SYSTRA experts support Greater Manchester ‘Places for Everyone’

The Greater Manchester ‘Places for Everyone’ plan, involving the collaboration of nine Greater Manchester local authorities, has now been formally adopted, with SYSTRA’s Signature Team supporting the work as technical advisor to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

The long-term plan for jobs, new homes and sustainable growth involves nine Greater Manchester districts (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan), and more than 50 colleagues from SYSTRA supported the development of the plan between 2019 and 2024.

SYSTRA’s Signature Team provided a range of expertise across planning, transport planning, strategic, micro-simulation and junction modelling, preliminary public transport, active travel and highway design and costing (contributing towards the plan’s viability assessment), as well as ‘examination in public’ expertise. The team’s previous experience in scrutinising Local Plans for National Highways as part of their Spatial Planning Framework was a key benefit in gaining the support of National Highways around critical sections of the strategic road network including the M60, M62 and the M6.

We are proud to have played an integral part in shaping ‘Places for Everyone’. It was a complex project which demanded a dedicated and ambitious team of experts who understood the intricacies of the local area combined with an in-depth understanding of the Local Plan process and the role of statutory consultees.

Sebastien Dupont, Managing Director (Consultancy) at SYSTRA

Sebastien Dupont continues: “Our approach facilitated collaboration between organisations which meant that the plan’s vision was backed up by a compelling proposition from a thoroughly researched evidence base. ‘Places for Everyone’ has wide support which can now be confidently taken forward and delivered.”

Mia Crowther, Senior Transport Strategy Officer at TfGM, said: “We are delighted that ‘Places for Everyone’ has been adopted. Greater Manchester is the only region outside London to have a such a large joined up spatial plan.

“SYSTRA’s team provided the necessary flexible approach to problem solving and a reassuring responsiveness to constant change throughout this dynamic project. The SYSTRA team gave us confidence through its professionalism and providing the right range of expertise, alongside the capacity to deliver.”

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