TWO public inquiries affecting Altrincham’s future will be heard in the next seven days.

One, which began yesterday, will determine whether Green Belt status should be returned to 89 acres of the 335-acre Davenport Green site - an area of countryside that forms a ‘buffer’ zone between Hale and Wythenshawe.

The second inquiry, which is being held on October 4 and 5, will affect the future of the £100m Altair site proposed for Altrincham town centre.

Both inquiries were halted in July to allow further consultation with the public.

The Altair inquiry, which is considering the compulsory purchase order of the two buildings - the Bridge Inn and ATS Euromaster - standing in the way of the development, was adjourned in July after Trafford Council failed to properly inform the public about it.

It will determine whether a Compulsory Purchase Order made in 2009 to force both businesses off the Oakfield Road site can go ahead.

Nick Payne, managing director of Nikal - the developer behind Altair, told the July inquiry that the buildings would ‘significantly affect the viability’ of the scheme.

The Davenport Green inquiry, which is part of a wider Core Strategy plan, was halted in July to allow a six-week public consultation with residents about the Davenport Green issue.

Labour councillors are concerned about the Government’s plans for an Enterprise Zone and want to return the land to the Green Belt - a status it had 15 years ago - to protect the site from development.

But the borough’s leading Conservative Group believe that the current level of protection on the land as countryside is enough to prevent unwanted development.

The inquiry will determine Trafford’s Core Strategy, the first Development Plan Document to be produced in the Trafford Local Development Framework, which will include plans related to economic, social and environmental issues.