Land at Gravel Bank Road, Woodley
Thank you for taking part in our public consultation
Thank you for visiting Anwyl Partner Projects’ online public consultation for proposals on Land at Gravel Bank Road, Woodley.
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) have identified the site for housing development in their draft Local Plan. Asteer Planning is preparing a full planning application on behalf of Anwyl Partner Projects to bring the site forward for residential development in partnership with Great Places. The proposals include approximately 141 new homes, together with vehicular access, public open space and associated infrastructure works. The scheme will deliver 100% affordable housing.
The public consultation period closed on Friday 24 April 2026. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to review the proposals and provide feedback.
All comments received are now being carefully considered by the project team and will help inform the final planning application prior to submission to SMBC. Once a planning application is submitted, the Council will notify surrounding residents as part of its statutory consultation process. At that stage, there will be a further opportunity to submit comments directly to the Council.
Who are we?
Anwyl Partner Projects
Founded in 1930, Anwyl is a family-run business, based in North Wales and renowned for its thoughtful approach. With a fourth generation now at the helm, Anwyl is building on its heritage and delivering homes for the future, bringing care and integrity to every project. Further information: www.anwylgroup.co.uk.
Anwyl Partner Projects is a dedicated arm of Anwyl Group focused exclusively on affordable housing delivery. Anwyl identifies and promotes sites specifically for affordable housing, securing planning consent and working in partnership with Registered Providers to deliver high-quality, sustainable homes that meet local needs.
Great Places
Anwyl have partnered with Great Places Housing Association (‘Great Places’) to deliver the new homes. Great Places is a Registered Provider and a profit-for-purpose business which exists to improve the lives of the people living in their 26,000 homes across the north west and south Yorkshire.
Where is the Site?
As shown in image 1 below the Site is located to the north of Woodley, adjacent to the Peak Forest Canal.
It is comprised of two land parcels to the north (Parcel B) and south (Parcel A) of the canal, as shown below. The new housing is proposed on the southern parcel only with the northern parcel being used as an ecological area.
What use is the Site allocated for in the Local Plan?
In line with recent changes to national planning guidance contained in the National Planning Policy Framework, the Council has confirmed that the site comprises “Grey Belt” land.
In November 2025 the Council published its draft Local Plan for consultation. As part of this draft a series of housing allocations were identified including Land at Gravel Bank Road and Unity Mill for the delivery of around 400 new homes.
Developing the Proposals
In developing the scheme proposals, a series of technical assessments have been undertaken to understand the key challenges and opportunities at the Site:
Access and Transport
The location of the Site provides opportunity for access to a good range of local shops and services by both foot or cycle travel modes, for example Woodley Local Centre is a ~10-minute walk from the site, and Woodley Train Station is a 75m walk from Gravel Bank Road. Other nearby amenities include Woodley Primary School, a public house and Stockport Sports Village.
The site is well connected and sustainably located. In terms of public transport, there are bus stops on the A560 Hyde Road around 50m to the south of the site. They are typically served by two scheduled services, providing buses to/from Stockport and to/from Hyde and Ashton.
Woodley Railway Station, which is a 5-10 minute walk from the site, has services to Hyde Central in 3 minutes, Manchester Piccadilly in 23 minutes, and Rose Hill Marple in 20 minutes. Interchange options at Romiley Station (5 minutes journey time) also provides convenient access to hourly local trains to Sheffield and the Hope Valley.
Landscape and Visual
The landscape strategy will include the following:
Manage and restore hedgerows and treed boundaries for landscape structure and biodiversity whilst providing organic boundaries to the proposed development, retain existing trees where practicable and create new tree planting and landscape buffer areas around the site edges.
Allow for the creation of green corridors within the site to maintain existing vegetation blocks and to create an ecological and landscape buffer between development and the canal corridor.
Allow for the use of land to the west of the canal to be developed as an ecological and habitat area.
Sustainability/Energy Efficiency
The following energy efficient design measures are proposed:
Fabric first approach to reduce the energy requirements of new homes including high levels of thermal insulation and air tightness.
Use of suitable renewable energy sources, including solar photovoltaic panels to reduce running costs.
100% low energy light throughout
Provision of Electric Vehicle Charging points
Ecology
It is proposed to incorporate a significant habitat creation area in the proposals on Parcel B.
