News
Trafford’s £75m surf park and leisure resort project is finally moving again
It'll be the first of its kind anywhere in the North.
Danny Jones -
10th December 2023 
The exciting £75 million development over in Trafford Park that will see a brand-new luxury leisure centre, surf and spa resort arrive in Manchester is finally moving again after two years of delays.
Originally slated to arrive in 2023, planning permission for Modern Surf Manchester was granted back in September 2021 but due to problems with funding, the hugely ambitious project has been held up ever since, with the opening date pushed back to sometime in 2025.
However, according to an update on the Trafford City Council website, the wheels are turning once again with developers Tartan Leisure — who are already part way through building a similar attraction in Edinburgh — now appointed to deliver the product to the masses.
Modern Surf is part of a larger 20-year project to upgrade the TraffordCity complex, with around £2.6bn set aside for the huge investment and undertaking, with this set to be the first inland surfing destination in the North of England — and we’ve already had a spellbinding glimpse of what it’s going to look like.
Using technology from Wavegarden to create an artificial lagoon and giant surf park, the TraffordCity attraction will produce 1000 waves every hour at varying intensities and will be able to house up to 90 people at any one time, delivering a kind of surfing few will ever have experienced before.
Better still, once completed, Modern Surf Manchester will create over 140 new full-time jobs during peak times and –
The wider regeneration of Trafford Park also includes a whopping £250m set aside for the highly-anticipated, Therme Manchester, which was first announced back in 2020 and will be a similarly unprecedented addition to the region and the North as a whole.
The water park, spa and wellness resort situated just next to the Trafford Centre will span nearly 30 acres alone and the latest images depicting how it’s going to look are pretty incredible:
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The sheer scale and scope of Modern Surf Manchester and the surrounding investments in Trafford can’t be overstated, not only generating new business and tourism for Greater Manchester but even adding fitness and mental health benefits to locals.
Speaking to TraffordCity, Manc professional surfing coach Alan Bisseker, who has worked with Olympic and professional organisations including GB Surfing, said that “there are few sports that give you as many health and fitness benefits as surfing”, insisting that this “combined with the significant positive impact on mental health and wellness is undeniable and well-documented.”
Andy Hadden, Founder of the newly appointed Tartan Leisure team who are soon set to finish their Lost Shore Surf Resort in Scotland, added: “There has been an enormous rise in popularity for surfing over recent years with proven benefits to our overall health and wellness… the response and appetite that we have seen from the public has been phenomenal. [Modern Surf] will be a very exciting addition to an already incredible combined retail and experienced-based leisure destination for all to enjoy.”
Trafford is already a hub of culture, leisure and sport in the UK and when this thing arrives that’s only going to become more apparent — sod the New Year, roll on 2025 and surf park city!
@the.manc Trafford is the sporting capital of Manchester ⚽️🏏 #trafford #oldtrafford #manchesterunited #ifly #indoorskydiving #altyfc #chillfactore #manchesteroriginals ♬ Exercise – Vin Music
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Featured Images — Trafford City Council (planning portal)/Modern Surf Park Manchester
