Boost for plans for 500+ homes in Stockport
Developer Russell LDP has increased the number of homes it plans to build on 75 acres off Chester Road in Woodford, now that the site has been allocated for housing in the council’s draft local plan.
Russell LDP and landowner JAG Woodford submitted plans for 554 homes to Stockport Council last year. At the time, the site was not allocated for development and the council had previously declared it was unwilling to release any Green Belt for housing.
However, in the intervening months, the local authority has earmarked the site for around 545 homes in the latest draft of its emerging local plan.
Subsequently, Russell LDP has tweaked its plans to provide 567 homes in total, including 423 standard homes and 144 care units – an increase of 13 homes compared to the original plan.
Stantec is advising on planning matters. To learn more about the development, search for reference number DC/096927 on Stockport Council’s planning portal.
The developer can proceed through planning with more certainty following the site’s allocation for development in the emerging local plan. If the site had remained protected as Green Belt, Russell would have had to work harder to make its case for approval.
However, while the development is now supported by policy, it does not automatically mean Stockport Council’s planning committee will approve the plans. There has been vocal opposition to proposals around Woodford in recent years including over plans for Harrow Estate’s 540-home extension to Woodford Garden Village.
Without an up-to-date local plan and able to demonstrate only 1.77 years of land supply, Stockport Council is under pressure to deliver more homes. Its Green Belt is coming under increasing pressure with developers seizing the opportunity to deviate from the authority’s brownfield-first approach to development.
