Yet another Audlem planning application

Yet another major planning application has been submitted to Cheshire East Council planners for an estate in Audlem.

The site is directly opposite the Gladman site at Little Heath and is adjacent to an area called Birds Nest. It is on the eastern side of the A529 just as you leave the village – see plan to the right which you should click on to see in appropriate detail.

We cannot but observe that being near to the so-called 'Birds Nest', no building work should be possible during the nesting season!

While there have been rumours of an application for this site for some time, it will be a significant test of both Cheshire East's Local Plan and Audlem's Neighbourhood Plan when this latest proposed development goes before the planning committees.

As all who have followed the planning sagas in Audlem will know, there are currently 175 approved new dwellings in Audlem and this latest application, if approved, will push the figure to virtually 200 dwellings, well above any figure envisaged in the Cheshire East Local Plan in Audlem – and that's over the next twenty years.

Audlem's Neighbourhood Plan has already been submitted to Cheshire East and can become an official part of the planning process. This planning application will be the first test locally as to how much notice the law actually takes of a professionally produced Neighbourhood Plan which local residents have been working on for over a year.

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee, has responded to this application, saying: "The proposed development is outside of the Audlem Settlement Boundary and as such would conflict with the Audlem 'Emerging' Neighbourhood Plan as submitted for approval.

They add: "There have been examples where emerging plans have been taken into consideration and used to stop conflicting development applications so hopefully this may be the case here."

For those that want to examine the documents on the Cheshire East website, the Reference Number is 15/3257N. It is an Outline Planning Application for a housing development for 21 dwellings with access and the address is:

Land adjacent to Birds Nest,
Audlem Road
Audlem
CW3 0HF

In addition to this application, AudlemOnline reported last month on the anticipated planning application for another development to the north of the existing housing on the western side of the village.

This probable application was discussed at the July meeting of Audlem Parish Council after the consultants acting for the landowner met with representatives of the parish council. At this stage it is unknown how many dwellings will be involved but it will almost certainly push the number of approved and applied for dwellings well over the two hundred mark.

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