Bloor pitches 200 Christleton homes
The housebuilder’s outline application to Cheshire West and Chester Council seeks permission to develop a 24-acre sustainable community at Abbots Well off Whitchurch Road.
Bloor Homes’ 200-home Chester neighbourhood would offer a range of tenures and provide 45% of the homes as affordable, with details to be provided at the reserved matters stage.
Plans compiled by designer Fabrik and submitted by planner Lichfields envision the development of farmland into a nearly 500-person neighbourhood.
The 24 acres in question lie behind the existing Abbots Well Mercure Hotel to the south of Whitchurch Road in Christleton.
Abbots Well was once the water source for Chester Cathedral – the historic feature will be retained and positioned as a cultural cornerstone of the development.
Public open space is expected to cover seven acres of the development. Active travel would be encouraged by prioritising pedestrian and bicycle access across the site.
In addition, a green corridor would run centrally through the neighbourhood, providing both safe and pleasant walking routes for residents.
The site in question spans 24 acres of farmland. Credit: Google Earth
Houses would be accessed via a central spine road, before secondary and tertiary streets lead residents to their doors.
The project has been through a public consultation, which ended in July.
Bloor Homes has plans for a 675-home scheme in Heald Green, Stockport, under review, while Sandbach is preparing for 325 Bloor-developed homes.
The project team includes Orion Heritage, Coopers, Tyler Grange, Betts, Hepworth Acoustics, SLR, Curtins, and Magnitude Surveys.
To view the planning application, use the planning reference number 25/02656/OUT on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s planning portal.
Yet more traffic to be added to the clogged A41 / Boughton Heath junction
By Anonymous
I cannot believe that this proposal could be approved. The road traffic in the area is already above capacity.
By Graeme Anderson
It’s pretty logical place to add housing, close to city, decent bus/bike/walk access to Chester city centre, local schools and supermarkets, plus hard to argue this is a materially different type of location to Saighton Camp or Wrexham Road, where major estate expansions have occurred over the last few years. if Cheshire West doesn’t build in these locations the housing just gets displaced to Wrexham or into the Cheshire villages further out, and they will still congest the A41 trying to get on the A55.
By Rich X
Reply to Rich X comment – “hard to argue this is a materially different type of location to Saighton Camp” – Saighton Camp was a brown field site, this location is a prime agricultural land green field site that has (and is) being used to grow arable crops. Only a few weeks ago a crop of wheat or barley has been harvested off it.
The smaller field to the south of this location is also used to grow crops and can only be accessed through this proposed development site as it is fully ring fenced by the A55 to the east and the A55 slip road to the west. We attended the meeting about this project held at the Mercure Abbots Well hotel a few months ago. I raised the question to the consultants in attendance about why their proposed development didn’t include the lower field too as it would become unusable to farm because it would be unaccessible. The reply I was given was “It was best for them to only apply for 200 houses at this stage as it would stand a better chance of getting through planning. So it was quite clear to me that at some point quite soon after (if) planning is granted, they will apply to expand the plot and build extra houses on this lower field.
I took raised the additional traffic this development would add to the existing congestion in the area and pointed out to the consultants that it had taken us 6 cycles of the traffic lights for us to get to the meeting at 4pm, to get through the Hamburger traffic lights coming from the Vicars Cross direction!
By JimG
Great location with a desperate need for more housing. Get it built!
By AB
We should not be building on farm land. They say 200 homes, this will just be to get planning, they will end up building many more. Will they expand into the field to the south that was accessed via the farm track under the slip road and linked to Heath Lane.
The exit on to the A41 is close to the junction with Toll Bar Road, Mecure Hotel and a pedestrian crossing. The A41 already regularly queues back to Waverton. The new junction will be on a busy school pedestrian and cycle route. The new exit will add more traffic and be unsafe.
Currently the farmer maintains the hedges and the ditches, who will maintain them once it is housing.
Where will all the additional surface water go. Caldy Brook already floods Caldy Nature Park during heavy rain.
Where are all the new doctor and dentist places going to come from?
By Anonymous