New leaders in Stockport town hall grilled each other over the borough’s housing problems.
Social housing was at the centre of a lively council debate.
Councillors in Stockport have clashed over how to solve the borough’s urgent need for more housing.
The town hall is under no overall control but is led by a Lib Dem minority administration, which recently elected Coun Mark Roberts as the new council leader.
Stockport’s Labour opposition group also has a new leader in Coun Christine Carrigan. The two squared off over housing at a town hall meeting on July 10.
Coun Carrigan asked the council leader if his administration would do everything to build more social homes.
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“We Liberal Democrats have always been in favour of housing, it’s building in the right place, where we differ is about concreting over the green belt, that’s where we push back,” Coun Roberts said.
“Delivering the right homes in the right places in a sustainable way, that’s absolutely what we’re about here in Stockport.”
New apartments were built next to Stockport Interchange.
He added that ‘government need to stick their hand in their pocket’ to support the building of more social homes.
Stockport council has a brownfield-first approach to housing, and has shared plans to build around 8,000 homes as part of a regeneration boom in the town centre.
But some fear this will lead to a spike in apartments and a lack of family homes.
Coun Carrigan said: “We have one hell of a big wide borough, [social housing] has to go everywhere.”
She later added: “Realistically if we follow what you’re suggesting, we cannot build those family homes in the town centre, you’re right, it’s already too dense, what you’re going to keep putting there is flats, which doesn’t do what we need.”
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The Labour group leader also said she has two children and fears they may not be able to live in Stockport in the future.
The council leader hit back, saying the town hall has looked across the borough for areas to build new homes, including in district centres around Stockport.
Housing has become a major issue in Stockport, where some face a 12-year wait for social housing and there are thousands of people on the housing register.
The council is preparing its local plan for housing, which will guide its decisions on new developments up until 2041.