Just before Christmas Greater Manchester councils added a few weeks more to the consultation on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework – the new deadline is 16 January 2017.

We only have a few days left to get our voices hear before so much of our precious Green Belt land will be lost for ever.

Please: Sign the Petition – and remind your friends, family and neighbours.
And even send in your own personal response to the consultation – more information on how you can do this below.

The GMSF sets out how Greater Manchester Councils plan to provide the land to build an extra 227,000 houses over the next 25 years. (To put that in context the whole of the Borough of Bury currently has just over 75,000 houses…)

Across Greater Manchester, just 8.2% of Green Belt land is proposed to be destroyed. Bury fares very badly, and if these plans go ahead 20% of our precious green belt land would be lost. In Prestwich a shocking 46.7% of green belt land will be lost. In the Whitefield/Unsworth area 49.1% of green belt land will be lost.

The proposals include:
In the Whitefield/Unsworth/Prestwich areas:
A ‘Northen Gateway’proposal – for a new development ‘bigger than Trafford Park’ on both sides of the M62. This includes 3,300 houses to the south of the motorway (all the green belt land currently around Simister and Bowlee)
600 houses to the north of the M60 near Mode Hill Lane in Whitefield
A massive industrial employment development North of the M62.

In the Bury/Radcliffe area and to the north of Bury:
3,400 new houses in land between Bury and Radcliffe around Elton Reservoir
1,250 new homes north and south of Walshaw Road between Bury and Tottington
As well as smaller developments at Gin Hall, Holcombe Brook and Seedfield

The Labour Party in Bury made a very clear commitment in it’s Local Government Manifesto:
“Bury Labour Group will defend the greenbelt and do all we can to stop development of this precious resource.” They are now letting people down by abandoning their previous promise, with the Council Leader signing up to the proposals.

The Lib Dems in Bury are totally opposed to this wholesale destruction of our Green Belt land. We DO need more homes, but we should use brownfield sites, empty houses and existing unbuilt planning permissions FIRST without destroying our precious countryside.

As well as signing the petition, it would be great if as many people as possible could send in their own personal objections. Details of how to do this are here.

The Save Bury’s Green Belt Campaign have done this excellent guide to how to object here.

 

 

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