Issue - meetings

A report from the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Growth is attached.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Growth, presented the report which presented the report which set out the draft Bury Town Centre Plan and detailed the six-week consultation period.

Members discussed the report, noting the importance of being in control of changes to Bury and remaining forward-looking. With regards to “minor modifications” to the masterplan, these would be typos or factual errors. In response to questions it was noted that numbers couldn’t be estimated at this point, but the ambition was to secure as much housing as possible on brownfield land in line with the brownfield first policy. This would hopefully provide the basis for a strong argument to the government and planning inspectorate to protect as much green space as possible.

With regards to a recent petition, the Leader advised that exiting the Places for Everyone (PfE) plan would remove the Council’s control over the type and quality of houses being built and leave the Council exposed to government action, potentially tripling the housing requirement, as well as negating the 2000 units that had been displaced through the PfE plan. Instead, this plan and the hard work to identify and create further brownfield sites was the best way forward to protect as much green space as possible.

Decision:

Cabinet:

1.   Endorsed the draft Bury Town Centre Masterplan attached as Appendix 1 as the basis for a six-week public consultation commencing on 4th January 2022; and

2.   Delegated approval to the Executive Director of Place and the Chief Executive to make minor modifications to the draft Bury Town Centre Masterplan before consultation commences.

Reasons for the decision:

To ensure that all stakeholders have the opportunity to have their say on the draft Bury Town Centre Masterplan and its proposals to guide the role, function and physical development and regeneration of Bury town centre and its peripheral areas over the next 15 to 20 years.

Other options considered and rejected:

None. It is important that stakeholder engagement continues in order to seek the views and inputs from the wider public, key businesses and other key partners to ensure that the final Masterplan is fit for purpose.