Andy Burnham’s housing plan to go to High Court

Andy Burnham’s 15-year housing blueprint for Greater Manchester is set to go to the High Court after a crucial ruling.

The Places for Everyone (PfE) plan was approved by nine Greater Manchester boroughs earlier this year, which appeared to be the culmination of a decade-long saga beginning in 2014, when the plan was first proposed.

Overseen by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which the mayor heads, it was initially set to include every Greater Manchester council, but Stockport voted to withdraw in late 2020.

The blueprint paves the way for tens of thousands of new homes to be built using a ‘brownfield land first’ approach, but some will go on the green belt.

Campaigners called ‘Save Greater Manchester Green Belt Ltd’ launched a judicial review to try and stop it.

Now, a judge has ruled its case can proceed to the High Court.

The campaigners appealed for a review on five ‘grounds’ earlier this year, but a hearing last week (12 December) effectively decided only one ‘ground’ is acceptable.

“We did everything possible to challenge the inclusion of green belt allocations in this plan,” a spokesperson for the group said.

“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 future food security.”

While four grounds for a review were thrown out by Mr Justice Fordham’s decision, the decision to allow one on ‘green belt additions’ means the GMCA, nine councils, and government’s planning inspectorate, who approved the scheme with modifications, now face a High Court battle.

The most extreme option open to the court is quashing PfE.

However, those authorities will ‘defend’ their position, a spokesperson for the GMCA confirmed on Wednesday (18 December).

They said: “The GMCA and the nine Places for Everyone authorities will continue to defend this statutory review. We await a date from the court for the forthcoming hearing.

“Places for Everyone is our plan to deliver the new homes that our communities need, maximising the use of brownfield land while protecting and enhancing green spaces, and is the best line of defence against costly unplanned development.

“Unless the High Court decides otherwise, all policies within Places for Everyone, including those relating to Green Belt additions, remain valid and will continue to be used to determine planning applications in the nine districts.”

Ethan Davies, Local Democracy Reporter