Council to decide on final Local Plan blueprint

Cheshire East Council is paving the way for submission of its Local Plan and is today revealing the strategic sites and planning policies contained within it.

The consultation itself has generated enough words to produce five volumes of War and Peace and has been almost six years in the making.

It is revealed today before it passed through the final stages of strategic planning board and full council.

It means the document is considered to be in great shape before submission to the Planning Inspectorate as a strategic defence against unsuitable developments.

The Leader of Cheshire East Council Councillor Michael Jones said he believed it was one of the best Local Plans in the country. He said: "This has been an incredible journey – and we've had to steer through some tricky diversions to get the best deal for the people of Cheshire East.

"What we've achieved is testament to all the hard work of councillors, officers and the public who have been a strong vocal presence through this process and we now hope that we have struck the best balance possible to get it right.

"This plan is about developing Cheshire East to maintain its reputation as the best place to live in the north west, whilst providing for our younger generation so they can live and work in the area they were born.

"It is about the future, job availability, excellent educational standards and a great quality of life. This plan, coupled with our five year housing supply, is also about protecting the residents of Cheshire East against unwanted, unsustainable and unplanned development."

The Local Plan for south of the borough

Major proposals for south of the borough include:

• Regeneration of Crewe as a major focus for growth and development with new jobs and homes while planning for a greener healthier urban environment.
• A proposed expansion of the green belt to ensure that Crewe and Nantwich remain as distinctive and separate settlements.
• Major business park proposed at junction 17 in Sandbach.
• Significant extension of employment areas in Middlewich.
• Sustainable urban extensions in Nantwich, Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach.

The Local Plan document is due to go before the Strategic Planning Board on Wednesday, February 26th after which it will be brought before full Council on Friday, February 28th.

The Local Plan document will require ratification from both committees prior to a final period for representations and submissions to the Planning Inspectorate.

AudlemOnline adds: If you would like to read more – although please note that it is over 1,000 pages long, so best not to print off! – you can access the agenda and detailed public documentation by clicking here.

The lists of areas in the main towns scheduled for major housing development are on pages 52-55 (this includes Crewe and Nantwich) while those areas being designated for potential future development (safeguard land) are on page 57.

Statistics:

• Between January and February 2013, a statutory consultation was undertaken and 10,000 responses were received by the Council.
• 8,500 consultation responses were received between November and December 2013, totalling some 2.5million words.
• 38% of comments were submitted online using the Council's consultation portal; 36% were submitted by email and 26% were submitted on paper.
• More than 100 strategic sites were evaluated
• Each site had over 20 criteria and 80 individual checks to ensure sustainability including accessibility to public services, open spaces, transport, heritage, flooding, climate change, health impact assessment, equality impact assessment and effect on rural communities.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.