Plan for 2,000-home garden village on former green belt land in Tameside approved

Revised plans for more than 2,000 homes on former green belt land in Greater Manchester have been given the go-ahead by Tameside councillors.

The Godley Green Garden Village will be developed by a joint venture company called Made Partnership which consists of Barratt Redrow, Homes England and Lloyds Banking Group. Architect IDP are leading the design and master planning for the site.

The project, granted outline approval by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council yesterday, will see existing farm buildings near Hyde demolished and homes, shops, offices and community facilities built along with a primary school, sports pitches, allotments, gardens and play areas.

The scheme has been revised to remove agricultural land south of the A560 along with several changes, including alterations to emergency access, provision of education and community facilities, and the drainage strategy.

The residential blocks will now be capped at four storeys in height and a skills hub will be included in the permitted uses to allow a temporary construction training base.

Councillors in January had rejected previous plans over concerns about uncertainty and ambiguity about onsite healthcare provision in the draft section 106 agreement for the proposed scheme and about the provision of an internal link road. The section 106 has now been amended to strengthen those commitments .

The scheme has proved controversial locally with 4,250 letters of objection and a petition of 4,459 signatures of people opposed to the development.

Respondents have raised concerns over the development of former green belt land, access, traffic, heritage, ecological and environment impacts, affordable housing levels and the impact on traffic and amenities.

The site was previously in the green belt, but the designation of the 103-hectare site changed in 2024 when the council adopted Places for Everyone – a joint planning framework with other Greater Manchester boroughs.

The 2,150-home scheme will deliver a minimum of 15% affordable housing, meaning 323 homes will be for affordable tenures. The split of tenure is suggested to be 60% social rent and 40% affordable rent. If viability improves due to rising property values over the 15 year scheme the affordable element could increase up to 30%, or 645 units.

Eleanor Wills, leader of Tameside Council, said: “The development has been thought through very carefully indeed and will be a welcome addition to Tameside whilst helping us fulfil our obligations to central government to provide more high-quality homes as our population grows,” added Cllr Wills.

Stephen Kinsella, managing director at MADE Partnership, said: “This is a major step forward after a considerable amount of hard work and constructive engagement with our partners at Tameside Council and key stakeholders.”