Lisa Smart Writes:

The Labour party have done a backroom deal to make it easier for them to push through one of the most important decisions affecting the lives of people living in the Hazel Grove constituency – that of where new homes are going to be built over the next 20 years.

GMSF

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework update is due to be published in October.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the ten local authorities have been working on a plan setting out the sites for where new homes will be built in our area. Hidden in a Combined Authority paper I have discovered that the ten Council leaders in Greater Manchester have done a deal with Mayor Andy Burnham whereby only they would need to sign off on the plans for where new homes would be built – rather than all Stockport Councillors having a say.

I believe you deserve better than a grubby backroom deal. This way there will be little chance of local opponents being able to block the plans if they propose unsuitable developments in our area.

Stockport’s Labour council leader represents an urban ward inside the M60. He needs to understand the fears of many people in Hazel Grove constituency that poorly planned new developments on the greenbelt will just increase congestion and spoil our area, while often failing to provide affordable housing to help local people stay in this area.

I will be asking the Leader of the Council to explain this decision and to find out whether he has any plans at all to allow local councillors to have a say on the proposed sites for development and I will let you know how he responds. It is simply not right that such an important decision can be signed off by so few people.