Local plan scoping consultation

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing in response to the current consultation on the scope of the new Local Plan, closing 1st September 2026. I live on Monsall Drive, close to the Green Belt land bounded by Blakelow Road and Buxton Old Road that has been put forward under the Council’s ‘Call for Sites’ process. My property backs onto the row of houses that directly border the site.
I understand this stage does not determine site allocations, but I wish to record in the strongest terms that any future release of this land from the Green Belt should be resisted, for the following reasons:
1. Sequential approach to site selection The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires local planning authorities to demonstrate that all other reasonable options for meeting development needs have been examined before concluding that Green Belt boundaries should be altered (NPPF para 145). I do not consider it has been demonstrated that brownfield and non-Green Belt greenfield capacity within Macclesfield has been exhausted.
2. Exceptional circumstances test Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where “exceptional circumstances” are fully evidenced (NPPF para 145). Land coming forward via a Call for Sites submission from a developer does not in itself constitute exceptional circumstances, and I would ask the Council to ensure this distinction is maintained through the plan-making process.
3. Purposes of the Green Belt This land performs several of the core purposes set out in NPPF para 143, including:
• checking unrestricted sprawl of the built-up area;
• safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
• preserving the setting and special character of Macclesfield.
4. Openness and visual impact The site is topographically elevated and clearly visible from the surrounding residential area, including Monsall Drive. Development here would cause substantial and permanent harm to the openness of the Green Belt (a factor to be given significant weight per para 142) and would have a materially harmful visual impact on the character of the area.
5. Landscape and countryside transition The land forms an important buffer between the built environment and open countryside. Its loss would erode a clear and long-standing settlement edge, harming the landscape character that the Green Belt is designed to protect.
6. Policy currency I note that a revised NPPF has been subject to public consultation (December 2025 – March 2026) and is expected to be published in 2026, with proposed changes to Green Belt policy including “grey belt” assessment criteria. Given the timescale of this Local Plan, I would ask the Council to confirm which version of the NPPF will apply at each stage of plan preparation, to ensure the evidence base and Green Belt assessment are tested against the correct and current national policy.
I ask that these points be recorded as part of the scope consultation, and that the significance of retaining this Green Belt parcel is fully reflected in the evidence base as the plan progresses to the ‘Plan, Content & Evidence’ stage.

Yours faithfully,
Ben Sapsford