Local plan scoping consultation

To whom this may concern,

I live on Ashley Road, Hale and I'm writing to object to the proposed development allocation on land at Ashley, currently out for consultation as part of the Local Plan.

I walk this land regularly and it's genuinely one of the last stretches of open countryside separating Hale and Trafford from Knutsford and Mobberley. Losing it wouldn't just mean losing a view, it would mean losing the Green Belt buffer that keeps these places from simply merging into one another. That's not a sentimental point, it's the whole purpose the Green Belt is designated to serve and I don't believe this land meets the 'Grey Belt' test that would justify releasing it. It's working farmland, not brownfield and independent soil surveys show it includes Grade 2 and Subgrade 3a land. Some of the best agricultural soil we have. Building over that is not a decision we get to reverse.

I'm also genuinely worried about practicalities the plan doesn't seem to have grappled with. Ashley has no meaningful public transport and very little infrastructure to speak of so a large development here would mean everyone driving everywhere, funnelled onto lanes and railway bridges that already struggle and onto an A538/M56 that's congested as it is. There's no clear answer in the proposals for schools, healthcare or drainage capacity either and the site's proximity to the River Bollin raises real surface water flood risk. Add in the setting of Ashley Hall, nineteen Grade II listed buildings, the Tatton Estate's historic hedgerows and the Cotterill Clough nature reserve nearby and this feels like exactly the wrong place for development on this scale. Not because change is unwelcome in principle but because this particular site fails on the planning merits.

I'd ask the Council to direct growth towards more sustainable, better-connected locations in line with the settlement hierarchy and to formally register this as an objection to the proposed allocation.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Regards,

Tate Callender