Wilmslow Town Council has objected to the proposed changes to the Local Plan on the grounds that the requirement for 900 new homes in the town by 2030 has not been demonstrated and the site selection process is not sound.
Councillors considered a recommendation from the Strategic Planning Panel (SPP) regarding the Local Plan consultation, which ended today, at their meeting on Monday, 18th April.
Councillor Keith Purdom, Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council, said "What we (the SPP) wanted to do was present a unanimous recommendation to you. That has been difficult because as you can imagine any group of people trying to decide a side of A4 is very difficult. That's not to flag up that we've got fundamental differences, I don't think we have."
He added "What you've got is the best we can come up with, the central point is that we think the land off Prestbury Road should be back in, Upcast Lane should be out and if you put the land off Prestbury Lane in then we certainly don't need all the other sites and the number of houses that are being allocated to them."
Councillor David Jefferay said "I would have liked to have seen a lot more hard evidence and facts and figures in there because I actually think when it comes to hearings and the Inspector gets to see the information he is looking for facts and not an opinion.
"However, having said that I am in agreement with the statement that we are making and I am particularly pleased with the strong stance we are taking in actually making the statement that we believe it is unsound and we are challenging the numbers and we are challenging the amount of evidence there is for the infrastructure so I am pleased with the statement."
Councillors voted unanimously to approve the following response which has been sent to Cheshire East Council.
Wilmslow Town Council consider that the case for the total housing numbers allocated to Wilmslow in the revised Local Plan Proposed Changes Document is not sound on the grounds that the future of 900 appears arbitrary and is not demonstrated to be justified by the spatial distribution analysis.
The Town Council believes that Cheshire East Council's interpretation of the Inspector's interim views are not sound on the basis that appropriate justification has not been made. As the requirement for 900 houses allocated to Wilmslow has not been demonstrated, the case for the amendment of the green belt boundaries surrounding Wilmslow has not been made.
The Town Council remains opposed to housing development on green belt sites and continues to support brownfield sites in preference, a position not aided by Cheshire East Council's insistence on allocating the entire housing allocation at the strategic stage of the plan. The Town Council believes that a greater proportion of Wilmslow's land allocation could be addressed using brownfield sites and by making allowance for windfall sites which emerge annually.
The Town Council believe that the site selection process in the Local Plan Strategy Proposed Changes Document is not sound.
The Town Council consider that the evidence put forward does not justify the removal of the site of 14.5 hectares previously identified for safeguarding adjacent to Prestbury Road. If green belt land s allocated for housing in Wilmslow then this site should be delivered within the period of the Local Plan as the preferred site especially as it is owned by CEC and is therefore deliverable.
It is the opinion of the Town Council that the benefits of the existing road infrastructure, the relatively easy access to the town centre services, including ease of walking and the minimal impact on existing residents and the sizeable green belt gap separating Wilmslow from Alderley Edge at this point are all positive aspects that are underplayed within the revised document and which makes the site preferable to all sites identified in the revised document.
The Town Council also feels strongly that the entire site identified as Land at Upcast Lane and Cumber Lane should be removed from the plan due to access issues. While this aspect is identified in the site selection process the Town Council feels that the impact on the urban streets and therefore on large numbers of existing residents is given insufficient weight and the decision to include as a safeguarded site not to be justified when compared to alternatives.
The Town Council believe that the allocation of housing adjacent to Prestbury Road within the Local Plan period should allow for both the removal of the Upcast Lane/Cumber Lane site from the safeguarding as highlighted above and alleviate the need to develop other identified sites during the Local Plan period up to 2030.
The lack of clarity in explaining who infrastructure and service provision issues would be addressed across all identified sites is not helpful for residents in assessing justification for the sites selected and the Town Council would express its own concerns in this regard with particular reference to schools, roads and healthcare provision.
The Town Council would also like to express its disappointment at the apparent disregard of the views submitted by it to Cheshire East Council during the consultation process.
In the revised document the main changes affecting Wilmslow are that the number of new homes proposed for Wilmslow has increased from 400 to 900 and the amount of commercial land has increased from 8 ha to 10 ha.
Three new housing sites have been added at Heathfield Farm, Little Stanneylands and opposite Royal London for development before 2030. The number of houses on the Royal London site for development before 2030 has increased, a site south of the Heathfield Farm site has been reserved 'safeguarded' for housing after 2030 and the size of a site safeguarded for housing after 2030 located west of Cumber Lane has now been increased to include land at Upcast Lane.
Additionally the site safeguarded for housing after 2030 located south of Prestbury Road and east of the A34 has been removed and the size of the proposed Wilmslow Business Park, located between the A34 and the railway line, for development before 2030 has been increased.
The public consultation on the Local Plan Strategy Proposed Changes document has now ended, however if you would like to hear more about the proposed changes and their impact on Wilmslow then Adrian Fisher, Strategic Planning Manager at Cheshire East Council, will be giving a talk - which has been organised by the Wilmslow Trust, at Wilmslow Library starting at 7.45pm on Wednesday, 20th April. The talk is open to members of the public and there is a charge of £2 at the door for non-members of the Wilmslow Trust.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
We felt strongly we needed to make sure people who may not go on line or read local papers needed to know about the CE plan and the limited time to comment; not to impose our views but to allow people to have information to express their own.
I'm sorry if you didn't get the leaflet-we did our best to get to all of Wilmslow either by a distribution company or our own shoe leather!
Thanks
Cllr. Angela McPake
Has WTC considered a facebook page to provide info and communications?
I live alone and can confirm that a leaflet has not been put through my letter box. I therefore believe that one wasn't put through the letter boxes of every other dwelling on my road ( Approx 60).
This again demonstrates what I have said at previous Town Council meetings and am again saying at Neighbourhood Plan Group meetings. This is that private subcontractors (leaflet distributors) do not deliver to every dwelling in Wilmslow.
Interesting to read Upcast Lane should come out of the Plan and be replaced by land south of Prestbury Road. One piece of Green Belt land for another. WTC should be celebrating any protection of Green Belt land, should be campaigning hard to have all other Green Belt sites removed and seeking conversations with owners of brown sites so as to have these brought forward for development first.