Cheshire East Council under fire over Hankelow appeal

As Hankelow awaits the outcome of an appeal against plans to build 10 homes in the village, consultants acting for the developer have launched a strong attack on Cheshire East Council over its handling of the case.

Hankelow has been waiting more than 12 months for a decision on outline plans for up to 10 homes on the A525 just north of the village centre.

In a strongly worded letter, Robert Homes, the head of Crewe-based consultancy The Planning Law and Environmental Advisory Service (PLEAS), has accused Cheshire East of 'misleading' the appeal hearing.

Mr Holmes told the Planning Inspector considering the appeal: "A desperate planning authority has misled and misguided the planning inspectorate in a series of ways"

And he added: "The council has shown a sad and unfortunate lack of integrity in answering this appeal case."

Outline consent to build homes on a field next to 4 Audlem Road, Hankelow was first sought in July 2012 and an appeal lodged when the plans were turned down in September on the grounds that it was not a "sustainable development".

The appeal hearing was held in April this year but the outcome has yet to be decided.

Mr Homes claims the argument made at the hearing on April 29th that Cheshire East had an adequate housing supply was "wrong and inappropriate" when, just two days later, on May 1st, its draft housing land assessment went out to public consultation.

And he claimed that an appeal decision on July 18th allowing Gladman Developments to build homes on land off Queen's Drive Nantwich showed that Cheshire East must have been aware they were not able to show sufficient housing supply provision when arguing the Hankelow case.

Mr Homes adds: "It is the Appellant's contention that the LPA (Local Planning Authority) deliberately misled the Appeal Hearing and the Planning Inspector."

The issue of Cheshire East's housing availability is a major issue in at least 14 other planning appeals currently in the pipeline.

Planning Inspectors have already noted that the contentious issue of Cheshire East's housing land supply figures are a matter common to all the cases and many appeals have been adjourned until the issue is resolved.

Appellants have all been assured that, in any event, individual appeals will be judged on their own merits but Cheshire East will be concerned that, if its housing supply figures are not accepted, the council's position in fighting many of these planning appeals, including the one for Hankelow, will be seriously weakened.

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