Reader's Letter: The last harvest?

by Pete Taylor

Friday 8^th September 2017

Fri 8^th Sep 2017

Back on the 28th February 2014 at a special meeting of Cheshire East Council, held at Crewe Alexandra Football Club, the Local Plan Strategy was discussed.

One very important amendment to the proposal to remove land from Green Belt protection was made;

"That the following strategic sites be deleted from the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy:-

CS26 – Royal London, Wilmslow

CS27 – Wilmslow Business Park

CS30 – Handforth East Growth Village

CS34 – (Safeguarded) Handforth East Growth Village

CS35 - (Safeguarded) PrestburyRoad, Wilmslow

CS36 - (Safeguarded) Upcast Lane, Wilmslow

CS7 – Shavington East"

With the exception of Cllr Fitzgerald, all of our Conservative councillors voted with their Party and against this amendment.

As a result the only piece of green space on Alderley Road between Wilmslow town and the Alderley border (Whitehall Bridge) has been lost; the proposal is to build 75 houses on the agricultural fields to the West of Alderley Road. Along with this the owners of the land, Royal London, intend to develop their existing site within the green Belt, with a mixture of housing and business units; this despite there being an advertisment for empty offices to rent in place on their frontage for at least the past 20 years!

Why did our representatives vote against the expressed will of their electorate?

None of them has ever put forward an explanation. After the event, some of them saw that they were completely out of step with their voters and abstained from subsequent votes, some did not and continue to support the proposals, one of them has now said that he supports the development on the RL main site but not on the agricultural fields- too late, your critical vote is in the records.

http://bit.ly/2vS90jI

Above are some photographs taken this week of what might be the last crop in the fields- can you imagine what 75 houses will look like here? I'm guessing exactly like Adlington ("these fields will never be built on") Road.

Any comments from the Councillors involved?

Tags:: Reader's Letter

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Nick Jones

Friday 8^th September 2017 at 1:03 pm

@ Pete; The silence is and will remain deafening. The raging catalogue of catastrophe’s, suspension’s, conduct referrals to Law enforcement, internal conduct investigation’s appears to increase by the week at CEC. I note Sandbach residents have referred their performance (or lack of) to The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Simply put as residents, we deserve better than the abysmal performance of the current partisan incumbents. CEC Councillors have been asked numerous times on this site and elsewhere to explain their actions, No meaningful response has ever been forthcoming. Is this quiescence by decree? or insolent contempt ? The ballot box will decide. In the meantime Abe Lincoln’s observation seems more than appropriate “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”

Manuel Golding

Friday 8^th September 2017 at 11:21 pm

Peter, thanks for your most incisive letter. It is approaching the time when CEC and its voting lobby of lemming Conservative councillors will feel the wrath of the electorate and possibly of Government for allowing, condoning, probably even encouraging the continual drip of highly questionable mismanagement within this rotten council.
Residents of Wilmslow is writing to the Sec of State for Local Government & Communities requesting this council be suspended and placed in Special Measures. RoW believes other groups will be making similar requests.
The mismanagement, indeed bad management and maybe something even worse, by this council that has been aided & abetted by a cohort of "Yes" men & women Conservative voting fodder councillors has become one scandal too many.
A local Royal London neighbour householder was most alarmed when RL unveiled its designs for the Green Belt within its care. She spoke to her CEC ward councillor who assured the voter that he would endevour to have the initial application "called in". She was "delighted" that this councillor was "listening" to her. However, when she heard the truth of his voting she was apoplectic to think she had been so deceived - when push came to shove, her Wilmslow CE Conservative councillor voted "For" the plan at the crucial Council vote, in fact voting for the RL destructive plans that she was led to believe her councillor would oppose. Needless to say this councillor may well not get her vote the next time he puts his name on the ballot paper.

Alan Brough

Monday 11^th September 2017 at 10:28 am

Well, it may be true that some Tory Councillors are guilty of duplicity in their actions surrounding Planning issues, but Rod Menlove made it clear three years ago that he was opposed to ANY housing development at RL so in that regard we (in Wilmslow East ward)are in safe hands.........

http://bit.ly/1tjUnaK

Pete Taylor

Monday 11^th September 2017 at 11:07 am

@Alan, unfortunately that statement was made eight months after he voted against the amendment which would have kept the Green Belt in place.

Monday 11^th September 2017 at 11:44 am

@ Alan , Pete; Duplicitous behaviour would appear to have become the evidenced convention in CE, Interestingly … This does not appear to be the case in CW where the public are better served, clearly demonstrating the need to merge the dual administration of this small county ASAP and rid ourselves once and for all of these bungling incompetents who have caused significant decimation of the green belt… If there was any dignity or deference amongst them to respect the harm and breach of trust they have caused in relation to their iniquity, A person of greater honour (and there are none of note evidenced in the multifarious documented denouements of CEC ) may have ‘fallen on their sword ‘long before hand … Until held to account this insolent contempt will continue.