Cheshire East Council Approves Two Residential Schemes, Adding 300 Homes

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Cheshire East Council's Strategic Planning Committee has approved Bellway's scheme off Cumber Lane, as well as the Dean Row Road project put forward by Jones Homes and Taylor Wimpey, adding 300 homes to a housing supply that remains below target.

The committee now meets only every two months, and this morning's meeting considered both applications. Bellway consulted on a 125-home plan last year and recently submitted plans to add 42 homes to that scheme; this application was not considered at this meeting.

Because Cheshire East's local plan has expired, the housing land supply position is recorded at 3.3 years, well below the five-year target, and officers recommended approval; no statutory consultee objected. However, 480 residents objected. Councillor Mark Goldsmith spoke at length about concerns over flooding and drainage; Wilmslow Town Council councillor Tim Higgins also raised the impact on the Lindow Moss landscape and noted that applications should be considered on a case-by-case basis, but raised concerns about the cumulative impact of multiple schemes around Moor Lane, including an 88-home Cityside scheme.

Speaking in defence of Bellway were planning consultant Richard Barton, a director at AshtonHale, and peat expert Martin Dyer, founder of e3p. Barton spoke about Bellway's track record in the area, including homes at Alderley Park. The Bellway scheme has agreed to include 30% affordable housing, with an overall housing mix of 8 one-bedroom homes (all affordable), 24 two-bedroom, 59 three-bedroom, 24 four-bedroom and 10 five-bedroom homes.

Several members said they were reluctant to vote in favour given the edge-of-settlement location and the high traffic volumes already experienced in the area, but would do so because they felt the supply position left them with no choice until a new local plan is in place. The scheme documents can be viewed on Cheshire East Council's (CEC) planning portal under reference 25/1573/FUL.

Returning to the committee after a deferral in June, the joint application by Jones Homes and Taylor Wimpey was also approved, by 8 votes in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions. The scheme involves 168 homes and is effectively phase two of Taylor Wimpey's adjacent Heathfield Farm development, extending development to the Dean Row roundabout — a key junction on the route to Woodford and currently a popular choice for Stockport land promoters.

Following a July hearing, the applicant must address several matters, including that the construction access can only be from Dean Row Road, that more trees and hedgerows be retained, and that the existing cycleway be upgraded rather than replaced. Public transport and NHS contributions also need to be re-examined. Further discussions on these issues made satisfactory progress for both parties. The existing cycleway will be retained and will not need upgrading; the arboricultural officer is satisfied that the trees proposed for felling are of low quality and that this will be compensated for by new planting. The meeting decided there were no planning grounds to prevent construction access from Brown's Lane.

However, the issue that occupied the meeting most was drainage and flood risk. Planning officers reported that the applicant had prepared a new drainage strategy and improved summary note in response to concerns raised at the first meeting. There were concerns that local water flows had changed since the phase one development. The lead local flood authority has examined this issue, specifically concerning the culverted watercourse downstream of Heathfield Farm near Wilmslow Academy. Lichfields and eScape are the key consultants. The scheme will include 30% affordable housing, broken down as: 12 one-bedroom homes (all affordable), 38 two-bedroom, 79 three-bedroom, 35 four-bedroom and 4 five-bedroom homes. The scheme documents can be viewed on Cheshire East Council's (CEC) planning portal under reference 25/2071/FUL.