More consultation on homes and jobs masterplan

Another consultation event has been arranged for residents to inspect proposals for development in Bury that are included within a plan for Greater Manchester aimed at boosting housing and jobs.

A further public drop-in session in Bury will take place next Monday (19 Dec) at the Elizabethan Suite in Bury Town Hall.

Between noon and 7pm, visitors can look at the proposals for Bury contained in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF). This is a strategic planning guide to meeting Greater Manchester’s employment and housing needs for the next 20 years and beyond.

The deadline for comments is 23 December, but Bury Council leader Cllr Rishi Shori is asking for the consultation to be extended for a further six weeks to give people more time to inspect the plans and have their say.

Cllr Shori said: “This is a huge issue that needs thorough consideration with as many local residents as possible being able to express their views.

“There have already been hundreds of responses to the consultation and many more have signed petitions on the matter. I have written to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority asking that the consultation period is extended by a further six weeks until 31 January 2017.

“We are also holding a second drop-in session in Bury on Monday 19 December, following the success of the last one we held which attracted around 200 visitors. Representatives of the council have also attended public meetings in Greenmount, Walmersley and Holcombe Brook.”

Cllr Sandra Walmsley, cabinet member for strategic housing and support services, added: “The Government has demanded that councils should meet the development needs of their areas, but there is simply not enough land to deliver this amount of development without releasing Green Belt land.

“We believe that all available brownfield land (such as former industrial sites) should be developed first for housing. We also want the Government to bring in laws to stop developers from ‘land banking’ and make them build homes on sites that they already have planning permission for.”

Following this current consultation, a revised GMSF will be produced next year and this will be subject to further consultation. The plan will then be submitted to the Secretary of State and will be subject to a formal Examination by a Government-appointed Inspector. It is anticipated that the plan could be adopted towards the end of 2018.

Copies of the GMSF can be viewed at www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/GMSFwebsite, and in Bury at local libraries, at the council’s planning department reception in Knowsley Place, Bury, and at Bury Town Hall reception.

Responses to the consultation should be made:

• Online at http://gmsf-consult.objective.co.uk;
• By email to GMSF@agma.gov.uk; or
• By post to: Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team, PO Box 532, Town Hall, Manchester M60 2LA

For more information, call the Greater Manchester Planning Team on 0161 237 4636.

ENDS

Press release issued: 13 December 2016.