Cheshire East paves way for HS2 at busy cabinet meeting
The council decided to move forward with the business case for the £57m widening of the A500 to prepare for HS2 construction vehicles, and endorsed a long-term masterplan by Bentley Motors for its Crewe campus.
The decisions formed part of the meeting of Cheshire East Council’s cabinet yesterday, which included agreeing a land sale to Scarborough Group to progress the retail-led regeneration of Congleton town centre.
Within the session, Cheshire East agreed to big the preparation of a business case for the widening of the A500.
The preferred option is to extend the road on land to the South rather than the North, increasing traffic flow and paving the way for HS2 construction traffic and increased vehicle use from new housing schemes and commercial growth.
Crewe is one of the HS2 station hub locations, and construction is expected to begin by 2021.
At the same meeting, the council signed off the development framework and masterplan for the Bentley Motors campus in Crewe.
The cabinet agreed that the document be endorsed “subject to concerns raised through the consultation process being considered as part of any future planning application, or other approval, submitted by Bentley Motors”.
Bentley employs 4,000 people around Pyms Lane and Middlewich Road.
The car manufacturer outlined “a wider plan of expansion and integration” at its Crewe campus. It proposed the creation of a single site through the closure of two roads, Sunnybank Road and Pyms Lane, which currently cut across the land. The council has stressed that no decision has yet been taken on these plans.
The masterplan also details the long-term ambition to extend the Bentley site North up Middlewich Road, to reach the route of the planned Leighton West Link Road. Most of this is land owned by Cheshire East Council, which the council has said “would be the subject of detailed negotiations going forward”.
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