Residents invited to have their say on proposed ‘LifeHub’ plans for Goodwood Field
Sale West residents are being encouraged to take part in a public consultation survey as proposals for a new ‘LifeHub’ community centre at Goodwood Field move into their early stages.
The plans, being developed by the Three Meem Foundation, focus on creating a community hub with leisure and wellbeing facilities, with the proposed development centred on the area around the existing car park.
A public consultation survey has now been launched, giving residents the chance to share their views before any final plans are submitted to Trafford Council’s planning team. The survey asks whether people support the proposal overall, how they feel about the design and scale and what facilities they would most like to see included.
Options listed in the consultation include an indoor sports hall, gym space, group exercise studios, education rooms, a café area and a crèche, as well as wider spaces designed to support health and wellbeing activities. The charity is also asking whether an indoor sports facility would make respondents more likely to be physically active.
The consultation comes amid plenty of local discussion about what the plans could mean for Goodwood Field. In its public messaging, Three Meem has described LifeHub as an inclusive space intended to support “body, mind and community spirit”, with a focus on sport, fitness and wellbeing.
Councillor Keleigh Glenton (Manor Ward) has also encouraged residents to engage with the process, explaining that Trafford Council’s Executive has approved “in principle” the leasing of a portion of land at Goodwood Field to the charity. She stressed, however, that this is an early step which enables the developer to carry out surveys, design work and prepare a planning application – and that any application will still need to be thoroughly scrutinised through the planning system.
LifeHub - proposed
In a Facebook post today (12 January), Cllr Glenton said the current public consultation is an opportunity for residents’ views to inform the plans before they are finalised. She added that once the charity submits a planning application, Trafford Council will run its own planning consultation, before the proposals go to Planning Committee for a decision.
Addressing some of the questions residents have raised, Cllr Glenton said the proposed development sits at and around the current car park, with the majority of the greenspace expected to remain open and freely accessible — including for children and dog walkers.
On the impact to sports clubs, she said the intention is to improve access to sport and physical activity, including potential upgrades to football pitches and new changing facilities. She also shared comments from Sale Spartans, who said the club expects to retain access to pitches and benefit from improved off-field facilities as part of the project.
Cllr Glenton also addressed concerns about the charity’s faith background, stating that while a prayer room may be included, the majority of services would not be faith-based and would focus on sport, leisure and health and wellbeing provision for the wider community.
She added that issues such as parking, traffic, pollution, noise, lighting and environmental impacts would form part of the planning process and any application would need to demonstrate how these impacts would be managed to an acceptable standard.
