Royal London, Wilmslow's largest employer, has revealed plans for developing its 3.7 hectare site.
Royal London appointed professional consultants to carry out independent assessments of two sites in its ownership which were identified in the draft Wilmslow Vision earlier this year as Site D, to the west of Alderley Road, and Site F, to the east of Alderley Road.
The assessments appraised each site's potential to help meet Wilmslow's future social and economic needs.
They have produced a document which was submitted to Cheshire East Council and shared with both Wilmslow Town Council wand Wilmslow High School. This concludes that if the Green Belt boundary was redrawn then Site F could be allocated for future employment and housing needs - accommodating up to 80 homes with the potential for for new playing fields for Wilmslow High School.
The document states that "one of the key benefits of this site is its sustainable location" with easy access to bus services, Wilmslow Station and Wilmslow town centre.
Speaking about the Royal London master plan, Cllr Keith Purdom of Wilmslow Town Council, said "We Wilmslow Town Council voted unanimously against ANY housing on green belt or green field believing that the 400 houses we believe are suitable number for Wilmslow over the next 20 years can be all found on brownfield sites.
"And if our belief were to be found to be incorrect in say 10 to 15 years time then we would believe that previously developed green belt or green field would be the answer and NOT green belt such as Site D."
Cheshire East Council's Strategic Planning Board are meeting on Thursday, 6th December, to discuss a report which considers the next stage of the Cheshire East Local Plan.
The draft Development Strategy sets out the overall number of homes and jobs that will be needed in Cheshire East over the next 20 years and suggests levels of development for each of the main towns. Two sites have been identified in Wilmslow, one of which is the Royal London site.
The draft document proposes that this site is allocated for mixed-use development including employment. The proposed use is for new offices to create 1000 new jobs, a hotel and 75 new homes, whilst the land to the west of Alderley Road, Site D would be safeguarded for future development.
See my article Two Wilmslow sites identified for future development for further information on the draft Development Strategy to be considered this week.
Royal London have stated in their document that they "would like to work with the Council and all other stakeholders, including residents living close by to consider the site within the context of the emerging local plan."
Updated: 5th December 2.45pm
A spokesperson for Royal London said:
'Cheshire East Council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan for the borough, which will cover the period to 2030. The Council last week published its draft Development Strategy. It proposes to take out of Green Belt land in Royal London's ownership located in Wilmslow. The land is close to Royal London's office, which is the largest employer in the town.
'The Council proposes that one site, "Site F", which lies to the east of the Royal London office, is allocated for future employment and housing needs, as well as potential new playing fields for Wilmslow High School. "Site D", to the west of Alderley Road, is proposed as land safeguarded from development.
'Royal London supports the Council's endeavours to create a balanced Local Plan, which will best serve the future needs of Wilmslow and the borough as a whole. Royal London will continue to work with Cheshire East Council to explore the potential for its land to meet the economic and social needs of Wilmslow for the next 20 years. This will be done through the Local Plan making and public consultation process, a process which Royal London fully supports.'
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
“I would like to begin by reassuring you that the land to which you refer (Alderley Road fields) is not for sale and we have no plans to sell the site. Any rumours that we are in talks with a developer about the sale of the land are false and I would be grateful if you would pass this on to your neighbours and others locally”. He continued “…..RL takes its relationship with the local Wilmslow community very seriously…..”
However, I understand that in May (two months earlier) they had the results of a study produced by a consultancy whose services they had engaged. This proposed the building of 80+ houses and a children's playground.