Andy Burnham's huge 15-year housing plan WILL go to High Court, judge rules

Andy Burnham’s 15-year housing blueprint for Greater Manchester WILL go to the High Court after a crucial ruling.

The Places for Everyone (PfE) plan was approved by nine Greater Manchester boroughs earlier this year, which appeared to be the culmination of a decade-long saga beginning in 2014, when the plan was first proposed. Overseen by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) — which the mayor heads — it was initially set to include every Greater Manchester council, but Stockport voted to withdraw in late 2020.

The blueprint paves the way for tens of thousands of new homes to be built using a ‘brownfield land first’ approach, but some will go on the green belt. But campaigners called ‘Save Greater Manchester Green Belt Ltd’ launched a judicial review to try and stop it.

Now, a judge has ruled its case can proceed to the High Court. The campaigners appealed for a review on five ‘grounds’ earlier this year, but a hearing last week (December 12) effectively decided only one ‘ground’ is acceptable.

“We did everything possible to challenge the inclusion of green belt allocations in this plan,” a spokesperson for the group said. “It was unnecessary, inappropriate and is a complete betrayal of future generations, given the impact on land that should be supporting climate mitigation, nature’s recovery and future food security.”

While four grounds for a review were thrown out by Mr Justice Fordham’s decision, the decision to allow one on ‘green belt additions’ means the GMCA, nine councils, and government’s planning inspectorate, who approved the scheme with modifications, now face a High Court battle. The most extreme option open to the court is quashing PfE.

However, those authorities will ‘defend’ their position, a