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<\/p>\n‘It is clear that a major public intervention is now needed. This is that intervention’<\/p>\n
CGI image of how the new warehouses could look(Image: Wain Estates)<\/p>\n
A huge warehousing scheme in rural Trafford<\/a> will have huge impacts on the environment, roads and countryside views – but council advisers believe it should be approved regardless.<\/p>\n Three new warehouses are planned off Isherwood Road, in Carrington<\/a>. The up to 22 metre buildings<\/a> will dominate views and require valuable woodland habitats to be destroyed, documents reveal. The immediate impact on already overloaded roads would be \u2018severe\u2019, they add.<\/p>\n Planning officers have bluntly admitted the plan does not conform with documents setting out planning policy for the borough. But they have recommended councillors<\/a> back the scheme anyway.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> for the latest on Greater Manchester’s politics in our newsletter<\/strong><\/p>\n The project, brought forward by Wain Estates, would deliver up to 95,000 square metres of employment space over more than 30 hectares. Much of the land is brownfield \u2013 previously developed \u2013 and formerly home to a petrochemical site.<\/p>\n Around 6.6h is established woodland, considered to be of county and regional significance as a natural habitat and biodiversity site. It is an important area for birds, bats, hedgehogs and amphibians.<\/p>\n But more than 10,000 trees will be uprooted if the scheme goes ahead \u2013 the vast majority growing there. The scale of the destruction would result in \u2018significant harm\u2019 to biodiversity, planning documents state.<\/p>\n The warehouses are planned off Isherwood Road in Carrington(Image: Jason Roberts \/ Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n Off-site works are proposed to create new biodiversity areas and, ultimately, would result in net-gain. But the planned new planting could take 40 years to become fully established.<\/p>\n Trafford<\/a> council has asked Wain Estates to consider removing the woodland area from its development plan, but bosses refused, saying that would not be \u2018commercially acceptable\u2019.<\/p>\n There are \u2018abnormal costs and constraints\u2019 associated with developing the former petrochemical land which require the entire scheme to be brought forward, the firm argued.<\/p>\n In addition to habitat<\/a> destruction, the new buildings will have \u2018significant adverse effects\u2019 on the character and feature of the landscape, and on the views from nearby walking routes and homes. The two largest warehouses have been described as \u2018visually prominent and dominating\u2019 in planning documents, with \u2018continuous, long, monotonous building form[s]\u2019 that will not be fully screened by proposed tree planting.<\/p>\n Location plan for the proposed new warehouses(Image: Wain Estates)<\/p>\n The roads around Carrington already struggle with congestion, with key junctions operating at, close to or over capacity currently. The planned development would add up to 229 journeys to the road network in the morning rush hour and 225 at the evening peak.<\/p>\n Multiple junctions on the A6114 would be significantly impacted if no mitigation is brought forward. The developer has pledged \u00a312m in infrastructure contributions for the area which would include money towards the hugely unpopular Carrington Relief Road<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new route aims to divert traffic away from the A6144, by linking Manchester Road to the west with the A6144 Carrington Spur in the east. Council leaders believe this will reduce congestion and improve travel times for drivers and public transport users in the area around Partington and Carrington. The scheme is yet to gain planning approval.<\/p>\n Wain Estates also said it would partially \u2018hold back\u2019 other employment developments it is pursuing in the area until the relief road is delivered to help minimise the impacts.<\/p>\n CGI image of how the new warehouses could look(Image: Wain Estates)<\/p>\n Despite this, planning officers acknowledged that the development would \u2018result in a worsening of conditions on the local road network\u2019, including increased traffic queues and journey delays, until planned highways improvements can be delivered.<\/p>\n Concern over the impact on nature, the roads<\/a> and the countryside have been raised repeatedly by residents. More than 60 objections have been filed against the scheme on these grounds.<\/p>\n While Trafford council believes there is a need for large warehouses such as these to be constructed in the area, officers accept there are a number of alternative sites for these which would not require woodland to be destroyed. Because of this, the plan does not accord with local planning policy, they said.<\/p>\n However, they still believe the scheme should be allowed due to the \u2018significant\u2019 and \u2018unique\u2019 benefits it would provide. These include potentially more than 1,000 new jobs in the borough, the addition of \u00a3100m a year to Greater Manchester\u2019s economy, and \u00a32.2m a year in business rate for the council.<\/p>\n Perhaps more significantly, they believe it could unlock stalled development on the land around it. Plans for the area have been in the works for decades, but only \u2018very limited\u2019 development has been brought to fruition.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_JS406322685.jpg\")
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