CPRE Cheshire publishes report on potential Green Belt losses in Stockport

We have published a report assessing the planning implications of the proposed Green Belt land releases in Stockport Council’s emerging Local Plan.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan. Setting out the Council’s approach to meeting future development requirements, the Plan proposes the release of a number of sites from the Green Belt to help meet identified housing and development needs.

This report – compiled by one of our planning volunteers – assesses the planning implications of these proposed Green Belt releases, with particular focus on their potential impacts on the function, character and openness of the Stockport Green Belt.

The assessment considers a range of factors relevant to planning regulations, including:

• Existing site characteristics
• Previous land use
• Landscape and ecological constraints
• Agricultural land quality
• Community value
• The extent to which each site aligns with central Government’s approach to grey belt development

Decisions about releasing Green Belt land inevitably involve trade-offs between meeting housing need and retaining land for food, to stop towns merging, to use as public open space, and to allow nature to thrive.

While some of the proposed sites are previously developed land on which development would seem reasonable, others are valuable green fields (including farmland) – or a mixture of both.

it is vital that any decisions made about the release of Green Belt sites fully consider the implications of the loss of open space. Full use must be made of the potential of brownfield sites which put houses close to amenities and deliver urban regeneration, before allowing further development on the borough’s open spaces.

The sites assessed within this report are taken from Appendix A, Details of proposed housing allocations on sites outside of the existing built-up area within Stockport Local Plan: Addressing our development needs (October 2025).

More information

Assessment of Proposed Green Belt releases in the emerging Stockport Local Plan – CPRE Cheshire

Addressing our development needs, October 2025 – Stockport Council