The end, when it came, was fittingly ignominious. The Publication version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), which is in the public domain, but will not now be published for public consultation, was to help “transform Greater Manchester (GM) into a top global city”, but Stockport’s councillors must have missed that bit as they presumably skimmed straight to the housing allocations chapter. Stockport’s vote on continuing to progress the conurbation-wide development plan document (DPD) bore less of a resemblance to New York’s City Council and more of a resemblance to Dibley Parish Council. The GMSF states that “the strength and strategic location of Greater Manchester puts it in an ideal place to act as the primary driver for the Northern Powerhouse”, but such lofty rhetoric played second fiddle to members’ concerns about the plan being based on ‘developer wants rather than community need’; it’s reliance on ‘out-dated’ statistics and who’s ward was ‘bearing the brunt of