Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair and Executive Councillors on any matters within the powers and duties of the Executive, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.  (Questions must be submitted no later than 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting on the card provided.  These are available at the meeting and at local libraries and information centres. You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions)

Members of the public were invited to put questions to the Executive on any matters within its powers and duties, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.

Six questions were submitted.

The first question asked what assurances the Council could give that the traffic generated by the potential 850 new homes on the site of the former Woodford Aerodrome would not blight the area.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) replied that in the event that the SEMMMS road scheme was in place the additional capacity this would create would allow for development of 850 houses on the Woodford site without creating significant increases in congestion within the area.  Local access and safety issues would need to be resolved as part of negotiations for any planning application.  In the event that the SEMMMS road was not in place the applicant would have to demonstrate that sufficient capacity could be created on the local road network to accommodate the traffic without worsening existing levels of congestion, and that this would prove a challenge.

The second question asked whether the proposed Woodford Supplementary Planning Document adequately addressed the need to provide additional local facilities and amenities, including assisted or sheltered accommodation, given the likely scale of development on the former Woodford Aerodrome site.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) replied that planning legislation made clear the tests that contributions from developers must meet to be considered reasonable.  They must be necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms; directly related to the development; and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development. The Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) made clear that, where it is the best way of making the development acceptable in planning terms and it meets the other tests, enhanced provision of community facilities (including, potentially, the enhancement of existing facilities) could be included within such contributions.

The Executive Councillor further added that there was contradictory evidence as to the need, or otherwise, for new NHS healthcare facilities in the Woodford area. The SPD clearly set out that this matter would need to be reviewed in the light of responsibility for commissioning new facilities passing from the current Primary Care Trusts to new GP-led commissioning groups and that the Council was only able to respond to the best evidence available.

With respect to housing types and tenures, the Executive Councillor replied that the SPD clearly sets out that the residential element of any redevelopment scheme should comprise a mixture of dwelling types, sizes and tenures.  This explicitly included the provision of accommodation for older people, as set out in paragraph 5.15 of the SPD amongst other places.

The third question asked whether executive councillors had read and understood all the comments submitted as part of the consultation on the Woodford Supplementary Planning Document, and the answers provided by officers, and if not, asking whether consideration of the Document should be deferred.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) replied that all executive councillors would not usually read all the feedback received as part of a consultation of this type, but that because of the importance of the Woodford Supplementary Planning Document, members of the Executive had been regularly briefed on the development of the Document and the issues that had arisen from the consultation.

The fourth question asked whether executive councillors had visited the Woodford site in the last 12 months to assess the impact of development on the Woodford community.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) replied that the proposed Supplementary Planning Document was not a development proposal but a policythat would guide a decision on a planning application; therefore it was not as necessary for executive councillors to have visited the site. He added that as the relevant executive portfolio holder he had visited the site so that he could brief other members of the Executive.

The Leader of the Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To consider a report of the Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration)

The report seeks the Executive’s approval of the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its adoption as part of the Stockport Local Development Framework (LDF). The SPD has been subject to public consultation and has been considered by the Planning & Highways Regulation Committee, Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee and the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee.

The Executive is recommended to approve adoption of the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) as part of the Stockport Local Development Framework (LDF).

Officer contact: Paul Lawrence/ Richard Wood, 0161 474 4515/ 4386 paul.lawrence@stockport.gov.uk  / richard.wood@stockport.gov.uk

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) inviting the Executive Meeting to consider the final draft of the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which set out the environmental, social, design and economic objectives relevant to and which would guide development and use of land at the site within the boundary of Stockport. The SPD had been subject to consultation with local residents and interested parties, as well as the Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee, the Planning & Highways Regulation Committee and the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) thanked all those who had taken part in the consultation and stated that the draft SPD had been amended in light of some of the suggestions received.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) highlighted the recommendation of the Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee that the final SPD be subject to further consultation. The Executive Councillor stated that he believed the SPD had been subject to a thorough and comprehensive consultation process and that resolution was needed to ensure the Council had a policy in place against which to determine an anticipated planning application.

The Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) also referred to two further correspondence received since publication of the report. The first was from Mark Hunter MP raising a number of questions and it was stated that a response to these would be made available to anyone who wished to see it. The second was from a resident questioning the legality of the SPD. A representative of the Service Director (Legal & Democratic Services) confirmed that Counsel had reaffirmed that the SPD met all necessary legal requirements.

Finally, the Executive Councillor (Economic Development & Regeneration) reported that following discussion between the Council and Woodford Community Council, two revisions were proposed to the SPD.

Executive councillors then asked a number of questions about the SPD.

RESOLVED – (1) That the Woodford Aerodrome Opportunity Site Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) be approved as part of the Stockport Local Development Framework, subject to the following amendments:-

·         Under paragraph 2.8, replace reference to Avro 718 with Avro 748

·         Under paragraph 5.10, replace existing text with “The Council has considered three principal options for the approach to the distribution of development on the site each of which could be delivered in accordance with relevant development plan policies so as to meet identified needs in terms of, for example, housing mix, density, open space and play provision. Any pattern of development proposed in a planning application will be required to demonstrate that it is in general conformity with all relevant development plan policies or that other material considerations exist which justify a departure from those policies. The options are represented diagrammatically as the following three concepts:”

(2) That the recommendation of the Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme South Area Committee from 10 December 2012 be noted but that the Executive believes that sufficient consultation has already been undertaken and that to delay further the adoption of the SPD would hinder the Council in determining any future planning application.

(3) That the Service Director (Place Development) be requested to make clear to any developer before the submission of an application for the Woodford site the Council’s requirement for sustainability.