Save Greater Manchester Green Belt Ltd v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Hearing dates: 8 & 9 October 2025

Approved Judgment

This judgment was handed down remotely at 10.30 am on 24 October 2025 by circulation to the parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives.

Introduction

The Claimant applies for statutory review, under section 113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (“PCPA 2004”), of the adoption, on 21 March 2024, by the 3 ^rd to 11 ^th Defendants (“the Councils”) of a joint development plan document (“DPD”) called ‘Places for Everyone 2022 – 2039' (“the Plan”), under section 23(1) PCPA 2004.

The Second Defendant (“the GMCA”) is made up of the ten Greater Manchester Councils and the Mayor of Greater Manchester. The GMCA submitted the Plan to the First Defendant (“the Secretary of State”) for examination on behalf of nine of the ten Councils. 1 The Secretary of State appointed three Inspectors to examine the Plan, who recommended that the Plan be adopted, subject to main modifications (“MMs”), in their report (“IR”) dated 14 February 2024.

The Claimant is the incorporated manifestation of a previously unincorporated umbrella group of concerned citizens from over 40 greenspace groups across Greater Manchester who oppose the development of housing on Green Belt land, as proposed under the Plan. The Claimant, along with about 15 groups, submitted representations to the Councils and the GMCA and were active participants during the examination of the Plan.

IP1 and IP2 are land owners and promoters of two sites allocated by the Plan 2. They participated in the Examination and made representations. Those two sites involve the release of Green Belt land, but the allocations are not the subject of challenge in this claim. IP1 and IP2 do not have any specific land interest within any of the proposed Green Belt additions which are the subject of Ground 5 of the claim. However they oppose the claim on the basis that the quashing of the Plan would undermine the allocation of their landholdings and land interests, and cause planning uncertainty and expense.

IP3 also opposes the claim. It is the landowner of six sites 3 which were proposed for addition to the Green Belt but the proposed designations were removed by way of MMs, on the recommendation of the Inspectors. A seventh site was added to the Green Belt by the Plan (which IP3 did not resist) 4.

IP4 and IP5, referred to as “Royal London”, oppose the claim, for the reasons relied upon by the Defendants. They are the largest land owner within the Temperley Wedge allocation (JPA3.2). They did not participate in the hearing before me.

The claim

Under the Plan, some 2,430 hectares of land is to be released from the Green Belt across Greater Manchester. GMCA's original proposal was to add 675 hectares of land to the Green Belt, to offset harm and justify the releases. 49 additional Green Belt sites were proposed in the version of the Plan submitted to the Inspectors by GMCA and the Councils. However, at hearing sessions in March 2023, the GMCA announced it had revised its approach and assessed that 32 of the 49 additions were not justified and so it only supported 17 additions. On examination, the Inspectors decided that two further additions – GBA02 (Horwich Golf Course/Knowles Farm Bolton) and GBA29 (Cowbury Green, Long Row, Carbrook, Stalybridge) – should be added, amounting to 19 additions in total. They rejected 30 of the additions originally proposed (but no longer supported) by GMCA.

The claim, which was issued on 30 April 2024, set out 5 grounds of challenge:

i) Ground 1: failure to consult on main modifications proposed following the cancellation of the West Midlands to Manchester leg of the HS2 railway.

ii) Ground 2: error of law in the interpretation of policy justifying Green Belt release in Timperley Wedge (JPA3.2).

iii) Ground 3: legal errors in the assessment of whether exceptional circumstances exist to justify release of Green Belt land to meet housing land requirements.

iv) Ground 4: error of law in approach to the withdrawal of Stockport MBC from the Plan.

v) Ground 5: unlawful restriction on the scope of exceptional circumstances.

By an order dated 8 August 2024, Eyre J. granted the Claimant permission, on the papers, to apply for statutory review on Ground 5. He considered that it was arguable that the Inspectors approached the question of Green Belt additions on the footing that there could only be exceptional circumstances if there had been a fundamental change of circumstances since the previous determination of the extent of the Green Belt. To regard such a fundamental change as the only circumstance which could be an exceptional circumstance was an error of law.

Eyre J. refused permission to apply for statutory review on Grounds 1 to 4. The Claimant renewed its application on those grounds at an oral hearing before Fordham J. on 12 December 2024. Fordham J. refused permission on Grounds 1 to 4 in a reserved judgment handed down on 17 December 2024, and the order was sealed on 17 February 2025.

Thus the claim proceeds solely on Ground 5, namely, that the Inspectors erred in law by narrowing the scope of “exceptional circumstances” said to be legally capable of justifying additions to the Green Belt, in response to submissions from the GMCA.

The list of issues submitted by the parties read as follows:

i) whether the Inspectors erred in law in their approach to what was capable of constituting exceptional circumstances to justify adding sites to the Green Belt; and

ii) if the Inspectors erred in law as above, whether this error was potentially material to the decision they reached; and if it was,

iii) what remedy is appropriate in the circumstances?

Planning history

In January 2014, the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (“AGMA”) agreed to bring forward a spatial framework for the Greater Manchester region, which evolved into a proposal to produce a Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (“GMSF”) joint DPD.

On 29 August 2014 the GMCA and AGMA agreed to consult on the initial evidence to inform the GMSF, which ran from 26 September to 7 November 2014.

On 28 November 2014 it was agreed each Council would approve the making of the GMSF and that the AGMA Executive Board would be appointed to prepare it.

A second consultation ran between 9 November 2015 and 11 January 2016 on strategic options for the GMSF.

The first draft GMSF joint DPD (“GMSF 2016”) was published for consultation on 31 October 2016 ending 16 January 2017 under regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (“the 2012 Regulations”).

A revised draft GMSF was consulted on between January and March 2019 (“GMSF 2019”), also under regulation 18 of the 2012 Regulations.

In September 2020, in the light of those consultations, the AGMA Executive Board agreed that the GMSF would be progressed as a joint DPD of the 10 authorities (“GMSF 2020”) and that this version would be the Publication Plan under regulation 19 of the 2012 Regulations, with consultation to take place between 1 December 2020 and 26 January 2021. On 30 October 2020, the AGMA Executive Board recommended to the ten local authorities that they move to this process.

However, on 3 December 2020, Stockport MBC decided not to publish GMSF 2020 for consultation or submit it for examination, essentially on the basis of the impact of GMSF 2020 on the Green Belt.

On 11 December 2020, the AGMA Executive Board asked officers to report back on the implications and process of producing a joint DPD of the nine remaining districts. On 12 February 2021, it proposed continuing with this approach in a joint plan now known as “Places for Everyone 2022 – 2039” (“the Plan”). Each of the nine districts then resolved to establish the Places for Everyone Joint Committee to continue to prepare the joint Plan.

On 20 July 2021, the AGMA Executive Board concluded that the Plan had “substantially the same effect” on the nine remaining boroughs as the GMSF 2020 and recommended that it proceed under regulation 19 of the 2012 Regulations. The Plan was finally published for consultation under regulation 19 between 9 August 2021 and 3 October 2021.

Work was undertaken to prepare the documents for submission to the Secretary of State. On 14 February 2022, the Plan was formally submitted for examination. Examination hearings were...