Parish to 'vigorously oppose' housing scheme

Audlem Parish Council is to 'vigorously oppose' plans by Gladman Developments to build 120 homes in the village.

The decision follows a public meeting in the village hall last week when more than 100 people turned up to discuss the scheme.

Parish councillors are to invite interested people to join an action group, to sound out professional advice on ways to fight the proposals and to spell out objections to Cheshire East in advance of any formal application to get planning consent.

Parish chairman Kate Down spelled out the main objections to the proposals at the monthly meeting of the Parish Council last night.

She said the Gladman development does not fall within the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment; is not compatible with the Village Design Statement; is outside the village boundary; fails to meet local housing needs; is too dense with far too many houses for the site and with house numbers that cannot be supported by local infrastructure, in particular the disposal of sewage.

She said: "The people of Audlem made clear their objections at the recent meeting. The Parish Council will vigorously oppose these speculative and opportunistic proposals."

The Parish Council will now press Cheshire East for an indication of when it can finalise its Local Plan which, still in its draft stage could, some fear, give Gladman Developments a legal loophole to gain outline planning consent.

Cheshire East's top planners will be quizzed on the current state of the Local Plan and the Parish is to contact other councils facing similar planning applications.

They also agreed to seek advice from those with professional expertise in planning matters such as retired senior planning officers and organisations such as the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.

Congleton-based developers, Gladman Developments, want to build 120 homes and community facilities on land at Little Heath on the edge of the village.

Cheshire East Council has identified Audlem as a sustainable settlement where new housing will be located to help meet a local-authority-wide housing shortage.

• More tomorrow with an article on AudlemOnline on how the national Government must act now to close the loopholes being exploited by speculative developers like Gladman. It is a national issue and AudlemOnline has received messages from communities elsewhere under the same threat.

For those interested in keeping up-to-date with Gladman developments we have created a special Gladman index in the newsroom. You access it by clicking the Gladman banner on the homepage. To go there now click here.

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