Manchester to get new ice arena near Trafford Centre and next to huge Therme water park and surf attractions

A brand new ice arena will be coming to Manchester. Regeneration specialists Peel Waters have agreed terms with property investment company ICITIES to develop Greater Manchester’s latest Planet Ice venue at TraffordCity. 

It will be the biggest Planet Ice venue in the UK and the company’s 15th and as well as catering for winter sports, it will also convert into a multi-use event space. The new venture is designed to complement the existing Altrincham site which is “often at capacity”. 

It is the latest announcement in the huge plans for the TraffordCity site. The arena will be situated on the site of the former soccer dome next to Chill Factore and iFLY, and sit alongside the other developments including the huge Therme Manchester wellbeing resort and Tartan Leisure’s inland surf destination, the first of its kind in the north of England. 

More details of the new Planet Ice venue are to be confirmed but plans include several on-site food and drink offerings, including a family dining restaurant and a sports bar.

Nick Payne, director of ICITIES said: “This marks our first major project and our vision to develop best-in-class sports and leisure stadiums and arenas in the UK. We already enjoy a strong partnership with Planet Ice, and ice skating will be the cornerstone of many of our projects like this one at TraffordCity. This arena will be our showcase and we hope to attract other allied sports and entertainment operators to this project."

James Whittaker, executive director, at Peel Waters added: “Peel Waters is extremely pleased to have secured another brilliant attraction to TraffordCity. Planet Ice will be a huge success in TraffordCity and together with the existing and proposed diverse mix of offerings, we believe TraffordCity will be the UK’s best retail and leisure destination.

“Alongside boosting the local and visitor economy and attracting investment into the area, we are committed to increasing jobs and opportunities for our local community. Through our long-term vision for TraffordCity, Peel has helped create 17,500 jobs within the destination to date with plans to increase this to 33,000 over the next 20 years."

Heath Rhodes, COO of Planet Ice, said: “Peel Waters wants to attract the best leisure operators to TraffordCity, and we are keen to be working in partnership with them and ICITIES to develop a Planet Ice branded venue at this location. Situated next to the Chill Factore and with easy access to and from the M60 means our customers from Liverpool, Warrington and Manchester are all within close range.

“The venue will be very complementary to our existing facilities in the northwest, in particular Altrincham, where we are often at capacity. We plan to provide a large seating capacity at the new venue for on and off ice entertainment. Furthermore, we plan to invest in our Altrincham site, so having this new facility close by will allow our customers full access to ice during any works we do at Oakfield Road.”

The estimated build time of the ice-arena and event space will be approximately 12-15 months once the team starts on site.