The rise and fall of the Trafford Centre... 22 years of an iconic attraction now facing closure
hereThe planning process in order to build the vast mall was the most lengthy and drawn-out in British history as the original idea was first dreamed up back in 1986 by wealthy John Whittaker, of Peel Holdings.Manchester City Council vehemently opposed its development and felt it would impact negatively on the city centre economy.The Trafford Centre offered thousands of free car parking spaces as it lured people to embrace the Utopian concept of out-of-town shopping.The planning issue was finally decided in the House of Lords a decade later.Once it got the go ahead, the Trafford Centre took more than two years to build at a cost of £600 million and was - for a year - the largest shopping centre in the UK.It briefly lost its crown when the