Plans to create a new country park on Green Belt land between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge are being considered by Cheshire East Council (CEC).
Val Sims and her two brothers Alan and Dudley Wain, own approximately 150 acres of land west of the A34 bypass, located between Horseshoe Farm and Wilmslow High School playing fields.
The siblings have met with Cllr Michael Jones and CEC officers to explore the possibility of transferring a large part of this land to the Council for a country park to be created, in return for allowing them to use the rest of the Green Belt land for housing.
The land has been owned by the family of dairy farmers for almost 40 years and is currently farmed by them
To the north of the site there is a Conservation Area and the suggestion is that this could be extended into the park where walkways, cycle and bridle paths would be created. Initial ideas include a lake and wetland area, providing an opportunity for canoeing and fishing, as well as building a bird viewing platform and extending the existing allotments, to the north of the site, into the park area.
In the area to the south of the country park, adjacent to the existing housing estate in Alderley Edge, new homes could be built which Mrs Sims said would "cater for the needs of all sections of the community and could meet the current and future needs and aspirations of Alderley Edge".
Val Sims added "We have no fixed ideas on the amount (of land to be transferred), as this would be part of the discussions with the Council. We are 'just floating the idea' at the moment and we are not sure what the next stage of the discussions will be.
Councillor Michael Jones, who is set to become leader of Cheshire East Council next month, mentioned the idea at a meeting of the Wilmslow Business Group last month.
He said "We've been offered a country park which would be the first one built on the country in 30 years, can you imagine a country park between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge? Some people want to build houses on Green Belt which we wouldn't normally allow so they are tempting us with a sweetener."
A spokesman for Cheshire East Council said: "No formal proposal for a country park between Wilmslow and Alderley Edge has been made – it is, however, part of wide discussions about the future of Wilmslow.
"The Council has been approached by a number of landowners in the area with interesting proposals. One idea has been, for example, for the creation of more country park spaces. This, alongside other representations, will be part of the ongoing discussions that will shape Cheshire East's Local Plan."
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The net result of the Sims / Wain proposal would be yet more erosion of green belt as the "quid pro quo" is planning consent for an area currently farmed.
The plans for Moor Lane are exceedingly worrying; this one-track lane barely copes with the present traffic (which, by the way, includes huge lorries carrying loads of precious peat from our rapidly-dwindling bog; what's going on there? Why can't this be a declared an SSI like the Common? Rumour has it that Crogan Peat has plans to build on part of the peat bogs too - anyone else heard about this?).