Plans have been submitted for the demolition of existing buildings and construction of four detached dwellings at Morley Nurseries on Altrincham Road.
The site is currently occupied by a garden centre, tearooms, dog grooming salon, Cheshire Garden and Building sales, car storage and car parking.
There are currently 8 parking spaces which will be retained and access to the site will be from the existing access off Altrincham Road.
The site extends to approximately 0.6 hectares and is situated within the North Cheshire Green Belt.
The plans can be viewed on the Cheshire East Council website by searching for planning reference 21/5550M.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
They couldn’t care less it’s appalling what is happening to our green space
What safeguards are in place to protect our other green spaces?
I think we can be forgiven for being totally confused / bamboozled by this sort of nonsense.
If approved, this starts the process of potential future in-fill development applications around the site
- Cheshire East cannot stop planning applications. They can only judge them when they
are submitted.
- The site for this application sits within the greenbelt, but already has several properties
on it. Therefore, the decision to allow buildings on this land was granted long ago.
- This proposal is NOT for even more 4 and 5 bed executive homes. It is for 4 x two bed
houses, which are in short supply in Wilmslow.
- These new houses are lower in height than the existing buildings already there.
- They are also smaller in mass too.
- Therefore, they do not ‘close down’ the openness of the greenbelt but improve it.
I understand that some people have emotional reasons to dislike this application, but UK planning law steadfastly ignores public opinion. People disliking an application is just not a planning consideration.
So, once we get beyond the “I don’t like it” argument, then there seems very little left to object to. Ultimately, this application is for smaller and fewer buildings than are already there, so I cannot see a legitimate planning reason to refuse it.
Mark
Cllr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Wilmslow West & Chorley
The “I don’t like it” argument is based on a dislike of development on Green Belt land and the relative ease in which developers appear able to do it.
Yes, I am saying that this site has houses on it, so it is classified as a ‘brownfield’ site.
That’s a game changer in UK planning law that we cannot ignore. If we do ignore it, then the governments Planning Inspector will remind us of the law at appeal and give us a large bill to make sure we don’t forget it again.
Unusually though, these new houses will remove more building mass and be lower in height than the current buildings there.
It therefore does what you want. It will give us less development in the greenbelt, which is why it will likely be approved.
There is a concession that allows the installation of "agricultural" building on green belt land. Could it be that the buildings that are currently there fall into that category? Certainly they appear largely to be made up of wooden sheds, barns and greenhouses.
Under what process does Greenbelt become Brownfield?
Sorry to press the point but I'm genuinely interested in the broader issues here since the development of the Waters site across the road and the recent appearance of hoardings further along Altrincham Road (near The Honey Bee) suggesting that residential development will soon begin.
The Handforth Road application by Newcare was not in the "Green Belt".
The planning committee had every right to do what they did.
The applicant had the right to appeal.
The concepts of Brownfield and Greenbelt are independent of each other, so one does not become the other.
‘Brownfield’ indicates there are already properties on the site. Greenbelt is a concept that covers large rural areas and is designed to stop new development occurring within them. One of the key concepts of Greenbelt is “openness”. This means keeping these areas as open as possible ie building as little as possible there.
This application is unusual because it is for less space than is already there, so will increase the “openness”. This is a key reason why it is likely to be allowed. However, the planning approval will also demand the demolition of the other buildings on this site to ensure this ‘openness’ is achieved.
This means if developers try to build extra houses there later on, Cheshire East can argue they would close down the “Openness”, so giving it good grounds to reject their plans.
Therefore, this is not the thin end of the wedge for this site, it does not set a precedent and does not mean additional building will be allowed there in future.
I hope this helps.
Hi Mo
As explained above, this application reduces the amount of building. It also provides a type of housing that is in need in Wilmslow. Neither was true for the Handforth Road development.
There is also the change in use category from business mixed-use to solely residential.
I am not in favour of this development because of the change of use from a mixture of B8, E(b) and E(c)iii) to wholly residential (C3). But I tend to agree with Marks interpretation that it is more likely to be approved than refused.
I agree with you, a garden centre does feel more appropriate for the greenbelt. Unfortunately though, this doesn't feature in greenbelt planning law.
That's because we can't see through a barn, shed, or farmhouse. So regardless of their use or design, all buildings reduce the amount of countryside we can see.
Therefore, in greenbelt planning, it is the height and size of the proposed construction (the mass) that is critical as it defines how much greenery or "openness" might be lost.
This application is very unusual because it is for smaller and lower buildings than are already there. Therefore, we will see more countryside and less buildings, which is the aim of greenbelt and a big reason why I think it will be approved.
Again I appreciate your comments and explanations / interpretations.
Let's mark your words and see what happens.
This should be confined to the pages of a 19th century Dickens novel but it’s not. It is happening here and now in 21st century Wilmslow. The Landlord wants to evict the tenants/s in order that they can demolish Morley Nurseries and other surrounding buildings in approximately 1.5 acres of land to enable them to build 4?? houses £££.
The only enhancement of this proposal will be to the bank balance of the Dickensian landlord. It’s affordable housing we need in the area not mansions. We seem to have lost sight or have chosen not to mention that this situation is very much about people losing their livelihoods .
If anyone wishes to oppose (or other) the planning application go to:-
Cheshire East Planning Applications and search by ref no; 21/5550M
or postcode SK9 4LY.
How is Elvis by the way, looks like he has someone translatiing his "text speak" into reasonable English, judging by his promotional feature on 20th July
As a garden centre the public could access the area and 'we' could see the countryside around. When it becomes a cul-de-sac of private houses we, the public will have no business being there. In a lay sense, this area of green belt will cease to be 'open' to us.
However much this reasoning makes sense, it won't feature in planning regulation law. I regard this as further ribbon development and fear it, I also fear that a formal objection to the application is futile and public interest is powerless.
Therefore, they can continue to trade there for this period at least and the houses cannot be built, even if planning permission is granted.