MARY ROBINSON MP

OA23 Heald Green (28.8.23)

 

The area lies primarily to the east of the railway line at Heald Green and to the west of Outwood Road. It is bounded by the railway line to the west (apart from an area of c.0.25ha immediately the opposite side of the railway adjacent to Heald Green Station), by residential properties and open space to the eastern boundary and by a nursery and fields to the south.

 

The site has the potential to deliver up to 2,000 new dwellings on a site close to Heald Green Large Local Centre and Heald Green station and within easy walking and cycling distance of Manchester Airport.

 

The development of the new site will need to:

1. Include a mix of housing types and tenures, including a range of affordable housing types 2. Deliver a suitable proportion of affordable housing across the site, phased to ensure that both market and affordable housing can be delivered at similar times within the development of the site.

3. Offer different densities across the site, with higher densities towards the north of the site reflecting the immediate proximity of the railway station and local centre.

4. Provide appropriate walking and cycling routes to link to existing routes in the area and to provide optimum accessibility to services and employment in the local area, in particular to Manchester Airport.

5. Provide or contribute to significantly improved public transport and highway infrastructure.

6. Be designed in order to minimise any adverse impacts on the Green Belt beyond the site, including through the use of landscaping.

7. Incorporate measures to ensure that the rate of runoff of surface water from the land is not increased and, ideally, is decreased.

8. Provide suitable green and blue infrastructure within the site, including: a. Having regard to existing trees and hedgerows within the site and along its boundaries; b. Provision of a suitable corridor of natural habitat along and adjacent to the railway, linking the existing wildlife corridor which continues along the railway to the north with open land to the south / south-west

9. Suitably replace any lost sports facilities and incorporate improved replacement facilities at land at the existing site so as to ensure that the formal recreational needs of both new and existing residents are met.

10. Make suitable provision to protect new housing from adverse aircraft noise.

11. Provide financial contributions to the necessary provision of education and health facilities and other infrastructure etc. as dictated by other policies in the development plan.

 

Reasoned justification

The development of this land in an area that will be attractive to housing market and which is close to transport links and services will help to deliver a range of housing.

 

The close proximity of the site to the railway station and Heald Green centre should result in higher densities, whereas lower densities can be delivered to the south of the site thus reducing the impact of the development on the wider, retained Green Belt. The development of up to 2,000 dwellings on greenfield, former Green Belt land will mean that the delivery of a range of affordable housing can be provided, helping to meet the identified need which exists in Stockport and across the wider conurbation.

 

There are existing public rights of way across the site and these can be included in schemes to deliver cycle and pedestrian links which will encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport to access the services, employment and transport links which already exist in the area.

 

The provision of significantly improved public transport and highway infrastructure are prerequisites for the site’s delivery and will be required in order to enable the use of more sustainable modes of transport whilst mitigating the impact of additional vehicular traffic. The transport infrastructure to be provided or contributed to will be informed through the refresh of the South East Manchester Multi-Modal Study currently being undertaken.

 

Good design will be critical to the success of any new development in this area and that will include the incorporation of green and blue infrastructure. The proximity of the site to the airport will require any housing to be suitably designed and constructed to minimise the impact of aircraft noise on the living

conditions of residents.

 

New development of this scale will increase the pressure on existing education and health provision in the locality and in order to address the impact of the development in that regard provision will need to be made to increase capacity.