Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

This debate was selected by the Backbench Business Committee. Requesting the debate, William Wragg MP stated:[1]

[…] The application I am placing for the Committee’s esteemed consideration is entitled “The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.” It might seem an obscure topic at this time, but in Greater Manchester it is the thing that is talked about most at the moment. It is to do with the allocation of land for housing, business and commerce. The most contentious aspect is the section on green belt release, which, as I am sure hon. Members know, is very important in our constituencies.

The application comes in the light of the draft being revised and being put out again for consultation. It is worth noting that the original consultation exercise was one of the largest ever undertaken, with one of the highest response rates from individual members of the public.

I am asking for a 90-minute debate in Westminster Hall. It has a range of cross-party support. In Greater Manchester we are but 26 constituencies, four of which are Conservative—mine is one—and the other 22 are Labour, so it has got a flavour of cross-party support.

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), established in 2011, is made up of the ten Greater Manchester councils.[1]  The ten councils are: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

The GMCA is in the process of producing a “Greater Manchester Spatial Framework” (GMSF), which will be a joint plan to manage the supply of land for jobs and new homes across Greater Manchester, up to the year 2035. The idea is that the GMSF will be the overarching development plan within which Greater Manchester’s ten local planning authorities will be able to identify more detailed sites for jobs and homes in their own area. As such, the GMSF will not cover everything that a local plan would cover, and individual districts will continue to produce their own local plans.[1]

[1]     GMCA, Greater Manchester Spatial Framework website [accessed 15 February 2019]

[1]     As established by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Order 2011

[1]     Backbench Business Committee: Representations: Backbench Debates, Tuesday 12 February 2019