Concern over distribution of housing development

Allow me to introduce myself, I am a resident of South Cheshire and this email has been sent to various councils and action groups in South Cheshire who care about the future development of the southern part of the borough.

As you will no doubt be aware, Cheshire East Council is currently seeking consultation responses on its Pre-Submission Core Strategy. The deadline for responses is only a week away, at 11.59pm next Monday 16th December.

Clicking here takes you to the online consultation page. If you page down and click on 'Supporting Documents' you can download the Pre-Submission Core Strategy. Hard copy responses can be sent to: Spatial Planning, Cheshire East Council, Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 1HZ.

Chart

I have prepared a bar chart to illustrate – you can click on it to the right to enlarge – and compare the spatial distribution of housing development proposed in Cheshire East Council's Draft Development Strategy (DDS) and in the Pre-Submission Core Strategy (PSCS) which is currently the subject of consultation.

The bar chart graphically illustrates what is proposed. The principal town of Crewe is expected to accommodate almost 25% of the houses for the period up to 2030 whilst the other principal town – Macclesfield – would get approximately half that number.

Nantwich and Alsager have had their allocations increased by 350 and 600 dwellings respectively, Sandbach has had its allocation reduced by 200. Meanwhile, three towns in the north of the borough – Knutsford, Wilmslow and Poynton – get only 1,250 dwellings between them!

Justification

The council can justify the proposed spatial distribution in part by making reference to the 'All Change for Crewe' agenda, the fact that Crewe is close to major transport infrastructure like the A500 and M6, which are scheduled to be improved etc. Granted, some regeneration and investment in Crewe is required but does it really need to grow by another 6,850 dwellings?

Each recipient of this email may well be minded not to 'rock the boat' if their village or town doesn't come off too badly in the proposals. However, consider the bigger picture. All of the villages and towns I have emailed are in close proximity to Crewe and all would be affected by what is proposed – 6,850 new houses in Crewe.

Responses

I have checked the council's online consultation portal and at present, the vast majoity of responses are from people residing in Macclesfield, Poynton,and towns/villages in the north of the borough. There are not many responses from residents in the south of the borough.

So I have issued this email to encourage everyone to respond to the current consultation, together we need to fight South Cheshire's corner.

I understand from a fellow professional that one of the reasons the council does not have a 5-year supply of housing in place is because not enough houses have been built in the north of the borough in the last 3-4 years.

Penalised

If that is correct, it could be argued that South Cheshire is being unfairly penalised as a result of the former local planning authorities in the north of the borough failing to plan for and build enough dwellings.

Even if this is not true, in my opinion it is fair to say that towns in South Cheshire are being forced to accept a disproportionate amount of housing development by dint of their proximity to Crewe. The 'All Change for Crewe' agenda does appear to to be well-intentioned, however, it could also be construed as being a very convenient vehicle for dumping a massive amount of housing development on South Cheshire.

In addition, also be mindful that the Pre-Submission Core Strategy is by no means the finished article. There will be a lot of objections to it from developers whose sites are not included in it and these objections will have to be considered by an independent Inspector who will also have to test the 'soundness' of the plan.

Don't be lulled

So, if your town comes off relatively unscathed in the Pre-Submission Core Strategy, don't be lulled into a false sense of security, because things could change significantly from the document currently being consulted upon to the final, adopted Local Plan.

I trust you will see fit to submit a representation to the Pre-Submission Core Strategy. If South Cheshire doesn't make its views known, the likely result is Armageddon. Please make your views known before it is too late. We must work together to prevent having thousands of unwanted homes forced upon us.

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