Agenda item

A report, of the Executive Director of Place/Deputy Chief Executive requesting consideration of the Beal Valley and Broadbent Moss Masterplan and Spatial Design Code, prepared in accordance with Places for Everyone, criteria 1 of JPA 10 Beal Valley and criteria 1 of JPA 12 Broadbent Moss, and its incorporation into a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The Council’s Constitution provides for an ‘Overview and Scrutiny body’ to invite people other than those Members and Officers referred to in Procedure Rule 12 to address it, discuss issues of local concern and/or answer questions. Such people may be, for example, representatives from partner organisations, other stakeholders or members of the public.  Attendance by those persons is entirely optional, except where attendance is required by law. 

The Committee will therefore follow the procedure outlined below in respect of this agenda item:

1.    The Chair to invite Officers to provide a short presentation on the item.

2. The Chair to invite members of the committee to raise any questions arising from the presentation to officers.
3. The Chair to invite a speaker (raising concerns/objections about the item/masterplan) to present their views/concerns to the committee (max 10 minutes to present).
4. The Chair to invite members of the committee to raise any questions with the first speaker.
5. The Chair to invite a speaker (speaking on behalf of the developer) to present their views to the committee (max 10 minutes to present).
6. The Chair to invite members of the committee to raise any questions with the second speaker.
7. The Chair to open the floor to committee members to discuss the item further and, ultimately, propose motions/recommendations on the item for the committee to vote on – speakers cannot engage in this part of the discussion, but members of the committee can ask further questions of the officers if they wish.

Further to Minute x of the meeting of the Place, Economic Growth and Environment Scrutiny Board, held on 12^th January 2026, Members received a report of the Executive Director of Place/Deputy Chief Executive that sought consideration of the Beal Valley and Broadbent Moss Masterplan and Spatial Design Code, that had been prepared in accordance with Places for Everyone, criteria 1 of JPA 10 Beal Valley and criteria 1 of JPA 12 Broadbent Moss, in light of the Motion agreed at the Council meeting on 10^th December, (“Ensuring Statutory Scrutiny and Enforceability for Places for Everyone Masterplans”), that necessitated the requirement of the preparation of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) incorporating this Masterplan and Spatial Design Code.

The report was due to be presented to the Cabinet, at its meeting on 23^rd February 2026, where Members would consider any comments and observations presented by this Scrutiny Board. A version had already been considered by the Cabinet on 15^th December 2025.

In considering the report, Members of the Scrutiny Board sought clarification on:

a.    How much greenspace land was planned to be retained. The Assistant Director of Planning, Transport and Housing Delivery undertook to write to Members thereon, however he did confirm that it was intended to retain a lot of underdeveloped land to ensure opportunities were available for nature and recreation purposes.

b.    The number of housing units that would be available? It was envisaged that around 1,700 houses across the area would be available.

c.     In terms of the delivery plan Members asked about the site’s topography, such as did this plan consider risks and mitigation's which could affect the delivery plan.  The meeting was advised that, officers would explore any challenges where they were apparent to get the infrastructure required. 

d.    Members noted that one benefit of the site was the metrolink line, that the Council was a landholder of.

e.    Flood mitigations? Members note that some of the area could not be developed. Those parts of the site that were going to be developed members needed assurances that the fold risk was being addressed. The Environment Agency had been involved in the development of the site and the Council had encouraged the developer to engage with United Utilities and the Environment Agency in terms of drainage and flood requirements. 

The Scrutiny Board was addressed by Mr. Broadbent, who raised a number of concerns regarding air pollution and contamination. He added that the Places for Everyone (PfE) programme had specific and explicit concerns and expectations of the master planning process. One key issue raised, in PfE was air quality. An integrated assessment expected the Master Plan to reduce the impact of traffic on local highway and to mitigate extra traffic. Mr Broadbent was concerned that it was planned to commence the development before the Metrolink stop came into operation in the year 2030.  A Supreme Court Judgement to bring nitrogen dioxide levels down to legal levels by 2026 was proving to be problematic at the Oldham Road/Broadway junction where test had shown, he stated, that nitrogen dioxide levels had been above legal limits for several years.

Mr. Broadbent raised ecological concerns insofar that the integrated assessment considered sites of biological importance when designing the layout of the masterplan. He referred to a Council commissioned ecological appraisal in 2021, where the recommendation was to plot out an alternative route. Stating, in this regard that the water-vole population on the eastern part of the development site had been classed as a protected species and was therefore endangered. He said that the ecological assessment should have been updated and would have picked this up earlier. and raised at drop in session and told it would be handled at the planning application site. Design of the spine road is locked in at the master planning stage.

The Scrutiny Board was addressed by Mr Barton, a planning consultant, who represented a range of developers in the Borough. He advised the meeting that two-thirds of the development site was green space and wouldn’t, therefore, be developed.

Officers advised that they were pleased with the numbers of people who had attended the various consultation events, the majority of whom appeared to be in favour of the development proposals.

Resolved:

That the Place, Economic Growth and Environment Scrutiny Board endorses the Beal Valley and Broadbent Moss Masterplan and Spatial Design Code prepared by the Developer Consortium so that this can be incorporated into a draft SPD for public consultation.