Green Belt Queries

Dear Ms. Lechner,

Thank you for your request for information below which has been given reference number 2658. Please quote this on any correspondence regarding your request.

Stockport Council will respond to your request within 20 working days. If there will be a charge for disbursements e.g. photocopying in order to provide the information, we will inform you as soon as possible; however such charges are usually waived if they amount to less than £10.

Yours sincerely
Information Services Team

Freedom of Information survey - Not linked to Stockport Council:

The Constitution Unit, a research body at University College London, is carrying out a study of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and its effect on local government. An important part of the evaluation process is gathering the experiences and opinions of FOI requesters like you. Any information you provide will be handled in accordance with the privacy policy explained in the survey.

If you would like to take part in this study, please click the link below to be taken directly to the survey. Contact Ben Worthy at [email address] or on 020 7679 4974 to find out more about the study or to speak further about your experiences.

Link to the survey: http://tinyurl.com/yffzxor

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Dear Ms Lechner,

I am writing in response to your request for information below (Ref 2658).

The answers to your questions are as follows:

a. Both sites are designated as Green Belt. The same protection is
afforded to both sites under UDP Review policy GBA1 and its associated
part 2 policies and national Planning Policy Guidance note 2 (PPG2). The
only difference between the two sites is that at the site of the new car
park, very special circumstances have been demonstrated to exist which the
Council considers outweigh the harm caused by reason of inappropriateness,
and any other harm, that would result from the proposed development. PPG2
clearly states (in paragraph 3.1) that such cases should be treated as a
departure from the development plan and referred to the Secretary of
State.

b. The Park Lane car park is safe from development unless:

1) the proposed development is considered to be appropriate in the Green
Belt (as set out in UDP Review policy GBA1.2 and PPG2 paragraph 3.4); or

2) the applicant demonstrates that the development is essential because
of the existence of very special circumstances which clearly outweigh "the
harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm" (as required by
PPG2 paragraph 3.2).

c. Development within the Green Belt can only take place in the
circumstances outlined under b) above. The granting of planning permission
for development that is not normally allowed within Green Belt has no
immediate bearing on the land's designation as Green Belt.

The designation of Green Belt should be on the basis that it meets one or
more of five purposes specified in PPG2 paragraph 1.5. Paragraph 2.1 sets
out that Green Belts should be considered to be permanent. Paragraph 2.6
sets out that once the general extent of a Green Belt has been approved it
should be altered only in exceptional circumstances and also that detailed
Green Belt boundaries should only be altered exceptionally. Such
alterations to the Green Belt boundary would require the demonstration of
a case similar to that required to justify inappropriate development
within the Green Belt - effectively a demonstration that there is an
essential objective which cannot be achieved in any alternative way that
would be less harmful to the Green Belt and the achievement of which is of
such importance as to outweigh any harm that would be caused to the Green
Belt.

The (de)designation process would be through the Local Development
Framework (LDF) Allocations DPD (Development Plan Document) for which the
Council (as Local Planning Authority) is responsible; this is against the
background of national policy set out in PPG2 and the North West Regional
Spatial Strategy (RSS) which does not currently allow for any strategic
review of Greater Manchester's Green Belt boundaries (a strategic review
would be one where it is considered necessary to be able to meet the
conurbation's broad development needs i.e. to meet general new housing
requirements or employment needs). Upon their adoption the various
documents which make up the LDF will incrementally replace the current UDP
Review as the borough's formal development plan.

The Council is currently preparing the Stockport LDF Core Strategy DPD
which will set out the broad strategy for the borough from 2011 to 2026;
this strategy is clear that there will be no need to release Green Belt
land to meet the borough's strategic development needs during that period
but does recognise that there may be a need for some small scale release
of land from the Green Belt to meet the specific `exceptional' needs of
local communities where they outweigh the harm that would be caused to the
Green Belt. Preparation of the Allocations DPD (which will apply the broad
strategy of the Core Strategy DPD to specific sites) will begin once the
Core Strategy has been submitted to the Government in advance of a public
inquiry into whether or not it is deliverable, based on sound evidence and
in compliance with national/regional policy; that submission is timetabled
for August of this year. Full details of the timetable for the
Allocations DPD's preparation are available in the Local Development
Scheme (LDS) which is the programme for delivery of all documents that
form the LDF. The LDS is available at [1]www.stockport.gov.uk/lds. All
documents relating to the LDF (including the emerging Core Strategy DPD)
are available via [2]www.stockport.gov.uk/ldf.

d. Land ownership is irrelevant within the planning application
process so if a commercial developer wished to develop a car park inside
Woodbank Memorial Park or for that matter, anywhere else in the Green
Belt, they would be given the same consideration as any application made
by the Council for such a development; as such, permission would only be
granted in the circumstances set out under b) above.

The most relevant planning policies are the Stockport UDP Review
(available at
[3]http://www.stockport.gov.uk/services/env...),
particularly policy GBA1.2 (page 66 of the Part 2 document) and national
Planning Policy Guidance note 2 (PPG2) Green Belts (available at
[4]http://www.communities.gov.uk/publicatio...)

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you are
entitled to ask for an internal review. Any internal review will be
carried out by a senior member of staff who was not involved with your
original request. To ask for an internal review, contact
[5][email address] in the first instance.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of any internal review, you are
entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner. To do so, contact:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

[6]www.ico.gov.uk

01625 545 745

Yours sincerely,

Claire Naven

Claire Naven

Data Protection & Freedom of Information Officer

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

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