COUNCILS PROTEST 228-HOME PLANS

Development would be fifth to hit town recently

TWO councils have joined forces to object to a plan for 228 homes on the edge of a North Staffordshire town.

Bloor Homes has put forward an outline application to build the new houses, pictured right, on land east of Froghall Road, Cheadle.

Hundreds of new homes are already being built in the town on land off Froghall Road, as well as on the former JCB factory off Oakamoor Road, and also on land off Ashbourne Road, along with a 39-home development at Augustus Fields off Birchwood Grove.

The latest proposal has sparked objections, including concerns that doctors’ surgeries, schools and dentists are already at capacity in the area. Representatives of both Kingsley Parish Council and Cheadle Town Council have now agreed a mutually supportive approach and forwarded their objections to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) on the following grounds:

The development is on agricultural land not identified as suitable for development within the SMDC Local

Plan;

The development exceeds the agreed quota for housing in the area;

The existing road network is ‘wholly inadequate’ to cope with existing traffic and the proposed development would significantly add to the problem;

The existing infrastructure is barely adequate to cope with the existing population, particularly schools and medical facilities. The development would significantly add to this;

The proposed access off Froghall Road is considered a serious road safety risk.

To date there have been more than 70 separate objections to the proposal by members of the public.

In a joint statement, Councillors Ken Unwin (Kingsley) and Alan Thomas (Cheadle) said: “There are a number of well-founded concerns about this planning application which has very significant implications.

“It is likely to be some weeks before this issue is determined by SMDC.

“We would encourage anyone who has concerns about the proposal to set out their objections in writing to the SMDC planning officer as soon as possible.”

Full details of the planning application can be found on the SMDC planning department website under the reference SMD/2021/0610.