A temporary road for the BESS (planning application 116930)

Trafford has now provided a Certificate of Lawful Proposed Use or Development for this scheme. Click on the link to see the decision notice and the approved development boundary.

The developer submitted further information in response to objections received on 15th September 2025

Background:
The applicant for the BESS planning application mentioned below has now submitted an application to construct a temporary road to the site, which they consider to be permitted development (this allows applicants to carry out specific works without needing a full planning application). Their application proposes the “construction of a temporary access road (with associated temporary compound), a temporary construction compound and upgrades to surrounding roads to facilitate development of the BESS site“. The applicant suggests that their pre-application communications with Trafford confirmed that aspects of the Proposed Development could be regarded as permitted development and will not require planning permission. As shown in the graphic below, HGV and other traffic will use Sinderland Lane, then travel along Birch Road, past the Manchester United training ground, to Ashton Road to access the site.

We have submitted our objection as we do not believe the conditions set out for the approval of the BESS planning application have been met. The Trans Pennine Trail National Office and Sustrans have also submitted a response confirming that they do not support this application for development under permitted development rights. Their response highlights the need to ensure safe passage for all Trail users at all times.

Lorraine has also submitted an objection which covers the points set out below. If you are thinking of doing an objection, you can send it to development.management@trafford.gov.uk, the subject line should say ‘Objection to Planning Application 116930’ and please ensure you provide your full name and address in the email.

Trafford’s approval document is here. Condition 3 states that “No development or works of site preparation shall take place until a phasing plan to demonstrate how development shall proceed across the site as a whole in a phased manner has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority“. Condition 31 states “No development, including ground works, shall take place on each phase of the development until a detailed Peat Management Plan for that phase of the development has been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority“. Neither document is currently visible on Trafford’s planning portal.

In their document, the applicant states (paragraph 3.1.3) that the temporary access road is necessary to limit traffic on the local road network surrounding the BESS such as Ashton Road and Birch Road. This is a bizarre statement as all their traffic (including Abnormal Indivisible Loads deliveries, mentioned at paragraph 4.4.1) will use Ashton Road and Birch Road (see the graphic above)!

At paragraph 3.1.6, the applicant suggests that PD rights “should be extended to the surrounding road network to facilitate the rapid and efficient construction of temporary infrastructure without requiring full planning permission“. This is an area that hosts two sites of biological importance, is the food and foraging corridor for many red listed birds and threatened wildlife species and is right at the centre of the deep peat moss, which is described by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in the Places for Everyone Plan (paragraph 8.3.5) as “one of Western Europe’s rarest and most threatened habitats“! Careful consideration should, therefore, be given to any development that will impact the ecology and biodiversity of the area.

It should be noted that the Environment Act 2021 strengthened the biodiversity duty for public authorities in England, which means that they must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
Whilst the applicant wants to “prevent delays and ensure streamlined project logistics”, we believe it is essential that priority is given to minimising the harms to be caused by this development.

In addition, Birch Road and Ashton Road are key active travel routes for both commuters and leisure users. There has been no consultation about the impact of this proposal either with groups such as ours, TPT/Sustrans, horse riders, cycling forums or directly with communities. The temporary road surface should be suitable for all users (including horse riders). The applicant only appears to be concerned about minimising potential issues for vehicles seeking access to the Manchester United Training Ground (paragraph 4.2.6), but safety considerations should ensure active travel users have priority on route at all times and that traffic speeds are limited to 10 mph.

The temporary two storey buildings highlighted at paragraph 4.3.1 will be up to 7m high, immediately changing the landscape views of this area, with no proposals to limit the effect on users and residents for whom this will have a huge impact. NPPF paragraph 135 states that planning policies and decisions should ensure that developments are “sympathetic to local character and history, including the surrounding built environment and landscape setting“. We do not believe this development meets this criterion.

Finally, there is still no published Masterplan for the New Carrington Allocation. As mentioned in our complaint below, Trafford is cherry-picking which policies within Places for Everyone it will adhere to and which it will ignore. Whilst this is beneficial for the developers, it is hugely detrimental for Trafford’s own communities (users of Carrington Moss, local residents and the populations of wildlife and birds that breed and feed in the area).

BESS Planning Application 115160 Complaint and Planning Application Responses
This 19.9 hectare site comprises very deep peat and has been approved for development despite our repeated objections and concerns.

The applicant’s peat survey report is here.

Trafford’s response to our FOI request is here.

Following approval, we raised a detailed complaint (available here) about the approach taken by Trafford. Their response is available here. We now plan to complain to the Ombudsman. We will provide updates as they become available.

The Officer Report is available here.

The applicant’s BNG Report is here.

Our objections to this planning application are available on the links below:

250515 Destruction of an irreplaceable habitat – 115160 (third response)

250409 BESS Planning Application 115160 (second response)

250106 Response BESS (115160)

Blackrock Appeal – Voltage Park, Carrington:
28th October 2025 An appeal (APP/Q4245/W/25/3367470) by Blackrock relating to the refusal of planning application ref. 112794/FUL/24 by Trafford Borough Council
250714 FOCM Representation

Peel NRE Appeal – Land West of Manchester Road (A6144) Carrington:
6th to 9th May 2025 An appeal (APP/Q4245/W/25/3358756) by PEEL NRE Limited relating to the refusal of planning application ref. 107456/OUT/22 by Trafford Borough Council.
Trafford Appeal webpage
250305 FOCM Representation

Appeal Decision (from the Planning Inspectorate) – note that Trafford has announced (12/9/25) that they are challenging the planning inspector’s decision in the Court.