Cheshire East to update local plan

Citing changes to national policy and investment opportunities around HS2, the council has agreed to refresh its strategic plan.

The decision to update the document, so that it could carry on into the 2040s, was made at a council meeting on Friday. The strategic plan will provide critical information when it comes to decisions on planning, including establishing planning policies and allocating development sites.

Cllr Mark Warren, Cheshire East council’s environment and communities chair, hailed the decision as “sensible”.

He said: “There is… a real need to reflect the priorities of the council’s new corporate plan, which includes the requirement for much stronger action to help tackle the climate emergency and achieve our ambition for the borough to be carbon neutral by 2045.”

Drafting a new plan will require “extensive public consultation”, according to Warren, who also added that it would need to factor in Whitehall’s proposed planning reforms as well.

A timetable for the writing and publishing of the new strategic plan has not been released.

In the meantime, developers working in Cheshire East should continue to refer to the current local plan strategy, which was approved in July 2017. This plan features an ambition for at least 36,000 homes to be built in Cheshire East by 2030.