Rethink for 1,000-home Macc scheme due to peat concerns

Cheshire East Council has said plans to redevelop a 136-acre peatland site in partnership with housebuilder Barratt cannot go ahead as planned as the scheme does not align with the authority’s priorities around nature and sustainability.

The South Macclesfield Development Area, located off Congleton Road between the town centre and Gawsworth, has planning permission for 950 homes and a link road.

However, there has been substantial opposition to the project due to the presence of peat under the site, of which the council owns 55%, and the environmental impact of developing on it.

Barratt controls most the remainder of the site and has been working up plans for its redevelopment in recent years.

However, a series of investigations have “highlighted the challenge of reconciling delivery of the current proposals for the whole site with the council’s policies and aspirations around nature, sustainability, and carbon”, a council report said.

Peatlands are known to absorb carbon, reduce flooding, and provide habitats for wildlife.

As a result of recent findings, alternative options for the site are being explored, including a “smaller scale of development [that] might strike an acceptable balance between housing and environmental policies”, the council said.

At a meeting next week, the council is expected to approve a decision to withdraw all outstanding reserved matters planning applications relating to the site and pull out of a £34m grant funding agreement with Homes England that would have paid for a link road to the site.