Poynton Town Council Response to Stockport Local Plan Public Consultation on Planning Issues
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Poynton Town Council Response to Stockport Local Plan Public consultation on Planning issues 1 Introduction Poynton Town Council has noted that Stockport Council have begun planning for the future of the Borough to the year 2035 through their own Local Plan. The Borough Council are seeking views about the future of the Borough within the following topics: Jobs and the role of town and district centres; Health, culture and communities; Where we live and the types of homes we live in; Our green places and spaces; and Transport and infrastructure The Town Council wish to make comments on those aspects of the Plan which are the most likely to have some impact on the community of Poynton. By way of background, the Town Council has noted that the Issues Paper states that the Local Plan will need to have regard to the emerging work on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) and the proposals for housing and employment numbers, as well as the allocations and strategic priorities it sets across the whole of Greater Manchester. The Issues Paper sets out what those proposed targets are in the main body of the document. The Issues Paper sets out number of challenges and opportunities facing Stockport Borough now and in the years to come and confirms this is the first chance to start influencing how the Council may address these. It acknowledges that people are concerned about the delivery of housing, both in terms of the numbers and where they are built, and how they might deal with being both a well-connected borough but where the roads are often very congested. The Town Council notes that the consultation takes the form of a series of questions (21 in total) based on the main topic area listed. We have also noted that there are no specific proposals being made at this stage. Many of the topics listed are of concern to Poynton Town Council. 2 Jobs and town and district centres. It is noted that both Wilmslow and Poynton are identified as centres on the fringe of Stockport Borough which may provide services to local areas. Bramhall and Hazel Grove are among the list of district centres. Around 8% of Stockport residents work in Cheshire East while a slightly smaller number of Cheshire East residents work in Stockport. Cheshire East is the second choice Borough preference after Manchester for Stockport residents for work. The major employment areas in Stockport are recognised and have some room for expansion. Stockport has net outflow levels of around 11,000 workers each day and there is a wish to promote local jobs to reduce out-commuting. There is a shortage of larger industrial units which causes a barrier to new firms looking to expand or relocate in. In terms of the centres to the south of the Borough, Bramhall is defined as a healthy centre while Hazel Grove is experiencing some difficulties. Through the whole Borough, there are 25 local centres of which 11 are experiencing problems at present. The GMSF for the period 2015 to 2035 sets an overall Stockport employment floorspace requirement of 90,000 sq m, the majority of which could be provided at Bredbury and served off the M60.The focus on office space would be in the town centre. Poynton Town Council fully supports the wish of Stockport Council to create more local jobs in its industrial parks and town and district centres as being a more sustainable solution to travel to work patterns as well as having the potential to reduce local traffic across the county/borough boundary. The expansion of existing business estates is also a sustainable option. Office jobs within the town and district centre is also to be welcomed provided the adequate infrastructure is available. 3 Living and types of houses The Town Council is aware of the consultation from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in Autumn 2016 about the proposed housing numbers and potential sites and locations for these homes. At item 5.2 under Housing on page 31 of the Stockport Issues and Options paper it states as follows: 5.2 The emerging work on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) will set the overall housing figure for Stockport, and will provide large-scale housing allocations where necessary. At this stage, Stockport's requirement is 19,300 additional new dwellings between 2015 and 2035, although it is subject to change. This works out at 965 dwellings per year. Our current Core Strategy housing target is around 480 dwellings per year and national guidance means that we need to find a way to deliver that revised figure. The Town Council notes that no further information as to potential sites and locations within Stockport other than the original GMSF material being used as a source. Poynton Town Council is concerned that it was not clear at the time of the GMSF consultation how the GMCA came up with their total for the city region as a whole and then divided it around the ten boroughs. There being limited evidence underpinning the figure, it appeared that some rather arbitrary figures had been deployed including the number for Stockport of 19,300 proposed homes. One of the key documents for the GMSF was a scoping report from consultants Arup. The Arup scoping report, on page 23, stated that population growth in Stockport from 2003 to 2013 was 1,532 (0.5%) in total, which equates to an average of 0.05% per annum. On page 24 of this report, it is predicted that Stockport population growth from 2013 to 2037 would be 30,000 (9.6%) in total, which equates to an average of 0.4% per annum over the period. This predicted figure is many times higher [8 times in fact] than the actual figure for the previous ten years. Predictions for other boroughs in Greater Manchester did not show this large predicted increase in the rate of population growth. In addition, the report notes that Stockport has the highest proportion of people who are 65 and above and the lowest proportion of 16 to 64 year olds, compared with any other borough in Greater Manchester. Therefore, this highly inflated population growth prediction for Stockport seems unlikely. The current Development Plan for Stockport is the Stockport Core Strategy which covers the period from 2011 to 2026. This states that during these 15 years an additional 7,200 new homes will be provided. The housing targets for the next 5 years of the plan period are as follows: 495 new homes p.a. between 2015 and 2020. Therefore, 2,475 new homes are required for a 5 year supply against the Core Strategy. If the annual requirement of 495 per year over a 20 year time frame is used, then there is a total need for 9,900 houses in Stockport. This is substantially different to the 19,300 in a 20 year time frame proposed. Although there have been changes in national planning guidance following the National Planning Policy Framework in 2012, the concern is that the number proposed for Stockport in GMSF is open to serious challenge and is currently under review by the GMCA with the next round of consultation now proposed for Summer 2018. This figure is however to be used as the starting point for SMBC Local Plan. Furthermore, since the GMSF work was undertaken and publicised, there is now a commitment by government in the Housing White Paper (and elsewhere) to consult on options for introducing a standardised inclusive approach, specifically with reference to older people to assessing housing requirements. Consultation was due to take place in Spring 2017 but has now been confirmed for September 2017. Such a standardised methodology as a future tool to provide a level playing field for plan production for future plans (including both the GMSF and Stockport Local Plan) is to be welcomed. Accordingly, and for all these reasons, Poynton Town Council wishes to register a strong objection to the approach proposed as being inappropriate for the reasons given. We would also draw attention to the objections raised by the Town Council in respect of the original GMSF consultation (attached as an Appendix to this submission). 4 Our green places and spaces The Town Council fully supports the emphasis within this part of the Issues paper concerns types and uses of existing and proposed open spaces, uses of brownfield land and alternatives to the use of Green Belt for homes and jobs. No assessment of the quality of the different parcels of Green Belt land has been undertaken to date and there is no reference to such an assessment being proposed. Members may recall that Cheshire East undertook two such assessments as part of its analysis of potential sites to be taken out of the Green Belt and allocated for development (including three strategic sites in Poynton). Within the text, the need for higher densities closer to local facilities and services is identified as one of a number of potential solutions to encouraging the use of brownfield land first. Poynton Town Council has consistently promoted the need for a brownfield first response as a sustainable solution to the need for more housing and employment development. This was addressed in some detail in our response to the consultation on the GMSF which is attached as an Appendix. The majority of points are also relevant to the Stockport Local Plan. In particular we would refer to section 4 of that response: 4 Proposed spatial distribution of development and use of brownfield sites. If 11 of the 25 local centres within Stockport Borough are experiencing difficulties, high density and sustainable sites for housing within or on the fringe of such centres affords an ideal solution.