A new fly-through video shows what TraffordCity will look like over the coming years, including a surfing lagoon and a huge wellness resort.
The area is set to undergo a major upgrade, with £2.6 billion earmarked for investment over the next 20 years.
Projects in the pipeline include the creation of the £250m ThermeManchester Wellbeing Resort, which will feature 35 water slides, 25 pools, 30 saunas and stream rooms, an on-site urban farm and botanical gardens.
Work has already started on the site, with Peel L&P submitting plans to demolish the 28,000 sq metre EventCity conference and exhibition space on Barton Dock Road.
When it’s complete, the Therme site will span 28 acres and create more than 500 permanent jobs.
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Another major development coming to TraffordCity is Modern Surf Manchester, an in-land surfing lagoon set to open by 2025.
Therme at TraffordCity. Credit: Therme Manchester
The £60m attraction will feature technology that will create consistent waves for all abilities, alongside a cafe, restaurant terrace, surf shop, beach bars, bouldering space and fitness zone.
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TraffordCity already attracts some 44 million visits each year, and is hoping to attract another 2.5 million visitors a year over the next five years.
Fives Soccer Centres is also set to launch a next-generation football centre, with world class facilities across eight larger-than-standard pitches.
The future of TraffordCity. Credit: TraffordCity
The five-a-side pitches offer individual player tracking, as well as video replays and highlights.
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The family-friendly attractions at TraffordCity continue with the NERF Action Xperience at Trafford Palazzo, which will take over a 35,000 sq ft space next summer and will include a branch of Archie’s burger and shake restaurant.
Other food and drink openings include high-end Italian restaurant Matterello, and Tim Hortons with its largest drive-thru in the UK.
You can watch a fly-through of the future of TraffordCity here:
Plans include a new development called Trafford Waters, which will create new affordable housing, retail and office opportunities, hotels, schools and a 20-acre public park.
It’s set to take around 20 years to complete in full, creating 5,000 jobs.
This month, plans were submitted for a new care facility to support older people and those living with dementia by Montpelier Estates – it will include facilities like a hair salon, cinema, rooftop garden and community event space.
Work on the first 350 new homes at Trafford Water has been funded by a grant of £4.08m from Homes England’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, match-funded by Peel L&P.
Phase one will include tree-lined footpaths and cycleways and the first acre of public green space at the development.
Trafford Housing Trust has submitted proposals for 83 homes on Trafford Waters that will be affordable homes for shared ownership.
Featured image: Therme Manchester
Trafford
Altrincham named one of the UK’s best places to live in 2026 in The Sunday Times’ annual ranking
Emily Sergeant
A popular Greater Manchester town has been named among the UK’s best places to live by the Sunday Times in its annual ranking.
That’s right… it’s that time of year, once again.
The Sunday Times is known for pulling together a list of what it considers to be the most sought-after places to live in the UK every year, and 2026’s ranking has officially been published today – with dozens of locations across the country making up the comprehensive guide, and six of those coveted locations being right here in the North West.
The Sunday Times’s expert judges have visited all locations on the list, and assessed factors such as schools, transport, culture, broadband speeds, access to green spaces, the health of the high streets, and much more to devise the always-talked-about annual ranking.
Macclesfield in Cheshire, Eden Valley in Cumbria, Lancaster in Lancashire, and Aigburth in Liverpool are just some of the North West areas named by the publication in the 2026 list.
Altrincham has been named one of the best places to live in the UK / Credit: The Manc Group
A spotlight has also been shone on two Greater Manchester towns, and one of two has even been given the regional North West title… but which are they?
Where has taken the top spot as the best place to live in the North West for 2026, and is therefore one of the best places to live in the whole of the country? Well, that honour has been given to none other than Greater Manchester’s very-own Altrincham.
The publication described the Trafford town as ‘classy, cool and effortlessly comfortable’.
“Altrincham is a top-notch town brimming with independent businesses and big brands, and now it’s flying even higher,” The Sunday Times said.
The fact that co-working has now arrived on the high street thanks to the conversion of the old Rackhams department store, and that the town’s cultural and creative ‘cachet’ is also on the rise, have been highlighted as reasons as to why Altrincham has been chosen as the North West’s winner, as well its newly-flourishing fitness scene.
Of course, the town has also been praised for its transport links into Manchester city centre and across the region, as well as it being a great place for families thanks to the excellent local schools on offer.
Didsbury was the other Greater Manchester town chosen to represent the best of the North West – with the Manchester suburb described as being ‘stylish, solid, safe, and, yes, a little bit smug in parts… but that’s okay’.
You can read the full Altrincham feature here, and see where else The Sunday Times included in its list for 2026 here.
Featured Image – Geograph
Trafford
Three men jailed after armed robbery in Trafford left teenage boy with ‘serious injuries’
Emily Sergeant
Three men have been jailed after an armed robbery and stabbing left in Trafford left a teenage boy with ‘serious injuries’.
The incident in question occurred shortly after 3am on Sunday 27 November 2022, when a 15-year-old boy – the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons – was at a cash machine on Upper Chorlton Road, in Trafford, and he noticed a black BMW drive past him, before making a U-turn and pulling up on the other side of the road.
As the boy set off on his scooter, the vehicle sped past him and cut him off.
Before he knew it, three men jumped out of the car and then proceeded to rob him at knifepoint – during which the boy was stabbed twice, and £120 was taken from him, before the offenders made off.
The 15-year-old was rushed to hospital, where he was required to undergo emergency surgery before being stabilised.
Police described the incident as an ‘unprovoked attack on a young boy’.
Following a thorough Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigation, led by DC Marie-Louise Knight of Trafford CID, the offenders were identified as Callum Henson and Harry Jackson, both from Manchester, and Bailey Mann from Northampton.
Henson was sentenced to five years and six months for robbery and Section 20 assault, and Jackson was sentenced to four years and 10 months for Section 18 assault, while Mann was sentenced to three years in a young offenders institute for robbery, due to being under 18 years of age.
Speaking following the sentencing of the three men, DC Knight said: “I am grateful that [Henson, Jackson, and Mann] have now faced justice for their actions, not only for ourselves from an investigation side, but also for the victim and his family who were left shaken following this incident.
“These sentencings show that we will not tolerate this type of violent crime.
Daisy Jackson -
15th December 2022 
