Protect our Greenbelt before it’s lost forever!

Details emerged on 20th October of plans to take 238 hectares (nearly 600 acres!) of Green Belt out of the heart of Woodford to make way for 2,400 new homes.

There is a new joint plan for the whole of Greater Manchester called ‘Greater Manchester Spatial Framework‘, proposing to take large areas of land out of Green Belt across Greater Manchester to make way for new homes as well as the commercial development and infrastructure to support it. This will see 225,000 new homes to be built in Greater Manchester over the next 25 years.

The area to be removed from Green Belt is shown in pink in the map below. It is a large area on either side of Chester Road, bounded by Old Hall Lane, the Aerodrome and Bridle Road in the south and by Church Lane, Moor Lane, Jenny Lane and Woodford Road in the north.

Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) – Woodford Opportunity Area shown in pink.

The draft plan has been devised by council executives and officers representing each of the 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester. It has been two years in the making and there have been two rounds of informal consultation, but elected councillors and MPs have only recently seen the details of the draft plan.

“The draft plan shows an astonishing lack of vision and no real ambition or foresight, and whilst there is a need for more housing across the country, this should never be achieved by the indiscriminate development of our green belt. Once the greenbelt is lost it is lost forever!” Mary Robinson Our local MP

As well as this the proposals will remove large areas of land from Green Belt in neighbouring communities in Greater Manchester. The following map illustrates the potential cumulative effect of Cheshire East Council and GMSF proposals within a short radius of Woodford.

The combined authority leaders reviewed the draft plan on 28th October and voted in favour of proceeding to consultation on the proposal from 31st October to 23rd December.

Mary Robinson Local MP -“I am shocked and angry that this draft plan proposes over 8000 houses to be built on precious green belt land in Woodford, Heald Green and Cheadle Hulme.” 

These proposals constitute a significant risk to much of Cheadle’s green belt, and demonstrate that there is still some way to go before all other options are exhausted. There is an urgent need to identify all suitable brownfield sites, including ones in and around Stockport – as well as urban areas across the Greater Manchester city region – where the communities would benefit from the additional investment generated by regeneration projects.

Thinking about the implications of losing our precious green belt is immensely sad, especially on our children and grandchildren who will no longer be able to enjoy the countryside! Should these plans go ahead, they will not only devastate our countryside, they will also put unprecedented pressure on our local infrastructure and undermine our communities.

For all these reasons above we need to protect our land from inappropriate development! #ProtectOurGreenbelt

Please respond formally to this consultation between 31st October and 23rd December by one of the following routes:

Online: http://gmsf-consult.objective.co.uk/portal (you will need to register on the GMSF portal first to obtain a log in ID, which may not arrive immediately)
By email: [email protected]
By post: Greater Manchester Integrated Support Team, PO Box 532, Town Hall, Manchester,
M60 2LA.

Download a objection letter Objection Letter FB (1)

There is also an online petition to show the level of support for protecting our green belt, which you can sign here:

www.maryrobinsonmp.wixsite.com/protectthegreenbelt

Make sure your views are known!

Further information and the draft GMSF document can be found via the GMSF website, https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/info/20081/draft_plan. Information relating specifically to Woodford can be found in Section 28 Allocations, Subsection 28.8 Other Allocations and finally 28.8.20 Woodford. Paper copies can be viewed at Stockport Town Hall and Bramhall Library.

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