Bloor’s plans for 200 Green Belt homes rejected
Cheshire East Council did not buy into the housebuilder’s argument that the 40-acre plot north of Prestbury Road in Macclesfield should be considered grey belt and subsequently refused the application – despite council officers recommending it for approval.
The vote to dismiss Bloor Homes’ outline plans for 200 houses came after two hours of discussion during last week’s strategic planning board meeting.
All but two councillors voted for the rejection under the grounds that the project represented inappropriate development on Green Belt and that its benefits did not outweigh the harm it would do. They argued that the project would also harm the Bollin Valley local landscape designation.
Regarding the decision, a spokesperson for Bloor Homes said: “We are disappointed that the Prestbury Road application has not been approved. Bloor Homes remains committed to delivering high-quality, sustainable homes in Macclesfield, including a significant number of affordable properties.
“We will carefully review the council’s decision and consider next steps.”
Had the project been approved, it would have provided 90 affordable homes and 110 market properties. They would have had between one and four bedrooms. More than half of the site – 20.5 acres – would have been set aside for public open space as well.
Planning agent Turley had argued that the site, while technically Green Belt, should be considered grey belt.
Cheshire East planning officers had agreed, stating that the site did not strongly contribute to the Green Belt missions of checking unrestricted urban sprawl, preventing the merging of neighbouring towns, or preserving the special character of a historic town.
Officers had also acknowledged in their report that Cheshire East would be required to release sits outside of settlement boundaries for housing in order to meet its housing land requirement.
In addition to Turley, the project team for the application included Aval Consulting Group, i-Transport, UES, NDC, Coopers, and TRC. You can read the application documents by searching 25/0210/OUT on Cheshire East Council’s planning portal.
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Good to see Cheshire East wanting to lose another appeal – hopefully with costs awarded against them.
By Anonymous
Build baby build…. oh perhaps not.
By Alf Empty
Once Reform come into power, they will scrap the misguided idea of the ‘greybelt.’ I support the principle of greybelt if it genuinely means reusing previously developed land within the greenbelt—as the public were led to believe under Labour’s election manifesto. But applying it to agricultural land is a step too far.
By Roy Lewis
Another unbeIeivabIe decision by Cheshire East – do they never Iearn??? What is the point in paid officiaIs making recommendations for them to be ignored by PIanning committees at every end and turn ?
By David SIeath
Another easy appeal, its about time we got rid of committees for planning, too self serving, no accountability and to be frank…no brains.
By Anonymous
For clarity, the site isn’t “technically Green Belt” – it IS Green Belt. It couldn’t be considered grey belt if it wasn’t because grey belt is a sub-set of Green Belt (i.e. Green Belt that doesn’t contribute strongly to Green Belt purposes (a), (b) or (d).) Whilst we’re at it – Green Belt doesn’t have “missions,” it has “purposes.”
This stuff might seem like semantics but it’s important for those of us in professional roles – either as planners or as journalists reporting on planning matters – to get it right, otherwise what chance do the public have?
By Planning policy pedant
Well done Cheshire East – too many builds already that are altering the fabric of communities. I am fed up of developers thinking that by saying ‘affordable housing’ they can build where the want. No No No
By Anonymous
Unfortunate that members chose to stick their fingers in their ears and pretend that a major change to national policy didn’t happen.
By Sten
Was it by chance refused as it is creeping towards Prestbury? Influential people with lots of money live in Prestbury.
By Mark Solo
Delighted to see this outcome as a local resident.
By Anonymous
Anon at 9.51pm – don’t get too excited. The Council will lose at Appeal.
By Anonymous
It seems all the new housing in Cheshire East can be built anywhere but Macclesfield.
By Anonymous
Keep it green belt
By Anonymous
Ridiculous decision – the school in that area is struggling due to a lack of children
By Bollinbrook Resident
This was a carefully considered judgement with professional input to support objections. The developer’s Agent acknowledged that the application was ‘contentious’ at the planning board. Hopefully this will now allow the developer to concentrate on finding other more suitable sites (there are plenty around close to our town centres).
By Macclesfield Resident
Excellent news. Cheshire East generally just rubber stamp whatever crosses their desks, since they’re running on financial fumes – nice to see some principle in action.
By John Smith