Sign my online petition to protect our valuable greenbelt land

RECENTLY I used a debate in the House of Commons to ask the government what is being done to protect the greenbelt around Stockport and Greater Manchester, and to encourage more housing development on brownfield sites instead.

I was speaking in the second reading of the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, which took place on Monday, October 10, and I asked the planning minster what can be done to prioritise brownfield development and to protect greenbelts from over-zealous local authority plans in areas such as Greater Manchester and Stockport, in instances where plans are contrary to wishes of neighbourhoods.

I have been outspoken and sceptical about the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework for some time. It is a policy of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority that will determine where residential development takes place, including the release of greenbelt land.

However, it has the potential to threaten large areas of the greenbelt, and I am deeply concerned about the threat posed to local countryside by potentially massive building developments.

I am very concerned by this real prospect of thousands of properties being built on previously protected land. There are also significant doubts as to whether local infrastructure of roads and amenities, which already struggle with existing demands, can support such large scale building programmes.

The fact is we need more housing. However, the areas which should be developed first are those brownfield sites. These are sites that have previously been used for commercial or industrial purposes, but are now vacant.

Stockport has many of these sites which have not yet been developed for housing, and across the country it is estimated there is enough brownfield land for to build some 650,000 homes – making a significant contribution to the government’s target of a million new homes built between 2015 and 2020.

Community engagement is vital so that, while we build the homes and infrastructure we need, we ensure it is done in a way that is sympathetic and sensitive to the wishes of local communities.

Therefore I am currently conducting a public petition to call for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to avoid large-scale residential development on the greenbelt. The petition urges brownfield land should be prioritised for residential development provided that proper infrastructure is in place.

Residents can learn more and sign the petition at williamwragg.org.uk/ protect-our-greenbelt.