Greater Manchester Spatial Framework new homes plan scrapped

Greater Manchester is home to about 2.8m people

A blueprint for nearly 180,000 new homes in Greater Manchester has been scrapped.

Nine boroughs have pledged to draw up a new local plan following Stockport's opposition to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF).

The GMSF needed to be endorsed by all 10 city region boroughs in order to be adopted.

The project has been controversial since its first draft in 2016 due to the sacrifice of some greenbelt land.

Councils in Salford, Manchester, Trafford, Tameside, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton and Wigan hope to devise a new plan to take the city region to 2037, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Planning regulations allow for a joint plan like the GMSF to continue even after a local authority withdraws so long as it has '"substantially the same effect" on the remaining councils as the original plan.

Nine councils want to draw up a new housing blueprint

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: "Though it is difficult to lose one of the 10, it nevertheless holds that the logic of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework remains."

Salford city mayor and council leader Paul Dennett added: "This is integral to our recovery plan from Covid-19, to sustain and create new jobs and to lead the way in terms of that green economic recovery, and importantly to continue our agenda to avoid unplanned development within the city-region."

Several councils postponed votes on the GMSF after Stockport initially deferred their decision before opposition groups voted against it on 3 December, arguing the potential impact on traffic and local services was "too high a price to pay".

Stockport Council leader Councillor Elise Wilson said the borough remained a "committed member" of the combined authority and would continue to support other joint projects.