At the last Full Council meeting (1st December), the Liberal Democrat Group moved an amendment to a report which would have seen Stockport opt out of the GM Spatial Framework because of the inappropriate allocation of Green Belt land for up to 12,000 houses contained within the draft proposals. This was the first opportunity that councillors had to express their collective view on this issue.
Local Conservative councillors and MPs are making much of their opposition to the Green Belt proposals, yet they fell in line with the Labour administration and blocked the Liberal Democrat amendment, which sought to protect the Green Belt and remove the worry and uncertainty our residents now face as the GM Spatial Framework continues.
Speaking about this Councillor Mark Hunter, Lib Dem spokesperson for Housing, said:
“Whichever way they try to spin it now, the facts are clear. The Tories had an opportunity to stop this and they failed to do so. The Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment to withdraw Stockport from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and to pursue the Local Plan instead. The Tories backed the Labour administration in blocking this.
“Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and the huge developments on Green Belt it proposes. We have and will champion instead the development of a standalone Local Plan to ensure that we are able to robustly defend our greenspaces from developers targeting this borough.”
Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Bredbury Green & Romiley added, “It is vital that the voices of Stockport residents are heard while this plan to build a huge amount of homes on the green belt is still on the table. We are encouraging everyone in Stockport to join in with the consultation and share their comments. We need the right homes in the right places for our communities.”
