Cheshire East councillors are calling on the government to reduce its housing target saying the borough needs “plan-led development, not developer-led planning”, writes Belinda Ryan.
The target has soared by more than 150% from 997 dwellings per annum to 2,471, following changes brought in by the Labour government.
At full council, members of all political colours were unanimous in backing a notice of motion from Conservative Group leader Cllr Stewart Gardiner calling for that number to be lowered.
An amendment brought by council leader Nick Mannion (Lab) around environmental protection, an increased proportion of social housing, and key infrastructure to be delivered ahead of development, was also approved.
So was another from Cllr Craig Browne (Alderley Edge, Ind) calling on the council to lobby the Local Government Association to take the issue on as an official campaign.
Residents Nick Cheetham and Sarah Bradley spoke at the meeting.
Mr Cheetham said: “The intent of this [rise] was to obviously increase the national housing supply, but also deal with those areas not pulling their weight.
“Cheshire East is not in this position.”
Mrs Bradley said her town Sandbach had nearly doubled in size in recent years, services are stretched and roads are gridlocked.
She said 217 new houses had been approved in the last six months and 840 applied for outline planning permission.
“To be absolutely clear, this is not about stopping new development, it’s about making sure they are allocated fairly across all areas, in sustainable numbers, in the right places for people who need them the most,” she said.
All councillors acknowledged the need for housing but said it had to be plan-led.
Cllr Gardiner told the meeting that Cheshire East had done the right thing in adopting a local plan and building up a healthy housing land supply.
“So we are more than over-performing in terms of completions, while some neighbours to the north were behind target,” he said.
He said losing its 10-year plus housing land supply overnight meant Cheshire East is again at the mercy of developers deciding which sites come forward, when.
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) said Cheshire East must be allowed to determine what is right for the borough.
“In particular smaller homes, first homes, downsizing homes and social homes,” she said.
“We need to bear that in mind and not have developers dictate to us executive larger properties that are simply there to make them more profit.”
Cllr Mannion said: “We do have a housing crisis in this country, but I am very concerned about my government’s initial response to tackling that.
“We do need to build houses, but we need the right houses in the right place, at the right tenure, at the right size, with the right services.”
Macclesfield councillor Mary Brooks (Lab) said: “I think we need to send a strong message to the government that they need to actually be reasonable about this and rethink this.”
There was applause from the public gallery as the council was unanimous in backing the motion and amendments.
(Aerial image by Jonathan White)
Easy – stop granting planning permission. Labour have only themselves to blame as they want 1.5 million homes during their tenure. It’s not sustainable and no real thinking/implications about the lack of infrastructure surrounding these new projects.4
We dont have a housing crisis we have a population crisis. Subtle difference and continuosly building houses by the hundreds at a time over green fields is not a sustainable solution
Common sense says improve the basic infastructure and then add more properties. Especially rented affordable homes and starter homes. 8