Bloor eyes 40 acres of Macclesfield Green Belt for 200 homes
Located between the town centre and Prestbury, the site is to be redeveloped to address an “urgent need” for housing in Cheshire East.
Bloor Homes is preparing to submit an outline planning application for 200 homes on 40 acres off Prestbury Road, just north of Macclesfield hospital, to Cheshire East Council.
Around 50% of the homes would be available on affordable tenures. The properties will range from one- to four-bedroom houses. The project features a buffer zone around Upton Hall and Upton Wood nearby.
Due to its Green Belt location, the development will likely attract criticism from local stakeholders. However, Bloor claims Cheshire East has fallen behind on the housing delivery target set out in its own local plan and that this scheme could go some way to boosting supply.
“Macclesfield faces an urgent need for housing and our proposals seek to address that demand, whilst also balancing community needs with our longstanding commitment to sustainable development,” said Toby Hudson, strategic land director at Bloor Homes.
He implored local residents to get in touch and share their views on the scheme.
“Receiving feedback from the local community is a fundamental element of that process as we look to finalise our plans and ensure they serve the entire community in the best way possible.”
Turley is advising Bloor on its plans. Have your say on the proposals.
In late November, Bloor unveiled plans for 700 homes on Stockport’s Green Belt, citing similar concerns about housing delivery. Elsewhere in Cheshire East, Bloor has planning permission to build 650 homes on almost 100 acres off Old Park Road in Crewe.
40 acres to provide 200 homes. Good to know the major housebuilders are taking the housing crisis seriously and maximising the development land they own… not!
By Anonymous
@Anonymous 12:35pm – The BNG requirements don’t help much!
By Abots
@Abots 12:50pm – the BNG requirements aren’t a bad thing in the context of the abundance of species in the UK having been depleted by a third over the past 50 years. If planning has become only about delivering houses then, frankly, we’re all doomed.
By now
Bellway & others cant sell what they have built in Macclesfield. Plus Bellway have been hit by pain at Whirley bog.
By Anonymous
“Now” is correct. BNG requirements help create nicer places for people to actually live. For example having ponds, rainwater swales, new woodland and meadow areas so people can actually have some green space and wildlife near their home. Or perhaps all people want is roads with no pavements, bland copy and paste houses crammed together with tiny gardens and plastic lawns.
By Now is right
@December 05, 2024 at 1:35 pm
By now
I’m glad we have BNG. One of the more successful achievements of the Johnson Administration.
By Rye
“Urgent need for housing in Cheshire East” yet within the past week, Wilmslow has had 2 plans submitted for care homes to be built on brownfield land. Yes, those sites are nowhere near as big, but does Cheshire East really need more care homes, especially as one is near completion a few hundred meters down the road from one of the newly submitted plans.
By Anonymous
There isn’t an ‘urgent’ need for housing in Cheshire and certainly not on green belt land.
By Peter Chapman
Why on green belt. What do the words green belt mean! Is there no brown fill that can be bought to make the town a tidier place. There’s certainly enough empty shops in town. Cheshire east are destroying our town
By Ruth Bass
Macclesfield cannot possibly accommodate a further 200 homes unless the infrastructure is modified. Doctors in Macclesfield at the Medical Centre have written to various patients as they cannot cope with the volume of patients. The hospital is at breaking point, there is a real problem with all main services so how do you expect schools to cope, two main stream secondary schools have closed and had houses built on them. Before more houses are built and the cart is put before the horse there must be some sense with more infrastructure. It’s fine to keep building but we have a surplus already in Macclesfield so unless someone looks at the problem as mentioned to build more on Green Belt is not wanted and ridiculous.
By Anonymous
It’s OK looking to build new houses but what about the logistics, new hospitals new school new doctors surgeries our roads are in a real mess. East Cheshire planners have not a clue of the needs of local people.
By Anonymous
I totally disagree that we need more houses being built on the supposedly green belt of Macclesfield. Its an absolute disgrace. This was suppose to be protected land. When you travel to other areas of the country you don’t
see as many building sites!! The houses that are being thrown up in Macclesfield, Congleton and other areas of Cheshire is non stop. Soon we will be all joined up and become a city. All East Cheshire want is more money coming into their bank account to stave off bankruptcy. We haven’t got any infrastructure in place to support more houses being built. The hospital,doctors and dentists are already under such immense pressure. To say we aren’t ahead of target in the building program, I would like to see the figures as at one point we were way ahead and building doesn’t seem to have slowed down. If you need to build then use brown sites not greenbelt. Where does the wildlife go and what about reducing carbon emissions ?! Maybe we need to think seriously about the type of housing we live in. Could be the greater need for apartments.
By Anonymous
Why don’t they use the empty Mills convert into flats get rid of ugly eyesore . Use the empty office buildings at Lyme green and Tytherington
By Jo
Why is there an “urgent need” for more housing? Where is the demand coming from when we have a falling birth rate?
By Anonymous
All people will get is YET more unaffordable Lego houses – roads with no pavements, tiny gardens fenced all around and plastic lawns, meeting their nature requirements with a few stick trees, No kindergarten community spaces, working spaces –
By Nigel Goodman
Honestly, I think it’s time that Place North West did some sense check articles so that we don’t get the same old gubbins trotted out for why you shouldn’t build houses:
BNG is a cluster feck of spreadsheets and multipliers that nobody can follow. If you want increased biodiversity start by having a word with UK farming practices given only c. 2% of the UK is actually built on. If you want to deal with it under Planning there are simpler ways, policies and SPDs, these already set out provisions for POS so pick any quantum you want but don’t moan about the acres that are needed.
Local Infrastructure – the NHS and education departments have the same access to population and housing need data as everybody else, so choices are being made. Landowners and developers often provide funding via S106. We are also all ageing, so ask yourself why those services are under pressure.
Ageing Popn – not only are they blocking up GP services, for every pensioner you need 3 working age tax payers to fund them. They need houses.
Green Belt – dates from 1947 when the Popn was 50M, it’s now 67M. Get rid of the policy protection, protect what genuinely needs protecting and Plan properly without the constraint. You can then have houses and accessible open space.
By Mr N Imby
Thanks for the idea. We’ve flirted with doing a few articles explaining “affordable housing” in the past as well, seeing as that comes up time and time again as a point of confusion in our comment section.
By Julia Hatmaker
I live just off Prestbury Road, this is a very busy road, parking on the side roads is virtually impossible. Whether you drive along Prestbury Road passed the cemetery or along Westminster Road you are faced with heavy traffic. They built houses and flats on the old Kings School land which has added more pressure on the already busy roads. Not only are we losing more of our greenbelt land, old trees being pulled down, more cars on our roads affecting our health, something must be done to STOP HOMES BEING BUILT ON THIS LAND. Why do the people in power not consider the impact all these homes will do to our area.
By Colette
This is profit driven and has nothing to do with actual need. We have new build terraced houses in Macc that are £370,000+ does anyone really believe this is driven by a housing crisis? Leave our green spaces alone and look to the brown-site locations. Settle for a hefty profit rather than a huge profit!
By Dave Slater
200 new homes with 200+ more cars and 400 and above more people. Brilliant. Just what this town doesn’t need. Have they actually visited Macclesfield town centre.
By Anonymous