Agenda item

This Council Meeting notes:

·           That all councils are required by government to have a Local Plan which identifies land for housing, offices and industry;

·           That the proposed Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is one approach to fulfilling this requirement;

·           That the GMSF is a 20-year plan, requiring a third more housing land to be identified than would be required by a 15 year plan, as produced by many other Local Authorities, and is based upon growth assumptions over such a long period which cannot be verified;

·           That the GMSF proposals include significant releases of Green Belt in Stockport which residents and politicians alike have reacted strongly against;

·           That the proposals were developed without the involvement of Stockport councillors and that the former Lead Councillor for this work had not been informed of these proposals by the time she left office in May 2016; and

·           That Greater Manchester councils have a long tradition of working together effectively where there is common agreement, and of working separately or in clusters where there is not common agreement.

This Council Meeting further notes:

·           That the Executive delegated the formulation and preparation of the GMSF to AGMA in March 2015 and that this council resolved to enter an agreement to jointly prepare the GMSF with the other Greater Manchester authorities in April 2015, in the expectation that an acceptable plan would be proposed;

·           That this council has a duty under Section 33a of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to cooperate with other planning authorities; and that this duty was fulfilled in developing our current Local Plan and has been fulfilled by neighbouring authorities outside of Greater Manchester without the need for a joint process for developing each Local Plan; and

·           That, at its last meeting on 1st December 2016, this council approved a report which set out the process to formally commence work on a review of the existing development plan documents and to commence work on a new Local Plan for the borough, which explicitly noted that Stockport’s Local Plan would only sit alongside the GMSF if the GMSF were to be adopted (paragraph 3.4).

This Council Meeting therefore resolves to ask the Executive Leader to

·           Make arrangements to ensure that the GM Spatial Framework does not apply to Stockport,

·           make arrangements to comply with the duty to cooperate with other planning authorities; and

·           pursue Stockport’s own Local Plan.

Moved by:                  Councillor Iain Roberts

Seconded by:            Councillor Mark Hunter

In accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 16.1 (Motion similar to one previously rejected) this motion has been signed by a further five signatories:-

Councillor Geoff Abell

                                    Councillor Malcolm Allan

                                    Councillor Laura Booth

                                    Councillor Sue Ingham

                                    Councillor Wendy Meikle

MOVED AND SECONDED - This Council Meeting notes:

·         That all councils are required by government to have a Local Plan which identifies land for housing, offices and industry;

·         That the proposed Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is one approach to fulfilling this requirement;

·         That the GMSF is a 20-year plan, requiring a third more housing land to be identified than would be required by a 15 year plan, as produced by many other Local Authorities, and is based upon growth assumptions over such a long period which cannot be verified;

·         That the GMSF proposals include significant releases of Green Belt in Stockport which residents and politicians alike have reacted strongly against;

·         That the proposals were developed without the involvement of Stockport councillors and that the former Lead Councillor for this work had not been informed of these proposals by the time she left office in May 2016; and

·         That Greater Manchester councils have a long tradition of working together effectively where there is common agreement, and of working separately or in clusters where there is not common agreement.

This Council Meeting further notes:

·         That the Executive delegated the formulation and preparation of the GMSF to AGMA in March 2015 and that this council resolved to enter an agreement to jointly prepare the GMSF with the other Greater Manchester authorities in April 2015, in the expectation that an acceptable plan would be proposed;

·         That this council has a duty under Section 33a of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to cooperate with other planning authorities; and that this duty was fulfilled in developing our current Local Plan and has been fulfilled by neighbouring authorities outside of Greater Manchester without the need for a joint process for developing each Local Plan; and

·         That, at its last meeting on 1st December 2016, this council approved a report which set out the process to formally commence work on a review of the existing development plan documents and to commence work on a new Local Plan for the borough, which explicitly noted that Stockport’s Local Plan would only sit alongside the GMSF if the GMSF were to be adopted (paragraph 3.4).

This Council Meeting therefore resolves to ask the Executive Leader to

·         Make arrangements to ensure that the GM Spatial Framework does not apply to Stockport,

·         make arrangements to comply with the duty to cooperate with other planning authorities; and

·         pursue Stockport’s own Local Plan.

