Delight at refusal of housing plans

VILLAGE residents have welcomed a decision by the planning minister to refuse a development on green land.

Marton Parish Council has been fighting an application by Manchester-based company HSL to build 27 houses on a field off School Lane in the village, backed up by a neighbourhood plan which is against the site being built on.

Planning permission for the development was refused by Cheshire East in October 2015.

The case went to the Secretary of State on appeal but he dismissed the appeal and refused to grant planning permission.

Village residents along with Marton Parish Council have welcomed the news that the Secretary of State has upheld the decision to refuse the permission.

Coun David McGowan, from Marton Parish Council, said the decision gives weight to the neighbourhood plan, which was drawn up using the views of residents.

It said: “This decision will hopefully encourage all parish communities to press ahead and make a Neighbourhood Plan, confident that residents’ views will matter when planning applications are being considered.

“The Marton Neighbourhood Plan was formally adopted in November 2016, the cumulation of two years of work by a dedicated team of parish councillors with assistance from Cheshire East council’s Neighbourhood Planning Team.

“Marton Parish Council have spent the last two years fighting this application and are grateful for the support they received from David Rutley MP, councillor Lesley Smetham, and most importantly, the residents of Marton village.”

The Planning Committee of Marton Parish Council will meet in June to discuss a second application for this development.