Affordable housing and green belt pledges 'watered down' in controversial plan

A controversial masterplan for the future of Greater Manchester has been 'watered down', according to campaigners who are fighting against it, with commitments about affordable housing and the green belt affected. The Places for Everyone plan, which maps out where almost 165,000 new homes would be built in the city-region, has been modified over the last few months.

It comes as the joint plan for Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan is scrutinised by planning inspectors. The public examination of the document follows a long-run saga which saw Stockport pull out of the plan's ill-fated predecessor – the spatial framework.

Since the public examination started in November, several changes have been made following feedback from the inspectors. This includes policies about the number of affordable homes needed, prioritising building on brownfield land over developing other sites and commitments to becoming net zero carbon.

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The nine local authorities that are still part of the plan have also concluded that only 17 of the 49 sites which were set to be added to the green belt meet the legal requirements to be protected from development in this way. The inspectors will still consider all of the sites before any modifications are made.

Local leaders say they are still committed to delivering 30,000 net zero social rented homes and reject claims that the plan's carbon neutral policy has been weakened. But opponents of the plan doubt these aims will be delivered now.

In a statement on behalf of Save Greater Manchester's Green Belt Group and Steady State Manchester, they said: "What these changes ultimately mean is