Accrue sells up after Trafford disappointment
The developer has sold a plot on Great Stone Road to AJ Bell after failing to win permission for a 332-apartment scheme on the site.
AJ Bell is in the early stages of working up proposals for the plot, which is currently occupied by a vacant B&Q store.
Accrue Capital bought the site, located next to Old Trafford Cricket Ground, in 2016 as part of a wider £19m portfolio acquisition.
The company’s first attempt to redevelop the plot ended in disappointment when Trafford Council rejected proposals for a 433-home scheme in 2019.
Accrue returned with scaled-back plans for 332 apartments in 2020. Trafford Council failed to determine the application within the statutory timeframe so the developer appealed in a bid to win approval for the project.
However, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed the appeal, saying Accrue’s proposals “would not deliver a high-quality, well-designed building and place”.
Accrue had argued that its scheme would contribute to Trafford’s five-year housing supply, which the authority cannot currently prove.
Trafford Council had previously looked into using compulsory purchase powers at the site to deliver a leisure centre.
However, the plot is earmarked for homes in the council’s Civic Quarter Area Action Plan.
If B&Q site is for housing, how will people living there be able to access in and out during certain times of the day. Great stone Rd is backed up from 3.30ish its a nightmare. Im sure the morning must be same, although I dont see it then. The afternoon is not helped either by parents picking up from Stretford High parking on double yellow lines everywhere.
By Pat Bradbury