Plus Dane appeals Cheshire East’s Alsager refusal

Plans for 68 homes off Linley Road were turned down last year with the council saying it is already exceeding its affordable homes target, prompting the housing association to escalate matters to the Planning Inspectorate.

Cheshire East Council rejected Plus Dane Housing’s application to deliver the homes after concluding the six-acre development was “cramped” and that the design was “poor”.

Overall, six reasons for refusal were listed on the decision notice, including a lack of contribution towards health, education, and highway improvements.

A committee report published ahead of the decision said that the fact the scheme would be made up entirely of affordable homes should only be given moderate weight as the council is “exceeding its affordable housing targets”.

The development proposed a mix of four one-bed flats, 36 two-bed properties of which seven would be flats, 23 three-bed dwellings, and five four-bed houses, with parking space for each home.

Since then, the total number of homes has been reduced by one to 67 and four wheelchair accessible homes have been added to the scheme to address one of the council’s concerns.

No date has been set for the inquiry.

The project team features Levitt Bernstein, Rachel Hacking Ecology, PWA Planning, Sutcliffe, and Jon Coe Tree AIA.

To view these plans, search for reference number 23/2129C on Cheshire East Council’s planning portal.