History
The Manchester Ship Canal
The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 brought about a complete transformation of the adjoining Trafford Park area. During the following decades, this area became the world’s first and largest planned industrial estate and it provided a focal point for the conurbation’s rapid expansion.
Before the Canal, Trafford Park was mainly farmland including an impressive parkland setting for the de Trafford family’s main residence. However, the building of an adjoining inland port, accessible by the world’s largest commercial vessels, signaled an end to this rural idyll.
In 1922, the Manchester Ship Canal Company purchased 2,000 acres of the de Trafford’s estate and then successfully promoted the development of this land as the Barton Dock Estate making use of the Ship Canal’s unique advantages. This strategy paid off by attracting industrial giants such as Kellogg’s, ICI and P&O who brought additional revenue to the port via shipping tolls.
But, one 300 acre parcel of land remained agricultural into the 1980’s – The Trafford Centre site. By 1987, Trafford Park’s general industrial fortunes were in such decline that the whole park was designated an Urban Development Area by the Government. This action acknowledged by statute that the Park’s regeneration should be secured as a matter of national priority.
The Planning Process
The Trafford Centre development was first conceived by Peel Holdings Ltd in 1984 and formal planning applications were submitted in 1986. Soon afterwards Peel Holdings acquired a controlling interest in the site by winning a long and bitter share take-over battle for The Manchester Ship Canal Company. The local authority, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council (TMBC), supported The Trafford Centre at this early stage, but other bodies were not so enthusiastic.
Along with the retail proposals for other sites, The Trafford Centre planning applications were “called in” by the former Secretary of State for the Environment, Nicholas Ridley, for his ultimate determination.
The proposals for The Trafford Centre were then subjected to joint consideration by a panel of Planning Inspectors at a series of public inquiries which were destined to become the most exhaustive ever held in a commercial development proposal in the UK. It was not until the House of Lords confirmed the validity of The Trafford Centre’s approval in 1995 that construction was able to proceed.
1987-1993
The Trafford Centre was one of three similar proposals for western Manchester to come before the Greater Manchester Retail Planning Inquiry in 1987. The main issues of concern were retail impact, alternative land use and traffic. These, and many others, were debated by the inquiry for a full six months.
The new Trafford Park Development Corporation (TPDC) quickly accepted that a large retail development on The Trafford Centre site would bring benefits throughout Trafford Park. Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council (TMBC) already supported The Trafford Centre proposals.
Government agrees – ‘Trafford Centre is Best’
The Government’s overall position on The Trafford Centre was less clear. Originally the Ministry of Agriculture objected whilst the Department of Transport did not. During the inquiry, both changed their minds.
The one thing everyone agreed on, whether for or against the concept, was that no more than one new Centre should be built; and a consortium of the local authorities, in whose areas none was proposed, objected to them all.
Eighteen months after the inquiry closed a Department of Environment press release finally declared, “Chris Patten says Trafford Centre is best”. However, it also revealed that Department of Transport (DoT) representations made to him direct, after the inquiry had closed, required further consideration. The DoT now wanted an extra motorway lane alongside the site even if The Trafford Centre was not built.
Another year of submissions followed until, in late 1991, the new Secretary of State – Michael Heseltine – decided to reopen the inquiry into The Trafford Centre. Just before it began, in the summer of 1992, the DoT abandoned its requirement for a fourth lane on the M63 between J3 and J4 (currently M60, J9 and J10). Instead it asked for an extra lane, first from J3 (currently J10) in the other direction (which would have meant widening the high level bridge over the Ship Canal), then both ways across the bridge, and finally in the opposite direction only.
In July 1992, the Planning Inspector closed the second inquiry and later that year repeated his recommendation that planning permission be granted for The Trafford Centre development. He concluded, again, that the package of road improvements already agreed by TMBC and TPDC were adequate, provided all these works were completed before The Trafford Centre opened.
On 4 March 1993, the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Michael Howard finally granted planning permission. Anticipating this outcome, the consortium and other rival developers had bombarded him with post-inquiry representations, hoping to delay any final decision. They then challenged the legality of his decision in the High Court, and these last rounds of the fight would take another two years and go as far as the House of Lords until, in 1995, they confirmed the validity of The Trafford Centre’s approval and it was finally free to go ahead.
Key Dates
1984 Concept is born
1986 Planning application submitted
1987-1992 Public inquiries – inspector’s reports recommend approval
1993 Outline planning permission granted
1993 Objectors High Court Appeal dismissed - permission upheld
1994 Court of Appeal quashes permission
1995 House of Lords reinstates planning permission
May 1996 Construction starts on site
10 Sept 1998 OPENED TO THE PUBLIC