Bird's Nest Planning

Councillor Rachel Bailey provided this report from the Southern Planning Committee:

Herewith is my summary of the consideration of the above planning application at today's Committee. I anticipate that Geoff will provide a summary of his excellent presentation.

Both Parish Councillor Seddon and I attended and addressed CE Southern Planning Committee today in relation to the latest application for development on the Birds Next Site, off Audlem Road; application number 22/1302N.

I expressed concern that whilst the application may be recommended for refusal, I would want the council to best placed for any potential planning appeal. My concerns are:

1: The latest consultation on amended plans was only launched on the 17 August and was still live until noon today; post the committee's deliberations!

2: The series of amendments to the draft SADPD/Local Plan 2 in relation to this site, had inevitably caused confusion and potentially created a conflict with the Audlem Neighbourhood Plan.

3: The s106 contribution Heads of Terms, should an appeal be lodged and succeed, failed to take into account the Neighbourhood Plan Commitment to support a vibrant village centre, focussing on a play area on the site as opposed to supporting our central playing fields and I felt failed to secure the Transport Statements reference to a safe pedestrian crossing on Cheshire Street.

I therefore urged the committee to seek assurances and seriously consider deferral to allow a full consultation and ensure that the recommended refusal was sufficient to withstand a planning appeal.

The application was ultimately refused by a majority vote.

Click here to view the Agenda and detail

Rachel Bailey

Audlem Cheshire East Councillor