Muller files 520-home masterplan with Cheshire East
Making up the third phase of the Crewe Northern Gateway, the hybrid application also includes local centre facilities and green infrastructure.
In taking forward plans for the land off Hurcomb Way, Muller said it is looking to build on the successful delivery of earlier phases to the west of the plot. Anwyl and Watkin Jones are partners within those earlier phases.
Muller said last summer that is was working phase three plans up, working with a team including Roberts Environmental. Redmore, Steve Shields, Brindle & Green, Bower Mattin, Arthian, Georisk, Focus Transport Planning, JPM Acoustics, Walsingham, SV Surveying, TDS, and EHP Consultants.
The phase three site extends to around 64 acres on the north-eastern edge of Crewe, and will form a natural continuation of the emerging neighbourhoods off Sydney Road – a busy area for housebuilders in recent years.
Full consent is sought for the primary access and spine road through the site, with outline permission requested for the residential development, local centre and community facilities.
Muller, which is also behind the large-scale Maylands Park masterplan in Nantwich, where work so far has included housing plots sold on to David Wilson Homes and Anwyl for delivery, plus retirement living and a care home, is looking for a broad consent covering one- to four-bedroom homes.
Around 30% of the homes in this phase would be designated as affordable.
Local centre facilities would include around 4,300 sq ft of flexible commercial space, for shops and services to serve the growing community.
Other facilities proposed include a junior football pitch, multi-use games area, children’s play spaces and allotments, along with around five acres of public open space.
Colin Muller, founder and chief executive of Muller Property Group, said: “Throughout the process, we have worked proactively to show how this development can make a meaningful contribution to meeting local housing need, including the delivery of affordable homes, alongside new infrastructure and community facilities.
“This is about more than housing. The proposals will support the wider community through new open space, sports provision, local services and investment towards education, healthcare and transport improvements.
“We are proud to have reached this stage and look forward to continuing to work positively with all parties to deliver a high-quality, sustainable neighbourhood that supports Crewe’s long-term growth.”
The design of the scheme has been shaped by the site’s natural features, including Fowle Brook, which runs through the centre of the site within a defined valley. Existing landscape features—including hedgerows, mature trees and a woodland area known as Fox Covert—will be retained and enhanced.
A new spine road will connect the site from Hurcomb Way through to Maw Green Road. Walking and cycling routes will be integrated throughout the site.
Pre-application discussions wit the council and with consultees have shaped the application, Muller said, with one outcome being greater emphasis on community infrastructure.
Like Muller’s recent pitch for a second phase of 400 homes at Maylands Park, the proposals come forward at a time when Cheshire East faces a shortfall in housing supply.
With this factor being a material planning consideration, recent meetings of the council’s strategic planning board have seen a number of large-scale housing projects come forward from land promoters and developers seeking to secure valuable consents – although not always with immediate success.
