The Greater Manchester Combined Authority have just announced that their Spatial Framework (GMSF) has once again been delayed to allow for a further round of consultations to take place with communities in Summer 2020.
The GMSF seeks to lay the foundations for the delivery of housing in Greater Manchester, growing the local economy and creating jobs, protecting the environment and delivering integrated transport to ensure the city-region continues to develop and thrive.
Initially published in 2016, the GMSF was the subject of a considerable number of objections and representations, which culminated in the drafting of a second GMSF. Following a further period of public consultation on this revised GMSF in March this year, which reduced proposals for development in the Green Belt by more than 50%, with a renewed public interest it became clear that real concerns still existed for many Greater Manchester communities.
It is understood that the purpose of these revised timescales are to allow for a period of deeper engagement with local communities on various issues, to examine the feedback received and work to implement any proposed changes in a revised third draft of the proposals.
One major ambition of the plan is to build more homes and prioritise brownfield sites for development in preference to Green Belt, with many of these sites being within our town centres.
As part of its commitment to transparency and to inform the drafting of the next version of the plan, the GMCA intends to publish the tens of thousands of public comments submitted to the most recent round of consultation at the start of October.
Caulmert’s planners have considerable experience in successfully promoting development sites through the planning process on behalf of various clients/landowners. If you have any sites that you wish to discuss, please contact us.
