Pennycook intervenes at Stockport Council over missed local plan targets

After indicating it would meet a May consultation deadline, Stockport Council received over £297,000 of funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

However, the council missed this deadline, leading to Mr Pennycook issuing the intervention letter.

He directed the council to update its Local Development Scheme (LDS) by 10 October to include new deadlines for plan submissions.

The letter stated: “In order to deliver the homes and growth the country needs, we expect all local planning authorities to make every effort to get up-to-date local plans in place as soon as possible.

“I will be asking my officials to liaise with you on this matter on a regular basis and to provide me with updates on your progress.

“Should you fail to comply with the direction in this letter, or should you delay progress of your emerging draft plan in relation to the amended LDS milestones, I will consider whether I need to take any further action.”

A spokesperson from Stockport Council told Inside Housing that the general election interfered with delivery.

The spokesperson said: “It is not the case that Stockport has failed to make progress on its local plan. We remain fully committed to progressing a new plan for the borough.

“A draft was ready for consultation in spring 2024, but national events outside our control meant this could not proceed. Work is now well underway to deliver the revised timetable we set out in July 2025 at the meeting of our Development Plan Working Party.”

In 2020, Stockport Council withdrew from the Greater Manchester spatial framework, which allocates land for employment and housing development across the local authority areas. This meant that the council was responsible for preparing its own local plan.

The remaining nine Greater Manchester districts formed a separate joint local plan instead.