Cheshire East Council has unveiled its proposed development sites for potential inclusion in the final Local Plan later this year.
The planning blueprint, which has been three years in the making, will set out proposals for new employment sites, homes, road infrastructure projects, as well as new schools and green spaces.
Residents campaigning to protect the Green Belt around Wilmslow and Handforth will be disappointed to learn that proposals for a new settlement on Green Belt land to the east of the A34 Handforth Bypass and two housing developments in Wilmslow are retained in this latest document.
The proposed settlement in Handforth, referred to as the 'North Cheshire Growth Village', includes 1800 homes and supporting infrastructure such as a local retail centre, new secondary and primary schools, leisure facilities, open space and sports pitches. Additional land would also be safeguarded at this site for further development of 500 homes beyond 2030 and a further 200 new houses would be built within Handforth itself.
In Wilmslow 400 new homes are proposed, including 200 on land off Adlington Road, which is largely a greenfield site, and 75 new homes on Green Belt land at the Royal London site where land has also been marked for employment use.
Previous documents proposed to remove land to the west of Royal London from the Green Belt and designate it as safeguarded land, that may be required to serve development needs in the longer term, however this has now been marked as protected open space. However, the document proposed to safeguard two sites until 2030, the first is 14 hectares in the Lindow area of town (off Upcast Lane) and the second is 26 hectares to the East of the A34 bypass (off Prestbury Road).
Leader of Cheshire East Council Councillor Michael Jones said he was determined to ensure that the Council's proposed Local Plan will be one of the best in the country.
He said: "We've listened and we've acted. The proposed selection of sites will support not just the Council's vision for sustainable growth, but most importantly the people's vision too.
"Rather than increasing the size of villages in the north and south, we are proposing a new village called the North Cheshire Growth Village in Handforth East.
"There are some difficult decisions to make but we believe that what we are now proposing will set out a solid blueprint for our future that will protect us from speculative and opportunistic developers, many of whom place profit before principles."
The Local Plan is a legal document, the process of which must prove to be highly robust if the Planning Inspectorate is to approve next year.
This stage of the Local Plan, entitled the 'Core Strategy', will be lodged with the Planning Inspectorate around the end of the year.
Councillor Jones added: "A sound Local Plan is our best defence against unwanted development and this should not be rushed.
"It is a highly legal process and there must be no doubt that the public are fully engaged and are able to make the necessary representations to influence the process.
"I am proud to say that the consultation responses – more than 28,000 of them – have indeed helped this Council shape the Local Plan to this stage."
As part of the Local Plan vision, £1billion will be invested into the road infrastructure to improve connectivity across the Borough.
The proposed Core Strategy sites of the Local Plan will now go to the Council's Strategic Planning Board on September 26th for comment and consideration. The Board will also be asked if they consider further public consultation is necessary. The final Core Strategy Local Plan will then be completed and presented to a future meeting of full council.
Updated: 2.40pm Thursday, 19th September
The Strategic Planning Panel of Wilmslow Town Council, which advises the Town Council on strategic planning matters, received notification as to the content of the Cheshire East Emerging Core Strategy when the document was put in the public domain yesterday.
Cllr Keith Purdom, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Panel and Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council said "At first sight of this document, produced by Cheshire East Council, it appears to contain a number of high profile elements that are likely to be positively received by the Town Council. I am grateful to Cheshire East Council and in particular our Cheshire East Wilmslow Councillors for their support in helping the Town Council to secure significant concessions, most notably in ensuring that a figure of 400 total houses remained central to the Core Strategy and also in helping to gain added protection for the land opposite Royal London.
"Clearly there are aspects within the Emerging Core Strategy document that do not fit so neatly into our previously stated policy and these elements will be considered in greater depth over the coming days before recommending to the Town Council the nature of any future communications."
Click here to view a copy of the "Emerging Core Strategy" which contains further information and maps showing all the proposed development sites. (Please note this is a large file and may take a while to download.)
The final Core Strategy Local Plan will then be completed and presented to a future meeting of full council. To receive email alerts on the next stages of the Local Plan go to:www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/localplan.
