Draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework Draft for consultation October 2016 BOLTON MANCHESTER ROCHDALE STOCKPORT TRAFFORD BURY OLDHAM SALFORD TAMESIDE WIGAN 1 Introduction 4 2 Vision and Strategy 11 3 Strategic locations 15 4 Delivering a successful Greater Manchester 42 5 Industrial and warehousing 44 6 Offices 49 7 Retail, leisure and tourism 52 8 Housing 54 9 Accessibility 58 10 Green Infrastructure 64 11 Nature conservation 67 12 Trees and woodland 69 13 The uplands 70 14 The lowland wetlands 72 15 River valleys and canals 74 16 Green Belt 76 17 Recreation 79 18 Carbon emissions 80 19 Resilience 82 20 Air Quality 84 21 Flood risk and water quality 86 22 Design 88 23 Heritage 90 24 Education, skills and knowledge 92 25 Health 94 26 Social inclusion 96 27 Infrastructure 97 28 Allocations 101 BOLTON MANCHESTER ROCHDALE STOCKPORT TRAFFORD BURY OLDHAM SALFORD TAMESIDE WIGAN 2 Introduction BOLTON MANCHESTER ROCHDALE STOCKPORT TRAFFORD BURY OLDHAM SALFORD TAMESIDE WIGAN 1 Introduction 1.1 Why are we producing a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework? 1.1.1 Greater Manchester is starting to show real and sustained growth in jobs and population but we still perform below the national average in terms of productivity and growth and there are still too many places within Greater Manchester which have weak economic performance. The Northern Powerhouse seeks to address this imbalance and Greater Manchester – as a leading City Region - is fundamental to its success. 1.1.2 Greater Manchester is on a transformative journey – we are actively promoting a strategy for growth across the whole of Greater Manchester providing opportunities for investment in areas where we have genuine competitive advantages and for the acceleration of growth in those areas where economic activity is weakest. Even with the success of this strategy we will need to do a lot more to ensure that none of our residents are left behind. 1.1.3 We need to manage growth so that Greater Manchester is a better place to live, work and visit. It is our aspiration that Greater Manchester becomes as well known for the quality of its environment as for its economic success. Our Green Belt plays a role in this but there are important green spaces, parks, rivers and canals in the heart of our urban communities which are equally valuable. The protection and enhancement of our blue and green infrastructure is a central theme of our strategy. 1.1.4 We are preparing the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) to make sure that investment and growth in houses and jobs happens but also benefits our residents and makes Greater Manchester a better place to live and work. We need to be able to plan for schools, green spaces, roads and health facilities alongside new homes, offices and factories. If we don’t do this, it won’t happen. 1.1.5 The GMSF is an important part of our tool-kit which is designed to facilitate Greater Manchester’s capacity to deliver our full economic potential, and also to ensure that all parts of Greater Manchester and its residents fully share in that economic success. This means that those parts of Greater Manchester which are performing comparatively weakly should be supported to accelerate their growth so that none of our residents are left behind. 1.1.6 The GMSF in itself does not deliver development, rather it defines what may or may not be developed in particular locations. Through our radical devolution agenda we are developing and delivering ambitious plans to enhance the skills base and transform the health and well being of our population to maximise our ability to promote inclusive growth. We will continue to drive that growth through targeted support for those key sectors that will underpin the economy of Greater Manchester in the future and develop new investment models to shape places where people want to live, invest and work. There is a particular need for significant transport infrastructure to access both housing and employment sites and we are committed to aligning our transport strategy and programmes to support the growth in GMSF. BOLTON MANCHESTER ROCHDALE STOCKPORT TRAFFORD BURY OLDHAM SALFORD TAMESIDE WIGAN 4 1.2 What is the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework? 1.2.1 In August 2014 the 10 Local Planning Authorities in Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan) agreed to prepare a joint Development Plan Document to set out the approach to housing and employment land across Greater Manchester for the next 20 years. This is known as the Greater Manchester Spatial Development Framework (GMSF). 1.2.2 In November 2014 the first devolution agreement was agreed which provided for an elected Mayor with responsibility to produce a Spatial Strategy with the unanimous support of her/his Cabinet. 