Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson is proposing a motion to the 10 July meeting of Oldham Council demanding the Government honour its previous commitment to provide £50-million in funding to Greater Manchester to fund the development of new housing on brownfield sites.  The Conservatives recently made the unilateral decision to renege on the deal.  Councillor Garth Harkness is seconding the motion, and their proposal is backed by the whole Liberal Democrat Group. 

Councillor Williamson represents Crompton ward.  Both the Crompton and Shaw wards, represented by six Liberal Democrat Councillors, and the two neighbouring Royton wards, are threatened with the prospect of thousands of new homes on the surrounding green belt under the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) proposals.

Councillors Williamson and Harkness, and their colleagues, want to see any new housing built on brownfield sites, former industrial land, rather than by destroying any irreplaceable greenbelt – and they want to see the Conservative Government cough up the promised money to do so.

Commenting on her motion, Councillor Williamson said:  “The Conservative Government stated in its white paper, ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’, that Councils should ‘maximise‘ the number of homes built on brownfield sites, and they promised Greater Manchester £50-million to remediate, or clean up, such sites for development.  In Oldham, most of our brownfield sites suffer from significant land or building contamination, which is the result of their previous industrial use. This contamination costs a small fortune to clean up and, without outside funding, housing development is often unaffordable.”

According to Department of Trade figures, the UK has approximately 1,000,000 acres of contaminated land, much of it in Northern towns, like Oldham.  The estimated average cost of cleaning up contaminated land is £250,000 per acre – meaning a staggering £250-billion would be required to clear them all up for development. 

Councillor Williamson added:  “The fact is that on remediation this Government is all talk.  £50-million is nowhere near adequate to address the challenge that we face in Greater Manchester in making these sites fit for use.  In reality we probably need ten times as much or more, but the money would be a start and every brownfield acre that we can redevelop for housing means an acre of irreplaceable green belt that we can save.  It is our hope that Councillors from across all parties will back our ambition next Wednesday to lobby this government to get our promised money back; after all it is the stated position of this Council to build on brownfield first!” 

The motion to full Council on 10 July reads as follows:

Motion – Restoring Government Funding for Brownfield Housing Development

Council notes that:

• The Conservative Government in its white paper ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’ stated that more homes should be built ‘by maximising the contribution from brownfield sites’.
• Brownfield sites suffer from significant contamination, whether below-ground or in a building’s construction, which is the result of previous industrial use as cotton mills; chemical and coal gas plants; coal mines; and dye works.
• Decontaminating such sites is very expensive at an average cost of £250,000 per acre and this cost often renders housing developments unaffordable.
• According to Department of Trade figures, approximately 1 million acres of brownfield sites are contaminated.
• Much of this land is in Northern towns, like Oldham, a legacy of their industrial past.

• In the Outline Housing Package agreed between the ten Greater Manchester authorities and the Conservative Government in 2017, a ‘land fund’ worth up to £50 million was pledged by central government to support the development of housing on brownfield sites by paying for the cost of remediation.
• The Conservative Government has recently reneged on this pledge.

Council condemns the decision by the Conservative Government to withdraw its offer of the Outline Housing Package, which will make the delivery of new homes on brownfield sites unaffordable and force more development onto the Green Belt, a direct contradiction of the Government’s own stated policy.

Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to:

• Write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Housing urging the minister to restore the Outline Housing Package to fund the remediation of brownfield sites in Greater Manchester
• Copy in our local MPs, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, the leaders of the other Greater Manchester local authorities and the Chair of the Local Government Association asking them for their support for Oldham’s position.