The Greater Manchester Combined Authority is preparing a new development plan for the whole metropolitan area for the next 20 years.
The draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which covers the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, sets out how much housing and employment land is needed and the distribution between each district up to 2035.
The Combined Authority maintain there is a need to deliver 200,000 new jobs in the period up to 2035 and 230,000 new dwellings - 28% of which will be located in the Green Belt.
The draft proposals see Stockport delivering 9% of the required housing, which is likely to have an impact on the adjoining northern parts of Cheshire East and is being published just as the Independent Examination into the CEC Local Plan closes.
Identified sites close to the border with Cheshire East include land off the A34 near Cheadle Hulme - which is bounded by the A34 to the East and Wilmslow Road to the West - which has been identified for upwards of 3,700 dwellings with a potential new access directly onto the A34 at Eden Point.
According to the draft plan "It offers the opportunity to deliver a high quality form of development which represents an opportunity to provide an extension to Heald Green and Cheadle Hulme."
In Woodford an area of some 238 hectares, located close to the southern boundary of Stockport and Greater Manchester with Cheshire East, has been identified for development.
The draft plans states "The scheme will seek to build on the success of the Woodford Garden Village development through the delivery of further high quality sensitive residential led development and local facilities. In total the scheme will deliver around 2,400 new homes."
Whilst in Heald Green a site close to Heald Green Large Local Centre and Heald Green station has been identified as having the the potential to deliver up to 2,000 new dwellings.
Additionally, Airport City South - an area located to the south west of the Airport terminals with the A538 Wilmslow Road to the east - is being proposed for delivering approximately 40,000 sq m of commercial floorspace, predominantly for airport-focussed logistics as part of the Airport City South development.
Cllr Ainsley Arnold, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing wrote to Council members saying "The 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester are working together to deliver this growth and to ensure that these new homes and jobs are provided in the right places with the transport infrastructure (roads, rail, Metrolink) to support the communities and manage growth sustainably.
"It has been widely trailed that green belt release will be necessary to achieve this scale of growth – with a series of "Garden Suburbs" being part of the preferred solution. These suburbs would be large scale sustainable urban extensions or new settlements, potentially similar to our own North Cheshire Growth Village. Consultation on the first draft of the plan is scheduled to begin at the end of October 2016 but an indication of the proposals may emerge ahead of this as part of the decision making processes of the Combined Authority. A full briefing will be provided as soon as the details of the new plan are agreed and published. It is anticipated that the Council will wish to formally comment on those aspects which affect Cheshire East."
Greater Manchester Leaders are to decide whether to approve the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework plan at a meeting on Friday, 28th October, so it can go out to public consultation. Following the consultation Greater Manchester Combined Authority will review all of the responses and consider how they need to review our strategy. It is their intention to consult on a 'Publication Plan' in Summer 2017, with submission to the Secretary of State at the end of 2017 and adoption of the GMSF in 2018.
Second image shows the site of the A34 near Cheadle Hulme.
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