Cheshire East Local Plan moves to next stage
Cheshire East’s revised Local Plan will go out to public consultation on Friday 4 March, after a 700-page document of amends to the plan was approved at a meeting of the full council.
The draft Local Plan includes a range of new development sites to support an increased target of 36,000 homes needed in the borough by 2030.
When first published in 2014, the plan proposed a minimum of 27,000 houses between 2010 and 2030, averaging 1,350 homes a year. After Government planning inspector Stephen Pratt suspended the examination into the plan to allow for further research, the council increased the number of dwellings by 33% to 36,000. The requirement for new jobs has gone up from 13,900 to 31,400 on 930-acres of land.
To accommodate this increase, denser development is needed on land previously included in the plan, and changes include alterations to the green belt around Macclesfield, Alsager, Poynton and Wilmslow.
The blueprint will now go forward to six weeks of public consultation running from 4 March to 19 April.
The council is then due to submit the Local Plan, with any amendments, to the planning inspector in the summer. Examinations are expected to resume in September.
At the same meeting on Friday 26 February, Cllr Rachel Bailey, cabinet member in charge of the local plan, was confirmed as leader of Cheshire East Council. She replaces Cllr Michael Jones, who resigned before Christmas amidst allegations of improper conduct.
Bailey said: “The very positive views expressed by the Inspector have enabled the Council to make amendments to our Local Plan with confidence and publish these for public consultation.
“I would like to reassure our residents that this Council has been doing – and will continue to do – everything possible to progress the Local Plan, speed up its completion and move towards its successful adoption.
“With every stage we are working hard to bring the final adoption of the Local Plan a step closer and help provide Cheshire East with a blueprint to better shape future growth and prevent unplanned or unsustainable development in the borough.”
To view the Local Plan strategy suite of documents click here
