Proposals at Reaseheath

A consultation is set to begin to gauge the views of local residents and businesses to planned future development at Reaseheath College, Nantwich, through a new streamlined planning process.

Cheshire East Council is to launch the consultation this week to inform the public of plans to adopt a local development order (LDO) that would allow the college to ultimately develop a food enterprise zone.

In February 2015, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs identified Reaseheath as a pathfinder for the development of a food enterprise zone, supported by Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Partnership, with a DEFRA grant to assist in the process.

The adoption of a LDO would mean that all customary planning processes that would apply to the usual applications received by the Council are dealt with in one advance procedure, rather than addressing each element incrementally.
This means that all the plans are available to consider together, giving members of the public the opportunity to be consulted and comment on the proposals as a whole.

The public consultation begins on Wednesday August 8 and will continue until Friday September 9. There will be a drop-in session at the college on Thursday September 1 when all interested parties and residents can view the College's plans and learn more about the local development order, its process and ask questions on each of the proposals.

Those wanting to attend can register their interest in advance at:
Reaseheathldo@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Further details will be available in due course.

If approved, the LDO, which will exist for 15 years, effectively grants planning consent for future development in line with the food enterprise use, without the need for further individual applications. Pre-consultation with stakeholders and landowners to establish support has already taken place.

Councillor Ainsley Arnold, Cabinet member for planning and housing, said: "This is about the rural economy in Cheshire East wanting to strengthen and diversify and to meet the challenges of new markets.

"The LDO is fully in line with the Borough's emerging local plan and complies with national planning policy."

Now that the application is ready, the consultation remains a key part of the normal planning process that is applied.
Full details of the public consultation will be made available at: http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_information/consultations/consultations.aspx

Copies of all the evidence base in respect of the LDO will also be available to view at Nantwich Library during the consultation period.

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