UPDATE ON ALTRINCHAM TOWN CENTRE PROJECTS From Richard Roe 28th May 2020
The Society raised several queries with him and his reponses are shown below:
Altair and the Leisure centre – a drive in cinema would be a matter for Nikal as we have transferred the land, though the Council still manages the car park. We are considering options regarding the leisure centre at the moment.
George Street – we were also very happy with the contractor on Greenwood Street and the feedback from the town has been good. We are currently working through options for the next phase and whether this should be George Street or Moss Lane. The design team are working on this at the moment but we won’t be able to start works until the autumn as there is a lot of preparatory work to do.
Stamford Quarter – at the moment our priority is on supporting existing businesses in the quarter, and a lot of work is being undertaken with the businesses. We are starting to think about future options but don’t have any proposals at the moment. Our intention was always for incremental change at the Stamford Quarter as it generally works well, as does the town as a whole, and taking opportunities for refreshing as they arose.
Grafton – we commenced a procurement of a partner to work with us on redeveloping the Grafton Centre. We have put this on hold as we want to re-assess any proposals once we have a clearer view of the shape of the economy and the position and role of town centres in this once we come out of lockdown. We expect there will be some major structural changes in how and where people work, which will have implications for our economic centres and want to be in a position to shape and respond to this and the Grafton’s potentially gives us a very good opportunity to do so.
Walking and cycling – I would say that Altrincham did feature in this, and also need to take account of the significant previous investment in public realm which the other town centres haven’t benefitted from. Having said that, there is always scope to do more. You will have seen that we have put a map on line for people to put forward suggestions of other schemes we could consider or particular pinch points and these will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Yours
Richard Roe
Corporate Director, Place Trafford Council
Tel. 0161 912 4265
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REGENT ROAD ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG
As the planned open day for the Regent Road Archaeological Dig cannot take place,
click on the link below to see the footings of Chapel Street & associated area.
Norman Redhead, Heritage Management Director (Archaeology) at the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service, University of Salford has been in touch with the society. He will be inviting Archaeology England to give a presentation on this excavation for the
GM Archaeology Day in November.
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NHS Tribute Flag Stolen
Green space is an important part of the Civic Society’s remit and it is very sad that our friends at Barrington Green have suffered vandalism – the NHS tribute flag put up after VE day has been stolen. The flagpole was ripped from the ground and flag untied. Perhaps the perpetrator will return it in due course!
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NEW BOOK ABOUT ALTRINCHAM IN SAXON TIMES
A&BCSoc Committee member David Eastwood together with a colleague, is writing a book about Altrincham going back to Saxon times.
Read the full story at Messenger Newspapers CLICK HERE
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Stretford Public Hall Chester Road Stretford Manchester M32 0LG
Our congratulations to the Friends of Stretford Public Hall for obtaining Listed building consent for refurbishment of the Ballroom and associated facilities.
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Concern as “considerable” damage caused to trees on Bowdon Green Belt where 760-home development is proposed
Local residents have raised concerns after a “huge” number of trees were felled and burnt on Bowdon Green Belt
that has previously been earmarked for a residential development of 760 houses.
Read the full article by David Prior of Altrincham Today Magazine. CLICK HERE
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HEALTH & WELLBEING CENTRE UPDATE
The second floor of the Health and Wellbeing Centre now houses the Trafford Local Care Organisation – South Neighbourhood team,
which is a partnership between the NHS and Trafford Council for such services as district nurses and adult social care.
Seventy Seven Community Health and twenty one Adult Social Care staff will cover Altrincham and sale.
Nineteen Children’s social workers will also be based there.
We await news of the commercial top floors and the cafe and pharmacy which are national contracts.
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LEISURE CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT
We have received the following update from Daniel Barlow of Trafford Council
Trafford Council agreed a combined investment over £46 million for the leisure centres in Altrincham and Stretford.
Trafford Council are committed to investing in leisure facilities and increasing physical activity levels across Trafford.
Improvements in the leisure centres are a key aspect of this commitment.
Trafford Council are working with partners to provide a long term solution to a complicated site in Altrincham in order to provide a fit for purpose and enjoyable leisure centre for the people of Altrincham.
Trafford Leisure are working hard to keep the amenities in Altrincham Leisure Centre working
as well as they can and in the short term a condition survey has been undertaken and work is
ongoing to prioritise the work required on the current facility.
Daniel Barlow
Business Change Analyst – Place Shaping and Investment Programme
Trafford Council
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Trafford Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy for 2021
‘Trafford Vision 2021: a blueprint’
At our AGM last year, the guest speaker was Sara Todd, Chief Exec. of TBC. Her presentation set out the strategy and plans which the council has set up to improve the lives of people in the borough.
The Trafford Partnership is the Borough’s Local Strategic Partnership, a body that brings together more than 100 organisations in Trafford from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors.
All of these organisations are committed to working together to improve the quality of life for Trafford residents.
To look at the AGM powerpoint presentation CLICK HERE
To read the ‘Trafford Vision 2021: a blueprint’ document CLICK HERE
TRAFFORD HOUSING TRUST
Trafford Housing Trust has been taken over by a London Housing Association LQ. Several flats have been bought back from private owners.
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Trafford Council are again considering plans for the development of the Cow Field and Allotment Gardens in Oldfield Brow.
If you were not able to get to the drop-in consultation today (Wed 26th Feb) you can send your views
about what you think should or shouldn’t happen on Cow Field via email to:
planningconsultations.uk@avisonyoung.com
Background document and feedback form can be found at:
http://planningconsultation.avisonyoung.co.uk/
Because this date was fixed at short notice the planning consultants Avison Young have agreed to arrange a
second date very soon and we’ll announce that as soon as it’s available.
Avison Young are saying the deadline for feedback is 4th March so best get your views in before then,
though we would hope that the date would be extended for those who can only get to the second drop-in consultation.
These are just preliminary discussions and there will be more consultations further down the line.
For the full story and history go to the Cow Field Facebook page
CLICK ON THIS LINK @OldfieldBrowCowfield
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Changes to the ward boundaries in Trafford
The Civic Society attended a meeting this week which might be of interest.
The Local Government Boundary Commission are looking at changing the ward boundaries in Trafford to be more equal and representative.
Broadheath in particular has an unequal number of residents.
Please contact us if you have any thoughts on this either through the website contact page, Facebook or Twitter.
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TACKLING AIR POLLUTION
The A56 passing North-South through our town has a very poor record for air quality. Air pollution has been linked to a range of serious health problems. The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan aims to tackle nitrogen oxide emissions from the most polluting vehicles.
The GM Clean Air Plan seeks to upgrade the region’s buses, HGVs. Taxis, and van fleets. There will be an expected £116 million behind the upgrade.
More information can be found at cleanairgm.com.
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FRIENDS OF MOOR NOOK PARK
Moor Nook Park is in Sale Moor opposite Sale Moor High School. In two years a neglected park has become a cherished community asset and a focus for community events.
Find out more about how local people decided to make their local green spaces into something they are justifiably proud of https://www.facebook.com/moornookpark/
If you have any comments or suggestions about any of the above, please get in touch via the
CONTACT US page, we would be pleased to hear from you. Or contact your local councillor directly and copy us in.
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