The Lib Dems were ‘forced’ to pause their local plan consultation earlier this month, blaming the new Labour Government for wanting to build more, much needed and affordable housing in the borough.
However, this news doesn’t seem to have filtered through to new Cheadle Liberal Democrat MP Tom Morrison, who is presently putting leaflets out in the constituency claiming their new plan is up for consultation and “protects Greenbelt despite opposition from other parties”:
Their draft local plan, which proposed putting 8,000 units into Stockport town centre (the equivalent of around 60 12-storey tower blocks), will need a complete rewrite to accommodate new mandatory housing targets, and will not be ready for several months.
Indeed, mandatory targets are something Mr Morrison has previously supported, having backed a call for the Lib Dems to have a national target to deliver 380,000 new homes every year.
However, because we don’t have an up-to-date local plan and his party in Stockport has continually blocked development, the council has been forced to waste hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal battles to defend planning decisions.
To reiterate, Stockport Labour do not want ‘concrete over the Greenbelt’ which has been claimed on multiple occasions. This is scaremongering.
New housing guidelines stipulate a sequential approach meaning previously developed land and brownfield sites will always be preferable to Greenbelt.
There are also a set of proposed ‘golden rules’, meaning GP and school places will need to be guaranteed before development in the Greenbelt takes place, as well 50% affordable housing at least.
We look forward to seeing the new draft local plan and are more than willing to work with everyone across this council to deliver the housing that Stockport desperately needs.