Unitary Development Plan

Shaping Tomorrow's Tameside

Adopted - September 1996

Foreword

The Unitary Development Plan is a comprehensive land use and transportation plan to take Tameside into the next century. It is the first such plan to be prepared by the Council and replaces a patchwork of plans approved some years ago under the old system, including the Greater Manchester Structure Plan and various Local Plans and Town Maps. It provides the planning framework to guide new development throughout the Borough, and is used as a basis for dealing with planning applications and protecting and enhancing the environment.

This is the third and definitive version of the U.D.P. to be published by the Council. The first was the Consultation Draft Plan, which was released at the end of November 1991 in order to seek comments from the public on the policies and proposals which should be included. The consultation stage ran for several months and a large number and wide range of responses were received. All these comments were carefully considered in preparing the second (Deposit Draft) version of the Plan.

With the publication of the Deposit Draft U.D.P. in April 1993, the procedures reached the more formal stages which must be followed before the Plan could be adopted. The Council endeavoured to meet many of the objections which were received by publishing a series of Proposed Changes to the Deposit Draft in September and November 1993 and a number of the objections were withdrawn as a result. Nevertheless a major public inquiry was held between January and April 1994, at which key policies and proposals in the Plan were closely examined.

The Inspector's Report was received in January 1995 and in the great majority of cases the Council fully accepted his recommendations, which were carried through into the Proposed Modifications published in November 1995. After considering the objections which were made to these, the Council published Further Proposed Modifications in May 1996. The Plan was finally adopted on 26th September 1996. This document is a reprint of the Deposit Draft with all the modifications incorporated into the text and maps.

Although it has taken seven years from the original Commencement Order to the publication of the adopted plan, I am confident that the policies and proposals as they appear in the adopted U.D.P. represent a well thought out balance between the various objectives for developing the economic base and level of facilities in the Borough and conserving its environmental qualities.

I would like to express my thanks to the officers who have put so much effort into this lengthy process, to the Councillors who have considered numerous and often complex reports over these years, and to the organisations, interest groups and members of the local community who have involved themselves in the U.D.P. at whatever stage. I also look forward to reviewing the Plan so that it can keep abreast of national guidance and local circumstances as they continue to evolve.

Councillor David R. Evans - Chair of Strategic
Planning and Transportation Committee