NAMES of official documents can tell you a lot – especially about what their authors want you to believe.  Your local democracy reporter Niall Griffiths tells us (“Council support masterplan for region’s housing”, M.E.N. 7 April) that the rebranded Greater Manchester Spatial Framework now goes by the name “Places for Everyone.” 

I think the full title might better be “Places for Some People right now, but maybe not for future generations.” While there are the usual buzzwords about “zero carbon development”, right at the end of the article we learn “an expansion of the Global Logistics Hub near Manchester Airport was also proposed.”

So, politicians who’ve done well in the game of economic growth, inward investment and global connectivity want to continue that game, even though the biophysical rules are changing. Zero carbon? More like zero effort to figure out what is needed not just to drive emissions down, but also to cope with the threats of man-made climate change that “everyone” will face in the decades to come.

Dr Marc Hudson

editor Manchester Climate Monthly