Letter sets out Cheshire’s fight against ‘unwanted’ housing

In the latest move to try and block opportunistic house builders, the leaders of Cheshire East Council have written a public letter to explain their lobbying position with government.

This is the full version of the letter sent to the media on Tuesday by Cllr David Brown, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council.

Dear Sir,

The situation regarding unplanned, unwanted and unsustainable developments has been discussed with Government Ministers. Cheshire East Council Leader Michael Jones, along with other members and officers, has met with Minister for Housing Nick Boles and also met with Eric Pickles and senior planners for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) with Fiona Bruce MP, David Rutley MP and Edward Timpson MP.

Nationally, many Councils are anti-growth, which impacts significantly on the country driving growth. On this basis, a moratorium on housing is not supported by the Government. We informed both Ministers that Cheshire East Council is committed to growth but "planned growth".

The discussions with Ministers centred around five-year housing supply, which we will be fighting the legitimacy of the weight attached to this aspect. Additionally, we have asked for more weight to be given to the Development Strategy public consultation in January, which will define the key strategic sites for allocation for employment land and housing land.

The DCLG has agreed to give advice on how to best deal with unplanned, unwanted and unsustainable developments. We will continue to press the Government very hard to alleviate the current situation and keep the public informed of progress.

It is envisaged that we will release the Core Strategy in June and will be actively pushing for growth in areas that are planned, wanted and sustainable.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor David Brown

Deputy Leader of the Council

Portfolio Holder for Strategic Communities