Extension granted for Stockport local plan
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has agreed to push the council’s deadline for submitting its local plan back a month but has threatened further intervention if there are more delays.
The minister, using the secretary of state’s intervention powers, had initially ordered Stockport Council to submit a new local plan for government examination by 30 November.
This intervention was merited, Pennycook noted in 2025, because Stockport had failed to carry out the regulation 18 consultation of the plan by the May 2025 target he had put in place for all local authorities in England. Regulation 18 consultation seeks feedback on shaping the local plan.
Pennycook had also mandated that regulation 19 consultation should be completed by 1 September 2026. This consultation is dedicated towards evaluating a finalised draft of the plan for legal compliance.
Stockport Council chief executive Michael Cullen wrote to the minister in June seeking a non-fixed deadline for the completion of the regulation 19 consultation and for an extension the submission of the local plan for examination.
In response, Pennycook changed the deadlines for both. A regulation 19 consultation must start no later than 1 October now, rather than complete by 1 September.
The submission deadline for examination was moved from 30 November to 31 December.
“I will be asking my officials to liaise with you on this matter on a regular basis and to provide me with updates on your progress,” Pennycook wrote in a letter to the council.
“Should you fail to comply with the direction in this letter, or should you delay progress of your emerging draft plan in relation to the amended LDS milestones, I will consider whether I need to take any further intervention action,” he continued.
“I can revisit my decision to direct your council at any time if I consider this is justified.”
In a statement, cabinet member for housing and environment Cllr Jake Austin said: “We welcome the minister’s decision to amend the previous direction relating to Stockport’s local plan, which now provides an updated timetable and brings us in line with deadlines nationally.
“We remain focused on delivering the best local plan we can that supports sustainable growth, new homes, jobs and infrastructure across the borough.”
The initial draft of the new local plan included the release of 26 sites from the Green Belt, which have the capacity to deliver up to 8,965 homes. Read that draft local plan.
Stockport’s last local plan was adopted in 2011.
