Next Tuesday evening sees the much anticipated and long overdue crunch vote on the GM Spatial Framework (GMSF), Greater Manchester’s plan for housing for the next 17 years.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall, said:
“Next Tuesday will be an important moment for residents across Stockport as we will see whether the council decides to press ahead with GMSF, Labour’s centralised plan, or finally decides to support Lib Dem calls for local control and to press ahead instead with Stockport’s own Local Plan.
“It should be no surprise that Liberal Democrats in Stockport will vote against this plan for what will be the fourth time in as many years. GMSF has been flawed from the outset. It would allow developers to cherry-pick prime sites and concrete over our green spaces, including swathes of our precious green belt, whilst only promising “jam tomorrow” when it comes to providing any additional transport capacity, school places or other local facilities.
“We are told by Labour that a vote against GMSF will be a vote against funding for ‘brownfield’ site development and against Metrolink coming to Stockport. Frankly, this is just the latest excuse. There are no guarantees of any funding for anything even if we did vote for GMSF.
“Right from the start we have made consistent arguments. I hope this time the majority of councillors will listen to public opinion and vote to use the three years we now have left to get on and finish our own Local Plan.”
