MP urges planners to reject homes bid
MP David Rutley has written to council planners urging them to throw out controversial proposals for 232 homes in Macclesfield.
The housing development would be on the south side of Chelford Road, one of three that are together described as the biggest house building project for a generation in the town.
All have been given outline planning permission, despite huge opposition, and the current application is a ‘reserved matters’ to agree the finer detail.
It has come from joint developers Jones Homes and Redrow Homes but Mr Rutley’s letter urges Cheshire East Council to refuse the application in its current form.
Among his ‘strong objections’ are air quality issues, flood risk, habitat destruction, pressure on infrastructure such as schools and the scale of the development.
Mr Rutley’s letter says: “Given the number of homes that are proposed around Chelford Road it is vital that there is a full assessment of the cumulative impact of these developments on local air quality, with detailed action plans setting out how these serious air quality concerns will be mitigated. He continued by echoing concerns raised when outline planning permission was given: “I continue to have strong concerns about the robustness of the data that has informed the recommendations.
“In particular that pollution tube CE91, which was located at the Broken Cross roundabout was removed prior to these three large planning applications and therefore no data from this tube can have been used in the assessments.”
Many of the concerns raised are shared by Henbury Parish Council and Save Macclesfield Green Belt group.
The letter adds that data was collected when students were off school so not reflective of typical traffic levels.
Henbury Parish Council has also commissioned a flood risk assessment of the three proposed developments by experts Weetwood.
It highlighted a number of risks that it said would need addressing before planning approval could be given.
The two other applications are also for sites off Chelford Road, that have 157 and 31 homes respectively.
Redrow Homes and Jones Homes were approached for comment but declined.
John Cooper, land director for Redrow Homes, has previously said: “Planning a development of this size requires close collaboration not only between ourselves and our partners Jones Homes, but also with the local authority. We are all committed to creating a high quality environment with strong placemaking principles.
“There are shops, schools and other services locally, making this a very sustainable place for new housing.
“Our Section 106 commitments to local infrastructure, schools and hospitals will be important in ensuring the new homes integrate with the existing community and we will also be helping to meet local housing need.”
Councillor Toni Fox, cabinet member for planning, said: “These are sites identified as potential development sites within the Cheshire East local plan strategy.
“Outline planning permission was granted following all the required consultation procedures and planning protocols, including reference to air quality, flood risk and ecology. The principle of development, therefore, cannot be revisited.
“These applications have now progressed to the detailed planning stage, where matters including design, layout and landscaping will be assessed against appropriate policies, prior to any decision by the planning committee.”