the Trafford Local Plan, the document that will decide where 19,077 homes go across the borough up to 2039. The council opened the six-week Regulation 19 consultation on 6 August, and it is taking responses through its Citizen Space portal; after that the plan goes to the Government in December for an independent examination.

This is the last chance to comment before an inspector sees it, and it is a narrower exercise than the earlier rounds. The council’s Regulation 19 page says comments are only being sought on whether the plan is legally compliant and “sound”: positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. Anonymous representations are not accepted, and your name and comment will be published and passed to the Planning Inspectorate.

What the plan does for Altrincham and Sale

Most of the borough’s growth is in the north. Table 5-3 of the Publication Version puts 75% of the identified housing land supply in the North locality (Wharfside, the Civic Quarter, Trafford Waters and Pomona), 14% in the West (New Carrington), 9% in the South and 2% in the Central locality around Sale.

The South and Central share is small in percentage terms, but it lands on specific streets. Table 15-1 allocates five brownfield sites in Altrincham and Sale town centres for a combined 373 homes:

  • AS1, Land at Oakfield Road, Altrincham (2.24 ha): the surface car parks on the eastern edge of the town centre, allocated for a residential-led mixed-use scheme of “around 100 dwellings”, all expected between 2026/27 and 2030/31. The supporting text says the ice rink on the site “is expected to remain operational in the short to medium term”. Note that paragraph 15.149 of the same document describes the site as “approximately 200 dwellings”, double the figure in the allocation table and the site policy; the discrepancy is exactly the kind of point the soundness consultation exists to catch.
  • AS2, Land at New Street, Altrincham (0.80 ha): the vacant 1960s blocks at Lloyds Court, Albert Court and Chapel Court, mostly owned by L&Q Housing Trust, allocated for approximately 88 homes. Planning permission for demolition and 88 dwellings was granted in February 2026, so this one is already moving.
  • AS3, Land at Moss Lane and Balmoral Road, Altrincham (0.89 ha): the builders’ merchant, scrapyard and car park next to the town centre boundary, allocated for approximately 60 homes, expected between 2031/32 and 2035/36, in a mix of houses and apartments of up to three storeys.
  • AC1, Land at Stanley Square, Sale (0.63 ha): vacant land and the multi-storey car park, allocated for approximately 75 homes, with improved crossings on Sibson Road and Springfield Road as required infrastructure.
  • AC2, Sale Lido and Oaklands Drive, Sale (0.93 ha): the vacant building and car park on the A56 frontage, allocated for approximately 50 homes, with better crossings at the A56 junctions with Oaklands Road and Sibson Road.

Broadheath also gets an employment allocation: AS4, Land at Dairyhouse Lane (3.46 ha) for 12,040 sq m of industrial and warehousing floorspace.

Bar chart of homes allocated at the five Altrincham and Sale town-centre sites in the Trafford Local Plan Publication Version: Oakfield Road 100, New Street 88, Stanley Square 75, Moss Lane and Balmoral Road 60, Sale Lido and Oaklands Drive 50. Total 373 homes. Affordable requirement 45% in Altrincham, 30% in Sale.
Five sites, 373 homes: the town-centre allocations for Altrincham and Sale in the Regulation 19 plan. Graphic by The Alty Post.

The affordable housing split is not the same everywhere

Policy R2 sets different affordable housing requirements by locality: 25% in the North, 45% in the South and 30% in the Central and West localities. That is why the three Altrincham allocations each carry a 45% requirement while the two Sale sites carry 30%. Wharfside, the biggest allocation in the plan at 145 ha and 15,000 dwellings (8,400 within the plan period), is at 25%.

Altrincham town centre policy

Policy TC2S, the town-centre policy for Altrincham, defines a Primary Shopping Area for the town, on the recommendation of the Trafford Retail and Leisure Study Update 2026, and says it “will be maintained and enhanced as the primary location for retail only use”. Any retail proposal over 500 sq m inside the town centre but outside that area will need an impact assessment. The policy also asks schemes to “sustain the vitality and viability of Altrincham Market”, improve east-west connectivity across the centre and support office space for local professional services. The Oakfield Road site is named in the policy as one that “will assist in the diversification of uses within the town centre”.

Davenport Green (formerly Timperley Wedge) and New Carrington are not up for debate in this consultation: their allocation and the Green Belt boundary were settled in the Places for Everyone joint plan adopted in 2024, and the council’s Local Plan page says the Local Plan “will not revisit these decisions”. Our planning news page has the background on both.

What it means for you

  • The deadline is 23:59 on 18 September 2026. Comment online through Citizen Space, or ask for a Word form by emailing localplan.consultation@trafford.gov.uk or calling 0161 912 3149. Postal responses go to Strategic Planning, Trafford Council, Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford M32 0TH.
  • Frame it as a soundness point. Objections that a site is simply unwelcome carry little weight at this stage; the inspector wants to know whether a policy or allocation is justified by evidence, deliverable, and consistent with national policy. The council has published a guidance note on making representations.
  • You do not need to comment on everything. Pick the policy or site that affects you.
  • Paper copies of the documents are at Trafford Town Hall, Sale Waterside and Trafford libraries; printed copies cost 63p plus VAT per side of A4.
  • What happens next: submission to the Government in December 2026, examination in spring 2027 and adoption planned for 2027/28, according to the council’s published timetable. Once adopted, the plan and Places for Everyone together decide every planning application in the borough. If you are watching what a nearby allocation might do to values, our Altrincham house prices page has the current Land Registry figures.

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