Public probe into Local Plan

Public probe into 'soundness' of Cheshire East's Local Plan Strategy

Members of the public will have the chance to attend a probe into the 'soundness' of Cheshire East Council's Local Plan.

The Local Plan Strategy document sets out the Council's case for sustainable economic growth and is the strategy that the Council wants to adopt to manage development in Cheshire East up to 2030.

The Local Plan Strategy and all associated documents, including the comments received during the representation period, were submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on May 20, 2014, in preparation for independent examination.

The Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy will now be subject to an independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate at Macclesfield Town Hall in September.

More than 40,000 responses from residents and organisations were collated, assessed and fed-in to the 'submission version' of the Local Plan Strategy.

The strategy has undergone nine rounds of public consultation since 2010, and the final six-week consultation, when even more comments were received over March and April this year, attracted 3,458 responses alone from 657 individuals and organisations.

Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said he believes Cheshire East has one of the best and most-consulted-upon Local Plans in the country. "We have had to steer through some tough challenges but we are confident we have got a truly sound Local Plan that delivers the best deal for the people of Cheshire East.

"This plan is about ensuring that Cheshire East will continue to maintain its reputation as the best place to live in the North West, while providing for our younger generation so they can live, work and truly prosper in the communities where they were born.

"This plan, coupled with our five-year housing land supply, is also about protecting the residents of Cheshire East from unwanted, unsustainable and unplanned development."

Inspector Stephen Pratt has been appointed to conduct the examination to determine whether the Local Plan Strategy is sound. The programme officer for the examination is Miss Kerry Trueman.

The examination is a continuous process, which runs from submission through to the receipt of the Inspector's report. Part of the process will involve hearing sessions, where those invited to attend will have the opportunity to respond to matters raised by the Inspector.

Please note that only those parties who made representations on the 'submission version' of the plan during the prescribed period, and who were seeking some change to the plan, are entitled to speak.

The hearing sessions will, however, be open to any parties who wish to attend to observe proceedings.

The public hearings into the Cheshire East Local Plan Strategy Submission Version, which are expected to sit for about six weeks, will begin as follows:

• Start date: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 (please note that the hearing sessions will not take place during the week commencing October 13);
• Time: Starting at 10am;
• Venue: Macclesfield Town Hall, Macclesfield, SK10 1EA. For a location map, visit the Council's website at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk

For further information regarding the Local Plan Strategy please check our website: http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/localplan or contact the spatial planning team by emailing localplan@cheshireeast.gov.uklocalplan@cheshireeast.gov.uk> or ring the team on 01270 685893.

All queries relating to the examination should be addressed to the programme officer, Miss Kerry Trueman, via email at: ProgrammeOfficer@cheshireeast.gov.ukProgrammeOfficer@cheshireeast.gov.uk>
Alternatively, by post to:
Cheshire East Local Plan Programme Officer
Spatial Planning Team, 1st Floor Westfields
C/O Municipal Buildings
Earle Street
Crewe CW1 2BJ
Telephone: 07582 310364

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