Local plan scoping consultation

Comment

Representation ID: 2873

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

I do not envy you the task of undertaking this very complex consultation. I will inevitably get confused between commenting on the process of creating a local plan or on specific things that should go into it. How much of the detail is simply National Policy and is it worth commenting on that? Do you have any power to go back and say they have got things wrong? E.g. climate change and environmental protection are mentioned throughout as 2 of many factors to consider whereas I believe they are top of a hierarchy of considerations.

Comment

Representation ID: 2882

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

Is the list at 2.1 derived from national policy or did we create it in Cheshire East? It should include environmental protection & restoration. As well as climate change adaptation, a local plan should be looking at how we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are other really important things that I believe should be explicit: how we increase food security, how we manage water and how we increase our energy security. It would be useful to see a diagram showing how these things all interconnect.

Comment

Representation ID: 2901

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

3.1-3.2
I appreciate this attempt to explain how national policy has changed. I don’t believe that we should be putting economic growth before the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change, restore nature, secure our food, water and energy supplies. If we don’t resolve them there will be no economic growth, and if we do resolve them, we may get economic growth. Thus, I think there is a way of reconciling what we say in the plan with national policy – but we need to create a local plan that solves those issues first.

Comment

Representation ID: 2908

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

3.3 – 3.7
This explanation is useful but begs more questions than it answers! The standard method if followed year on year would result in more and more houses for ever and probably in the wrong places. You will need much better arguments for persuading people that they should take new developments in their neighbourhood. Which is why the Vision for how the area should develop will be so important. If that results in a shortfall, that should be surely be negotiated at the Cheshire & Warrington level or even nationally.

Comment

Representation ID: 2931

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

3.11-3.14
I believe the local planning process could be an opportunity to educate people on definitions relating to Green Belt, Grey Belt and Brownfield sites. Green belt land can be very poor in biodiversity while brownfield sites can be very rich - depending on circumstances. If housebuilding targets threaten areas of Green Belt, then protesters wishing to prevent urban sprawl say, should put forward alternative uses: could it be rewilded perhaps? or used to provide renewable energy? If not, then a review of boundaries would seem acceptable to me.

Comment

Representation ID: 2934

Received: 27/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

3.16
Two massive omissions here: food supply and renewable energy supply. At some point we are going to have to be honest with people that meat and dairy farming needs to be reduced as we are compelled to move towards plant based diets. Meat and Dairy make for terribly inefficient food supply compared with plant based food. Provision of plant based food could be a massive opportunity for Cheshire. Community Energy Projects could also make an impact on energy supply and costs.

Comment

Representation ID: 3244

Received: 29/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

4.6-4.10 I am surprised to see no mention of agriculture in this section. However I would not argue that to be so reliant on animal products is a good thing. Climate experts say that we need to move to diets which are much more plant based than currently. The region could get ahead of the game here by determining to transition the land currently used for grazing to production of good quality plant based food products. This would be much more efficient use of land and could make more land available for housing and renewable energy production.

Comment

Representation ID: 3249

Received: 29/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

4.5 This paints a rosy picture. My experience in Disley is of a road (the A6) totally unfit for the amount of freight it carries and back roads (eg to Macclesfield) which people drive far too fast on. There is reasonable public transport to Stockport, Manchester and Buxton but no easy public transport to any other place within Cheshire East. I use an ebike a lot (to help me over the hills.) I don't want more roads - I want to make using bikes and ebikes safer. I want fewer lorries & SUVs on our roads and more buses.

Comment

Representation ID: 3348

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

5.2 – 5.4
We must address the climate and nature emergency in our vision of place. What can Cheshire East do to adapt to climate change already baked in and how can it stop things getting worse? In fact – quite a lot and these could bring great benefits to our health and wellbeing. They include: transition from animal farming to plant based food production; make our places less car dependent; enable community energy projects. I include a transcript on food security from a National Emergency Briefing given in Westminster in November 2025 https://www.nebriefing.org/expert-briefings

Comment

Representation ID: 3360

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Diana Davey

5.16-5.18 I believe we need to be asking if Green Belt land can be used for other purposes while meeting the primary objective of preventing urban sprawl. Much of it might currently be used for animal grazing which is not good for the soil or for biodiversity. What could be done to make these places much better for nature and or for plant based food production or renewable energy generation? We can object to building houses on green belt but we should do much more to bring back nature there.