Trafford

Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in. It covers and includes the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sale. The borough was formed in 1974 as a merger of six former districts and part of a seventh. The River Mersey flows through the borough, separating North Trafford from South Trafford, and the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. Trafford is the seventh-most populous district in Greater Manchester.
There is evidence of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Roman activity in the area, two castles – one of them a Scheduled Ancient Monument – and over 200 listed buildings. In the late 19th century, the population rapidly expanded with the arrival of the railway. Trafford is the home of Manchester United F.C. and Lancashire County Cricket Club, as well as Altrincham F.C. and Trafford F.C. The Imperial War Museum North, opened in 2002, is located in the borough.
Trafford has a strong economy with low levels of unemployment and contains both Trafford Park industrial estate and the Trafford Centre, a large out-of-town shopping centre. Apart from the City of Manchester, Trafford is the only borough in Greater Manchester to be above the national average for weekly income. Socially, the area includes both working class and middle class areas like Bowdon and Hale. In Parliament, Trafford is represented by three constituencies: Stretford and Urmston; Altrincham and Sale West; and Wythenshawe and Sale East, which mainly covers neighbouring Manchester.

History

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of six former districts which were abolished at the same time, as well as four civil parishes from a seventh abolished district:

Altrincham Municipal Borough
Bowdon Urban District
Carrington‡
Dunham Massey‡
Hale Urban District
Partington‡
Sale Municipal Borough
Stretford Municipal Borough
Urmston Urban District
Warburton‡

‡ Parishes from Bucklow Rural District
Stretford and Urmston had been in the administrative county of Lancashire prior to the 1974 reforms, whilst all the others had been in the administrative county of Cheshire. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor.
The choice of the name Trafford for the borough was a "compromise between Altrincham, Stretford and Sale", and "seemed to have wide support". A Liberal councillor for the Municipal Borough of Sale suggested "Crossford ... whilst "Watlingford" was suggested by councillors in Hale, after the supposed name of an ancient Roman road in the district. Those names were rejected in favour of Trafford, because of the district's "famous sports venue, a major employer as well as historic associations", referring to Old Trafford, Trafford Park and the de Trafford baronets respectively.
As a place name, Trafford is an Anglo-French version of Stratford, deriving from the Old English words stræt and ford. The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford has existed since 1974, but the area it covers has a long history. Neolithic arrowheads have been discovered in Altrincham and Sale, and there is evidence of Bronze Age habitation in Timperley. Fragments of Roman pottery have been found in Urmston, and Roman coins have been found in Sale. The Roman road between the legionary fortresses at Chester and York crosses Trafford, passing through Stretford, Sale, and Altrincham. The settlements in Trafford have been based largely around agriculture, although Altrincham was founded as a market town in the mid 13th century. Although the Industrial Revolution affected Trafford, the area did not experience the same rate of growth as the rest of Greater Manchester. A 100% increase in population in the Trafford area between 1841 and 1861 was a direct result of an influx due to the construction of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, which allowed residents to commute more easily from Trafford into Manchester. The area developed its own centres of industry in Broadheath and Trafford Park. They have since declined, although Trafford Park still employs 40–50,000 people. Today, Trafford is mostly a commuter area. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester.

Geography

The metropolitan boroughs of the City of Salford and the City of Manchester border Trafford to the north and east respectively; the Cheshire East area of Cheshire lies to the south. The geology of South Trafford is Keuper marl with some Keuper waterstone and sandstone, whilst the geology of North Trafford is Bunter sandstone. The River Mersey runs east to west through the area, separating North Trafford from South Trafford; other rivers in Trafford include the Bollin, the River Irwell, Sinderland Brook, and Crofts Bank Brook. The Bridgewater Canal, opened in 1761 and completed in 1776, follows a course through Trafford roughly north to south and passes through Stretford, Sale, and Altrincham. The Manchester Ship Canal, opened in 1894, forms part of Trafford's northern and western boundaries with Salford.
Trafford is generally flat, with most of the land lying between and above sea level, apart from Bowdon Hill in South Trafford which rises above sea level. The lowest point in Trafford, near Warburton, is above sea level. There are areas of mossland in low-lying areas: Warburton Moss, Dunham Moss, and Hale Moss. Greenspace accounts for 51.8% of Trafford's total area, domestic buildings and gardens comprise 25.6%, the rest is made up of roads and non-domestic buildings.
Localities within the boundaries of Trafford include:
North Trafford: Cornbrook, Davyhulme, Firswood, Flixton, Gorse Hill, Lostock, Old Trafford, Stretford, Trafford Park and Urmston.
South Trafford: Altrincham, Ashton-Upon-Mersey, Bowdon, Broadheath, Brooklands, Carrington, Dunham Massey, Hale, Hale Barns, Oldfield Brow, Partington, Sale, Sale Moor, Timperley, Warburton and West Timperley.

