£3.7m spent on Local Plan

Cheshire East Council has defended the authority's spending on its Local Plan after critics attacked the authority for spending £3.7m on the blueprint for development in the Borough up to 2030.

However, Councillor Michael Jones said the sum was money well spent to protect Cheshire East from unplanned and unsustainable development and 'a drop in the ocean' compared to the economic benefit to all the residents in the years to come.

The public examination of the Local Plan has now been paused as the Council is minded to make some modifications following the Planning Inspector's interim report. This, say the council, is not unusual and is happening in many other local authorities across the country.

Cllr Jones said: "A spend of £3.7m would equate to the monetary value of about 1.5 acres of development on land in the north of the Borough.

"When you consider that many developers are trying to get planning permissions on our greenbelt and greenfield sites – £3.7m to protect us from up to £81 billion of development gain going in unsustainable locations seems pretty good value for money to me."

The Local Plan received more than 40,000 responses from residents and organisations, which were collated, assessed and fed into the submission version of the Local Plan Strategy. The strategy has also undergone nine rounds of public consultation since 2010.

Cheshire East has now created a Task Force, led by Councillor Peter Raynes, to drive and coordinate the work to address the inspector's concerns and strengthen the Local Plan.

Cllr Raynes, Cabinet member for finance, added: "It is important to bear in mind that the pause in the public examination of the Local Plan is not a rejection of the entire Local Plan – and we welcome the opportunity to address the specific areas of concern to the Inspector.

"The report highlights some weaknesses in the Local Plan but there's plenty that's right – the duty to cooperate with neighbouring Councils for example.

"The delay is regrettable but it is important that this document is right for the people of Cheshire looking forward to 2030.

"We fully support the Government's Localism agenda and believe local people should have the power to shape their communities and the final Local Plan will reflect this.

"We will continue to put residents first while working with the Planning Inspectorate to get this right. Our mantra has always been to protect Cheshire East from unsustainable development and is a commitment we stand by."

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