Greater Manchester Places for Everyone – October 2023

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are now consulting on the main modifications for the Places for Everyone plan.

The Places for Everyone plan has now been through several consultation phases.  This final phase will specifically focus on the Main Modifications to the plan, following on from a period of independent public examination. 

The consultation will also look at the Additional Modifications, which whilst outside of the formal examination, will be useful in finalising the final plan.

What is the Places for Everyone plan and why do GMCA need it?

GMCA has put together Places for Everyone on behalf of nine Greater Manchester councils (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside, Trafford, Salford and Wigan).

It will determine the scale and kind of development that takes place across the nine Districts maximising the use of brownfield land and urban spaces while protecting Green Belt land from the risk of unplanned development.

It will also ensure all new developments are sustainably integrated into Greater Manchester’s transport network or supported by new infrastructure.

What do the modifications  mean for Bolton?

The plan modifications focus on 3 main areas and highlight that the required housing requirement in Bolton as being 787 dwellings per year (13,379) over the period 2022-2039. 

1) New employment land at Bewshill Farm, Chequerbent North, and West of Wingates

• The inspectors require no significant changes to these three sites that support Bolton’s future economic aspirations on the M61 corridor.  No modifications to the boundaries or quantum of employment development on the three proposed employment allocations at Bewshill Farm, Chequerbent North and West of Wingates are needed. 
• There have been modifications to the Chequerbent North site, to ensure the protection of the Chequerbent Embankment.  This site was declared as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 2022.
• There are some changes proposed to the criteria that planning applications will be assessed against for consistency, clarity and to avoid duplication.  This is across the whole of the Places for Everyone plan.  

2) Green Belt land

• Bolton will remain 50.3% Green Belt (it is 51.7% currently). 
• The inspectors have accepted that the northern part of the proposed Horwich Golf Course should be added to the Green Belt, which will offer long term protection from development. 
• Ditchers Farm, Westhoughton has been rejected by the inspectors for the addition of Green Belt land.
• The inspectors have required the inclusion of a new criterion to ensure that if/ when Green Belt sites are developed, compensatory improvements are made to the environmental quality and accessibility of the remaining Green Belt in the vicinity. 

3) New planning policies on space standards, biodiversity and energy efficiency

• The overall Places for Everyone plan includes a significant number of new or more up to date policies, which will add to Bolton Council’s ability to achieve better and more sustainable developments for the borough.  These include, for example, the introduction of space standards for new dwellings, biodiversity net gain and energy efficiency.

For further information and to take part in the consultation, please visit GMCA's consultation webpage.

For the outcome of this consultation, please view the GMCA Places for Everyone website.