The Trafford Park Development Corporation was established by the

Second Thatcher ministry Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative majority government. She was the first woman to hold that office. During her premiership, Thatcher moved ...

as part of an initiative to develop land in the

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the metropolitan borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

area of

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...

and

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

History

The corporation was established as part of an initiative by the future

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket Media Group in 1957. Heseltine se ...

, in February 1987 during the

. Board members were directly appointed by the minister and overrode local authority planning controls to spend government money on infrastructure. This was a controversial measure in Labour strongholds such as East London, Merseyside and North East England. The work of the corporation included transforming an extensive area of outdated, semi-derelict industrial property. Its area included Trafford Park and also parts of Stretford, Salford Quays, and the former steelworks at

Irlam Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Salf ...

, now known as Northbank. The corporation developed a strategy to develop the area, where no strategy had previously existed. Its flagship developments included the Quay West office development at Wharfside, Trafford Park Village, Northbank Industrial Park and Hadfield Street, as well as the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Grou ...

Dumplington Dumplington is an area of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. Dumplington was one of several hamlets in the township of Barton-upon-Irwell, in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Eccles in the hundred of Salford. Its name derives from the ...

. Wharfside included of land at the eastern end of the Trafford Park as well as part of the ship canal docks and the area around

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

football ground to the east of the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

. The corporation revived the Trafford Park area after a period of decline and loss of employment from the mid-1960s. It also achieved significant physical transformation of the area in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In December 1994, Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

visited the area to see the progress and, accompanied by the chairman of the corporation, she opened the new lift bridge over the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

, which had been funded by the corporation. During its lifetime of non-housing development and 461 housing units were built. Around 25,618 new jobs were created and some £1,560 million of private finance was leveraged in. About of derelict land was reclaimed and of new road and footpaths put in place. The chairman was Bill Morgan and the chief executive was Mike Shields. The life of the corporation was intended to end on 31 March 1997, but was extended until 31 March 1998, when the responsibility for Trafford Park's development passed to Trafford Council.

References

{{reflist

External links

Trafford Park Development Corporation
Organisations based in Trafford Salford Organizations established in 1987 Organizations disestablished in 1998 Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Development Corporations of the United Kingdom