The council is about to embark on the next stage of development of the Local Plan, which sets out the 15 year plan for the allocation of land for housing and economic development land for the borough of Stockport. It will bring significant change to the area.
The Regulation 19 Consultation is the last opportunity for residents to comment before the plan is submitted to the planning inspector, it focuses on the soundness of the plan. The matter was discussed at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Housing, Economy and Environment Scrutiny Committee this evening:
We have brought together an overview of process here to inform residents and how they can participate:
There is more information about the proposed housing sites here:
The Ratepayers’ position is set out here:
There have been some changes since the Regulation 18 Consultation in Heald Green ward we now have four allocations in the draft Local Plan, an increase from the three in the Regulation 18 Consultation.
The Heald Green Councillors formally asked that this was raised by the Chair at the Extraordinary Meeting tonight, specifically:
Whether the plan could be considered sound and legal given that new allocations have been put in at this late stage, without residents having an opportunity to comment on these new allocations.
The response was:
It has been checked with the King’s Counsel (a barrister who specialises in planning law), who advises it is allowed to add or remove sites. Residents and stakeholders can still make comments about the inclusion of any of the sites, and whether they are soundly arrived out. Sites which have made it to the Regulation 19 stage have gone through a further site in assessment against criteria including highways accessibility, flood risk, infrastructure. The full process is legally compliant.
Residents have an opportunity to comment and all comments will go to the inspectorate alongside the plan.
A follow up query was made as to why new sites have gone into the plan?
This is because they have come in during the process of developing the plan. There were hundreds of other sites that were put forward in the green belt that were rejected as they didn’t meet the criteria. For the Planning Inspectorate the council need to show they have done everything possible to identify sites.