Stockport halts local plan preparation again

The authority has postponed a consultation on its draft local plan as it looks to revisit its approach to housing delivery amid Labour’s recently proposed reforms.

Stockport Council had been due to consult on its long-awaited local plan in September and October but claims it has been “forced” to cancel the consultation after the new government revised local housing targets upwards for almost every local authority area.

Stockport’s draft local plan set out the intention to deliver 15,761 homes across the 15-year plan period, around 1,000 a year.

However, Labour’s new method for calculating housing need would require Stockport to provide almost double that amount annually, just shy of 2,000 units.

Find out how Labour’s new housing algorithm will impact the North 

Labour has also warned councils that cannot demonstrate a land supply to meet their housing need must look at releasing parts of the Green Belt to bridge the gap.

In Stockport, the issue of Green Belt release is a thorny one and led to the council pulling out of the Greater Manchester joint-spatial plan in 2020.

Stockport’s draft local plan proposed no Green Belt release at all – prompting doubts from within the property industry about the council’s ability to deliver the homes it needs using only brownfield sites.

The council’s Lib Dem Leader Cllr Mark Hunter is unsurprisingly unhappy about the impact Labour’s reforms could have on Stockport.

“We absolutely accept the urgent need for the right mix of homes, including affordable and social housing, but there is no easy solution to this,” he said.

“Labour seems to be making the same mistake as their Conservative predecessors in giving the power and profits to developers ahead of allowing local people to shape the place we live in.

Hunter added that Labour’s approach regarding the release of Green Belt land “ignore residents’ wishes”.

Despite pressure from Whitehall, Hunter is determined to stick to his principles. However, he seems resigned to the fact he may have no choice but to compromise when it comes to drafting up a fresh local plan.

“We will continue to work towards delivering a plan that protects the character of the borough and which delivers the right homes in the right places, taking a ‘brownfield first’ approach, using previously developed land.

“But it seems clear the government will force us to build on the Green Belt to meet their centrally-imposed housing target. I firmly believe that central government targets, however well intended, should never trump local decision making.”

Stockport’s local plan has been a long time coming. In 2022, the council halted work on it amid political uncertainty.

Cllr Mark Roberts, the cabinet member with responsibility for delivering the local plan, said that Labour “doesn’t care” about the impact increased housing targets will have.

“Nationally, Labour are saying “we know what’s best for you”, whilst locally they are saying “don’t build in our back yard”, creating nonsensical scare stories about filling the town centre with skyscrapers,” he said.

“It is really disappointing to see their local leadership turning their backs on the collaborative, cross-party approach to the much-needed regeneration and investment in our town and district centres, and which brought a Mayoral Development Corporation to Stockport.”

Leader of the opposition Labour group Cllr David Meller has criticised the Lib Dems, saying its priorities are wrong.