Outlines plans have been submitted to Cheshire East Council for an office development at a new business park located on land to the west of the A34 Bypass at Pendleton Way and east of railway line.
The site for the new 'Wilmslow Business Park', which is currently agriculture land, lies south of Wilmslow High School and north of The Royal London site.
The application relates to the land located within the southern portion of the widerWilmslow Business Park site, which was removed from the Green Belt in 2017 and has been allocated for employment use in Cheshire East Local Plan. Design features have been incorporated in to the Illustrative Masterplan to enable the northern part of the 4 hectare site to be developed in the future.
The initial plans are for the erection of up to 17,162m2 of office floorspace across 8 units and ancillary amenity space along with 572 car parking spaces and a cycle hub.
Access to the site will be via a new junction from the north bound carriageway on the A34 bypass, which was was granted planning permission in October 2017.
Pedestrian and cyclist access has been accommodated within the Illustrative Masterplan, for potential future connection to an existing underpass under the railway on the south side of the site, or via an existing footpath to the north of the site. Further routes through the north of the site, linking with the existing public footpath adjacent to the school's all weather playing pitches are also being explored following recent discussions with Wilmslow High School.
The Illustrative Masterplan shows a potential 'campus-style' development surrounded by green spaces and cycle routes. The buildings are expected to be highly glazed, though the layout and appearance of the buildings will be subject to tenants' individual requirements and further planning applications.
The plans, submitted on behalf of A & HD Wain, can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 19/4759M.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Wilmslow (like everywhere else in the UK) needs to plant thousands of trees; Wilmslow also needs a car park close to the centre- so why not combine both? A car park under a tree canopy! It's been done before. This site would be ideal.
http://bit.ly/2PbIZEn
Shame on those current and former Councillors who removed this and other land from OUR Green Belt.
Maybe the useful bit of comparable land left to the north side of this development to the roundabout, being closer to the town centre, could be utilised for much needed all day car parking parking?
Pete Taylor is right in that there seems to be plenty of empty office space in Wilmslow. If we really need another business park, why not take his advice and plant a wood over the car park and around all the buildings? And perhaps ensure there are plenty of EV charging points for electric cars and bikes in the car park?
It's really time to think about the impact of invisible atmospheric pollution on the lives of the people who live here...particularly young people who will be exposed to higher levels of it for more of their lives with potentially devastating effects. We can't just carry on as we have been doing....we need some radical changes to keep our children healthy. Putting another 500 cars on the road just alongside the High School doesn't seem right.
Yhis site would be a contender for the Wilmslow PARK & RIDE that is oft suggested and if not, then a perfect site for the planting of a new Wilmslow Forest/Wood to prove that all this talk of 'going green' in our town is actually rather genuine.
Park and Ride - waste of time as no-one in Wilmslow (or commuting here) wants to be more than a few steps away from their destination. You only have to look at the cars parked unlawfully in/around Alderley Rd, Grove St and Waitrose. I really think P&R wouldn't attract (so called) "Wilmslow people", they prefer the space afforded by double yellow lines.
Business Park is a good idea bringing more high quality employment to our town to help (maybe) town centre retailers, restaurants and the like.
Sixth Form College is also a great idea. How about if one of the buildings on the Business Park was used as such? Combining learning and future employment for our teenagers - seems an ideal solution.
So all the buildings in the old Gibson's yard alongside the Bollin Valley linking Manchester Rd to the A34 Sir Mo Farah Way, the development on the corner of Manchester Rd and Swan st, and the developments on Water Lane are all full, are they?
So sad. But I guess it will go ahead anyway as residents comments and thoughts never count!
Other places in the UK seem to be resisting similarly money-driven, short sighted, land-grabs and are chucking out planning applications based, as this one is, on falsified figures and "assumptions".
The next one coming rapidly up the tracks is the "Royal London" agricultural fields to the West of Alderley Road. These fields have multiple enduring Covenants forbidding any form of building development; yet the former (Conservative, again) CEC granted planning consents for up to 80 houses.
This would be a perfect site for a "people's woodland".
Previous "owners" of these fields abided by the Covenants, ICI stated, in one of their pension-plan documents that this agricultural land was sacrosanct and would never be built upon.
Greedy Royal London's asset-management department have refused to engage with those of us who hold Covenants (vested-interest alert!) and plough on (unlike the present tenant-farmer).
Surely this site should be used for planting a woodland open to the public? So what if the greedy corporate interests catch a financial cold? Those fleeting personalities will not be around to be held accountable in the next few months... we residents should not just roll over and accept this crap.
This site and the Royal London sites on Alderley Road were removed from the greenbelt and allocated as sites for employment (offices) as part of the Cheshire East local plan a couple of years ago. They were included because the research carried out on behalf of Cheshire East council indicated that Wilmslow needed more employment land to support the predicted growth. That evidence is on the Cheshire East website if you want to wade through it.
Residents of Wilmslow (RoW) didn't agree with the evidence and spent years campaigning against the sites being included. We had some successes but despite our efforts, these sites were included in the plan by the (then) council.
