Green light to replace tennis court with houses

by Lisa Reeves

Friday 26^th March 2021

Fri 26^th Mar 2021

Plans to replace a tennis court with a residential development have been approved.

Oliver James Construction has been granted planning permission to demolish an unused indoor tennis court and construct five houses on land off Moor Lane.

The 0.34 acre site adjoins Green Hedges and is located on the south side of Moor Lane, west of its junction with Clay Lane.

The scheme is for three 3-bed terraced units, plus two 4-bed semi-detached units, laid within the footprint of the tennis court. The properties will be built over 2.5 storeys and share 12 parking spaces.

Wilmslow Town Council recommend refusal of this application on the grounds of overdevelopment of the site and Wilmslow Civic Trust objected stating the following reasons: the housing numbers required by the Local Plan are now satisfied until 2030 and therefore there is no need for further development; the scheme will impose a greater strain on the general infrastructure serving this area; the proposed high density is incompatible in this semi rural setting and there is no provision for safe pavement access to the site along Moor Lane.

The plans can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 20/5559.

Comments

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

Chris Neill

Saturday 27^th March 2021 at 10:16 am

Demolish a tennis court and build more houses, great.

Vince Chadwick

Saturday 27^th March 2021 at 6:34 pm

I think that 'tennis court' building used to be the premises of 'Air Spares' a very long time ago (a company that bought and sold spares for aeroplanes), with 'Queen Mary' transporters and other lorries negotiating Moor Lane to deliver / collect aircraft parts. The building is an aircraft hangar of an old and quite rare type and may even date back to before WW1 though obviously not on that site. It was later owned by a packaging machine company.

I wonder what its pre-Wilmslow history is, or if it's listed?

Duncan Penn

Monday 29^th March 2021 at 10:16 am

I know this house and tennis court very well, I am the Grandson of Arthur Penn who established Packaging Automation Limited in 1963 at Green Hedges, Green Hedges was the home of my father, and his 3 siblings, I grew up playing tennis there and having wonderful Christmas lunch's with all the family, later I worked for Packaging Automation Limited, where the houses are now used to be the workshops, and the tennis court eventually became an assembly area, in the early 2000 P.A. limited moved to a purpose built factory on Parkgate Ind Est Knutsford, where they are still, employing around 140 ppl building machines to pack ready meals, yoghurts and many other products.

When ever I'm in Cheshire I always go and have a look at what's new, even Ned Yates is know a housing estate such a shame.

I have very fond memory's of Green Hedges, unfortunaly both my Grandparents, Arthur and Yvonne Penn are now passed.

I hope what ever happens here that they involve a historian, there is a lot of history there, I found several parts from Spitfires in the walls of the tennis court.

Pete Taylor

Tuesday 30^th March 2021 at 7:02 am

So we are now above the required number of houses in the Local Plan and still the Planners give more permissions!
On whose behalf are the Planning Department at CEC working?

Nick Jones

Tuesday 30^th March 2021 at 7:32 am

Westminster wants to build at all costs... No consideration to brownfield..

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8981/

Jon Armstrong

Tuesday 30^th March 2021 at 8:01 am

To be fair Nick this is the very definition of brownfield.

Tuesday 30^th March 2021 at 4:23 pm

Jon I fully accept your point ... perhaps I should have clarified in more general terms that the steamrollers are moving in with westminster approval.. and there is little or no appetite from local authorities to challenge the machinery at work..

Erik Garner

Wednesday 31^st March 2021 at 2:10 pm

I’ve read all the comments and you’d have that given the history surrounding the old place, they’d have insisted on building houses with a bit of class and style and more in keeping with the area Instead for those horrendous eyesores.

Sheila Grindrod

Wednesday 31^st March 2021 at 3:08 pm

No one seems tobe acting in any of our best interests!!

Manuel Golding

Wednesday 31^st March 2021 at 4:58 pm

Sheila Grindrod you have obviously a selective historic memory.Residents of Wilmslow (RoW) came into being on the basis of fighting overwhelming developers' "need" to grab & destroy the town's Green Belt for their own profits and has won those election contests. RoW defends the Green Belt from greedy developers and council planners but the government edict has always taken precedence.
RoW still needs your help, assistance and votes to counter the avaricious developers. we need you to stand up for our town at the ballot box by sending a message to government, enough destruction of Wilmslow is enough.

Jerry Dixon

Friday 2^nd April 2021 at 8:42 am

It would be a real shame if the aircraft hangar was demolished. If it is possible to take it down and re-assemble it elsewhere I suspect the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust could assist in finding a new home for this historic building