Action by the chaotic Conservative government has once again forced Stockport to pause consultation on our Local Plan.
Calling a General Election puts councils into a pre-election period where guidance states they must not schedule decisions on any issues that are controversial within the context of the election. The Chief Executive, on advice from her senior team, has decided that the consultation on the Local Plan would fall into this category. It thus has to be paused and rescheduled for later in the summer.
Speaking after this decision was announced, Cllr Mark Roberts, Deputy Leader of the Council and Local Plan Lead, said: “Having been delayed in 2022 by the shifting sands and the chaos of announcements during the Conservative Party’s leadership election and then again for over a year whilst Michael Gove took his time to rewrite the planning rules, Stockport, frustratingly faces yet another delay to our Local Plan. This time it is caused by the Prime Minister in his pursuit of a chaotic and rushed General Election, just as we were about to publish the draft plan for consultation.
“The Liberal Democrats want to deliver the right homes in the right places. We want our residents to have their say about our plan to protect the Green Belt from being concreted over by developers, as Labour would prefer and as had been proposed under their wider Greater Manchester plan that we rejected. We will now urgently review our timetable and ensure a full consultation is launched as soon as possible after the General Election is out of the way.”
General Election forces further pause to Stockport’s Local Plan consultation
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