So that is where we are and these sites are now coming forward for planning permission.
The fact that sites are in the plan does not mean they will necessarily be granted permission as they still have to go through the planning permission process. However, as I found out today, the fact that they were scrutinised by the local plan process and the principle of their development accepted by the government inspector in signing off the plan, makes them more difficult to oppose.
Today the Cheshire East Strategic Planning Board (SPB), of which I am a member, considered the outline application for offices on the Royal London site. I argued that the allocation had been included to allow Royal London to expand but the situation had since changed following their decision to relocate and, not only do they no longer need the additional office space, their moving now leaves their existing offices vacant. I argued that the proposed offices would result in companies moving from office space in the town centre where parking is difficult to the new offices where parking is provided and that would have an adverse economic effect on the town centre and affect its vitality (when there is already significant empty office space in the town). Unfortunately I was unable to convince the other members of the SPB that the economic impact was a 'material consideration' in the planning decision. I tried to push for an assessment to confirm that there is a need for them before granting permission but the other members of the board were unconvinced and the application was passed (I think 7 against 2). I'm sorry but I tried.
With regards to the Wilmslow Business Park application, I would not be surprised if there is the same reluctance by members (and officers) to go against the local plan. If anything, I think this application probably has greater merit than the one passed today. If any of you have legitimate planning grounds against this application I would encourage you to comment on the planning portal and your comments will be considered by the SPB when it is discussed (probably in December). Similarly, if there is any support for it, please comment.
If you have any questions, please get in touch. My contact information is on the CEC website.
Because this site had already been allocated for "Employment Use" as part of the Cheshire East Local Plan. As such legislation meant that there was nothing we could do about it other than propose policies in the Neighbourhood Plan (NP) that could be used to influence how it would be developed. Having had a "very quick" look at this application, I can perceive that there are a number of policies in the NP that can be be used by the CEC planners as "material considerations" to hopefully improve this application.
A "material consideration" is a matter that should be taken into account in deciding a planning application or on an appeal against a planning decision.
I spoke against the application as a representative of Wilmslow Town Council, repeating the objections that had been made by WTC against the original Royal London planning application in 2017.
I know it identifies key sites but those are ones that would not qualify as "strategic sites" in the local plan.
You can build on green belt but, in most cases, you have to demonstrate exceptional circumstances which is actually quite difficult.
My thanks for the response. I just find it surprising that a known, existing and significant proposal was not addressed or even labelled on maps etc in the NP. I am concerned that as the proposal makes progress, passing reference will be made to the NP as justification for (or against) - when it was never even addressed. I'm afraid another example (to me) of the inappropriate nature of a referendum/Yes/No process to determine issues such as spatial planning.
Yes that is how it works. How it should work I don't know because it is unlikely that the residents would take a long term view and say yes we need to develop some fields for the future (in Wilmslow anyway).
However, my view, and the view that RoW has been shouting for years, is that development should be to meet local needs. Too much green belt has been taken out around Wilmslow this time, the evidence just was not there to support it based on Wilmslow's needs and we believe the required growth could be achieved using brown field sites. Unfortunately, we are in a location close to Manchester which puts the town in a good position to help drive growth in Cheshire East and the local plan is on a borough basis not a town by town basis.
The other factor is that there is a lot of public apathy. People don't get involved until the building starts on their doorsteps whereas the developers are pushing their agenda right from the start to influence decisions. Also, the developers know the planning rules so can play the game whereas Joe Public generally just says we don't want development.
What is the definition of a quality job and where should I live if I only qualify for a job not fitting the definition? Clearly not in Wilmslow moving forward.
I am thinking a quality job is one that affords 4 and 5 bedroom houses and attracts inward migration, most of which will be on a daily basis. I guess a job of lesser quality affords smaller properties including Social Housing. So as to avoid a continuing social divide is it not the case the jobs being planned for on this Business Park and for Royal London should match the full range of the skills offered by all Wilmslow residents? Jobs for all close to home. Sustainable and eco friendly.
The new proposed development looks nice, but is there anything for the likes of us, and what about access for those of my staff who don't drive? This is out of town, so necessitates coming by car; not really a move in the right direction? It's well over a mile to walk from Wilmslow Station.
I also seem to remember that this very site was requested for use as our long promised replacement tip many years ago, but was discounted because of traffic access at the High School roundabout. The new scheme is to use a direct access onto the by-pass which looks like an obvious hazard, and why can it be a business park development but not a tip?
The closure of the Waste Recycling facility at Newgate some years ago, means that Wilmslow / Alderley Edge residents now have to travel to Knutsford, Macclesfield or Poynton to responsibly dispose of waste. This necessitates a round trip journey of between 15-20 miles - usually resulting in a fairly lengthy wait at busy weekend times as the facilities are over-subscribed.
Is it not time that CE Council be forced to act with more social / environmental responsibility and if greenbelt land has to be used, priority should be given to providing beneficial services for local people and their built environment.
The land in question might usefully be used for a Waste Recycling scheme or a Park & Ride facility serving Wilmslow and it's railway station with a regular shuttle-bus.....or both of the above.