Parish planning consultant cost over £1,000

Hiring a consultant to oppose the Gladman housing scheme has cost Audlem more than £1,000.

The 15-page document outlining the Parish Council's opposition to plans to build 120 homes on the outskirts of the village was submitted on July 18th, less than a week before the deadline.

Councillors agreed to pay £1,000 to £1,100 for the report to be drafted by professional planning consultants and set aside £250 for any out-of-pocket expenses. Only one councillor voted against the cash outlay at the recent Parish Council meeting.

Councillors approved the spending after a working group had trawled through all 23 supporting statement issued by or on behalf of Gladman Developments for their planning application.

Councillor Geoff Seddon, for the working group, said the appointment of a consultant would ensure the best possible objection was submitted by the Parish Council.

Macclesfield-based consultants Architectural Design set out several strong objections to the Gladman scheme.

They argued the application failed to comply with the Development Plan or with the National Planning Policy Framework; impacted badly on local heritage and environment; breached government policy on agricultural land; failed to meet village housing design standards and was out of step with Cheshire East Council's draft policy on housing in the open countryside.

Objections also included concern at the loss of important hedgerows, the impact on the village drainage system and the sustainability of the development.

You can download the full parish council comment by clicking here or read it online at the Cheshire East website here.

Started in 1983, Architectural Design is a chartered architectural practice of architectural surveyors and town planning consultants. Its website does not claim any expertise in opposing planning applications but says "the company does have a significant record in other sectors with its in-house resource of designers and technicians who have a great deal of experience in a wide range of project types including residential, sheltered housing, leisure, industrial and commercial."

• An extra eight objections from individuals have now appeared on the Cheshire East website taking the total number of objections over 160. Although the deadline date for objections was July 24th it can sometime take several days for submissions to be scrutinised before they appear as having been registered.

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