Chamber calls for clarity on housing plans and development

Phil Cusack

Following the release this week of the government white paper on housing and the recent consultation on the Greater Manchester Strategic Framework ahead of May’s mayoral election , Greater Manchester Chamber is calling for greater co-ordination across all agencies with business to ensure that future plans meet demand and are delivered effectively.

Phil Cusack, Chamber chairman, said; “This week’s white paper 'Fixing our broken market' doesn’t offer any new answers to what are complex issues surrounding this issue. It does acknowledge that this isn’t an issue that has happened over a short period of time but has been ongoing for a number of years. The basic issues are of under-supply and a lack of suitable land with sufficient planning permissions.

“There are a range of factors from accessing capital to having employees with the right skills that push up development costs and these, coupled with a genuine lack of joined up working, all play into the current state of the housing market.

"Our recent response to the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework highlighted the silo planning approach that we see across a significant number of large developments throughout Greater Manchester.

“Planning, at a local and city-region level, must develop beyond simple land-use allocation and seek to release greater areas of land for development alongside other infrastructure, whether physical, digital or social, required to support sustainable communities of the future.

“For too long this country has been held back by artificially introduced barriers to development. [The] Government and local authorities should approach this problem not through further interventions, but by removing the barriers that exist. It is not clear that this white paper, or the GM Spatial Framework, as they stand, answer these questions.

“We will be asking the mayoral candidates for their views on this and what actions they propose, in office, to start to bring some sense to this issue. There are some crucial decisions to be made that will have a huge impact on the future of Greater Manchester and it is important that whoever is making those decisions does so without the barriers in place that have had such a huge impact over the last few years.”