LUC held a conference at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce last week on the barriers to housing in Greater Manchester. We welcomed 67 developers, architects, local authorities, charities and academics to look at new models of housing development to ensure Greater Manchester is a great place to live for all.

With a keynote speech from Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, delegates engaged in discussions surrounding housing issues in the Greater Manchester area, chaired by LUC’s Director of Strategic Development Jon Abbatt.

Richard Crisp from Sheffield Hallam University talked about tackling poverty through housing and planning policy in Greater Manchester, followed by Kate Henderson of the TCPA discussing delivering places people want to live in. Drawing on his work as a Partner at White Arkitekter AB, Geoff Denton presented his thoughts on whether Manchester can learn from the Swedish model.

LUC’s Director of Planning Sarah Young and Director of Landscape Architecture Tom Jonson delivered a presentation on planning and design issues around Green Belt, followed by Tom Bloxham MBE of regeneration company Urban Splash, who talked about the role of regional investors and developers in regeneration. Jon Sandford from the Homes & Communities Agency closed the conference with his talk on Smart City thinking and infrastructure for new housing before Jon Abbatt facilitated a Q&A session, giving delegates a chance to input.

The conference clearly called for greater collaboration between the public and private sectors on housing development, which speakers and delegates felt will be paramount to address the chronic shortage of affordable and sustainable housing in Greater Manchester.

LUC Director of Strategic Development Jon Abbatt, who chaired the conference, said: “It is clear that partnerships can be achieved between the public and private sectors to create well-designed, good quality housing. And it’s really crucial to involve local communities – our pre-event questionnaire showed that attendees feel local opposition to be one of the biggest barriers to housing development. We need to look at how we can make this happen through collaboration and innovation to create sustainable communities for the future.”

LUC carried out an assessment of the Manchester Green Belt for the first iteration of the GMSF and has recently been commissioned to carry out further landscape character and sensitivity studies to support the rewrite of the GMSF.

LUC Director of Planning Sarah Young said: “The release of Green Belt is a highly controversial issue. If required however it has be considered in the context of proper planning for sustainable development. All efforts must be made to maximise positive use and enhancement of the Green Belt – to make a real contribution to people’s wellbeing and the character of our cities and countryside.”