Greater Manchester’s 15-year housing plan faces High Court challenge

The decision, from Justice Fordham, means the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the nine councils and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), which approved the scheme, must defend the plan in the High Court.

A date is still to be set for the hearing, and PfE remains active until the court decides otherwise. 

The campaigners appealed for a review on five grounds earlier this year, but a hearing last week concluded that only one of these grounds for appeal was acceptable.

The challenge permitted to go forward relates to a reduction in “green belt additions” to the plan. Previously, PfE had included 49 sites to be added to the green belt to compensate for loss elsewhere in the plan, but this was lowered to 19.

This ground “made it through the paper-sift of permission for statutory review”, the judge explained.

Challenges thrown out by the judge included the need to review the plan and restore land to the green belt in light of the government’s cancellation of the Manchester leg of the HS2 train line.

The campaigners had also disputed the councils’ decision to move the end date of the plan from 2037 to 2039.

However, Justice Fordham said: “There was nothing arguably unreasonable in going from the old plan period with its old data to the new plan period with new data.”

Save Greater Manchester’s Greenbelt said: “We did everything possible to challenge the inclusion of green belt allocations in this plan.

“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.”

Although Oldham Council formally adopted the PfE in March, councillors voted last month to write to Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, requesting the council’s removal from the plan.

However, Inside Housing can confirm that Oldham Council will be among the nine councils defending PfE in court.

Oldham Council pointed Inside Housing to the GMCA’s statement.

It said: “The GMCA and the nine PfE authorities will continue to defend this statutory review.”

A GMCA spokesperson added: “PfE 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 PfE, including those relating to green belt additions, remain valid and will continue to be used to determine planning applications.”

MHCLG was approached for comment. It referred Inside Housing to the Planning Inspectorate, who declined to comment.