The site has been assessed for its biodiversity value, and a 10% gain in biodiversity can easily be achieved and exceeded within the red line boundary and as part of the proposals.
Existing trees on the boundary will be retained where possible as part of the proposed development and there is the provision of green infrastructure with a 10m offset to the Canal.
Drainage
The site is situated within Flood Zone 1 (low risk of flooding), with some small areas along the southern boundary being low to medium risk of surface water flooding.
Anwyl Partner Projects has also engaged with planning officers at Stockport Council as part of formal pre-application discussions.
The Illustrative Concept Plan shows the following key elements:
New Homes
It is envisaged that approximately 141 new homes can be brought forward at the Site following the demolition of existing buildings.
A mix of houses types ranging from 1-4 bedrooms are proposed which would contribute to the creation of a vibrant new community that addresses local need. Within this housing mix, properties will include apartments, semi-detached and detached properties. It is proposed that properties will front onto the canal to enhance the sense of place.
The scale of the proposed development will be reflective of the local area, which predominantly comprises 2- and 2.5-storey properties. Whilst the appearance of the properties are still evolving the below images provides an indication of how they may look and key design features.
Illustrative Masterplan
What would the likely impacts be on Local Infrastructure?
The provision of adequate leisure, community and cultural infrastructure is essential to the creation of sustainable communities. It is understood that the provision of new housing within the area could increase demand for facilities within Woodley.
When a planning application is submitted, the Council will seek responses from statutory bodies (such as the Education Authority and the NHS) who will set out what site-specific mitigation might be required and why. Anwyl Partner Projects will then, where necessary, enter into a Section 106 agreement with the Council where contributions are sought to mitigate the impact of the proposed development. The community can therefore be assured that this development will address any potential impact it has on local infrastructure.
How will we limit disruption on local people during development?
The Council can control how the scheme is delivered by way of a planning condition imposed on any planning permission granted. This usually takes the form of a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which regulates delivery and construction times so as to minimise (and potentially avoid) disturbance to local residents.
Why is Development being proposed now?
In response to the ongoing national housing crisis which has resulted in an acute need for more homes across the country, the Government published a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024. This included ambitious new housebuilding targets and a modernised Green Belt policy, alongside a wider set of changes designed to boost the supply of land and better meet community needs.
The NPPF established a new standard method for assessing housing needs. In Stockport this has identified a need to deliver 1,861 new homes per annum. Based on these figures, the Council cannot currently demonstrate a 5-year supply of deliverable housing land as required by national planning policy.
What are the Scheme Benefits?
Economic Benefits
The following economic benefits could be generated by the proposed development:
The construction of the proposed development would contribute to generating full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs within the construction industry over the build period, supporting the local supply chain where possible.
Future residents will generate additional expenditure within the local economy supporting local businesses and services.
The affordable homes proposed will provide lower income households who work locally an opportunity to secure affordable accommodation.
Financial contributions will be paid to the Council through a legal agreement where considered necessary in line with adopted Local Plan policy.
Increased Council Tax revenues will be generated by the proposals.
Social Benefits
The following social benefits could be generated by the proposed development:
Creation of a new high-quality open space, including play space
Contribution towards the Council’s deliverable 5-year housing land supply, meeting an identified need for a range of affordable homes.
Environmental Benefits
The following environmental benefits could be generated by the proposed development:
By taking a fabric first approach to reducing the energy requirements of new homes and incorporating renewable energy sources the proposed development will be highly sustainable, exceeding Building Regulations.
Each home will have its own Electric Vehicle Charging Point (EVC) installed as well as secure cycle parking provision to help reduce reliance on private motor vehicles.
Delivery of 10% BNG through the proposed development to be secured by a Habitats Management and Maintenance Plan for a period of 30 years.
Retention of existing hedgerow and trees, where practicable, and planting of additional native species within the landscape.
Next Steps
Following the conclusion of the community consultation exercise, Anwyl Partner Projects will review all comments in order to produce an enhanced scheme which can provide further community benefit. Responses to the comments received will be set out in the Statement of Community Involvement.
Following validation of the planning application, the Council will commence with its statutory 21-day consultation where local residents, businesses and other consultees will have an additional opportunity to comment on the proposals.
Anwyl Partner Projects is aiming to submit a full planning application in May 2026.