Wain Estates victorious in 230-home Cheshire East appeal

The Planning Inspectorate sided with the strategic land company, arguing that the council was wrong to refuse the outline plans for 160 houses, 70-bed care facility, and a 30-acre countryside park in Sandbach.

Wain Estate’s project will provide an array of bungalows, townhouses, semi-detached homes, and detached houses with between one and five bedrooms. Of the homes proposed, 30% would be affordable. The scheme also includes a community hub.

With the approval of its application in hand, Wain Estates is set to commence marketing the 42-acre site off Crewe Road imminently with the assistance of Savills.

Councillors from Cheshire East had voted to reject Wain Estates’ Sandbach project at a planning committee meeting in October. The decision was made contrary to officer recommendation.

The reasons for refusal included impact on highway safety around Wheelock Primary School, loss of best and most versatile agricultural land, the urbanising impact on an existing countryside gap, and adverse impacts on a nearby ancient woodland.

Cheshire East Council opted to not defend its decision at the appeal, having had further discussions with Wain Estates about the application. According to the appeal decision the council changed its position, agreeing that the project should have been approved.

The layout for the housing development was drawn up by E*SCAPE Urbanists. Credit: via planning documents

Inspector D M Young concurred, systematically dismantling each of the reasons for refusal.

The inspector grounded their remarks at the start by emphasising that Cheshire East Council is unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites. Because of this, the planning balance is naturally tilted towards consenting residential projects.

In evaluating the scheme, the inspector referenced a similar project on the same site from 2016 that had lost its appeal. This had been due to impacts of the “green gap”.

This new project has a vastly different layout from the one that had been refused, with the country park on the southern side of the plot, thereby softening the impact on the gap.

The inspector also found there was not enough evidence to show that the project would harm the safety of the area around Wheelock Primary School, noting that the proposals for a priority junction and additional double lines had been designed to reduce speeds in the area and prevent dangerous parking.

Regarding the loss of farmland, this was agreed to not outweigh the benefits of providing housing. The inspector noticed that loss of farmland had not been viewed as a valid reason for refusal in the 2016 appeal either.

The inspector was confident that the project would not impact the ancient woodland, noting that there were no works proposed in the woodland itself or its 15-metre buffer zone. The drainage scheme had also been designed to not adversely affect this year.

Emery Planning led Wain Estates through the successful appeal, with Kings Chambers’ Martin Carter as the barrister. The project team also included GHC Archaeology and Heritage, Barnes Walker, Astute Transport Planning, The Environment Partnership, E*SCAPE Urbanists, Smith Grant, and TDS.

Cheshire East was represented by Andrew Byass of Landmark Chambers.

You can review the application by searching reference 25/1403/OUT on Cheshire East Council’s planning portal. The appeal documents can be found by searching reference APP/R0660/W/25/3376597 on the Planning Inspectorate’s casework portal.

Cheshire East will be returning to the appeal hotseat next week, when the inquiry will be held on its refusal of Bloor Homes’ 325-residence project on 47 acres in Sandbach. The project includes 98 affordable homes and 20 acres of green space.

Like the case in the Wain Estates appeal, councillors voted to refuse against officer recommendation. You can review the planning documents by searching 25/0211/OUT on Cheshire East’s planning portal.

Another appeal from Bloor Homes against a refusal in Cheshire East – this time for 200 homes by Macclesfield – is awaiting a decision, with the inquiry having been held on 31 March.

As in the two cases above, it had also been recommended for approval. The reference number on Cheshire East’s planning portal for this application is 25/0210/OUT.