Councillors in Stockport have shared their frustration at plans for another development with no affordable homes.

The council's planning committee met last week on November 14 to decide a number of applications, including a plan to build 109 homes in the borough.

The scheme will create new apartments on a former vehicle depot on 32 to 52 London Road in Hazel Grove, but a viability assessment submitted with the plan stated that the applicant – Kirkland Developments Ltd – cannot make any of the homes 'affordable.'

Affordable homes are those priced below market rates, and are seen as a way of allowing more people to access the housing market.

Stockport has a shortage of affordable housing, with the council saying in summer that it is facing 'unprecedented' levels of homelessness, and has a 12-year wait for social housing.

During the planning meeting on November 14, councillors questioned why the scheme does not include any affordable housing at a time when the borough has major housing problems.

There could be a wait of up to 12 years for social housing in Stockport (Image - Nub News)

Cllr Mark Jones, chairman of Stockport's planning committee, said residential developments without affordable housing are becoming a "serious issue" for the borough.

He said "It's clear that we are not happy with some of the things we are being asked to approve," adding: "I find it surprising that in what is a fairly buoyant area [Hazel Grove] that developers are struggling to make money. But it is what we have in front of us and I'm content with the report."

Cllr Wendy Meikle also criticised the plans, and said the proposed road access to the site could cause traffic "chaos" in the area.

She said: "Bramhall Moor Lane is the road that you go down off the A6 to Stepping Hill. You turn on to Mount Pleasant, John Street is a tiny, tiny road, I think [my] car took the whole width of the road, it's probably just longer than the length of a car.

"I can imagine there's going to be absolute chaos trying to get cars in and out, you couldn't pass."

She added: "There's 109 apartments but we don't even know what we're agreeing here, whether they're going to be affordable, social, private rented, whatever, and they can not afford to give us 20 percent of affordable properties."

John Street (Google Maps)

Cllr Meikle added that the whole of the area has got residents' only parking and is "an absolute nightmare" to use already, even before construction vehicles begin working there.

She also said that selling the flats at around £180,000 each would bring the developer nearly £20 million.

Cllr Anna Charles-Jones raised concerns about plans for electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities to be based in accessible bays as part of the development.

She said the design could lead to disabled parking spots being "abused" by people wanting to charge their cars, and taking the space away from those who need accessible spaces.

"The way it's laid out, that's going to lead to immediate abuse of accessible parking spaces because you've got the vast majority of the EV chargers in accessible spaces," Ms Charles-Jones added.

A Stockport council officer said concerns around parking could be challenged by adding a condition on the application to review parking.

Stockport Town Hall (Image - Nub News)

Despite the concerns, the application was voted through apart from one abstention from Cllr Meikle.

Cllr Jones pointed out that the committee could only decide the application on planning grounds, which requires councillors to consider national and local planning policy.

Stockport council does not yet have a local plan for housing, after a draft policy was postponed earlier this year when the Labour government introduced new housing targets.

The issue of affordable homes also came up at a council meeting in October, when a plan to build a block of 52 apartments on a site to the south of Stitch Lane in Heaton Norris was proposed, with no affordable housing.

Cllr Claire Vibert said at a local area committee at the time: "It's a feeling of despair really that we're in the situation that we're in, with the housing crisis that we've seen reported in the press in our borough, and we're looking at an application here that isn't going to meet the needs of Stockport's residents."

The plans for homes on land to the south of Stitch Lane was also given the green light at the council's planning meeting on November 14.

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