Tameside’s planning committee met on 1^st November to review the plans for Godley Garden Green Village, voting to proceed with the plans after a full discussion. That meant the proposals were then referred to the Government for the ultimate decision. We have now heard that the Government have quickly concluded that they will not be calling the decision in for further investigation.

I am surprised and pleased by such a strong endorsement from the Conservative Government of this plan. It speaks not only to the pressing need for new homes over the next 15 years, but also to the benefit of doing things differently in this way, with built in infrastructure. This new village will give us upfront funding for public services, more affordable properties, with more open space and better build standards than traditional housing development. It will make a significant contribution to quality of life in the Borough and give thousands of families a decent and secure home to live in.

This has been a long process and I know that has been frustrating for everyone involved. There are lessons for local and national government on how this could be done better. In terms of the development itself the homes that will be delivered will be a major boost for Hyde and Tameside, giving hundreds of families a great place to live.

In addition, developing a village in this way means we will be able to provide the infrastructure, including sufficient education and health services, alongside the new houses. Whilst I know some people are opposed to new homes entirely, there is a bigger group of people who just want to know new homes won’t put undue strain on existing public services. This will let us meet our housing needs whilst addressing those concerns.

In many parts of the UK, we’ve already got a housing market which is completely inaccessible to young people unless their parents are able to give them the means to access it. We don’t want that here. This development meets those needs whilst providing much better build quality, services and affordable housing provision than we would get from a series of smaller developments.

More details can be found here.