Governance

Representation

The residents of Trafford Metropolitan Borough are represented in the British Parliament by Members of Parliament for three separate parliamentary constituencies. Altrincham and Sale West is represented by Connor Rand MP. Stretford and Urmston is represented by Andrew Western MP. Wythenshawe and Sale East, which also covers parts of the City of Manchester, is represented by Mike Kane MP.

Council

In 1974, Trafford Council was created to administer the newly formed Trafford Metropolitan Borough and is headquartered at Trafford Town Hall, which was previously named Stretford Town Hall. On its formation in 1974, the council was controlled by the Conservative Party; the Conservatives have been in control 1973–85, 1988–94, and 2004–2018. The only time the Labour Party was in control was 1996–2002, and 2019 to the present. The rest of the time were periods of no overall control. The council meets to decide policy and allocate budget. Its duties include setting levels of council tax, monitoring the health service in Trafford, providing social care, and funding schools. Cllr Tom Ross is the leader of the council and Cllr Amy Whyte is the current mayor.
In 2007 the Audit Commission judged Trafford Council to be "improving strongly" in providing services for local people. Overall the council was awarded "three star" status meaning it was "performing well" and "consistently above minimum requirements", similar to 46% of all local authorities. In 2008–09, Trafford council had a budget of £150.5 million. This was collected from council tax and government grants. The council spent £31.8 million on children and young people's services ; £60.1 million on community services and social care ; £34.4 million on "prosperity, planning, and development" ; and £33.8 million on customer and corporate services.
Civil parishes form the bottom tier of local government; the parish councils are involved in planning, management of town and parish centres, and promoting tourism. In 2001, 8,484 people lived in Trafford's four civil parishes: Carrington, Dunham Massey, Partington, and Warburton. They were all previously part of Bucklow Rural District. A rural district was a type of local government district for the administration of predominantly rural areas. The rest of Trafford is unparished. The unparished areas are: Altrincham, Bowdon, Hale, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston. The status of each area prior to 1974 is shown in brackets. An urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area.
Following the 2018 local elections, the council, which was previously Conservative-held, came under Labour control in the form of a minority administration supported by the Liberal Democrats in a confidence and supply administration. There were a few shock results, such as in Altrincham, where the Green Party gained seats from the incumbent Conservative councillors. After gaining seats in the 2019 local elections, the Labour Party was in a position to form a majority-controlling administration.

Electoral wards

There are 21 electoral wards in Trafford, each with 3 councillors, giving a total of 63 councillors with one-third elected three years out of four. In the following table, which lists the wards before the boundary changes of 2023, the populations for each ward are based on 2013 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

Ward name	Localities covered	Population	Ref.
Altrincham	Altrincham, Broadheath, and Oldfield Brow	11,873
Ashton upon Mersey	Ashton upon Mersey and Sale	9,726
Bowdon	Altrincham, Bowdon, Dunham Massey, and Warburton	9,284
Broadheath	Altrincham, Broadheath, Sale, Timperley, and West Timperley	13,069
Brooklands	Brooklands and Sale	10,572
Bucklow-St. Martins	Ashton upon Mersey, Carrington, and Partington	10,540
Clifford	Old Trafford	12,003
Davyhulme East	Davyhulme, The Trafford Centre and Urmston	9,680
Davyhulme West	Davyhulme and Flixton	10,006
Flixton	Flixton	10,828
Gorse Hill	Gorse Hill, Stretford and Trafford Park	12,171
Hale Barns	Hale, Hale Barns and Timperley	9,812
Hale Central	Altrincham and Hale	10,543
Longford	Firswood, Old Trafford, and Stretford	12,163
Priory	Sale	10,917
Sale Moor	Sale and Sale Moor	10,508
St. Mary's	Ashton upon Mersey and Sale	11,795
Stretford	Stretford	11,318
Timperley	Brooklands and Timperley	11,201
Urmston	Flixton and Urmston	11,271
Village	Brooklands and Timperley	10,899