Trafford's 15-year Wharfside plan is open for comment until 22 September, with drop-ins at Gorse Hill on 9 September and Stretford Metros on 15 September.
The biggest regeneration plan Trafford has published in years is out for comment right now, and there are six weeks left to say something about it. Trafford Council’s consultation on the draft Trafford Wharfside Strategic Masterplan opened on Tuesday 28 July and closes on Tuesday 22 September 2026, an eight week window with 43 days still to run as of today. Three of the four in-person drop-in events are still to come, two of them in Stretford. (Draft Trafford Wharfside Strategic Masterplan, Trafford Council’s Citizen Space)
The council describes the document as setting out “a long-term and high-level vision for the future physical, social and economic regeneration of the Wharfside area”, guiding public and private investment “over the next 15 years and beyond” and forming part of the planning policy framework used to judge future applications. That last point is the one worth holding on to: this is not a wish list that sits on a shelf, it is intended to be the yardstick planning officers reach for when schemes in Trafford Park come forward.
What the plan is for, in the council’s words
The masterplan was drawn up after Manchester United announced its intention to build a new stadium and after the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation was set up. The council is explicit that the plan is about more than the ground itself: the stated aim is to “create a thriving new neighbourhood and community”, with “new housing, new jobs and new open space” plus the improved transport infrastructure and community facilities needed to support both the stadium and the wider development. The consultation page says existing nearby residents should benefit through community facilities and parks.
The project is led by Trafford Council with the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Transport for Greater Manchester and Manchester United as partners. The council’s page refers to a new 100,000-seater stadium as part of the picture.
The detail most people will miss
If your comment is about the stadium itself, how it looks, how tall it is, what it is made of, the council asks you to send it to Manchester United rather than into this consultation. The masterplan consultation is about the land around the stadium: housing, jobs, open space, transport and community facilities.
The council also warns that it expects a large number of responses and will not acknowledge them individually. Instead, it says all representations will be considered and answered together in a Consultation Statement published later. So do not wait for a reply as confirmation that your point landed.
On the numbers, be careful
The consultation landing page does not put a figure on how many homes the plan would deliver. The number sits inside the draft masterplan itself, which the council publishes as a single PDF of about 92 MB, a file size worth knowing about before you try to open it on a phone or a metered connection.
Published figures for this site have moved a good deal as the work has progressed, which is a reason to read the document rather than a headline. SLA, the landscape architects on the design team, described the commission in its own announcement of 9 April 2025 as covering 150 hectares and more than 17,000 new homes, with a £4.2bn investment, working alongside Allies and Morrison, engineers Civic and JLL, and a stadium designed by Foster + Partners. Earlier framework-stage reporting used a much lower housing figure. We are not treating any single number as settled until it is read off the draft masterplan, and neither should you.
The three events still to come
- Wednesday 9 September, 4pm to 7pm, Gorse Hill Studios, Cavendish Road, Stretford M32 0PS
- Thursday 10 September, 11am to 2pm, The Studios at MediaCity, Salford M50 2HQ
- Tuesday 15 September, 4pm to 7pm, Stretford Metros Sports and Social Club, Moss Road, Stretford M32 0AH
The first event, at Trafford Town Hall on Talbot Road on Wednesday 29 July, has already taken place.
What it means for you
If you live in Stretford, Old Trafford or Urmston, this is the plan that will shape what gets built on your side of the borough for the next 15 years, and the only formal chance to comment on the draft closes on 22 September. Two of the remaining three drop-ins are a short journey away, both after work.
If you live further south, in Altrincham, Sale, Timperley or Bowdon, the effects are less direct but not nil. A development of this scale next to the Metrolink Altrincham line and the Ship Canal changes travel patterns, matchday pressure and housing supply across Trafford, and the plan explicitly covers transport infrastructure. If tram capacity or road access matters to you, the transport sections are the part to read.
To respond, use the online questionnaire on the Citizen Space consultation page, or email traffordwharfsidemasterplan@trafford.gov.uk. Comments on the stadium design go to Manchester United, not the council.
For what is already being decided across the borough week by week, see our Altrincham planning news page. If you are weighing up what a scheme of this size might do to local values, our Altrincham house prices page sets out the current picture, and tram times and travel covers the Altrincham line that runs into the area.
Have your say
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