A bold, new plan for jobs, economic growth and new homes

The GMSF is the 10 authorities’ joint plan for land allocation across Greater Manchester to provide housing and investment opportunities for sustainable growth. The draft GM Spatial Framework has been published today and the views of Greater Manchester residents and stakeholders are now being sought during an eight-week consultation ending on 23 December 2016.

Views submitted will be considered and a final draft will be published in 2017 when a further period of consultation will be held.

The Draft GMSF is available to view online and paper copies are available in each of the 10 districts.  A series of public events are being arranged across Greater Manchester over the next few weeks.

Responses to the consultation may be made:

Online at http://gmsf-consult.objective.co.uk

By email to GMSF@agma.gov.uk

By post to : Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team, PO Box 532, Town Hall, Manchester, M60 2LA

Over the next twenty years there is a need to deliver continued sustainable economic growth, creating more jobs and new homes for the people of Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester’s local authorities are working together to deliver this growth to ensure new homes and jobs are provided in the right places with the transport infrastructure (roads, rail, Metrolink) to support communities and manage growth sustainably. By having a plan, greater control over land allocation will ensure development of new homes comes with investment in roads, school places, green spaces and public transport. Without a plan, development would happen in any case, without capturing benefits for local communities. In other words, a place with a plan is a place with a future.

The GMSF will help our city-region to manage growth so that Greater Manchester is a better place to live, work and visit. Greater Manchester should be as well known for the quality of its environment as for its economic success. Greenbelt will play a role in achieving this goal but there are important green spaces, parks, rivers and canals in the heart of our urban communities, which are equally valuable. The protection and enhancement of all these spaces is a central theme of the framework and strategy.

A key consideration of the development of the framework has been to adopt a brownfield first approach to land allocation. This focus has ensured that nearly three quarters of the proposed housing land supply is within the existing urban area on brownfield land with remaining new allocations from land being withdrawn from the greenbelt. A new greenbelt boundary for Greater Manchester will offer greater protection to prevent development in the newly designated greenbelt whilst also meeting our housing and employment needs over the next 20 years.

The GMSF will minimise the amount of greenbelt land required for development by focusing on relatively few, large sites. This will provide opportunities to support developments with the required transport infrastructure, necessary school places and other vital services needed to create successful neighbourhoods.

Councillor Richard Farnell, lead member for planning and housing at GMCA, said: “Greater Manchester is a thriving city region, renowned across the world for its numerous technological and scientific advancements, sporting and artistic excellence. We support a culture of innovation and enterprise.

“In order to continue to attract business, workers and tourists, we need to grow. We will successfully manage this growth and deliver major economic, social and environmental improvements. We are mindful that this needs to support Greater Manchester’s prosperity in the long term as well as meet its short-term needs.

“We want all residents of Greater Manchester to share in the benefits of this prosperity.”

To stay informed about the GMSF and be notified when we have further consultation exercises, please register your name and details on GMSF consultation portal at: http://gmsf-consult.objective.co.uk/portal and click on the login/register option.

Follow progress on or for further information follow us on: @GMSpatialFrame and also on: http://ontheplatform.org.uk/ as well as on Medium.com: Making Places: Greater Manchester’s Spatial Framework