Ally of Angela Rayner criticizes plan for 20,000-home UK town
Gerald Cooney, a longtime Rayner ally and former chair of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, questions the Adlington estate site and calls for alternatives as final decisions loom next spring.
A key ally of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has criticized her plan to build a new town on green-belt land near the Peak District that would include up to 20,000 homes. The proposal, part of a broader effort Rayner championed as housing minister, envisioned the creation of as many as a dozen new towns of similar size across the United Kingdom in an effort to expand supply and address affordability. Rayner, who has since been sacked over a stamp duty issue on a second property, was a vocal advocate for large-scale development as a means to restore hope for people who could not buy or rent.
Gerald Cooney, who was Rayner's election agent and chaired the £31 billion Greater Manchester Pension Fund, now questions the site on the ancient Adlington estate between Manchester and Macclesfield. He says the location is “the wrong place” and that the project appears driven by developers seeking substantial profits. “If you were building a new town in this area, you don't need it there,” he said, adding that the region “doesn't need new executive homes – we already have plenty of them.”
The landscape around the proposed site has become a focal point in the debate. Camilla Legh sold her ancestral home and 2,000 acres of surrounding farmland in 2023 for about £25 million. The buyer, developer Belport, is linked to the plan to create a new town on the Adlington estate and is seen by critics as positioned to benefit from the development, despite market gaps elsewhere. Belport has said up to 40 percent of the proposed homes could be affordable, offered at a discount to attract key workers. The firm insisted the scheme would not be “executive housing” and would help increase supply at scale by providing accompanying schools, healthcare facilities, transport solutions and local jobs.
Cooney’s criticism comes as the site selection process advances toward a final decision expected next spring. Proponents say the plan would help relieve housing shortages by delivering large numbers of homes alongside essentialcommunity infrastructure, while opponents argue that the chosen location fails to reflect local needs and existing demand patterns in the Greater Manchester commuter belt and surrounding brownfield sites.
A separate thread in the discussion is the political context surrounding Rayner herself. Cooney was suspended by the Labour Party in February for raising concerns about two MPs and councillors making derogatory remarks about constituents on social media, a development that has fed into broader questions about the leadership and strategy behind large-scale housing projects. Supporters of the plan, however, insist it would deliver much-needed housing and create jobs, while stressing that siting decisions should be guided by objective assessments of transport links, school capacity and environmental impact.
The notes behind today’s reporting, drawn from coverage in the Daily Mail’s Money section, suggest that the controversy around the Adlington proposal has become a hinge point in the broader conversation about how the government addresses housing affordability and land-use policy. As the spring review approaches, officials say additional site options across Greater Manchester and other regions may be considered to balance demand, public sentiment and long-term urban planning goals.
