Full text:
Sirs
Re: Availability Assessment (SHELAA) Submission for Land at Ashley (Site Reference: 12
Contiguous Parcels Totalling 291.03 Hectares)
I am writing to register a formal objection to allocating or considering the 291.03-hectare
tract of land surrounding Ashley across all 12 contiguous parcels within the SHELAA and the
broader Local Plan review. Promoted development of this magnitude in this sensitive rural
area is fundamentally unviable and directly violates statutory local policy and the National
Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
1. Green Belt Protections and "Grey Belt" Disqualification
• Protected Wash-Over Designation: CELPS Policy PG 3 designates the entirety of
Ashley Parish as "wash-over" Green Belt to preserve the open, rural character of
sensitive villages.
• Preventing Settlement Coalescence: Ashley forms the narrowest remaining
countryside buffer separating Greater Manchester (Trafford, Hale, Altrincham) from
Cheshire East (Knutsford, Mobberley). Under Policy GB2 and Policy GB6, allocating
this site fails the national tests set out in Annex E by driving urban sprawl (Purpose
A) and merging distinct settlements (Purpose B).
• Failure of "Grey Belt" Criteria: Under Policy GB7, "Grey Belt" land must not
strongly contribute to core Green Belt purposes. This contiguous tract of active
farmland performs critical Green Belt functions. While the updated NPPF removes
the former Footnote 7 threshold from the initial Grey Belt qualification test,
significant heritage, ecological, and flood constraints across the site remain decisive
barriers to development under broader national policies.
2. Loss of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Farmland
• High-Tier Soil Classification: Detailed soil assessments, including survey data from
HS2 Phase 2b, confirm that this 291.03-hectare site consists predominantly of Grade 2
and Subgrade 3a Best and Most Versatile (BMV) farmland.
• Food Security and Soil Preservation: Concrete development across this
uninterrupted, productive agricultural landscape directly undermines regional food
production, violating CELPS Policy SE 2 and national soil protection mandates
requiring local planning authorities to prioritize lower-grade or brownfield land.
3. Highway Safety Hazards, Rail Deficits, and Aviation Restrictions
• Failure to Meet "Well-Connected Station" Standards: Policy GB7 introduces
specific support for higher-density development near "well-connected" railway
stations. To qualify, a station must offer at least 4 services per hour (or 2 per hour in
one direction). Ashley station fails this test completely, operating on a maximum of 1
train per hour with no commuter car park. Service levels will worsen further
following the funded, approved station at Cheadle; in March 2026, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Transport Keir Mather MP confirmed that service
reallocations reducing Ashley and Plumley calls to one train every two hours are
necessary to accommodate Cheadle's stops.• Severe Road Bottlenecks: Local rural infrastructure cannot accommodate heavy
vehicular traffic. The network relies on narrow, single-lane bridge pinch points over
the railway, the River Bollin, and Birkin Brook, creating severe cumulative
congestion risks in violation of CELPS Policy CO 1, Policy CO 4, and national
transport safety policies.
• Aerodrome Safeguarding Zones: Positioned beneath Manchester Airport's
operational flight paths, the site falls within restricted noise contours and bird-strike
management zones, conflicting with aerodrome safety requirements and CELPS
Policy SE 12 regarding public health.
4. Adverse Impacts on Landscape, Ecology, and Cultural Heritage
• Landscape Degradation: Allocating these sites would permanently damage the
settings of both the Bollin Valley and Parklands Local Landscape Designation (LLD)
and the Rostherne/Tatton Park LLD, violating CELPS Policy SE 4.
• Ecological Fragmentation: Mass construction would sever critical habitat corridors
and imperil nearby sensitive ecological assets, including the Cotterill Clough SSSI /
Nature Reserve, breaching CELPS Policy SE 3 and national nature recovery
mandates.
• Irreversible Heritage Damage: The open fields frame the settings for 19 Grade II
listed structures, including Ashley Hall. Allocating this site violates statutory
requirements under CELPS Policy SE 7 and national heritage policies that require
local authorities to give great weight to conserving designated historic assets and their
rural settings.
5. Hydrological Risks, Drainage, and Infrastructure Inadequacies
• Exacerbated Flooding: Paving over this catchment area would dramatically increase
surface water run-off into the River Bollin, creating severe off-site flood risks in
breach of CELPS Policy SE 13 and national flood resilience policies.
• Utility Capacities: The local area lacks the sewer system capacity, power grid
infrastructure, and drainage networks needed for intensive growth, failing the
deliverability requirements of CELPS Policy IN 1.
6. Invalidation under Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy
• Lowest Tier Placement: Under CELPS Policy PG 2, Ashley sits at the lowest tier of
the settlement hierarchy, lacking the primary schools, local healthcare facilities, and
job markets required to support a strategic population influx.
• Contradiction of Sustainable Growth Principles: Directing strategic housing to an
isolated rural village conflicts with CELPS Policy SD 1 and Policy SD 2, as well as
national plan-making principles that mandate concentrating major developments
within Tier 1 Principal Towns and Tier 2 Key Service Centres.
Conclusion and Action Requested The submission across all 12 contiguous parcels
(totalling 291.03 hectares) fails every fundamental planning test under both local policies and
the current NPPF framework. I formally request that Cheshire East Council mark all 12 site
submissions as Unsuitable, Unavailable, and Undeliverable within the SHELAA report
and exclude them entirely from future Local Plan allocations.
Sincerely
Dr R Royle MB ChB FRCGP
