Onward’s Basford East development delayed
Cheshire East Council has deferred a decision on Onward Homes’ 450-home development off David Whitby Way following concerns over the integration of a proposed primary school and potential traffic congestion at the scheme’s entrance.
Of the homes, 123 are to be designated as affordable and the remaining units, a mix of houses and apartments, would be available for market sale. The development would also feature around 14 acres of public space.
Rob Loughenbury, Onward Homes’ director of strategy, said Cheshire East planning officers had “pushed hard on quality” and that Onward had responded positively and had hoped an approval would act as a “springboard” for long-term partnership with the council.
However, the plans were deferred and Onward was asked to provide more detail on how a primary school included in the proposals would be integrated into the scheme, and how the developer intended to mitigate a potential increase in traffic on David Whitby Way.
A spokesperson for Onward Homes said: “Onward Homes is grateful for the opportunity to have presented our proposals for Basford East to Cheshire East Council at the committee meeting.
“During the debate, we received detailed feedback from councillors and have taken careful note and will continue to work closely with planning officers to ensure that the proposals are updated and that the best possible scheme can be brought forward as soon as possible.”
Onward bought the site last summer from Lane End Developments, which had won outline consent for the scheme in 2014. Developer and contractor Lane End is being retained by Onward to build the scheme.
The homes would be delivered in phases over the next five years and the first phase would feature around 160 units, available on a mix of tenures.
Onward and Lane End’s scheme is part of the wider Basford East masterplan, which includes plans to convert Crotia Mill Farm into a mixed-use scheme and provision for a further 325 houses, along with 110,000 sq ft of office and business space.
Muse Developments and charity the Witter Trust secured planning permission for this part of the site in 2015, before selling 23.5 acres of land to Government agency Homes England in 2018.
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.
