(Above) A view from São Paulo, Brasil, where my cousin is spending his Christmas… more on how this relates to Heald Green later.
In my first blog I discussed how the pressure for more housing is driving policy change, this blog focuses on planning and where that housing will be built.
So why write a blog? Well, I want to be clear about the potential impact on Heald Green of planning policy changes and I also want to counter some of the simplistic takes on social media. Real life is complicated and this attempts to explain some of that complexity – it is not in a councillor’s gift to ignore government policy, or overrule it without sound planning reasons.
The planning of where we build our housing and businesses is something that arose out of the horror of the Victorian slums, and the need to create pleasant, healthy, living conditions. Titus Salt in Shipley and the Lever brothers in Port Sunlight were early adopters of better planning, creating model towns for their workers. High quality housing in well laid out, distinct, settlements were the aim of Ebenezer Howard’s garden cities, first pioneered at Letchworth. Spacious and beautiful with plenty of green areas his designs have stood the test of time.
Planning legislation in the latter half of the last century formalised these principles. Building upon this, one of our most enduring planning policies has been the zoning of land as “green belt,” introduced in the 1950s. The five aims of the green belt set out in the 2012 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) are:
- To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas
- To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another
- To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment
- To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns
- To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
Green belt now covers 12.6% of England’s total land mass, whilst 6.2% of land in England used for homes and gardens, 7.5% of land is developed for other uses. Of the existing green belt land 6% of the green belt land is available for recreation as parks etc. (Source: James Fransham on “X” ). It has been an incredibly popular policy, though some contend it acts as a constraint on development, as the James Fransham thread explains; which is presumably the thinking behind the government’s new approach.
So, how does this relate to our ward. Well, much of the green space in our ward is protected as green belt, as this assessment from 2016 shows.
(Note: one of the green belt areas on the map shown above was developed following the successful appeal of the Seashell Trust and Bloor Homes to the Planning Inspector.)
The government’s stated priority is to increase the number of new homes. With this aim one of its first acts was to bring back mandatory housing targets, something the previous government had ended. This means that the council’s Planning department has to ensure enough sites are brought forward each year to deliver a set number of new homes.
For Stockport this figure has been increased from 1,097 homes to 1,906 per year. A 74% increase. Not quite as big a jump as Redcar and Cleveland Council, who have to deliver an increase from 45 homes to 642, a 1,338% rise! Our neighbouring borough of Cheshire East is seeing an increase of 159% from 977 to 2,530. However, the 74% still represents a very significant increase for us. These figures were apparently derived according to “highest unaffordability and greatest potential for growth.”
Just before Christmas the government set out its “golden rules” as part of its revision of the National Planning Policy Framework. They are described here, the sections of particular relevance to us are:
- A new common-sense approach will be introduced to the greenbelt. While remaining committed to a brownfield first approach, the updated NPPF will require councils to review their greenbelt boundaries to meet targets, identifying and prioritising lower quality ‘grey belt’ land.
- Any development on greenbelt must meet strict requirements, via the new ‘golden rules’, which require developers to provide the necessary infrastructure for local communities, such as nurseries, GP surgeries and transport, as well as a premium level of social and affordable housing.
- To further tackle the housing crisis, councils and developers will also need to give greater consideration to social rent when building new homes and local leaders have greater powers to build genuinely affordable homes for those who need them most.
The increased housing targets and changes to the NPPF mean that Stockport development sites that were ruled out of scope following withdrawal from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework will likely move back in scope. This is likely to include development on the green belt in our ward. With large tracts of flat developable land, good transport links, the proximity of the airport and desirable postcodes there is much to attract developers here. We, of course, also sit at the edge of one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. In many places across the country this policy is already proving controversial, and will likely generate a lot of opposition. The size of developments and pace of change is daunting to local communities.
To some extent green belt development has been happening already here, after the Planning Inspector gave the go ahead for the Bloor development on the Seashell Trust land. Also, the proposed Great Places development off Stanley Road, which was given planning permission last year, is on designated green belt. What made this development unusual was that the developers worked very closely with the community, with genuine consultation taking place, and the plans were changed in response to the suggestions of local people. Again, unusually, the scheme generated correspondence in its support because of the way it was developed. I cannot emphasise enough how much we want prospective developers to talk to local residents, and to listen. For genuine, open, consultation; it is vital that we have a say in how our community evolves. We do know best on this. The development of new homes in combination with the required services, particularly GPs, is another essential facet of any new development and is an element of the “golden rules” we need to track.
However, what concerns me and many people in Heald Green, is the loss of our green spaces – once they are gone, they are gone for good. Heald Green will change for forever, as it has with each wave of development over the years. People want places to live but it is essential that they have access to green spaces too, for health, particularly mental health, and wellbeing. Also, for wildlife we need to create corridors of undeveloped spaces that allow animals to move between areas and sources of food. The concept of creating “wild belt” and designating some of the green belt to be managed in a way that supports wildlife and increases biodiversity is one I would love to see in Heald Green.
In light of the new government proposals the council has put out a consultation until 2 February on development sites:
Call for Sites 2024/25 – Stockport Metropolitan Borough Citizen Space – Citizen Space
And it’s this that’s really critical. Not only does this ask for sites for development, it is also an opportunity to highlight the sites that we feel are important to be retained and not developed. This will evolve further as part of the work to develop a new Local Plan for the borough throughout the coming year, which sets out the long-term plan for which areas will be in scope for development, and which will not.
So, I asked at the start why am I writing this? My main purpose is to inform those who want to know more, but absolutely critically we (the Ratepayers and councillors) really want help with this from the wider community to ensure we’re as representative as possible, also with preparation for the Local Plan. This is vital to ensure the interests of Heald Green are strongly represented – and we achieve the best outcome we can. So please get in touch if you can help with this work. If you’ve read this far – you’re probably the kind of person we need! Also, we do already have some professional support in the association so do please get in touch if you’ve any questions about this blog.
And why São Paulo? Well, my cousin’s girlfriend lives there, and from her flat you have to drive for 40 minutes if you want to visit a green space. It might be an extreme example, but it’s what happens when you don’t plan a city around the needs of its people…
Cllr Catherine Stuart
Background info:
Green belt (United Kingdom) – Wikipedia
Housing targets increased to get Britain building again – GOV.UK
Britain’s green belt is choking the economy | The Economist
Mapped: Housing targets for each council under proposed method | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)
Planning overhaul to reach 1.5 million new homes – GOV.UK
The debate: We need new homes, where should they go? – BBC News
How ‘perfect storm’ blew away planned social homes England needs – BBC News
Stockport’s housing saga mirrors wider challenge for Labour planning reform