The leader of Stockport council has claimed the borough will not have to build ‘on an inch of green belt’ as it set a new deadline for consulting on its long-term masterplan. Coun Mark Hunter believes the government will soon cut Stockport’s house building target - which currently stands at more than 1,100 new homes per year - by around 25pc.
This, he told a recent full council meeting, would leave the ambition of leaving green belt sites completely untouched ‘eminently doable’. Stockport is the only borough in Greater Manchester not signed up to the joint ‘Places for Everyone’ strategy - meaning it has to address its housing and employment needs via a Local Plan.
This blueprint will need to be approved by the government and adopted by the end of 2023. Public consultation on the plan has twice been delayed - most recently in September - with the Liberal Democrats administration citing ‘turbulence’ at national government level and the pressures residents and businesses are facing due to the ‘cost of living crisis’.
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