How will Greater Manchester grow? Time to have your say

Residents and businesses of Greater Manchester are being asked to have their say on Greater Manchester’s plans for future development.

The 10 Greater Manchester councils are working together to develop a joint Spatial Framework which will identify the land needed to meet housing and business needs over the next twenty years and manage the supply of land across the city-region.

Once complete, the Framework will also outline the transport and other infrastructure improvements needed to meet Greater Manchester’s ambitions for more jobs and housing.

Greater Manchester are currently consulting on the Framework’s draft vision, strategic objectives and a set of options outlining the number of homes and employment sites needed and the potential impact each of these could have on economic growth.

The consultation period will also be used to gather information about existing suitable development sites from landowners and developers and also from local residents and local councillors. This call for sites will help to determine whether there are areas of land available for development that individual districts are not currently aware of. Any sites identified will then be assessed to see if they are suitable, available and achievable and comply with the policies being developed for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.

Eamonn Boylan, Greater Manchester chief executive lead for housing and planning, said: "The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework will help the city-region to determine how we use land in future. This means outlining how many new homes we need and how much land is required for new businesses and employment but it also means looking at how we can do this in a way that creates attractive places that people want to live and work in.

"This plan will play an important role in helping Greater Manchester to grow and determining how and where this happens. We want to make sure that local people as well as developers and landowners in the city region have as many opportunities as possible to provide feedback on the framework as it develops."

The consultation and call for sites will be open from 9 November 2015 to 11 January 2016.