Onward awaits success in Crewe following delay

Onward Homes is expected to secure reserved matters approval for 450 homes in Basford East, a scheme it bought from Lane End Developments last year.

Lane End secured outline consent in 2014 and remains attached to the project as contractor. A reserved matters decision on the scheme was deferred in summer over concerns regarding the integration of a primary school within the scheme, with further information also required on the breakdown of housing.

Cheshire East’s strategic planning board, which meets on 14 October, is recommended to approve the scheme. Officers are now satisfied that the school does not require a specific drop-off area or require calming measures, while its design will allow expansion to a two-form entry school in time. Design and layout issues have also been met to officers’ satisfaction.

The project includes 123 affordable homes in a total of 449 dwellings – at 27% considerably greater than the 15% threshold set out in the scheme’s Section 106 agreement, although short of the more recently introduced 30% target set out in the authority’s Local Plan Strategy,

To the south of Crewe, Basford East is a strategic allocation area for Cheshire East. The 55-acre site is bound to the west by the Crewe Green link road, also known as David Whity Way, a railway line to the north, and the A500 to the south. The site will be accessed from a road linking to the existing roundabout on David Whitby Way.

In a design conclusions summary, the planning officer said: “This development has the potential to be a high quality scheme and already has positive attributes, including a robust underlying structure.” The scheme is recommended for approval, with conditions attached, and subject to a final review by the council’s urban designer.

PRP Architects is the architect for the David Whitby Way project and Urban Green is the landscape architect. The civil engineer is Alan Johnston Partnership. Onward Homes, formerly Symphony Housing Group, was formed in 2018, ringing together five regional housing associations.

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