To have your say on the next stage of the Local Plan visit: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/localplan. Any public representations made at this stage will go direct to the Planning Inspector via this link.
Maps showing the proposed development sites in Wilmslow and Handforth. Crown copyright and database rights 2013. Ordinance survey 100049045.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
a) The way in which the concerns of residents on the scale of developments have been handled: b) That the proposed changes seem to be driven by the need for houses without considering the development of infrastructure first: c) That the figures for the number of houses acually needed seems to change regularly and that there is no consensus on whether sites given planning permission in the last couple of years are included in these statistics or not. A complete breakdown of how CEC statistics have been reached would be useful.
d) That "new sites" have simply emerged which have not been part of previous consultations with residents: e) That in the latest proposals CEC is attempting to "stockpile" safeguarded land for future use in order to avoid consultation in the future. e) That in the drive for "development at all costs" enviromental concerns are put on the back burner.
I consider that current planning decisions will for Wilmslow be the most critical of any made since the end of WW2. We need to decide what legacy we leave for future residents of Wilmslow.
Do we want the town to remain a dormitory area of quality housing , retail & leisure facilities distinct in character from its neighbours of Handforth & Alderley Edge? Or do we want the future Wilmslow to be part of an urban sprawl, substantially over developed?
No case of "exceptional circumstances", as required to change Green Belt status, has even remotely been offered by CEC, thus making loss of or change of status of any of Wilmslow's Green Belt unacceptable. Residents of Wilmslow (Association), CPRE and others have proved that the need for housing in Wilmslow is far less than the numbers stated in the Development Strategy. The arguments for employment related development are, at best, weak. CPRE state that the assumptions behind the Employment Land Revue "need to be questioned" and " Economic activity patterns are also changing, with a shift to growth through increased productivity; a shift to service-based and high-tech and other knowledge-based industries; the increase in ‘hot-desking’, homeworking etc all making a comparison with past take-up figures likely to be unhelpful".
I cannot see how building over Green Belt land creates sustainable employment in an area which already has sufficient supply of empty commercial premises, the new Waters development and where the area is "dormitory" ... an area in which most people wish to live without necessarily working there. There will be considerable employment opportunities on planned developments in close proximity to, but outside, Cheshire East E.g. at Manchester Airport. The surplus capacity at AZ Alderley Park has also yet to be taken up.
Many representations to Cheshire East have been ignored by the Planning Team. Earlier draft unsuitable proposals have gone unchallenged by elected representatives. So called "consultations" have been ineffective and appear to have ignored areas of land now under consideration for development. The representation from Wilmslow Town Council, particularly regarding the 75 houses on land at Royal London, has been ignored (WTC were warned that in agreeing to employment related development they would encourage the proposed housing because this is the end game that developers want). What point a Town Council that is simply ignored? or that totally fails to see he obvious consequences of its actions?
The Head of Strategic & Economic Planning has indicated that documents before Thursday's meeting of the CEC Strategic Planning Board represent a position statement, requested by councillors, and do not represent the Council's Final Plan. There is therefore still opportunity for the Wilmslow Members of CEC to stand up and be counted in defending Wilmslow's Green Belt.
It seems that all our protestations in Handforth have been completely swept aside.
Nobody in their right mind would agree to the proposed settlement on our green belt. 2300 houses - 4000 more cars all trying to use the bypass - what a joke!!!
Yes Drew, we are nimbies and pay handsomely for the priviledge of living somewhere pleasant. Either compensate us out of the huge profit from the sale of land owned formerly by Macclesfiled Council (we wos conned again) or watch as the area becomes less popular and house prices drop due to massive traffic congestion and clone estates.
I appreciate that Royal London want to make a killing on a "field" and that is about all it is, they are not interested in the wild life, or the residents it will affect, plus all the additional traffic etc etc etc and who is going to compensate us for the reduction in out house values, after premium prices were paid to live in a what should have been a protected environment .... so you might be encouraging affordable housing, but you will lose you kong standing residents who have lived here for years!!!