Minutes:
Upon the amendment being put to the vote:-
For the amendment 30 for, 27 against, 1 abstention.
AMENDMENT CARRIED
It was then
RESOLVED – (33 for, 1 against, 26 abstentions) This Council Meeting notes the recent publication of the white paper “Planning for the Future” which is currently subject to a twelve week consultation until the end of October 2020.
This Council Meeting notes
· And welcomes the explicit commitment in the white paper that “the existing policy for Green Belt protection would remain”;
· That responsibility for allocation of land would remain with local authorities;
· The emphasis placed in the white paper on a brownfield first approach to maximise housing development on previously developed land;
· The award of £81.1M in Brownfield Land Funding from the Government to address land viability issues across Greater Manchester, with a further £40M available to bid for;
· The Government’s proposals that Local Plans would need to cover development needs for a minimum of 10 years while the current NPPF requires strategic policies to look ahead at development needs over a minimum of 15 years;
· That any post-consultation final proposals taken forward are unlikely to be implemented before 2024.
This Council Meeting further notes
· That it is a statutory requirement for Local Authorities to have an up to date Local Plan;
· The comments of the Chief Planner at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government that publication of white paper proposals for consultation is not a reason for Local Authorities to halt or delay plan making;
· That Stockport Council commenced work on an updated Local Plan in 2015 and continues to work on its emerging Local Plan;
· That Local Authorities without an up to date Local Plan risk their green belt being targeted by developers and being left open to planning by appeal where legal process, rather than Stockport residents’ wishes, dictates development in valued areas of our Borough and/ or intervention from the Secretary of State;
· Stockport has since 2017 developed a Brownfield Register which has delivered the positive identification of sites with the real potential for 7,200 new homes within the urban area;
· Stockport’s Mayoral Development Corporation is leading the way in innovation delivering real change, repurposing previously commercial buildings to high specification, modern residential units such as The Mail Box and the award winning White Lion conversion, and creating a variety of homes backed with quality amenity space in the Town Centre;
· Stockport needs the right homes in the right places, with a variety of housing types and all tenures including affordable homes, social rented properties, and homes for first time buyers, families, and retirement properties for those looking to downsize;
· The final version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework has not yet
· been published; and
· The Stockport Council Leadership has always supported a full debate and a Member’s vote in full Council once the final GMSF is published which is expected in October 2020.
This Council Meeting continues to be committed to a Brownfield First policy
prioritising housing development on previously developed land and necessarily providing protection to our much valued Green Belt.
This Council Meeting believes that the final proposals of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) 2020, which, if approved, will be submitted for Inspection next year, should be fully published with maximum transparency, should clearly show how consultation responses to the 2019 draft have been taken into account highlighting changes to previous drafts of the framework and subject to full debate by elected members prior to any decision to proceed or not with the GMSF 2020 and move to a public consultation.
The Council Meeting therefore resolves to
· Recommend this Council respond to the Government consultation on the planning white paper “Planning for the Future”;
· Request that the Proper Officer convene a meeting of the Development Plan Working Party prior to the next Council Meeting to consider the 2020 version of GMSF, the Stockport Local Plan as well as the Government’s proposals for reform to the planning system as outlined in “Planning for the Future”; and
· Suspend the Council Meeting Procedure rules relating to the number of times a councillor may speak (Council Meeting Procedure Rules 14.5) at its meeting on Thursday 22nd October 2020 for the duration of the GMSF agenda item only, in order to secure a proper, full and effective debate on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework before any vote is taken.