Handforth Parish Council calls for removal of new village from Local Plan

Trees in Phase 1 27 Oct 12 (lr)

Handforth Parish Council has lodged a letter of objection to Cheshire East's PreSubmission Core Strategy, which represents the latest version of the Local Plan.

The letter was discussed at a full Council meeting on Tuesday 10th December, where councillors unanimously agreed to support its contents which run into several pages and outlines their many reasons for rejecting the proposal to build a new village on the eastern edge of Handforth.

Handforth Parish Council agreed that plans for 1,800 new homes and 12 hectares of employment land at the North Cheshire Growth Village, to be located within the Green belt on land off the A34 Wilmslow-Handforth Bypass, ignores their wishes and objections as well as those of the residents of Handforth.

Cllr David Pincombe, who chaired the meeting, said "Throughout the three consultations that have taken place, the wishes and objections of both the Parish Council and more importantly the residents of Handforth have been totally ignored. Even worse, the housing being dumped in Handforth has grown at each consultation phase to an extent that if the plan goes ahead to build the now projected 2,500 homes we would lose the majority of our green barrier to neighbouring towns.

"Increased traffic generated by the gigantic development of Handforth East, would make the A34 bypass – already bad – a complete nightmare. Residents of Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Prestbury who currently use the A34 would see a doubling of traffic on to a road that is already full to capacity during commuting times."

Cllr Brian Tolver authored the letter with input from planning consultants, highways engineers and ecological scientists.

He added "The proposal breaks all the rules of Green Belt land. Cheshire East have gone about this as if they're the only people involved in this decision, but the real point of the Green Belt is as much to help encourage rebuilding in Manchester and Stockport, as well as to prevent the urban sprawl from swallowing up Handforth, and joining up the communities of northern Cheshire.

"It is also to give us some open countryside – the green lungs we all need. The Leader of Cheshire East Council says it's only one per cent of the Green Belt – but because it's so close to Greater Manchester, it's actually the most vital piece of Green Belt there is in the north of this Borough. And they have totally ignored the really high-value biodiversity on the land – including rare and protected species. They have done a terrible job of assessing this site."

The grounds on which Handforth Parish Council has objected include: the proposed Handforth East site is on perhaps the most valuable parcel of Green belt in the northern area of East Cheshire; it represents an inappropriate and excessive levels of housing for Handforth's needs; provides the wrong type of housing; is an inappropriate location, will lead to significant traffic congestion and the habitat supports some important species of flora and fauna - including some that are rare and protected.

Their letter concludes that "Handforth Parish Council considers the Pre-Submission Core Strategy to be unsound for the reasons stated above. We believe the site at Handforth East is unnecessary- certainly, so far as Handforth's needs are concerned - and in the wrong place. It should be deleted from the Core Strategy entirely – both the Green Belt element and the Safeguarded element.

"Handforth Parish Council considers that CEC should, in this final phase before the Public Examination, withdraw the proposal for Handforth East."

Handforth Parish Council is urging as many people as possible to respond to Cheshire East's consultation, which they can do by using the consultation pages on the Cheshire East Council website or by emailing [email protected].

Cllr Tolver added "But please do so quickly - the deadline for responding is Monday the 16th December."

Tags:
Handforth Parish Council, Local Plan
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Comments

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

Rob Sawyer
Sunday 15th December 2013 at 3:36 am
Handforth Parish Council should be commended for taking this stance.

Despite residents giving their views over several consultations, Cheshire East Council (CEC) is still putting forward the removal of an invaluable chunk of Green Belt Land - conveniently owned by CEC - with a view to the construction of an eventual 2300 homes.

Imagine the green buffer between North East Cheshire (Wilmslow, Handforth, Woodford, Poynton) being removed to create a continuous urban sprawl; Green Belt was designated to prevent this happening yet that is what is proposed

Further development in Handforth (to add to the 174 Jones Homes, Care "Village" and Next development) will exacerbate traffic chaos on the A34 corridor (then add a potential 950 homes in Woodford to the mix).

Has CEC considered Brownfield sites and, where necessary, other Green Field sites throughout the Borough?

To top things off, we now learn that "Handforth East" would be treated as a totally separate settlement in its own right. Therefore developers’ financial contributions would be focussed on the new development rather than being shared to make much-needed improvements in “existing” Handforth.

Whether you agree or object to the latest proposals put forward by CEC please do have you say: Email and no later than 16 December.