AMENDMENT MOVED AND SECONDED - This Council Meeting notes:

·         That all councils are required by government to have a Local Plan which identifies land for housing, offices and industry; Stockport’s current Development Plan which was adopted by the Council in 2011 comprises of the Core strategy as well as retained policies from the 2006 UDP Review;

·         That the proposed Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is the approach approved and entered into by the former Liberal Democrat Executive to fulfilling this requirement back in 2014;

·         That the GMSF is a 20-year plan, requiring a third more housing land to be identified than would be required by a 15-year plan, as produced by many other Local Authorities, and is based upon growth assumptions over such a long period which cannot be verified for either a 15 or 20 year plan;

·         That the initial first draft GMSF proposals highlight the need for significant improvements in transport infrastructure, the provision of health care and schools alongside the release of green belt in Stockport;

·         That residents of Stockport have engaged extensively in the consultation and that the consultation was extended into January 2017 following representation and concerns from residents, MP’s, locally elected members and Council leaders;

·         That residents and elected members have raised a number of concerns about the initial draft of the GMSF especially around infrastructure provision, housing need and the significant proposed loss of green belt;

·         That it welcomes the support from Andrew Gwynne MP for Denton & Reddish, Anne Coffey MP for Stockport, Mary Robinson MP for Cheadle and William Wragg MP for Hazel Grove who have spoken in Parliament on behalf of constituents and highlighted and questioned a number of issues and raised concerns within the draft GMSF;

·         That Stockport residents should be congratulated for their full and robust examination of the opportunities and challenges that the GMSF highlights in its current format, especially on the areas of green belt;

·         That the GMSF proposals were developed by AGMA whose meetings were attended by the former Liberal Democrat councillor who was Leader of the Council at that time. The former Liberal Democrat Leader of Stockport Council  was appointed by AGMA as the Lead Councillor across Greater Manchester for Planning & Housing with responsibilities which included the plan to develop the GMSF proposals;

·         That Greater Manchester councils have a long tradition of working together effectively where there is common agreement, and of working separately or in clusters where there is not common agreement; and

·         That the newly elected Labour Executive and Stockport Councillors continue to support this approach.

This Council Meeting further notes:

·         That the former Liberal Democrat Executive instructed Stockport Council Officers to work on the formulation and preparation of the GMSF for AGMA in March 2015 and that this Council resolved to enter an agreement to jointly prepare the GMSF with the other Greater Manchester authorities in April 2015, in the expectation that an acceptable plan would be proposed after two complete rounds of consultation;

·         That this council has a duty under Section 33a of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to cooperate with other planning authorities; and that this duty was fulfilled in developing our current Development Plan created in 2011. It has also been fulfilled by neighbouring authorities outside of Greater Manchester without the need for a joint process for developing each Local Plan; and

·         That, at its last meeting on 1st December 2016, this Council approved work to begin on Stockport’s Local Plan. The Local Plan needs to be developed irrespective of whether GMSF goes forward and in what form, and is necessary to produce the evidence base for future planning strategy irrespective of the GMSF.

This Council Meeting therefore resolves to ask the Executive Leader to:

·         Make arrangements to ensure that the Council continues to engage with the GM Spatial Framework consultation, working to ensure that the views of residents collated from the initial consultation are considered and acted upon in any future proposals;

·         Make arrangements to comply with the duty to cooperate with other planning authorities; and pursue Stockport’s refreshed Local Plan;

·         Ensure that residents are fully consulted on any changes made to GMSF proposals following the representations made from the first consultation via a second consultation;

·         Ensure that if the extent of current large-scale green belt proposals for Stockport remain as part of any revised GMSF proposals, Stockport should look to withdraw from the GMSF process; and

·         Ensure that the Labour Executive of Stockport Council is committed to a vote in Council on any final GMSF proposal and that they will not commit Stockport Council to agreeing to the final GMSF if it is opposed by the majority of elected members voting in the Council meeting.