The High Court is set to hear a statutory review challenge against a development plan proposed by nine Greater Manchester authorities in what could have serious implications for Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes.

At the tail end of last year, in an attempt to kick-start the national building process, Labour gave councils just 12 weeks to provide a building roadmap or have a plan forced upon them.

The scale of the required development means local authorities have to consider building on green and ‘grey’ belt land.

In response, the nine local boroughs, including Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan produced their ‘Places for Everyone’ plan for how they will develop housing, offices and infrastructure up to 2039.

Open floodgates

The plan controversially includes building on green existing belt land and creating a new green belt boundary around Greater Manchester.

Campaign group, ‘Save Greater Manchester’s Green Belt’, claims that the changes were introduced in an examination hearing with no previous notification and has now been granted permission for a hearing specifically on the grounds of the plan’s green belt provisions.

If the group wins its case, it could open the floodgates to legal challenges across the UK and severely restrict the Government’s ability to deliver on its election pledge.

Maximising the use of brownfield land while protecting and enhancing green spaces, and is the best line of defence against costly unplanned development.”

A spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said: “The GMCA and the nine Places for Everyone authorities will continue to defend this statutory review. We await a date from the court for the forthcoming hearing.

“Places for Everyone is our plan to deliver 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.

“Unless the High Court decides otherwise, all policies within Places for Everyone, including those relating to Green Belt additions, remain valid and will continue to be used to determine planning applications in the nine districts.”