War of words erupts around 250-home Stockport Green Belt plan
Stockport Council’s Conservative group has accused the ruling Lib Dems of “inviting chaos” to Bramhall after plans for hundreds of homes on 30 acres of protected land emerged this week.
The jibe has prompted the council’s leader to hit back, reminding the Tories that they voted with the Lib Dems to pull out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, a decision that – combined with elevated local housing targets and an out of date local plan – has left the borough vulnerable to Green Belt development.
Jones Homes is preparing a planning application for 250 homes – half of which would be affordable – immediately north of the Manchester Airport Eastern Link Road and east of Hall Moss Lane.
The scheme is located within the Green Belt. However, without a demonstrable five-year housing land supply or an up-to-date local plan, the council could be powerless to stop it.
The site would be accessed via Hall Moss Road and feature a linear park and upgrades to existing green space. Stantec is advising Jones Homes on its plans.
Local Conservative councillor Peter Crossen is unhappy about the scheme and blasted the authority’s leadership for opening the door to more development in the area.
“I am deeply concerned that the Liberal Democrat-led council has invited chaos across Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, and Woodford due to its delays and failure to present a local plan on housing for the borough,” he said.
Jones Homes’ scheme, coupled with other developments in the area – including Redrow’s 750-home Woodford scheme – “signal disaster for residents”, Crossen said.
“Residents of our ward have been and continue to be more than hospitable when it comes to new homes in our area but there comes a time where we need to pause and ask is Bramhall South & Woodford being asked to take more than its fair share of the borough housing targets?”
Stockport’s Green Belt is currently vulnerable to speculative development given the council’s housing land supply shortage. Last week, the council opted to approve plans for 78 Green Belt homes, recognising that it would be difficult to defend any subsequent appeal.
The planning committee’s chair said he recognised the “discomfort” among some members but added: “We need to recognise the fact that our housing land supply is now at 1.77 years [below the five-year expected by the government]. In planning terms that is a very significantly weighted issue.”
Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the council and of the Liberal Democrat Group, said the Conservatives should look closer to home for the reasons for the delay in devising an up-to-date local plan.
“Local Conservatives are, once again, hitting out at the Liberal Democrats without letting the facts get in the way of a good rant,” he said.
“They know perfectly well that the only reason our local plan for Stockport has been delayed is because of significant policy shifts by the last Conservative government, and now the current Labour government, which have forced a rethink.”
He added that work to resolve the situation was ongoing.
“Only this week we have sent a private letter from group leaders to the Secretary of State, seeking clarity on the latest official guidance so that we can make progress. Stockport Council is ready, willing, and able to finalise and launch its statutory local plan consultation just as soon as we get the green light from central government.
“To suggest anything else is entirely disingenuous. Sadly, it seems to be a fact of political life in Stockport that Conservatives will always carp and criticise from the sidelines while Liberal Democrats get on with the job.”
The need for an up-to-date Stockport local plan intensified in 2020 when the council’s Lib Dem and Conservative councillors voted together to pull out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework due to concerns about Green Belt release.
Hunter said he would make “no apology” for wanting to protect the Green Belt.
“We have always recognised the need for new homes, but they must be the right homes in the right places,” he said. “Central government targets should never trump local decision making.”
