Local plan scoping consultation

Dear Strategic Planning Team,
I am writing in response to the Cheshire East Local Plan scoping consultation to express my strong objection to the potential allocation for development of extensive areas of land in and around Ashley, in particular the sites submitted through the Call for Sites process as Ashley Garden Village:
HE320a – Ashley Garden Village NW Quadrant
HE320b – Ashley Garden Village NE Quadrant
HE320c – Ashley Garden Village SE Quadrant
HE320d – Ashley Garden Village SW Quadrant
I appreciate that these are currently Call for Sites submissions rather than allocated development sites or planning applications. However, given the extraordinary scale of the land being promoted, I believe it is important that the concerns of people living in the surrounding communities are taken into account at the earliest possible stage in preparation of the new Local Plan.
I recognise that Cheshire East needs to plan appropriately for future housing, employment and infrastructure. However, I strongly believe that development on anything approaching the scale being suggested around Ashley would be inappropriate and would cause significant and irreversible harm to the character, landscape and function of this area.
Green Belt and the separation of settlements
The countryside surrounding Ashley performs an extremely important role in maintaining the separation between the Greater Manchester conurbation, including Hale, Hale Barns and Altrincham, and the rural communities of Ashley, Mobberley and the wider Cheshire countryside.
Large-scale development in this location risks substantially eroding that separation and creating urban encroachment and eventual coalescence between communities that currently have very distinct identities.
The openness of this countryside is therefore not incidental. It performs an important strategic function and should be afforded considerable weight when future development locations are considered.
The scale of the proposals
Ashley is a small rural settlement. The four Ashley Garden Village submissions alone comprise approximately 252 hectares of land.
Development on this scale could not reasonably be regarded as a modest or proportionate extension of Ashley. It would represent a fundamental transformation of the area, effectively introducing an entirely new settlement into what is currently predominantly open countryside.
There are also a number of additional Call for Sites submissions around Ashley. I would therefore urge the Council to assess the cumulative impact of all potential development in this area rather than considering each parcel of land in isolation.
Our personal connection with the area
We live close to Ashley and one of the things we particularly value about living here is having genuine countryside on our doorstep.
We regularly walk in and around the local countryside and enjoy visiting the pubs and amenities in Ashley and the surrounding villages. The combination of rural landscape, villages, footpaths, farmland and open space is an important part of the character of the area and of our everyday enjoyment of where we live.
This is not simply about the loss of individual fields. It is about the cumulative loss of the open rural landscape that gives Ashley and the surrounding area its identity.
For those of us who live nearby, this countryside is not an abstract area on a planning map. It is part of our everyday environment and an important recreational and community asset. Once development on this scale has taken place, that character and openness cannot simply be recreated elsewhere.
Highways, traffic and public transport
I have serious concerns about whether the existing road network could accommodate development of this magnitude.
Much of the area is served by rural roads and lanes, some with significant physical constraints. The surrounding road network already carries substantial traffic, particularly on routes towards Altrincham, Hale, Manchester Airport, Knutsford, the A538 and the M56.
The creation of thousands of additional homes together with employment, commercial, educational and other uses would inevitably generate very substantial additional vehicle movements.
Public transport provision in the area is also limited compared with more urban locations. This raises the obvious risk of creating a heavily car-dependent development.
Any future assessment should therefore consider the cumulative impact of all development being promoted around Ashley and not simply whether individual junctions or sections of road could technically be upgraded.
Loss of agricultural land and countryside
The potential loss of such an extensive area of productive agricultural land is also deeply concerning.
Once agricultural land has been developed it is, for practical purposes, lost permanently. At a time when food security, biodiversity, climate resilience and protection of the natural environment are increasingly important, the loss of hundreds of hectares of countryside requires particularly compelling justification.
I would expect the Council to demonstrate that reasonable alternatives, including previously developed land and locations with substantially better existing infrastructure and public transport, have been properly considered before contemplating development of this scale in open countryside.
Landscape, ecology and heritage
The countryside around Ashley is not simply undeveloped land awaiting another use. It is an established rural landscape containing mature trees and hedgerows, woodland, farmland, wildlife corridors, watercourses and heritage assets.
The environmental consequences of replacing such an extensive area with housing, roads, schools, commercial buildings and associated infrastructure could be profound.
The potential effects upon the wider landscape, biodiversity, established habitats, the River Bollin corridor, Cotterill Clough SSSI, listed buildings and the historic character of Ashley and its surroundings should all be carefully considered.
Again, these impacts need to be assessed cumulatively across the whole area rather than site by site.
Infrastructure and sustainability
Development on this scale would require substantial new infrastructure including roads, drainage and sewerage capacity, schools, healthcare facilities and public transport.
I question the sustainability of selecting a predominantly rural location which would require such extensive new infrastructure simply to support the development, when alternative locations may already have significantly better access to services and sustainable transport.
The proximity of Manchester Airport and the implications of aircraft noise and airport operations should also form part of any assessment of the suitability of this location for major residential development.
Conclusion
I strongly urge Cheshire East Council, in preparing its new Local Plan, to protect Ashley and the surrounding countryside from development on this scale and not to allocate the Ashley Garden Village sites HE320a–d, or an equivalent large-scale development in this location.
I fully accept that Cheshire East must accommodate future housing and economic growth. My objection is not to development in principle. It is to the suitability and extraordinary scale of development being promoted in this particular location and the permanent consequences it could have for the Green Belt, countryside, infrastructure and individual identity of the communities surrounding Ashley.
There are some planning decisions whose effects can subsequently be mitigated or corrected. The loss of approximately 252 hectares of open countryside and the fundamental transformation of the character of this area would not be one of them.
I therefore ask that these concerns are formally recorded and taken into consideration as the Council develops its spatial strategy and assesses potential locations for development through the new Local Plan.
Please confirm receipt of my representation.
Yours faithfully,
Michelle Moorhouse