Taylor Wimpey lines up Helsby housing

It is not a grey belt setting, it’s Green Belt. It’s also a dangerous road.

The houses at the bottom will love it when it rains and there is no field for the water to soak in. It’s a river past their houses now when it rains as the drains are overloaded.

I hope the new occupiers don’t have children. There are no places at the local schools.

As a current resident of The Rock, a narrow country road, we shall be strongly objecting to this proposal as will many other residents. Whilst I recognise the national importance of delivering new houses including affordable housing, this proposal raises significant concerns that conflict with national and local planning policy and represents unsustainable development at this location. There are 2 other locations in the village under construction offering houses and a proper assessment on the demand for these houses should be carried out before building more – in one of the developments 118 are to be built, 7 are occupied and 14 sold so 21 – 17% does not signify a demand for housing in Helsby! CWAC need to pause and do a full assessment/consultation.

Its not Robin Hood Lane its off the Rock a beautiful sandstone feature. TW need to look at the 200 plus houses built in the village that havent yet sold! Only 14 sold! There is no need in helsby!!

Sally – whether or not land is grey belt in planning policy terms (which is the only relevant thing) depends on some quite complex considerations. You can’t just say land is not grey belt, you have to prove why.

It’s the only field left between the house. It is still documented as green belt & is the home of foxes, badgers, bats & the feeding ground for birds including owls, buzzards sparrow hawks & many more. Once the digging starts they’ll all be gone never to return.
The roads are narrow & at points is only wide enough for one car to pass. There are blind bends on the narrow Rock. It’s already difficult for residents on the lanes pulling in & out of adjoining lanes, so another possible 230 cars will make it dangerous !!

There is no such thing as grey belt. It’s not a real term. It is a term invented by greedy developers to make it more palatable to residents when they tear up our beautiful countryside. Helsby is full ! Roads , drainage , GPs , schools , dentists etc so before we get more houses we need more infrastructure. But developers want the easy option of building on green belt as it’s cheaper / easier than identifying brown field sites and building houses AND infrastructure

It’s green belt. The rock is not safe for pedestrians to walk up and there is no safe or appropriate access for HGVs for any building work to take place. There are already hundreds of other potential houses around Helsby and the local GPs, primary schools and high school are already oversubscribed.

Probably worth noting how green belt works In West Cheshire. Roughly the land north of the A556, and South of Chester is in green belt. That land of the A556 contains not one, but two East-West rail corridors (The one through Helsby allows you to access Manchester, Liverpool and Chester/North Wales). Go south of the A556 you see equally high quality countryside, just a lot more car dependent. If you at the last CWAC plan cycle it added housing to major settlements South of the line, and protected the North. If I think of Malpas, it’s probably had 3 large estates added in the last 10 years, no material infrastructure change, no school expansion (it has one on the main secondary schools like Helsby), although just finished a big investment in primary care. You’ll have seen similar in Tarporley. I don’t necessarily think those where wrong decision, but I don’t see why Helsby is special or should be protected.

People in the comment section are putting Wildlife over the availability of the modern generation being able to buy homes, i guess they really want their great grandkids to be brought up in their spare bedroom… These are the types of people that probably live in a 4 bed house but only use 2, have 2 cars but only use one and are within a 10 year bracket of being retired or entering retirement.

As a young professional who aspires for a family before my 40s, I cant afford a home to suit these needs because these sort of people live in these homes but do not use the space appropriately.

New build schemes open the opportunity for families who are rehoming, upsizing or down sizing to make the RIGHT CHOICE… We need a housing reform on the existing owners, not on policy!

Hi Rich
The reason Helsby has finally decided to protest is because the village was 1700 dwellings. There have been built or are in planning 1000 more. After this massive increase people saying ‘hang in a minute, we’ve done our bit’. At least give it chance so we can see the effect of 40% increase.

241 affordable homes are already being built on brownfield land in Helsby. This will more than satisfy local demand. The word ‘affordable’ is being prostituted throughout Cheshire by housing developers seeking to build potentially, highly profitable estates on green belt land at the margins of villages across Cheshire. Speculators are trying to cash in on new planning policies to the detriment of rural life in our County. The Helsby Planning Action Group is fighting plans to build nearly 1000 new homes around it increasing the village by 41% with no clear plans to expand services (education, GP, dentist) that are already over capacity. Hopefully the Planning Committee at CWaC will halt this assault which is purely to achieve a Central Government target to the detriment of our County. If £265k to £375k is ‘affordable’ then I’m a Dutchman.

