Greater Manchester will release more than 12,000 acres of green belt for development over the next 20 years, a draft of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework has revealed.
Green belt sites in Pilsworth, Carrington, Cheadle Hulme and Ashton Moss have been included in the plan which sets out locations for the delivery of at least 227,000 homes across the region.
The 225-page paper also lists preferred sites for the delivery of 26.3m sq ft of office space and 87.3m sq ft of industrial space.
The redrawing of the green belt boundary will result in a net reduction in the total area of designated green belt of 12,108 acres (8.2%), leaving nearly 43% of Greater Manchester as designated green belt.
The report said: “There is a strong emphasis on directing new development to brownfield land in urban locations however the scale of growth requires the release of land from the green belt.
“Our approach to green belt releases is to maximise their sustainability by focusing on a relatively small number of large sites allowing for the creation of new neighbourhoods supported by proper infrastructure.”
The plans will be discussed by the 10 council leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 28 October before the launch of a public consultation.
Gary Halman, managing partner at HOW Planning, said his initial “cautious” reaction was that this is a “positive plan and a good response to the Herculean task of designing a statutory plan across an entire conurbation”.
A link to the draft consultation paper can be found here.
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