1.2.3 Following election of the Mayor in May 2017 part of the GMSF may become the Spatial Strategy and part will remain a joint development plan document to be adopted by the resolution of the full Councils of all 10 authorities 1.3 This Consultation 1.3.1 Two informal consultations have already taken place. The first, in November 2014 was on the scope of the plan and our initial evidence base, and the second in November 2015, was on the vision, strategy and strategic growth options. We also undertook a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise in November 2015. 1.3.2 Following the consultation in November 2015 we have taken all comments into account and reviewed our evidence, specifically challenges around our ambition for growth and what scale of growth we need to aim for to maximise our position as the engine of growth driving the Northern Powerhouse. 1.3.3 The economic forecast was updated (Accelerated Growth Scenario (AGS) 2015) and tested against a range of factors including the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review; forecasts produced by the leading forecasting houses as well as Oxford Economics (Cambridge Econometrics and Experian); our assumptions around resident employment rate and the potential impacts of Brexit. We also undertook further work on population and household growth taking into account the 2014 SNPP (released May 2016) and the Sub National household projections (released July 2016). In line with our previous reports we modelled various scenarios using different household representation rates and also modelled the impact of the Government’s Local Plan Expert Group (LPEG) recommendations which were made in Spring 2016. 1.3.4 Having completed this additional work it was concluded that the ambition set out in the AGS 2015 whilst challenging, is robust and necessary to demonstrate our continuing role in driving growth in the north of England. The AGS 2015 also delivers on Greater Manchester’s ambition to increase the resident employment rate to ensure that more residents share in the benefits of economic growth. 1.3.5 This work was discussed by the Joint GMCA/AGMA Executive on the 26th August 2016, who agreed that the level of growth we should be planning for and testing through the GMSF BOLTON MANCHESTER ROCHDALE STOCKPORT TRAFFORD processBURY is: OLDHAM SALFORD TAMESIDE WIGAN 5 GVA growth of 2.5% year on year, giving an uplift of £5bn above baseline conditions by 2035; Additional 199,700 jobs; Population growth of 294,800, which translates into 227,200 net new homes. 1.3.6 On the basis of the evidence we have gathered and the responses to the consultations we are currently at the stage of preparing a draft plan and now want to consult with a wide range of stakeholders about the scope of the plan, our spatial strategy and our strategic policies and allocations. 1.3.7 This consultation meets the requirements of Regulation 18 (‘preparation of a local plan’) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. 1.4 What does it cover? 1.4.1 This is the first time that we have prepared an overarching spatial plan for Greater Manchester since the Greater Manchester Structure Plan in 1981 although we have prepared two joint Development Plan documents over recent years, the Waste Plan and the Minerals Plan. The only other area to produce something of comparable scope is London. The GMSF is a different type of plan to the London Plan in that it is being jointly prepared by all 10 councils and provides not only the strategic context but also more detail around housing and employment land and the associated infrastructure required. The GMSF also includes site ‘allocations’ for sites proposed to be released from the Green Belt and will define a ‘new’ Green Belt boundary for Greater Manchester. The GMSF will; set out how Greater Manchester should develop over the next two decades up to the year 2035; identify the amount of new development that will come forward across the 10 districts, in terms of housing, offices, and industry and warehousing, and the main areas in which this will be focused; support the delivery of key infrastructure, such as transport and utilities; protect the important environmental assets across the conurbation; allocate sites for employment and housing outside of the urban area; define a new Green Belt boundary for Greater Manchester. 1.4.2 The GMSF comprises four sections. These are set out below. Vision and strategy 1.4.3 The vision builds on the Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS) and sets out how Greater Manchester is planning to meet levels of growth well above baseline forecasts. The GMSF supports long term prosperity as well as meeting short term needs and seeks to ensure that all places and all residents share in the benefits of growth at the same time as building a resilient Greater Manchester, improving our green infrastructure network, reducing carbon emissions, addressing air quality and reducing flood risk.