Residents fighting plans for new homes on Cheshire green belt land
More than 30 objections have been made
The application site is on land off Coppice Road at Poynton (Image: Google)
More than 30 residents have objected to plans to build up to seven homes on green belt land in Poynton. Abode Property Developments has applied to Cheshire East Council for permission in principle to build the homes on land south of Coppice Road.
Urban Imprint, representing the applicant, says the site is grey belt land and ‘given that the LPA (local planning authority) does not currently have a five-year housing land supply… we find that the planning balance weighs heavily in favour of the site coming forward and contributing to the housing supply’.
Local residents are strongly opposed to the development. Objections include the impact on the environment; increased demands on existing services in the town; an increase in traffic along an already busy road and destruction of the green belt.
One objector posted on the planning portal on Cheshire East Council’s website: “Allowing housing on this land would weaken the green belt boundary and set a precedent for further erosion of protected countryside. The openness of this site, and its function as a buffer to the adjacent woodland and natural landscape, would be permanently lost.”
Another said the proposal is an inappropriate development in the green belt which conflicts with Cheshire East’s local plan. He added: “It fails to meet the NPPF (national planning policy framework) definition of grey belt land.”
The application is for permission in principle (PIP) – a two-stage mechanism for obtaining planning approval for housing development. The first stage, being applied for now, is to establish whether the site is suitable in principle.
That limits the scope for consideration to location, land use and the amount of development If PIP is granted, the site must receive a grant of technical details consent before development can proceed.
The application, number 25/4766/PIP, can be viewed on the planning portal on Cheshire East Council’s website. The last date for submitting comments is February 25.
The application will be decided by the northern planning committee. A provisional date of March 4 has been set for the meeting, although that could change.