Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration.

The report details how the Council can further support our ambition to create thriving sustainable town centre by creating the right conditions for Town Centre Living.  The proposed approach to residential development in Stockport Town Centre is also supported through the Council’s  Brownfield First approach.

The Commission is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: George Perrin on 0161-474-4510 or email george.perrin@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing how the Council could further support the Council’s ambition to create a thriving sustainable town centre by creating the right conditions for Town Centre Living.  The proposed approach to residential development in Stockport Town Centre was also supported through the Council’s Brownfield First approach.

The Task Force was advised that the report would be amended in the light of comments made at the meeting of the Stockport Housing Commission held on 19 July 2017.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration.

The report details how the Council can further support our ambition to create thriving sustainable town centre by creating the right conditions for Town Centre Living.  The proposed approach to residential development in Stockport Town Centre is also supported through the Council’s  Brownfield First approach.

The Commission is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: George Perrin on 0161-474-4510 or email george.perrin@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing how the Council aimed to further support the ambition to create a thriving sustainable town centre by creating the right conditions for Town Centre Living.  It was also noted that the proposed approach to residential development in Stockport Town Centre was also supported through the Council’s Brownfield First approach.

The following comments were made:-

·         Whether a boundary had been established for the town centre and how such a boundary might be defined.

·         Members would continue to be involved in the development of the Town Centre Living project through the Central Stockport Area Committee and the Communities & Housing Scrutiny Committee.

·         Concern was expressed in relation to the ambitious ‘target’ of 2,500 new dwellings within the Town Centre within 10 years.  It was noted that in the past ten years development within the Town Centre had achieved a fraction of that number of units.

·         While there was a clear ambition to deliver housing with the Town Centre within the report, it was less clear what the strategy to achieve this was.

·         Consideration needed to be given to the development of high quality infrastructure to support increased residential development which would include schools, parking and healthcare.

·         An appropriate level of housing density for the Town Centre needed to be considered with particular regard being given to protecting townscape views within the Town Centre, elements of which, such as views to the viaduct, warranted high levels of protection.

·         It was important to have a strategy which would assist to unlock some of the brownfield sites in the Town Centre which have historically provided difficult to develop.

·         The benefits of providing a zoning system for land use in the Town Centre were discussed, and whether the retail core needed to be pared back to reflect current levels of demand.

·         There was the potential to increase residential accommodation through the use of underutilised or empty accommodation above retail units.

·         Following members comments in relation to the phraseology around housing targets for the Town Centre, it was proposed that such references should be removed the final document.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.