Oldham wants to leave Andy Burnham’s enormous housing scheme – what does that mean?

A decision in Oldham could alter the course of a Greater Manchester plan that has been more than a decade in the making. 

The council will write to the government asking to withdraw from Andy Burnham’s Places for Everyone (PfE), a housing blueprint that is supposed to bring tens of thousands of new homes to the region.

But if Oldham council is allowed to withdraw, there could be unintended consequences for both the borough and Greater Manchester as a whole. 

So what would happen if the Secretary of State Angela Rayner agrees to Oldham’s request? 

What exactly is PfE? 

PfE is supposed to pave the way for 170,000 new homes to be built in nine of the ten Greater Manchester boroughs.

Around 11,500 of those homes are due to be built in Oldham, which like most of the UK is struggling with a severe housing crisis. 

The plans promise a ‘brownfield land first’ approach.

But they also include a number of green belt sites, which has sparked fierce opposition from campaign and political groups. 

Despite the criticism, the nine Greater Manchester boroughs agreed to PfE early last year and have been using it in planning decisions ever since. 

The agreement was supposed to bring an end to almost 11 years of negotiations and planning – but in Oldham, the debate has rumbled on. 

Why do Oldham want to leave PfE? 

For several months tensions have been rising between political groups in Oldham.

A recent council meeting had to be stopped after a debate over the issue escalated, with councillors hurling insults such as ‘Nazi sympathiser’ and ‘dictator’ at each other. 

Opposition groupe scheme because the plans include a number of key greenbelt beauty spots, such as Beal Valley, Bottom Field Farm, Broadbent Moss, south of Coal Pit Lane, and south of Rosary Road and others. 

Liberal Democrat councillors are also concerned that the scheme doesn’t include enough conditions about affordable housing – which the borough desperately needs – and local infrastructure.

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “This system is broken. We need a different system that actually takes into account what people need when we build these houses – the GPs, the dentists, the schools.” 

But the Labour leadership have long argued that by ‘sacrificing a small amount of greenbelt land’, PfE actually affords the rest of the greenbelt ‘greater protection’ from uncontrolled development. 

Their worry, according to Oldham Lib Dem leader Howard Sykes, is that the PfE scheme will result in a loss of green space and nature for the sake of ‘luxury greenbelt properties nobody can afford’.

What does the vote mean? 

Oldham hasn’t actually left the scheme yet.

The vote on Wednesday (February 12) means the council’s executives will write to Angela Rayner, who will then decide whether Oldham is allowed to exit.  

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) declined to comment on the vote.

A spokesperson noted that the Secretary of State can revoke a local development document at the request of a local planning authority and that such a request would be evaluated on its ‘individual merits’. 

How would withdrawing impact Oldham? 

Campaigners and councillors are fighting to save the greenbelt.

But according to GMCA and council officers, withdrawing from the scheme could actually put the greenbelt at more risk. 

Oldham doesn’t currently have a stand-alone Local Plan, which is what councils use to help make their planning decisions.

It’s where they’ll include conditions on how greenbelt or conservation areas can be developed. 

These plans take years to develop, so if the borough had to leave PfE immediately, they wouldn’t have many protections to fall back on. 

The borough would also suddenly become subject to the government’s higher housing targets.

Currently, PfE is protecting Greater Manchester boroughs from the dramatic increase for at least four years. 

Oldham would need to build 1,049 new homes a year – up from 680.

The higher target would put even more pressure on the council’s planning department to approve new developments. 

How would it impact Greater Manchester?  

The PfE plan balances out the region’s housing targets across different boroughs.

It also includes a number of cross-boundary projects between councils, meaning Oldham’s withdrawal wouldn’t just have an impact on the district itself, but on the plan as a whole.

Salford Mayor Paul Dennett, who leads the GMCA portfolio for Places for Everyone, warned the council in a letter in November that withdrawing from the scheme would have ‘unintended consequences’ and said it was ‘very concerning to hear that one of the PfE councils is considering requesting the Secretary of State revokes it’. 

A GMCA spokesperson added: “It remains our view that Places for Everyone is the key to delivering the new homes that our communities need, maximising the use of brownfield land while protecting and enhancing green spaces, and is the best line of defence against costly unplanned development.”

As well as upping its own housing targets, Oldham’s withdrawal would leave the remaining eight boroughs scrambling to fit in an extra 2,700 new homes each year, according to Mr Dennett.

More than 13,000 homes would need to be constructed every year. 

Could the decision impact a major cross-borough project?

The decision could also put the future of a major development into jeopardy.

The Atom Valley project across Rochdale, Oldham and Bury is supposed to become a major technology research and manufacturing hub. 

The aim of the development is to bring more than 20,000 highly-skilled jobs to the areas, all of which have struggled with employment since their local industries collapsed in the 20th century. 

But part of the project relies on the development of a plot of greenbelt land on the border of Oldham and Rochdale known as Stakehill.

Exiting PfE would ‘result in uncertainty and risks around its delivery’, according to GMCA figureheads, who believe it would be ‘difficult to put the Stakehill development forward in isolation’. 

And without that development, Rochdale’s new Slattocks Station is also unlikely to be delivered, meaning both boroughs could lose out on better transport links. 

How likely is it they’ll actually withdraw? 

Some local sources, including those opposing the plan, have indicated that they believe it’s ‘unlikely’ Rayner would agree to the request.

On behalf of GMCA members, Salford Mayor Paul Dennett said: “We are confident … that there is little prospect of the Secretary of State agreeing to such evocation.”

MHCLG declined to comment. 

Meanwhile, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has promised to ‘reach out’ and ‘compromise’ with the borough. 

“I think we need to find common ground where we can and what I will be doing is reaching out to opposition leaders with Arooj Shah to see if we can define what the brownfield land first policy looks like Oldham,” Andy Burnham said on BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday.

“I think that’s where we can come to a compromise.

"I do not think it’s in Oldham’s interest to rip everything up."

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