Fifteen-year housing blueprint to go to High Court
A plan to build 115,000 new homes in Greater Manchester will go to the high court after a judge ruled to allow legal challenge by campaigners.
The idea was part of Mayor Andy Burnham’s Places for Everyone (PfE) plan which was approved by nine of the city’s councils earlier in 2024. However, campaigners from Save Greater Manchester’s Green Belt Ltd have launched a judicial review to try and halt the plans, despite them having been in development since 2014.
Judge Mr Justice Fordham has now ruled the case can proceed to the High Court. As a result, the decision means Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority (GMCA), nine councils and the government’s planning inspectorate – who all approved the scheme – will now face a high court battle.
A spokesperson from GMCA said: ‘Unless the High Court decides otherwise, all policies within PfE including those relating to the green belt additions, remain valid will continue to be used to determine planning applications.’
Mr Burnham’s development plan is set to span 15 years and is another project that will assist the government’s target of building 1.5 million new homes this parliament. The plan in Greater Manchester is to build 115,000 new properties using a ‘brownfield land first’ approach, but some will go on green belt land.
When the plans were first announced, they were set to include every Greater Manchester council. Although Stockport voted to withdraw in late 2020.
Commenting on the news, the campaign group, Save Greater Manchester’s Green Belt said: ‘We did everything possible to challenge the inclusion of green belt allocations in this plan.
‘It was unnecessary, inappropriate and is a complete betrayal of future generations, given the impact on land that should be supporting climate mitigation, nature’s recovery and food security.’
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