Local plan scoping consultation

Subject: Objection to Call for Sites submissions and any proposed development/allocation in Ashley, Cheshire East – NPPF Paragraph 11(d)(i)
Dear Cheshire East Council Strategic Planning Team,
I am writing to formally object to any sites submitted through the Cheshire East Local Plan Call for Sites process (including the 2024 and 2026 exercises) that propose housing or other development in or around Ashley, and to object to any future consideration of such sites for allocation in the emerging Local Plan.
Ashley is designated as an infill village within the open countryside under the adopted Site Allocations and Development Policies Document (SADPD). Significant areas of land in and surrounding Ashley fall within the Green Belt.
Under Paragraph 11(d) of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, December 2024 version), where there are no relevant development plan policies or the most important policies for determining an application are out-of-date, permission should be granted unless:
(i) the application of policies in this Framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a strong reason for refusing the development proposed.
Footnote 7 to Paragraph 11 explicitly identifies land designated as Green Belt as one of the areas or assets of particular importance. The NPPF policies relating to the Green Belt (Chapter 13) provide a strong reason for refusing inappropriate development in the Green Belt. Development of the type typically promoted through Call for Sites submissions (housing or employment) would constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt and would conflict with the fundamental aims of Green Belt policy (to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open, and to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns and villages).
Even if the “tilted balance” under Paragraph 11(d) were later engaged in respect of any planning application on land at Ashley (for example due to housing land supply considerations), the application of the Green Belt policies in the NPPF would still provide a strong reason for refusal under Limb (i). The presumption in favour of sustainable development would therefore not apply, and permission should be refused.
For the same reasons, it would be inappropriate and contrary to national policy for any such sites to be progressed through the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment or proposed for allocation in the new Local Plan. Allocating Green Belt land at Ashley would undermine the strong protection afforded by the NPPF and would fail the tests of soundness.
I therefore request that:
Any sites submitted in the Call for Sites that involve land at or near Ashley be filtered out at the earliest stage as unsuitable on Green Belt grounds;
No such sites be taken forward for allocation; and
This objection be recorded and considered as part of the plan-making process and any subsequent site assessments.
I would be grateful if you could acknowledge receipt of this objection and confirm that it will be taken into account.
Yours faithfully,
Mike Peacock