The origins of the GMSF (2016)

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) was a plan introduced in 2016 across all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester. It was meant to determine the use of land for homes and employment across Greater Manchester. For Heald Green, the first GMSF plan proposed a further 4,700 homes be built in our Green Belt, a near-doubling of the existing 5,200 homes Heald Green had at that time as well as a threat to the Village Hall Field, which was left in perpetuity for Heald Green residents protected by a covenant.

The Ratepayers’ campaign

Ratepayers have led on this issue since 2016. The campaign we mounted against the proposals for our village involved:

• Widespread outreach: Leafleting every home in Heald Green and publishing updates in every issue of Contact magazine.
• Direct advocacy: Hosting public meetings and engaging directly with the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
• Public demonstrations: Joining protests in both Stockport and Manchester to ensure our voices were heard.

We have kept up our awareness raising, repeatedly calling out to tell residents about the plan.

Strategic success and the GMSF exit

Our campaign resulted in the number of extra houses planned in GMSF being reduced from 4,700 to a figure of 1,630 (in 2020); a reduction of over 3,000 and a clear tribute to the vast amount of work put in over several years.

Ratepayers did not consider this reduction sufficient and mounted a second campaign against this amended proposal. At the same time, the feeling was growing throughout Stockport that Stockport might be better to pull out of GMSF and go its own way. After careful thought, at a full meeting of Stockport Council in December 2020, with strong speeches from all three Ratepayers’ councillors, Stockport voted to formally quit GMSF.

The 2024 shift and new challenges

Another draft plan published in July 2024 proposed only 56 new homes would be built in Heald Green, on land to the west of the railway line. Whilst this was great news for Heald Green compared to the previous proposals under GMSF, it was scrapped following a national policy change by the new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The new government brought a doubling of the mandatory housing targets for authorities which once again threatened the greenbelt in and around Heald Green. Under these new reforms, a new land category known as “Grey Belt” was introduced to the National Planning Policy Framework. This reclassification targeted areas within the existing Green Belt that were deemed to have “limited contribution” to its original purposes.

For Heald Green, that meant that fields previously protected by their Green Belt status could be re-evaluated and reclassified, making it significantly easier for developers to gain planning permission without having to prove “very special circumstances.”