Following the recent statement made by Michael Gove, announcing wholesale changes to the rules around Local Plans and hinting at major changes to be announced about a new National Planning Policy Framework before Christmas, Stockport Council has taken the decision to pause the consultation on our own draft Local Plan once again.
Speaking after the decision to pause, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “Since 2016 the Liberal Democrats on Stockport Council have been arguing that the government’s approach to Local Plans was wrong and that their top-down housing targets were just a licence to concrete over the Green Belt. In late August, because of so many wildly conflicting statements and proposals being made by Conservative leadership candidates at that time, we decided to pause our consultation on the Local Plan and save £200k, the cost of the consultation, in the process as it was clear that wholesale changes could be made to the planning rules and we wanted to make sure we did not pre-empt a move by government which might enable us to protect our Green Belt.
Cllr Colin MacAlister, Cabinet Member with responsibility for planning matters, added: “The announcement by Michael Gove vindicates this pause and highlights the folly of opposition councillors railing against the original pause. The decision to defer has not been taken lightly, with legal advice informing it. We will issue a revised timetable as soon as we are able to do so because we remain committed to having the right Local Plan for Stockport that does as much as it can to protect our vital Green Belt.”
