Manchester progresses council house development company

The council has announced that its "key meetings" scheduled for this week will go ahead as normal, and that these will be the last until the Governmental lockdown has been relaxed or removed.

Councils across the region continue to halt planning meetings in line with social distancing measures, and are calling for updated advice on whether to decide applications through other means including delegated powers.

Local authorities are looking to Whitehall for a steer on how to manage their operations, including making decisions on new developments. 

The council is proposing “corrective measures” such as introducing further planning policies to protect and extend heritage sites, in an attempt to cling on to its special heritage designation, which is under threat from governing body Unesco.

The impact of the novel coronavirus on the Budget 2020 is another reminder that the North West’s infrastructure plans are being devised on a platform of shifting sands, writes Stephen Gleave of Aecom. 

Measures to release sites for development, set a deadline for local plans and review the methodology for assessing housing need will be included in the Government’s Planning White Paper, due in the coming weeks.

The Chancellor pledged to increase research spending in the technology and low-carbon sectors, including plans to build "at least two" carbon capture and storage facilities in areas such as Merseyside by 2030.

In the first post-Brexit budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak pointed to infrastructure investment as a chance to “level up opportunity and share prosperity” across the UK, however the bulk of detail on the Government’s planned spending in the North West is expected in the coming months.

The future of Manchester and development beyond the city fringe into fast-growing towns were the topics of conversation at a special roundtable hosted by JMW Solicitors.