228 MORE HOMES PLANNED FOR TOWN
But families say area will struggle to cope
FAMILIES fear traffic problems and pressure on public services if plans for up to 228 homes in open countryside are approved.
Bloor Homes (North West) is the latest in a series of developers to eye up land on the outskirts of Cheadle.
Now a planning application has been submitted to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council for the new estate off Froghall Road. It would effectively extend the town outwards towards Kingsley Holt.
The proposals include a mix of two and three-bedroom bungalows, semidetached properties and detached homes with between three and five bedrooms.
A third of them would be designated as affordable housing and up to half would be ‘accessible and adaptable’ for residents with disabilities.
The 5.48-hectare site is also set to include space for 10 self-build or custom-build homes.
A design document, submitted as part of the application, states: “The development of the site would result in a sympathetic, sustainable and high-quality unique gateway into Cheadle.”
It comes as hundreds of new homes are already being built in and around Cheadle, including a Persimmon Homes development off Froghall Road. The former JCB factory, off Oakamoor Road, is also being turned into housing.
Residents of the area recently took part in a consultation exercise before the outline planning application was submitted. Most of the responses were objections, although there were also some ‘expressions of interest’ in the new properties.
Issues raised included:
Fears it could lead to ‘unacceptable traffic congestion’ and also safety concerns about the access point off the A521;
Loss of open agricultural land, ‘encroachment into the open countryside’ and loss of biodiversity; The impact on drainage;
Loss of privacy for people living in nearby Hammersley Hayes Road;
Pressure on local schools, doctors’ surgeries and dentists, which are already ‘at capacity’.
Emery Planning, which carried out the consultation on behalf of Bloor Homes, says a number of the issues are now being addressed.
Now the public have until November 3 to submit comments about the application before it is considered by planners.
Representatives from Kingsley Parish Council and Cheadle Town Council arranged a meeting earlier this week to consider a joint strategy or ‘mutually supportive’ approach to what is being proposed.
Chairman of Kingsley Parish Council, Ken Unwin said: “We need time to fully consider this fairly complex planning application.
“At this early stage the priority must be to raise local awareness of the issue.
“We have already heard concerns from a number of Hammersley Hayes residents.”