Bellway Homes – 135 houses – Land off Cumber Lane, South Wilmslow

Anwyl Homes – 65 houses – Land off Upcast Lane, South Wilmslow

Jones Homes and Taylor-Wimpey – 200 houses – Land off Dean Row Road

Jones Homes ( Emery Planning ) – 120 – Land off Welton Drive / Stockton Drive

Residents may be aware of the above pre-planning consultations that have come forward in recent weeks, from various developers.

WHY SO MANY RIGHT NOW ?

The new government has significantly increased the number of houses it requires every local authority to build.

Local authorities must have a “5 year land supply” which means they must always have enough land allocated to meet demand for new houses for the next 5 years.  The new government’s increased housing requirements mean that Cheshire East must now allocate enough land for more than 2600 houses per year instead of the previous requirement of less than 1800.   This reduces Cheshire East council’s (previously healthy) 5 year land supply to approximately 4.1 years.   

The consequence of not being able to demonstrate a 5 year supply is that if a developer brings forward an application to develop a site and the Council refuses it, on appeal the government inspector is likely to overturn the refusal and grant permission (even if it is green belt) and the council will be required to pay the court costs (which can be hundreds of thousands of pounds).  This is why we are seeing an influx of applications on land which had previously been protected.

The first 3 developments above are proposed on land designated in the Cheshire East Local Plan 2010-2030 as ‘safeguarded land’ (a misleading name which suggests the land is protected from development, but actually means it is only protected temporarily).  The intention of including safeguarded land in the local plan was to plan for the long term and prevent the council from having to move green belt boundaries again in the next local plan period (which was planned to be 2030-2045).

The last development, Welton Drive, is on green belt land but Emery are bringing it forward on the premise that it should be accepted as ‘grey belt’.  Grey belt is a new phrase in planning brought in by the new government in their update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and refers to land in the green belt which has previously been developed and/or does not contribute strongly to three functions of green belt (to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas, to prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another, or to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns).

Under the new rules, such land that was green belt can become grey belt if the proposed development meets the ‘golden rules’ which are:

• The number of affordable houses* at 15% above current requirement ( currently 30%, so all new developments will have to have 45% affordable )
• Necessary improvements to local infrastructure
• New, or improvement to existing, local green spaces that are accessible to the public

* Affordable Housing consist of a number of factors but the one that is most talked about is that Starter Homes prices only have to be set at 20% below ‘open market value’ to be classed as affordable. This is a national directive, not one that local authorities can over ride.

Without a 5 year land supply, Cheshire East Council’s Planning Authority may not be able to resist such developments.

ALL OF THESE THESE APPLICATIONS ARE ‘SPECULATIVE’ ON THE PART OF DEVELOPERS, BECAUSE OF THE INCREASE IN HOUSING TARGETS.

HOW DO WE RESPOND ?

The developers have started pre-planning consultations, initially only to local residents but anyone can access these.

If you want to object, we would advise just that. You do not need to put a reason. As these are not full planning applications we do not know what the actual detail will be, so cannot comment specifically right now.

If these become full planning applications we would comment as RoW and support those residents who want to comment themselves.

RoW is opposed to development of the two safeguarded sites, Heathfield Farm and Land off Cumber Lane/ Upcast Lane.

RoW will resist any incursion into land which will be classified as being green belt.

At RoW we will pursue the use of brownfield ( previously developed but now abandoned land e.g. factories ) sites first. In addition, the old Royal London site has permission for lots of office space and some houses. In preference to building on safeguarded/greenbelt land we would push for some of this office space to be changed to housing.

It should also be understood that as a community we cannot say no to every development that comes forward. There is a demand for housing locally that needs to be met. Many residents want them.

We are keen to see the right mix of housing, 2/3 bedroom for example, and to use the opportunities of converting office space into residential space. Both of these are a part of the new planning guidance.

What we an do is attempt to ensure planning applications take into account the impact on the local community.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS AND DOCTORS ?

Any development of the size of those above, will have an impact on local services. There are a number of national standard calculations that are used for these.

For education there are calculations based on the number of houses and the expected number of primary, secondary and SEN children living there. This produces a £ figure to be used in local schools, paid for by the developer.

The issues we have in Wilmslow are that the High School is at capacity, the Primary Schools less so. Any new development could not be accommodated by Wilmslow High as any amount of £ contribution will not increase the number of pupils it can take.

For healthcare, there is a standard calculation of expected occupancy x number of houses which produces a £ contribution. The local health authority identifies where this is spent in Wilmlsow.

Right now both Kenmore and Wilmslow Health Centres continue to take on new patients, so it is reasonable to assume that there isn’t a capacity issue with these.

For outdoor/indoor open space there are requirements for onsite green/play space based on sqm / house. It can include the types of play equipment expected, for example.

Usually there is a requirement for developers to fund off site, outdoor space such as playing fields. In addition a similar contribution based on £/house is required for indoor facilities such as the leisure centre.

If you want to follow these developments there are 2 Facebook groups set up by RoW Councillors:

For Heathfield Farm / Dean Row Road – search for LPS 58 Heathfield Farm

For Cumber Lane / Upcast Lane – search for LPS 59 Residents Group

For the Emery/Jones development on Welton Drive / Stockton Road, there is a public meeting at Alderley Edge Golf Club on Tuesday 11th March at 6pm. For information on this, please contact David Jefferay at davidjefferay@hotmail.com.