AC-2025-LON-001100 - [2025] EWHC 2742 (Admin)

In January 2014, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (“AGMA”) agreed to bring forward a spatial framework for the Greater Manchester region, which evolved into a proposal to produce a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (“GMSF”) joint DPD.

On 29 August 2014 the GMCA and AGMA agreed to consult on the initial evidence to inform the GMSF, which ran from 26 September to 7 November 2014.

On 28 November 2014 it was agreed each Council would approve the making of the GMSF and that the AGMA Executive Board would be appointed to prepare it.

A second consultation ran between 9 November 2015 and 11 January 2016 on strategic options for the GMSF.

The first draft GMSF joint DPD (“GMSF 2016”) was published for consultation on 31 October 2016 ending 16 January 2017 under regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”).

A revised draft GMSF was consulted on between January and March 2019 (“GMSF 2019”), also under regulation 18 of the 2012 Regulations.

In September 2020, in the light of those consultations, the AGMA Executive Board agreed that the GMSF would be progressed as a joint DPD of the 10 authorities (“GMSF 2020”) and that this version would be the Publication Plan under regulation 19 of the 2012 Regulations, with consultation to take place between 1 December 2020 and 26 January 2021. On 30 October 2020, the AGMA Executive Board recommended to the ten local authorities that they move to this process.

However, on 3 December 2020, Stockport MBC decided not to publish GMSF 2020 for consultation or submit it for examination, essentially on the basis of the impact of GMSF 2020 on the Green Belt.

On 11 December 2020, the AGMA Executive Board asked officers to report back on the implications and process of producing a joint DPD of the nine remaining districts. On 12 February 2021, it proposed continuing with this approach in a joint plan now known as “Places for Everyone 2022 - 2039” (“the Plan”). Each of the nine districts then resolved to establish the Places for Everyone Joint Committee to continue to prepare the joint Plan.

On 20 July 2021, the AGMA Executive Board concluded that the Plan had “substantially the same effect” on the nine remaining boroughs as the GMSF 2020 and recommended that it proceed under regulation 19 of the 2012 Regulations. The Plan was finally published for consultation under regulation 19 between 9 August 2021 and 3 October 2021.

Work was undertaken to prepare the documents for submission to the Secretary of State. On 14 February 2022, the Plan was formally submitted for examination. Examination hearings were held between 1 November 2022 and 5 July 2023.

Following the examination hearings, the GMCA proposed a schedule of proposed MMs which had been recommended by the Inspectors throughout the examination. They included the deletion of 30 of the 49 Green Belt additions proposed in the Plan. The MMs were subject to public consultation for eight weeks between 11 October and 6 December 2023.

On 14 February 2024, the Inspectors published the IR on the examination of the Plan which concluded that, with its recommended MMs (plus further MMs which had not been consulted upon), the Plan would be sound and legally compliant.

At council meetings held between 28 February and 20 March 2024, the nine local authorities resolved to approve the adoption of the Plan, subject to the MMs recommended by the Inspectors. The adoption took effect and thus the Plan became part of the statutory development plan for each of the nine authorities on 21 March 2024. It sets the spatial strategy for the region up to 2039.