Questions are invited from Elected Members about items on the Cabinet agenda. 15 minutes will be set aside for Member Question Time, if required.
Notice of any Member question must be given to the Monitoring Officer by midday Monday, 2nd October 2023.
Minutes:
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Jack Rydeheard:
Following Bury Labour's attempt to change the Places for Everyone Plan, despite their acknowledgement on 21st July 2021 at Cabinet that they couldn't make changes to the plan after submitting it, are the "around 1,000" homes that they claim to have "found" in Bury town centre coming out of any of the other greenbelt allocations or is the Council’s plan still to build excessively on all available greenbelt, particularly around Walshaw?
Responding, Councillor Eamonn O’Brien reported that on 21 July 2021, Cabinet approved the Publication Places for Everyone for consultation. At that meeting, it was noted that the Council were unable to make changes to the plan once it was submitted but the Planning Inspectors can make alterations.
After the Plan was submitted, new opportunities for housing in Bury and Radcliffe town centres were identified that were not confirmed at the time the Plan was submitted. These new opportunities were identified following extensive work on town centre masterplanning and the acquisition of the Mill Gate estate.
In light of this evidence, Cabinet considered the options and authorised officers to request a main modification to Places for Everyone to remove the proposed housing allocation at Walshaw.
The request for a main modification to remove the site at Walshaw was submitted to the Inspectors and further representation was made at the hearing sessions.
However, the Inspectors have considered the submitted evidence and discussions at the hearing sessions and have concluded that the requested modification to remove the Walshaw site is not necessary to make the plan sound and that the site should remain in the Plan along with the other proposed housing sites.
Whilst this conclusion is disappointing, it is considered that, on balance, this is outweighed by the benefits that come with continuing to participate in the joint plan, including having a housing target that is around 2,300 less than would otherwise be required.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
I’m confused as to why the Council’s position is still to build excessively on the greenbelt, including Walshaw’s. By default the Council voted to submit the Plan to the Independent Planning Inspectorate, having acknowledged that after it did so it couldn’t then change it. I draw your attention to Bury Labour literature, which says: “successfully campaigned to take Walshaw out of the Greater Manchester Housing Plan”. Obviously that’s not happened. Will you admit your possible intent to mislead residents in this year’s election campaign and apologise?
Councillor O’Brien reported that no one sought to mislead anyone in the election campaign. The leaflet referred to successfully developing the argument for the main modification and putting it to the Planning Inspectorate. People in Elton elected a Labour Councillor as they saw the effort put in on a range of issues, including this, to try and influence the Plan in the proper process by applying for a main modification.
The Planning Inspectorate has to follow Central Government planning policy and, following those rules, they have refused the modification and kept the Walshaw site in the Plan. We are disappointed by that but still support the overall PfE Plan as the alternative would put more sites at risk of development through planning by appeal, and all without guarantees, protections, and planning for infrastructure. Ultimately, the Plan will come back to Full Council for a final decision.
We have been clear with our decisions and our campaign about what we are trying to achieve. It was the decision of the government appointed Planning Inspectorate to keep the Walshaw site in. I am confident in the integrity of every single member of Bury Labour, and endorse their campaigns trying to get the best of plan like this, understanding the realities and not trying to mislead people.