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In September 2017 the Planning Inspectorate allowed an appeal by
a developer to build 10 houses at Dunkirk Farm Paddock, London Road, Holmes
Chapel. The application site was a green field site in the open countryside and
outside settlement boundaries. The site was not allocated for housing in the
recently approved Cheshire East Local Plan. It was noted that the targets for housing set out in
the Brereton and Holmes Chapel Neighbourhood Plans had already been met or
exceeded. However, the Inspector commented that “the targets set out in the
neighbourhood plans and indeed the Development Plan as a whole, should not be
viewed as maxima and therefore a means of resisting sustainable development”. What is particularly worrying is that the Inspector
noted that the application conflicted with the Strategic Green Gap policy of the
Local Plan and also with the settlement boundary policy of the Brereton
Neighbourhood Plan, but gave approval for the development to go ahead. The main
reasons for allowing the development were that it would provide some affordable
housing and that adjoining developments meant that the impact on the open
countryside was limited. In the ruling the Inspector specifically referred to
the recent Supreme Court case which Cheshire East Council claimed as a momentous
victory during the general election campaign. That case was actually lost by
Cheshire East Council and it appears to have set a regrettable precedent for
allowing housing in green gap sites. Cllr Nick Mannion said , “The Local Plan was
supposed to stop speculative housing applications, but it seems that while the
Conservatives remain in power then housing will continue to be approved on
greenfield sites in East Cheshire.” Sam
Corcoran, Labour Councillor for Sandbach Heath & East, said, “The
Conservatives claimed the Supreme Court ruling allowing 150 houses in Willaston
as a ‘momentous victory’ because they said they had won a technical argument
that didn’t affect the outcome. Then they claimed that the Local Plan would
stop the goldrush of speculative housing applications. The reality is that while
the Conservatives remain in power, developers will continue to gain planning
permission for housing on greenfield sites in Cheshire East.” https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewCase.aspx?caseid=3145225 |