Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper www.stockport.gov.uk Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper Contents 1 Foreword 2 2 Introduction 4 3 JOBS AND THE ROLE OF TOWN AND DISTRICT CENTRES 10 4 HEALTH, CULTURE AND COMMUNITIES 18 5 WHERE WE LIVE AND THE TYPES OF HOMES WE LIVE IN 24 6 OUR GREEN PLACES AND SPACES 27 7 TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE 35 8 What Happens Next? 43 How Do I Comment? 43 2 Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper 1 Foreword 1 Foreword We are planning for Stockport’s future through to 2035. To enable us to deliver the best possible plan for the area we need and want your views as to how to do that. This will be your Local Plan for Stockport and it will set the rules for development and land uses which will have an impact on the way we live and work in the future. Our Local Plan will need to have regard to the ongoing work in relation to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) and the proposal for housing and employment numbers, the allocations and strategic priorities it sets across Greater Manchester. Currently the housing target up to 2035 in Stockport is 19,300 and for office space the requirement is 140,000 square metres of new space. We will update the work we are doing at the local level and have regard to what is happening with the GMSF process as it progresses whilst continuing to feed the evidence we gather in Stockport into the GMSF. In developing the Local Plan we all need to think about the ways in which we live our lives now and into the future. We will look at where we live and work, where we got to school, the way we play, how we access important public services and how we move about to get to all of those. We want your view on every aspect of life in the Borough and we have broken this document down into the sections that focus on the following: Jobs and the role of town and district centres Health, culture and communities Where we live and the type of homes we live in Our green places and spaces Transport and infrastructure A number of challenges and opportunities face the borough now and in the years to come and this is your chance to start influencing how we address these.We know that people are concerned about the delivery of housing, both in terms of the numbers and where they are built, and how we deal with the fact despite being a well-connected borough our roads are often very congested. It is not just about houses, jobs and transport and people rely on a variety of services, whether that is health, education, other community facilities, shops, open space and so on. Therefore the Local Plan needs support to deliver the right services in the right place for the right people. The Local Plan will look at these issues, alongside many others, but we would like to know what other issues we have not covered in this document which you think the Local Plan should do. The Local Plan is a plan for the future, so we need to be sure that we are taking account of all the issues you think will affect you. All residents will have views on that, from young people who still be in education to those who are now retired. We would like to hear from people across all the different parts of the population in Stockport so that we get the best range of views possible. We know that Stockport is a diverse place in terms of the character of the area. It has a town centre we are working to improve, it is well connected to Manchester city centre, and has a wide variety suburban areas and large areas of countryside within its borders. As well as looking at Stockport as a whole we want to be able to understand what it is about your local area of Stockport that is important to you. We want to know what you would like to keep, what needs to improve in your area, what the character is of the place you live, and what services would you like to be able Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper 3 Foreword 1 to keep or improve access to. These are the sorts of things which are important to how we live but they vary from place to place and it is important your Local Plan reflects that. 4 Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper 2 Introduction 2 Introduction What is the Stockport Local Plan? Once it is in use, the Stockport Local Plan will be the key planning document for the Borough of Stockport. It is a strategic document that will set out the planning policies and land-use allocations that will be used when the council is making decisions on planning applications. This is important because it is how the council can help to shape the borough. The new Local Plan and Proposals Map will replace the existing Core Strategy and Unitary Development Plan. Delivering sustainable development which addresses various inequalities facing the people of Stockport is a key aim of the Local Plan, so the plan should provide policies and allocations which support a range of services and address a variety of issues. For example, to help improve public health, planning can look at where people live, how they travel, which services they have access to, how easy it is have an active lifestyle, and the quality of the environment they live in. Making sure the allocations and the policies support all of these is important in improving peoples' quality of life. The preparation of the Stockport Local Plan presents an opportunity to set a long-term vision for the future of the Borough and to align planning policy with other strategic priorities, in order to: Provide a vision and framework for future development. Underpin an approach to inclusive development. Ensure we have land needed to accommodate the homes, jobs, new infrastructure and local facilities we need from now until 2035. The Council is keen to support a transparent public debate to inform the preparation of sound, deliverable plans to meet Stockport’s needs and aspirations towards 2035. We understand that the issues in one area of Stockport may not be the same as in other areas, so we want to hear from you about the place that you live – what works, what does not, what you need, and what you want to protect. That is why it is important for the public to get involved at the earliest possible stage to help shape how the Local Plan develops. What is the aim of the Issues and Options document? The Issues and Options document is the first stage of the process of developing a new Local Plan for Stockport, and the diagram below shows the other stages of work. This is a chance to have your say on the things that affect Stockport and which affect the areas where you live, work and play. During this public process, we also want to identify what is important to local neighbourhoods across the Borough. The Council wants everyone to contribute, and that doesn’t just mean the Council, but businesses and developers who have a stake in Stockport and, most importantly, the people who live and work in Stockport. This document does not set out to tell anybody what the Council thinks it should be doing, or what all the issues are for the people and businesses in the borough. It does not aim to identify all the environmental issues or transport issues that we know are important in contributing to a sustainable future for the area. It does not give you two or three options and ask you to pick one of them. Instead, this document sets out the broad background to where we are at the moment across a range of topics; what national planning policy says, what might be coming out of work at the Greater Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper 5 Introduction 2 Manchester level and some background as to what the current position is in Stockport. We then provide some questions so that you can let us know what you think about each of the issues. We know that planning documents can be difficult to understand, so we have tried to minimise technical language and present all of this in a way that members of the public can understand. We want people to be able to tell us right from the start of the process what it is they would and would not like to see in their area and what they would like the Council to do in encouraging and restricting the different types of development. 6 Stockport Local Plan Issues Paper 2 Introduction What is Stockport like now? Located between the Peak District, the Cheshire Plain and Manchester, Stockport is one of the most attractive places to live in Greater Manchester. The local housing market is strong with the average house price being £203,903 in April 2017, which is well above the North West average of £152,765, but below the UK average of £220,094. The success of Stockport’s residential areas presents challenges to local families, particularly in terms of increasing housing costs. The last decade saw lower population growth in Stockport than in any other Greater Manchester district with a resulting decline in working-age population. Providing housing that working age residents can afford in order to remain in the borough is one of the key challenges Stockport faces.