Stockport updates draft local plan
Unable to avoid Green Belt release, the latest version of the spatial development framework for the borough looks to enable the delivery of 24, 253 homes – well short of the 32,317 identified as its overall housing need.
A required document from government, the local plan provides policy guidance for development, including a list of sites allocated for housing and employment uses, from now until 2042.
Stockport Council will decide whether or not to approve the latest draft during two meetings next week.
If given the green light, consultation focused on the legality of the local plan could start in the near future, with the council due to approve a final version for submission to national government on 17 December. That is in line with mandated timeframes set by housing minister Matthew Pennycook
The latest local plan draft would see around 30 sites removed from the Green Belt, which currently occupies 46% of the land within the borough’s boundaries.
A trio of sites are no longer allocated for homes in this latest version of the local plan, having been eliminated after the last consultation phase and further examination into their viability. These sites are Brookfield Business Park, land at Chadwick Street in Marple, and land at Houldsworth Golf Club. These three sites would have enabled the delivery of 441 homes.
To replace them, three sites were added: land off Buxton Road in Hazel Grove, which can accommodate 75 homes; land off Occupiers Lane, which can hold 120 homes; and Daisy Bank in Heald Green, which could host 132 homes.
Regarding employment, the largest change came to the amount of floorspace allocated for Bredbury Gateway. This has been reduced from 807,300 sq ft to 538,200 sq ft.
Stockport Council had sought to avoid Green Belt release in the local plan process, however this proved impossible. Council documents show that only 15,519 homes and could be built within the urban area or from existing permissions. Another 64 acres of employment land was needed as well, with urban space unable to meet occupier needs.
That being said, the council has declined to release Green Belt required to meet its full housing need, stating that to release further land would cause irreparable damage to the natural environment, harm landscape characters beyond the Green Belt, and severely impact the transport network.
Because of this, even with the current Green Belt release, the council is not meeting 25% of its housing need – a shortfall of 8,064 homes. The local plan also fails to meet 30% of the employment land need, falling 19 acres short.
