William Wragg MP, Member of Parliament for Hazel Grove, used a debate in the House of Commons this week to ask the Government what is being done to protect the greenbelt around Stockport and Greater Manchester, and to encourage more housing development on brownfield sites instead.
Speaking in the Second Reading debate of the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, which took place on Monday (10th October), Mr Wragg asked the Planning Minster, Gavin Barwell MP, what can be done to prioritise brownfield development and to protect greenbelts from “over-zealous local authority plans” in areas such as Greater Manchester and Stockport, in instances where plans are contrary to the wishes of neighbourhoods.
In response, Mr Barwell said that “He [Mr Wragg] rightly wanted to hear more about what we can do to focus development on brownfield land. The Housing and Planning Act that received royal assent earlier this year set up the principle of brownfield registers, where local authorities will set out clearly the brownfield land that is available in their areas and suitable for housing development.”
Meanwhile, William Wragg has been outspoken and sceptical about the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, a policy of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority that will determine where residential development can take place, including the release of Greenbelt land.
Mr Wragg claims the policy has the potential to threaten large areas of the Greenbelt, and says he is deeply concerned about the threat posed to local countryside by potential massive building developments.
William said during the debate:
“[The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework] has the potential to threaten large areas of the Greenbelt surrounding my local communities. I am very concerned by this real prospect of thousands of properties being built on previously protected land. There are also significant doubts as to whether local infrastructure of roads and amenities, which already struggle with existing demands, can support such large scale building programmes.
“The fact is we need more housing. However, the areas which should be developed first are those 'brownfield sites'. These are sites that have previously been used for commercial or industrial purposes, but are now vacant. Stockport has many of these sites which have not yet been developed for housing, and across the country it is estimated there is enough brownfield land for to build some 650,000 homes – making significant contribution to the Government’s target of 1million new homes built between 2015 and 2020.
“Community engagement is vital so that while we can build the homes and infrastructure we need, and to ensure it is done in a way that is sympathetic and sensitive to the wishes of local communities.”
William Wragg is currently conducting a public petition to call for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to avoid large-scale residential development on the greenbelt. The petition urges brownfield land should be prioritised for residential development provided that proper infrastructure is in place. Residents across Hazel Grove constituency are able to sign the petition at the following link - http://williamwraggmp.wixsite.com/protectourgreenbelt.
Greater Manchester Residents can see which areas near them have been suggested for potential development proposals by visiting www.mappinggm.org.uk