After years of delay Stockport\u2019s Liberal Democrats have finally produced a draft Local Plan, but they\u2019ve immediately started running away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is their plan, signed by their Leader, yet the foreword reads more like an opposition leaflet than a statement of leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth is, Stockport is paying the price for this failure of leadership on planning. When Stockport was pulled out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), they promised a \u201cbetter local plan\u201d for our borough. Instead we\u2019ve had years of delay and missed opportunities, and now even more housing pressure, not less. If Stockport had stayed in the GMSF, our housing allocation would be lower than it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Local Plan is vital for the future of this town. It decides where homes, jobs, and infrastructure go, and it gives the Council control over development. Without it, we\u2019re left open to speculative applications from developers who can build almost anywhere they like, including on the green belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having no current plan in place has already cost us dearly. Developers have pushed through unwanted schemes on appeal, draining officers time and and costing Stockport taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds<\/strong> in legal fees. A proper Local Plan means decisions are made locally, based on need and community priorities, not by planning inspectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One example of this is the development on the former Gatley Golf Course, which was approved on appeal in January this year, despite significant local opposition. In the absence of an up-to-date Local Plan, the council had limited control over where and how new housing was approved, allowing a major development to proceed through appeal rather than through local decision-making<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a Local Plan, we can shape the future of our borough: protecting the places that matter, regenerating brownfield land, and ensuring new homes come with the schools, GP surgeries and transport links people need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stockport Labour has always been clear: we need a Local Plan. After years of drift, we\u2019re pleased that Stockport finally has one in draft form. But while we welcomes progress, the Lib Dems seem embarrassed by their own work, even calling it \u201cThe Labour Government’s Local Plan for Stockport\u201d despite writing it themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stockport Labour has also always been clear that we need to build more houses. Stockport delivered just 54%<\/strong> of the homes needed between 2020 and 2023. Over 8,000 households<\/strong> are on the social housing waiting list, and homelessness is costing the council nearly \u00a31 million a year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lib Dems shouldn\u2019t apologise for building the homes our residents desperately need, but they\u2019ve written a plan they don\u2019t even believe in. Instead of taking responsibility, they blame the Government and pretend we can\u2019t protect the environment and<\/em> build homes. We can, and we must, do both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stockport Labour is ready to work with the Lib Dem administration to get this Local Plan right but they need to stop apologising, stop blaming others, and stand behind the plan they themselves have written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n T<\/strong>he consultation on the local plan will run from 6 November to 21 December 2025, and you will be able to view the documents here stockport.gov.uk\/localplan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure your voice is heard and help shape the future of Stockport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After years of delay Stockport\u2019s Liberal Democrats have finally produced a draft Local Plan, but they\u2019ve immediately started running away from it. This is their plan, signed by their Leader, yet the foreword reads more like an opposition leaflet than a statement of leadership. The truth is, Stockport is paying the price for this failure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1064,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions\/1064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockportlabour.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}