As a current resident in this area I can confirm this is an unsuitable local on many grounds. The area in question is subject to flooding, local resources are stretched with schools ,Dr and Dentist at full capacity. The local roads are narrow, over used and not suitable for a large increase in traffic. The loss of biodiversity is huge and had not been correctly mitigated in the proposal. The development goes against the character of the village and needs to be stopped.

Affordable Housing? I haven’t seen a survey confirming this is needed in Helsby! This proposed development is in a Green Belt area, home to lots of wildlife, badgers, bats,,owls, hawks etc, why are we destroying our wildlife. The Rock is a very busy lane with very little in terms of footpaths, this development would increase the current safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists. The Helsby GP Surgery, Dentist and schools are already oversubscribed with no plans to increase/improve these services. Helsby has had more than its quota of new housing. There is already a development being built with a very small percentage being sold so far so why is there a need for more.

This is a dreadful proposal.The area is totally unsuitable.Dangerous access, applying existing road conditions, effect on wildlife, flooding increase , doctors , dentists and schools overload.Plus the present building have so far very few sold even though the site has been developing over a long time.

There is flooding happening now when it rains heavily, the houses at the bottom of the rock on Robin Hood Lane can confirm this. The land is green belt. Badgers call this land their home as do many others and the Road is a dangerous road that would become far worse with more traffic, I’ve walked up the Rock many times with my daughter who went to Alvanley, we did not do this if we could avoid it because it’s so dangerous. And to top it all we do not need anymore houses in Helsby, this is a small village that has been hammered by the government’s decision to wreck our villages

No homes harry….if you believe that 112 new builds in Helsby will be more affordable for anybody, then you may be sadly disappointed. There are 125 houses nearing completion which offer rent to buy/shared ownership, although this is not a perfect solution either. The belief that people nearing retirement age are taking the houses from those who need them is ridiculous. These new estates will prevent those people from selling and downsizing to “assist” those who need them as the new houses are overpriced and prevents up/downsizing. The point the residents of Helsby are making of these new builds is that the infrastructure cannot support it. No additional doctors, dentists, school places, the drainage system in the village is not for for purpose as it stands. I am all for affordable housing however, if you think TW will be building the house you desire for a reasonable price, you are sadly disillusioned. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it .

If the young gentleman who has commented above needs to buy a new home in Helsby there are plenty new houses to choose from near the Hornsmill Pub, lots of them are NOT selling

This current plant does not take into account the current overstretched infrastructure, including lack of school places, GP places or dentist places. The Rock would not support the level of traffic and already floods with no footpaths. The fields are the bottom are the final drainage needed. Wildlife would considerably suffer and the houses already built have not yet been filled which will affect the current infrastructure even more. This application should be opposed.

This build is not Robin Hood Lane but The Rock which leads down to RHL. Children walk to and from school down this busy curving road with narrow or no pavements. l have witnessed a few near misses as it is. RHL and The Rock are already a ‘rat run’ which fails as such as everyone thinks it’s a shortcut to bypass congestion on Old Chester Road. I have also seen the river of water that cascades into the houses at the bottom of The Rock. This land is GREENBELT not grey belt; developers may try and define this land as low quality…how can this be? It is full of wildlife and as such serves a purpose in preserving the character and settings of this small village.

I strongly object to this planning application.
1. It’s green belt not grey belt
2. The Rock is already extremely dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and other road user entrance to the site and additional traffic will make it more so
3. There is little demand for affordable housing and those houses will ultimately be sold at full market price. To prove that this is a profit led enterprise only
4. It’s would completely ruin the environment and endanger local wildlife.
5. It’s will result in flooding on Robin Hood Lane.
6. The local schools, dentist and GP practices are all at full capacity and over subscribed. With no plans to expand or increase capacity. The buyers should be warned that there children will probably have to commute mikes for a school placement.
7. There are no proposals to improve and increase the infrastructure to the required level.

There’s are serious safety issues if this development is given the go ahead. The access road, The Rock, is far too narrow, bendy & steep, especially at the access point for this development. A safe walk to the shops, schools & services will be a challenge as pavements are less than a metre wide (some half this) and are subject to debris buildup & currently require you to stop & tuck in if there’s a vehicle coming. Completely unsuitable for the school commute. Once there the current local services, with no current plans for expansion, will not be available as they are currently overloaded. At least delay the decision this until the success of the current build developments in Helsby have been sold & populated to monitor the impact & access the demand for extra services & traffic impact.