Have your say: Public consultation opens on Places for Everyone joint development plan

• Eight-week public consultation begins on 9 August, closing on 3 October
• Residents, businesses and local stakeholders asked whether plan meets defined criteria and complies with councils’ duty to cooperate
• Majority of development in the latest Places for Everyone plan to take place in urban areas, including 90 per cent of new homes
• Green Belt impact reduced by 60 per cent compared to 2016 Spatial Framework
• Once ready the plan will be submitted to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in January 2022
• Go to GMConsult.org (link opens in new window) to take part, and contact your local council for more information

NOW is the time to have your say on the ambitious joint development plan for homes, jobs and sustainable growth across nine boroughs of Greater Manchester.

The public consultation on Places for Everyone begins today (Monday 9 August), and will run for eight weeks until 3 October.

Residents, businesses and local groups are encouraged to take part in the consultation on the plan, which has now been approved by councils in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

The consultation is the final stage in the preparation of the plan before it is ready to be submitted to the Secretary of State.

The plan

Places for Everyone will determine what kind of development takes place, maximising the use of brownfield land and urban spaces while at the same time protecting Green Belt land from the risk of unplanned development. It will also ensure that all new developments are sustainably integrated into Greater Manchester’s existing transport network or supported by new infrastructure.

The plan has been produced using the evidence from the drafts of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, as well as the views that were gathered as part of the previous consultations.

Since 2016, work has been carried out to reduce the number of proposed sites and the amount of Green Belt take within sites, and to propose new Green Belt additions – the result being a 60 per cent reduction in the impact on Green Belt land compared to the 2016 plan. Ninety per cent of housing allocations in the new plan are in urban areas.

The consultation

The eight-week consultation is now live on www.GMConsult.org (link opens in new window), while papers concerning the plan have been available to view online for the last four weeks.

People will be able to view the proposed development sites in the virtual exhibition space and see the supporting evidence online, enabling them to engage fully with the consultation in a range of safe and accessible ways.

Hard copies of the plan will also be available to view at designated locations in the nine boroughs, and other engagement events will be taking place throughout the districts. Residents should contact their local councils for more information.

This public consultation is the final stage in the plan-making process before Places for Everyone is submitted to the Secretary of State for examination. Local residents, businesses and stakeholders are now being asked for their views on two specific issues: whether the plan is ‘sound’, and whether it is ‘legally compliant’.

The plan needs to meet what are called ‘tests of soundness’. These include:

• whether the plan promotes economic growth and makes provision for development
• whether it is backed up by robust evidence
• whether the plans are based on effective and achievable policies
• whether they are consistent with policies at a national level

People will also be asked whether the nine local authorities have complied with necessary legal obligations, including the requirements arising from the duty to co-operate, which requires local planning authorities to engage constructively with one another to maximise the effectiveness of local plans.

Further information about the consultation and questions being asked is available at www.GMConsult.org (link opens in new window) and from the nine local authorities.

City Mayor Paul Dennett, Chair of the Places for Everyone Joint Committee and GMCA Lead for Housing, Planning and Homelessness, said: “This is the final stage in the preparation of Places for Everyone, and it’s really important that residents, businesses, and all stakeholders across the nine boroughs have the chance to review the plan and have their say.

“Places for Everyone underpins a wider vision for Greater Manchester that will put us on the best possible footing to face the challenges of the future. It will mean we decide what kind of development takes place and where, maximising the use of brownfield land and urban spaces while protecting green belt land from the risk of unplanned development. It will benefit our places and helps us recover from the pandemic, tackle housing inequality, and pave the way for a low-carbon economy.

“It’s important for people to know that this will be a different kind of consultation to the ones previously carried out, with questions about whether the plan meets specific criteria. All nine councils have taken steps to make this consultation as open and accessible and possible, and will be engaging with residents over the next eight weeks to make sure everyone knows how they can take part and have their say.”

Article Published: 09/08/2021 13:02 PM