Muller Planning Application

MULLER PROPERTY GROUP AMENDED PLANNING APPLICATION

The Action Group is working on a response to an amended application made on behalf of Muller Property Group to develop the land beyond Tollgate Drive and Moorsfield Avenue into a new housing estate. The original application was paused last summer after an overwhelming number of objections by Audlem residents and negative comments from some Cheshire East Council departments.

The application has now been revised and there are a number of amendments which appear to be designed to meet some of the earlier comments from Cheshire East. Features of the amended application include:

• Making the only vehicle access to the proposed development via Tollgate Drive which will increase and concentrate traffic on the Tollgate Drive/Whitchurch Road/Green Lane junction and the narrow bridge over the canal as well as substantially increasing the volume of traffic through Tollgate Drive itself;
• Whilst the overall number of proposed houses from 127 to 116, that is still significantly more than the 34 houses on the same site in 2017;
• Maintaining the line of dwellings (albeit now bungalows) along the ridge above the canal which will be obvious and visible from the canal towpath and the Cemetery altering the character of the area;
• Not clearly addressing the risks of adding to the frequent flooding of the River Weaver from surface water run-off from the proposed development and
• Not clearly addressing how surface water will be managed on the Audlem side of the proposed development.

Last summer Cheshire East Council unanimously agreed to lobby central government to reduce the target for new housing for Cheshire East and, in the words of the Council Leader at that time:

"We do need to build houses, but we need the right houses in the right place, at the right tenure, at the right size, with the right services."

The question is whether the Muller Property application would represent a growth that Audlem needs and can sustain? Remember, there is also another proposal in the wings to build houses on land on the other side of the village adjacent to the McKelvey Way development.

The date for any further objections and comments is now 2nd April 2026.