CWAC committee kicks can down road on Moulton resi
For much of a fractious two-hour debate, refusal looked likely for Keepmoat subsidiary MCI’s 115-home Cheshire plan, before members narrowly voted to defer a verdict.
Cheshire West & Chester Council officers had recommended approval for the project, on the edge of the settlement boundary of Moulton, a village near Northwich.
A significant factor in this was CWAC’s current inability to demonstrate a five-year housing supply. As yesterday’s meeting was told, CWAC currently delivers around 400-500 homes a year, and needs to up that to around 2,000 homes in light of expanded housing targets.
Until the council makes some inroads on that number, the titled balance in favour of development will apply in most cases.
The proposal
The site is countryside, adjoining the settlement boundary of Moulton. Access is available from two points off Niddries Lane.
Setting out how the project represents sustainable development, the report prepared for committee set out how there are bus stops nearby, with the site described as accessible for services, with a pre-school and primary school to the north-west and a playground and convenience retail close by.
MCI’s project had been revised and reconsulted on during the assessment period, with the outcome being, in officers’ view, an improved scheme with less infringement onto ecological features.
The professional tam includes planner Carter Jonas, e3p, Ironside Farrar, AES Sustainability Consultants, Eddisons and landscape architect TBA.
What the scheme would give Northwich is a wholly affordable chunk of housing. The 115 homes proposed are mostly two-storey houses, breaking down as 12 one-bedroom houses; 52 two-bedroom houses; 38 three-bedroom houses; and 13 four-bedroom houses.
The meeting
Officer recommendation notwithstanding, the proposals met with some hostility from the word go, with Cllr Dan Marr, who had called the application into committee owing to concerns over highways, impact on character of the village and compliance with the Moulton neighbourhood plan, receiving thunderous applause when he called the scheme “totally unsuitable” for the village.
Co-objector Moulton Parish Council’s representative spoke volubly, pointing out the neighbourhood plan’s status: “this application directly contradicts the policy that our community voted for”.
In all, around 200 representations were registered, around two-thirds of them objecting. The parish council said 90% of respondents to a survey it held oppose the scheme.
That was countered by a presentation in favour, pointing out that the council has 6,600+ households on the housing list, and that temporary accommodation cost CWAC £5,2m in financial year 2023-24, in an area where house prices are seven times local wages.
Several areas of contention were discussed at the meeting – the proximity of bus stops not meaning much, as ward councillor Cllr Gaynor Sinar pointed out, if services are reduced. The ability of the local school to accommodate more pupils was also questioned.
The verdict
MCI’s plans must now be heard another day. With Cllr Sinar and Cllr Lynn Gibbon the most vocally opposed, a lengthy back-and-forth ensued whereby refusal and deferral were alternately proposed, with Cllr Sinar stating the grounds on one bid for refusal as “density and the impact on neighbourhood and amenity”.
CWAC planning manager Nick Smith then explained that basing a decision on those grounds would not only mean almost inevitable defeat at inquiry, but the loss of costs as well, possibly running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Although the councillors suggested that more information could and should be made available for a subsequent hearing, should the matter be deferred, it was pointed out that the applicant had met every obligation required, so a markedly different proposal could by no means be guaranteed.
With the meeting at something of an impasse, chair Cllr Gina Lewis called for a vote on deferring, which squeezed through by five votes to four.
Planning documents for the project can be seen on CWAC’s planning portal, reference 24/03682/FUL.
