‘There is a lack of vision for Cheadle at district level’

AT THE SMDC Planning Committee meeting on Thursday, May 12, Cheadle Councillors Stephen Ellis and Peter Jackson voted to approve the residential development of The Swan Inn, Town End, Cheadle, an application that had been rejected by the Town Council that Ellis sits on and Jackson represents at District level.

The application was approved with a majority of two votes.

The Town Council’s main objection to the application was to do with road safety and the increase in parked cars that a three-house development would bring to this busy main road.

Parking on Town End is already difficult and when cars are parked at certain points, especially in front of The Swan, traffic quickly builds.

There have been serious accidents on this road in recent years as well as parked cars that have been badly damaged by speeding cars.

A zebra crossing is located further down from The Swan, this is often obscured by parked cars and I tell my children not to use it as drivers regularly miss people waiting to cross.

Cllr Mark Deaville, who strongly opposed the application, asked

SMDC’S head of development services Ben Hayward to see the deliberations and decisions about removing The Swan’s licence.

Mr Hayward replied that

“the adopted Local Plan policy only requires for there to be alternative public houses…(there is a) Wetherspoons which is less than 500m down the road”.

The Swan and the Wheatsheaf play very different roles in our community.

The Swan hosted pool, darts and cribbage leagues. It was the free meeting venue for community and charity groups.

It was the venue for christening parties and funeral wakes. It raised money for local charities with quiz nights, open mic nights and karaoke.

There is a distinct lack of vision for Cheadle by some at district level; a short-sightedness that’s only interested in building houses with little thought for commercial investment or infrastructure.

Cheadle is six miles from Alton Towers and is its closest large town.

Our town should be a tourist hotspot for those visiting Alton Towers, either stopping to visit en route or staying in a Cheadle hotel or bed and breakfast.

The Swan is the fifth pub along the main route through Cheadle from the M6 to Alton Towers to close in recent years.

Of those five, one will become residential, two will be offices, one will possibly be apartments and one has become a branch of a national pizza chain. Domino’s can see the benefit of our town’s proximity to Alton Towers, why can’t our District Council?

Councillors Stephen Ellis and Peter Jackson didn’t just vote to approve an application that had been rejected by our town council, they voted for more traffic in Cheadle.

They voted for unsafe roads. They voted for less community spaces. They voted for less commercial investment in our town. They voted for longer waits to see a doctor or dentist.

Let’s hope their lack of vision and support for our town means they are voted out of town and district councils at the earliest opportunity and replaced with councillors who really care about our town and its residents.

With that in mind, I would like to thank Cllr Deaville, Cllr Gary Bentley, Cllr Ian Plant and Cllr Liz Whitehouse for their support.

Tim Laws Town End, Cheadle