Parish bids to beat 106 deadline

Parish councillors are hoping a 'wish list' of projects that could be funded from the Mill Lane housing scheme will beat today's planning deadline.

Audlem Parish Council heard last night it had only one day to submit any Section 106 demands to Cheshire East's Strategic Planning Board meeting tomorrow morning.

Councillors voted to delegate powers to its own planning group to decide which projects to include so they could meet today's deadline.

The parish will, of course, be asking the Board to refuse outline planning consent to build up to 36 homes on land off the Mill Lane bridleway.

But if Hockehull Properties Ltd does lodge and win an appeal against refusal, the company could still be required to fund various village projects as part of planning conditions.

The Mill Lane 'wish list' is likely to include requests for funding to improve Heathfield Road and to mitigate flood problems at Salford.

Parish councillors were also told on Monday night why a Section 106 'wish list' on the Gladman appeal would not be going forward.

Cheshire East's Principal Planner Ben Haywood told councillors that Section 106 agreements can only apply for schemes that help make a development acceptable in planning terms or that help mitigate the impact of a development.

The parish council's Gladman 'wish list', which was also submitted at the last minute, included 'infrastructure shortfalls' as outlined in the Audlem Parish Plan of 2010.

Councillor Dave Siddorns told councillors he was unhappy at the way the Gladman 'wish list' had been drawn up by a group of members and not discussed at a full parish council meeting.

"It was not democratic. We should be doing things out in the open," he said.

His views echoed those of parish councillor, John Langston, who called the council "out of control" at its September meeting after a leaflet was published announcing the parish council's opposition to the Mill Lane proposals before the issue had been discussed at full council.

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