Agenda item

The Board gave consideration to a report which asked them to consider recommending to the Cabinet that the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework be approved for publication and submission to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Board was informed that the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) Executive Board on 30^th October 2020 had resolved to note the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and supporting background documents and had recommended the documents to the districts with the intention that the districts approve:

a)    Publication of the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 pursuant to Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 for representations between 1 December 2020 and 26 January 2021; and

b)    Submission of the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 to the Secretary of State for examination following the period for representations.

Following approval by the ten districts, it was intended that consultation on the Publication Draft 2020 would commence 1^st December 2020 and last until 26^th January 2021.

When adopted, the GMSF would become part of Oldham’s development plan. It would replace parts of Oldham’s Core Strategy and change the Proposals Map. A list of Core Strategy policies that would be replaced was attached at Appendix 1 of the report. The Proposals Map would be changed through the addition of allocations for housing and employment development, and changes to Green Belt boundaries.

The GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and supporting documents could be viewed at

https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing/gmsf2020/.

The full AGMA Executive Board Report, which included a list of the supporting documents available, was attached at Appendix 2 of the report.

The Board noted the report summarised the main components of the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and what it meant for Oldham. It also set out the implications for the review of Oldham’s Local Plan.

The Board was informed that the  ‘Publication stage’ was a formal consultation on the draft joint DPD pursuant to Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (“the Regulations). It was a statutory stage that provided an opportunity for organisations and individuals to submit their final views on the content of the plan. The decision to ‘Publish’ the draft joint DPD was an Executive

decision for the Greater Manchester (GM) local authorities.

Following consultation on the Publication Plan, the draft joint DPD and the

representations made at the Publication stage would be sent to the Secretary of State – this was the ‘Submission stage’ under Regulation 22 of the Local Planning Regulations. Submission required approval of each of the 10 Full Councils of the GM local authorities. Upon completion of the consultation on the Publication draft in January 2021, a post-consultation report would be prepared and the plan would be submitted to the Secretary of State for Examination in mid- 2021. Whilst anyone could make a representation on any point, only those pertaining to the 4 tests of

soundness would be taken into account by the Inspector(s). If major new issues arose at the Publication consultation stage, there would need to be further consultation.

An Examination in Public would take place after which a Planning Inspector would consider the joint DPD and representations made in respect of it and determine whether the joint DPD was capable of being adopted, either with or without amendments.

Assuming that the document was capable of adoption, whether with or without amendments, the ultimate decision to adopt must be taken by each of the 10 Full Councils.

Members asked for and received clarification on the following:

·         How would the Plan be affected by Covid – it was not possible to be definitive at this time. The Council was very focussed on providing ongoing support for local businesses. The policies would be monitored in the context of what was occurring at the time.

·         Was there flexibility, particularly around housing and business accommodation – there would be opportunities to review and the policies would be monitored.

·         Flexibility across all strands beyond 2023 – this was the final opportunity to comment on the publication draft before it moved forward for adoption. The Local Plan would be monitored and reviewed regularly. Flexibility would come from the availability of land at any particular time and whether brownfield sites could be made attractive to developers. GMSF would provide a framework to assist Councils bidding for funding and would help Councils be active participants in shaping development.

·         Helping to tackle inequalities – GMSF and the Local Plan were formulated to meet the needs to address inequalities. They would provide a structure to enable Councils to require such matters as quality homes and meaningful employment.

·         Distil to ward level so the public could easily see what was happening in their neighbourhood – the Local Plan would translate the high-level framework to the community level. The policies would help with neighbourhood planning.

·         Set out simply how the policies integrated with each other – this would be sought from GMCA colleagues to make the links clear to the public.

·         Develop a Scrutiny framework – the Local Plan was expected to come to the Board at its next meeting. A forward plan would be put together for consideration and specific elements could be brought as required.

RESOLVED that:

The following be recommended to the Cabinet:

1.    That the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020, including strategic site allocations and green belt boundary amendments, and reference to the potential use of compulsory purchase powers to assist with site assembly, and the supporting background documents, for publication pursuant to Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 for a period for representations between 1 December 2020 and 26 January 2021 be approved.

2.    That the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 be approved for submission to the Secretary of State for examination following the period for representations.

3.    That delegation to Director of Economy authority to approve the relevant Statement of Common Ground(s) required pursuant to the National Planning Policy Framework 2019 be approved.

4.    That delegation to the Greater Manchester Lead Chief Executive, Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, in consultation with Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett the Portfolio Leader for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure to make minor or non-material amendments to the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and background documents prior to their publication be approved.

The Cabinet be requested to recommend the following to the Council:

1.    That the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and supporting background documents be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination pursuant to Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 following the period for representations between 1st December 2020 and 26 January 2021 be approved.

2.    That delegation to the Greater Manchester Lead Chief Executive, Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, in consultation with Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett the Portfolio Leader for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure to make minor or non-material amendments to the GMSF: Publication Draft 2020 and background documents prior to their publication be approved.