GREENBELT campaigners are on alert after confirmation Greater Manchester’s controversial plan for Jobs, Homes and the Environment – the Spatial Framework (GMSF) – is back on the agenda.
The Independent reported in June that GM Mayor Andy Burnham confirmed the delayed project would be re-started.
And the starting gun has now been fired on the next stage of an initiative which aims to build nearly 201,000 houses across the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs by 2037.
In September and October the final draft of the plan will be subject to full scrutiny by all councillors across the 10 boroughs.
If approved for publication, the plan will be brought forward for an eight-week public consultation in early November to give stakeholders a chance to see how the plan has been changed in response to issues raised previously.
There will also be an opportunity to raise formal objections to the plan.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently said house building will be made easier for developers with sweeping changes to the planning system.
His proposals were immediately criticised by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. But activists are worried greenbelt land could become easier to build on.
More than 170 properties are earmarked for sites at Waterside Mill and the former Robert Fletcher’s papermill in Greenfield together with a potential boutique hotel and visitors’ centre.
A new access road and car park facilities are included in the concept plan for the site on the doorstep of Dovestone Reservoir.
The Chew Valley Greenbelt Action group has previously opposed much of the detail in this particular proposal.
Oldham is the only one of the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities whose proposed house building target had increased from 2016 to a revised draft three years later, up four per cent from 13,700 to 14,290.
It is not clear if any new homes development will count towards any GMSF total for the borough.
Current applications include plans to build nearly 500 houses across Springhead in two separate developments.
There are more minor schemes taking place in Greenfield along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, this month’s announcement of 76 houses planned for Diggle plus the future of the current Saddleworth School site unknown once pupils and staff move to Diggle in 2022.
The GMSF plan is said to set out how the city-region will build the right homes in the right places so everyone can live in well-connected and environmentally sustainable villages, towns and cities.
“The pandemic has made planning for our future even more important and this plan can be a key tool in helping Greater Manchester recover and thrive,” said the Mayor.
“Leaders have also taken into account the impact of the pandemic and together this has shaped this final version of the plan.”
Only three authorities have a higher percentage of greenbelt land in their boroughs than Oldham.
The 2019 revised draft confirmed a 4.1 per cent reduction in Greater Manchester greenbelt loss from the original 2016 plan. But the overall loss is still two percent down to 45 per cent of all land.
