Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

Lord Brady of Altrincham Excerpts

Wednesday 14th December 2016 Westminster Hall

[Yvonne Fovargue]

I agree about the gridlock. Some of the developments that I am talking about involve heavy goods vehicles, so there will be thousands more movements of HGVs on our already gridlocked roads. That adds to the air quality problem.

[Mr Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West) (Con)]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. Does she accept that there are those of us whose constituencies already have to accommodate considerable additional development adjacent to them? There are many new developments going on at Airport City, which is very close to my boundary. That is a continuing process.

[Yvonne Fovargue]

I accept that. We need to look not just within but outside Greater Manchester. Many hon. Members have mentioned the removal of the green belt. In my constituency, green belt status has been removed around junctions 25 and 26 of the M6. As we have heard, removing green belt status requires exceptional circumstances. In 2013, the independent inspector deemed that the local authority’s request to remove half the area it is now proposing to remove around junction 25 was not exceptional, so it was refused, yet a mere three years later, the M6 South of Wigan Action Group, which did sterling work with me in opposing the plan, is in exactly the same position as it was. We are again opposing the plan together.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Percy]

As we are about to prove, Mr Howarth.

I was also tempted simply to hand the debate over to the various candidates standing for the mayoralty, so that they could offer up their vision of the plan. Shortly, thanks to the devolution deal negotiated with the Manchester authorities, the spatial framework will land on the combined authority and the new Mayor’s desk, whoever he or she is.

[Mr Graham Brady]

I will not press the Minister too much on detail, but will he be clear that the Greater Manchester spatial framework is a matter for local determination and that the Government in no way seek to force on Greater Manchester certain figures for housing development or the removal of green belt?

[Andrew Percy]

Absolutely. The housing figures are generated by the local authorities. I cannot comment on their validity or the merits of the Greater Manchester numbers because of the obvious proprietary reasons, which I will say more about in a moment. The figures are locally determined and are not provided by central Government.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (William Wragg) on securing the debate and on representing his constituents today with skill and passion. I have listened carefully to the concerns about potential green-belt loss, brownfield development and the capacity of local roads and infrastructure generally to cope. I will respond to as many of the points made as possible in the time available.

I cannot comment on the Greater Manchester spatial framework in detail because of the proprietary reasons to which I just referred. It will be subject to examination by independent inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State. My quasi-judicial role in the planning system means that I may have to intervene at later points on matters relating to the plan. I am therefore unable to comment in any greater detail, other than to say that my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove painted a familiar picture of the difficult choices that have to be made by local areas to secure economic growth and to tackle the historical under-delivery of homes, including affordable homes.

I will briefly clarify what it takes for a local authority to plan for growth. The context is important. The process begins with the local authority understanding the disparate needs and aspirations of local people and gathering a detailed evidence base—again, to respond to my hon. Friend’s point, this is bottom up, from local authority level—to determine the needs of its area. That has to be balanced, of course, with the views of residents, who, as many hon. Members rightly said, should be at the centre of the planning system, and with Government policy, MPs’ views, environmental constraints and external pressures from developers.

The plan then has to identify objectively what development is needed for employment, economic growth, housing and infrastructure, to come up with strategic options and, of course, to engage local people again in deciding where that development should go. I reiterate that this is a very democratic process, and rightly so. Local people need to be at the heart of it.

The dates for the current consultation have already been referred to, but there has been a series of public consultations on the spatial framework draft plan. The consultation document was published on 31 October, and the consultation will end on 23 December. A final draft of the plan is expected in 2017.