The new powers Andy Burnham never wanted that are causing concern
The article discusses new planning reforms in England that grant mayors, including Andy Burnham of Greater Manchester, the power to overturn local council decisions on controversial developments. While Burnham did not request these powers and is unlikely to use them, the government aims to speed up the planning process and meet housing targets. Critics, including local councillors, express concerns over reduced local democratic oversight and potential impacts on green belt land.
Andy Burnham stands to gain sweeping authority to override local councils on contentious development projects under newly unveiled government proposals, though the Greater Manchester mayor insists he never sought such powers and senior Labour figures doubt he will use them.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner confirmed on 16 December that England’s directly elected mayors will be able to “call in” planning applications, letting them overturn verdicts reached by local planning committees. The measure forms part of the English Devolution White Paper and follows wider planning reforms that also allow officers to green-light schemes that fit pre-agreed local plans without elected members’ consent. Ministers say the changes will end “chronic uncertainty” and help deliver the 1.5 million homes Labour promised, but critics warn the shift strips power from neighbourhoods and favours developers.
Burnham, speaking after Rayner’s announcement, said the region must “work through together” how any call-in regime would operate. “It’s not quite the London model,” he noted. “What this could do is speed things up—but it’s a case of speeding things up without losing democratic oversight.” Privately, senior Labour sources predict the mayor will avoid invoking the power, while opposition councillors fear central government is hijacking local decisions. Oldham planning chair Marc Hince, an independent, branded the approach “a bit Stalinist,” and Trafford Green councillor Dan Jerrome warned that schemes such as Timperley Wedge and Carrington Moss risk losing proper scrutiny.
Greater Manchester is shielded from immediate house-building targets after nine of its ten councils adopted the joint Places for Everyone plan, setting out 165,000 homes over 15 years. Stockport, which quit the framework in 2020, now faces the prospect of nearly 2,000 homes a year under fresh Whitehall quotas—double its current aim—while reassessing green-belt boundaries. Lib Dem council leader Mark Hunter accused ministers of “sacrificing local decision-making on the altar of central government targets,” but Labour vice-chair Rachel Wise argued that some green-field release is essential if family houses rather than flats are to be built.
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