Albert School 92-94 Church Lane - Pre-Planning Application Consultation

The Society has received a pre-planning application proposal for consultation from Emery Planning for land at 92-94 Church Lane for the demolition of the existing building and the construction of 24 residential units. This is the site of the old Albert School building.

The Emery consultation document can be seen HERE and the society's preliminary response can be seen HERE

Neighbourhood Plan Boundary approved by Stockport Council Executive

Marple Neighbourhood Plan Boundary was approved by the Stockport Council Executive on Tuesday 14th June following a recommendation for approval by Marple Area Committee on Wednesday 8th June 2016.

This completes a key stage of the Neighbourhood Plan process. The Neighbourhood Forum has been set up and the management committee has held its first meeting.

The next stage will be for the management committee to register the Forum membership with Stockport MBC and submit a constitution.

The Civic Society has registered as an affiliate local partner to the Neighbourhood Forum.

Report on Marple Area Committee meeting 8th June 2016

A report on the Marple Area Committee Meeting that took place on 8th June 2016 can be viewed HERE


Future Marple Area Committee Meeting dates:

13th July 2016 (Provisional date for Open Forum Meeting on the subject of "Schools and School Organisation in Marple")

10th August 2016

28th September 2016

9th November 2016

14th December 2016

1st February 2017

8th March 2017

12th April 2017

All meetings at 6-00pm in Marple Senior Citizens Hall (5-30pm for informal discussions with councillors)

All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG's) Meet to Discuss Planning System

Alan and Gillian Postill represented Marple Civic Society at a joint session between the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Civic Societies and the APPG for Local Democracy in a debate                            on the National Planning Policy framework.

The session was co-chaired by Craig Mackinley MP (chair APPG for Civic Societies), and Scott Mann MP (Vice-chair APPG on Local Democracy); the speakers on the panel were: Clive Betts MP (chair Local Government Select Committee), Baroness Parminter (Lib-Dem. Lords Principal spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural affairs), Lord Porter (chairman of the Local Government Association).

The session explored the efficiency of the Planning System and how communities can be given a greater voice in the existing planning policy.

Key points of the debate were:

Panel chair Craig Mackinley MP with
panel members Clive Betts MP, and Baroness Parminter 

• Neighbourhood Planning is being pushed up the political agenda.  However, in spite of powerful lobbying by Civic Voice and others, with cross party support, a right of appeal against planning decisions contrary to Neighbourhood Plans was not included in the recent Housing and Planning Bill.   Baroness Parminter said that Government has agreed to review the update process and her campaign for a right of appeal would continue.

• Lord Porter said that he strongly approved of the NPPF and suggested that it should put local communities at the heart of local government.  He pointed out that the UK needs 250,000 new homes each year just to keep up with growth - a target that no government has achieved without direct intervention.
• Clive Betts commented that Planning is frequently seen as an obstacle to growth, this is not true.  As an example he cited that there are 470,000 planning consents in place in England and Wales.  It was suggested that frequently it is not in the developers interest to build more houses since it could force down prices.
• Clive Betts commented that Planning should not be seen as an obstacle but as a way for communities to shape their area.
• John Walker (Civic Voice Trustee) suggested that "Collaborative Planning" as proposed in the Civic Voice manifesto would speed up the planning process.

A short video (4 minutes) of edited highlights from the debate can be seen HERE

Speaker Meeting - Greater Machester Spatial Framework 24th May 2016

Richard Wood - Planning Policy Manager SMBC

At the speaker meeting on 24th May 2016 Richard Wood, Planning Policy Manager for Stockport MBC, spoke about the Greater Manchester Spacial Framework and what it could mean for Marple.  

Richard is involved in developing the Greater Manchester Spacial Framework (GMSF) policy and currently spends half of his working week in this area of planning. 

The GMSF brings together the 10 authorities of Greater Manchester to identify future housing and land requirements.  A statutory joint Development Plan will be produced to manage the supply of land in Greater Manchester over the next 20 years.                                                                  Richard explained that the plan is still in its early stages. The situation will become clearer once the housing allocations to the 10 authorities has been agreed. However, he identified several problem areas for future development in Marple including transport, topography, heritage and ecology.

Richard's complete presentation can be seen HERE 

More photos can be seen  HERE    -   All photos by Arthur Procter

Marple Area Committee Meeting - Open Forum Meeting

The Marple Area Committee Open Forum Meeting to discuss "Schools and School organisation in Marple" has been re-arranged and will now take place (provisionally) on 13th July 2016.  
The June Marple Area Committee Meeting will take place as scheduled at 6-00pm on 8th June 2016.

Future Marple area Committee dates:

13th July 2016 (Provisional date for Open Forum Meeting on Schools and School Organisation)

10th August 2016

28th September 2016

9th November 2016

14th December 2016

1st February 2017

8th March 2017

12th April 2017

All meetings at 6-00pm in Marple Senior Citizens Hall (5-30pm for informal discussions with councillors)