Plans to remove housing proposed for Green Belt site

Council leaders are proposing to remove a Green Belt site in Walshaw from the Places for Everyone housing and development masterplan.

They will shortly ask planning inspectors to withdraw the 158-acre site, which was earmarked for 1,250 new homes, from the plan, which is currently under examination.

A report, to be presented to the council’s cabinet on Wednesday (7 Sep), says that a new assessment of housing need over the next 15 years is around 1,000 higher than earlier estimates.

This is because plans to regenerate Bury and Radcliffe town centres, plus the Mill Gate centre in Bury which the council has bought, gives an opportunity to build more houses on these urban brownfield sites.

The council is therefore looking at removing one of three large sites - the other two sites being Elton Reservoir and Simister/Bowlee - from Places for Everyone.

It has concluded that Walshaw is the most suitable to be removed as new housing on that site would not deliver the same strategic benefits as the other two.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader of the council, said: “The new evidence shows an increase in opportunities for new housing in sustainable locations within the existing urban area that were not apparent at the Places for Everyone submission stage.

"This is the direct result of our commitment to deliver brownfield first and regenerate our town centres. This requires significant effort, a commitment to intervention and a clear plan for how we can get this done, which we have been working on for several years now. Only by doing the hard work can we make changes like this.

“To retain all the original site allocations would lead to Bury having an overall housing supply that would be significantly in excess of the PfE target, which we have already reduced by being part of a joint plan. Therefore, we are proposing to remove the Walshaw site from consideration in keeping with our pledge to reduce the impact of the Government's housing targets on the green belt where we can.”

The full cabinet report can be read here: https://councildecisions.bury.gov.uk/documents/s32549/Places%20for%20Everyone%20updated%20evidence%20on%20housing%20supply%20and%20request%20for%20a%20main%20modification%20to%20the%20.pdf