Stockport council has shared its plan to build thousands of new homes and 'protect' the borough's green belt.

The town hall's draft local plan for housing aims to build 15,761 homes by 2041, with 8,000 planned in the town centre.

It would see 90 percent of these homes built on brownfield land which has previously been developed.

The draft local plan would meet 85pc of the borough's housing requirements.

Alternative approaches have been put forward which would increase the total number of homes and meet the borough's housing requirements.

One option could see an extra 3,000 homes developed at the expense of releasing more land, including plots at the former Woodford Aerodrome, Heald Green East, Sandown Road and Jackson's Lane in Hazel Grove, High Lane, Hyde Bank Meadows in Romiley, Gravel Bank Road in Woodley, the former Offerton High School, and Offerton Sand and Gravel.

Stockport has a housing shortage, with thousands of people on the council's housing register waiting for a new home, and rising levels of homelessness.

The local plan is due to be scrutinised by councillors at an extraordinary town hall meeting on July 18 (Image - Alasdair Perry)

The Lib Dem-run council has previously come under fire over the situation, with Stockport's Labour MP Navendu Mishra criticising the council for not addressing the shortage.

Stockport Labour Party have made calls on the council to produce a local plan mapping the borough's future housing aims, and incorporate elements of the 'greybelt' – land which has already been developed or is wasteland but falls within the green belt.

The council's local plan has been delayed several times in recent years out of concerns about the government changing national planning rules, which the Lib Dems say has saved thousands of pounds and avoided wasting time on creating an out of date plan.

The plan aims to deliver 'transformational regeneration' of Stockport town centre with 'careful expansion' across the borough.

It also plans to 'address the significant affordable housing need' by designating half of the proposed new homes as 'affordable.'

Cllr Mark Roberts, deputy leader of Stockport council, said the local plan will "ensure the right development is in the right places, protecting the green belt and valued local spaces by continuing with our brownfield-first approach."

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