Local plan scoping consultation

Nether Alderley – Frog Lane Roundabout Local Plan Objection Page 1
Objection to the Potential Allocation of Land at
the Southern End of the A34 Bypass / Frog Lane
Roundabout, Nether Alderley
Response to the Cheshire East New Local Plan Scoping Consultation – August 2026
1. The site is fundamentally inconsistent with the established
planning strategy for Nether Alderley
Nether Alderley is a predominantly rural parish and the newly made Nether Alderley
Neighbourhood Plan places considerable importance on maintaining its rural character,
countryside setting and Green Belt.
The Neighbourhood Plan confirms that the whole parish lies within the Cheshire Green Belt. It
identifies the Green Belt as highly valued by local residents because of its role in protecting and
enhancing the rural setting of the parish and, in particular, the setting of its historic core.
The Plan also makes clear that development away from the strategic allocation at Alderley Park is
expected to be limited.
The land beside the Frog Lane roundabout is not part of the strategic Alderley Park allocation. It
should therefore not be treated as an appropriate opportunity for a new area of development
simply because it has road access.
2. Development here would directly conflict with the Nether
Alderley Neighbourhood Plan’s approach to the A34 corridor
This is, in my view, one of the strongest reasons why the site should be rejected.
Policy LE3 of the newly made Nether Alderley Neighbourhood Plan identifies the Melrose Way/A34
corridor as an opportunity for environmental enhancement and specifically states that new
developments will not be supported along the corridor in order to preserve the character of the
associated environmental enhancements.
The land proposed for consideration is precisely within this sensitive A34/Frog Lane corridor.
It would therefore be perverse for the emerging Local Plan to identify land for development in a
location where the community’s recently adopted Neighbourhood Plan has specifically sought to
protect the environmental character of the A34 corridor.
The emerging Local Plan should respect and reinforce this locally established planning objective
rather than undermine it.
3. The land performs important Green Belt purposes
The Green Belt designation is not simply a technical constraint.
The Neighbourhood Plan identifies the purposes of the Green Belt as including:
• checking unrestricted sprawl;
• preventing neighbouring towns from merging;
• safeguarding the countryside from encroachment;
• preserving the setting and special character of historic places; and
• encouraging the use of previously developed land.
Development at the southern end of the bypass would represent a significant encroachment of
built development into an open rural setting.Nether Alderley – Frog Lane Roundabout Local Plan Objection Page 2
It would also risk encouraging further development along the A34 corridor.
This is particularly concerning because the Nether Alderley Neighbourhood Plan itself identifies
coalescence with Alderley Edge and ribbon development along the A34 as a threat to the parish.
The Council should not create a new Local Plan allocation which would make that identified threat
materially worse.
4. The A34 bypass was designed with substantial landscape
mitigation
The planning history of the Alderley Edge/Nether Alderley bypass is particularly relevant.
The approved bypass scheme included substantial landscape and visual mitigation, including
earth mounding and planting. The Council’s planning documentation specifically records additional
mitigation mounding and screening on the approach to the Frog Lane roundabout.
The Council’s own planning assessment described this mitigation as being intended to reduce
visual intrusion and protect sensitive receptors.
The Frog Lane approach was therefore not designed simply as a highway corridor around which
development could subsequently be clustered. Landscape mitigation was deliberately
incorporated into the scheme to reduce the visual and environmental effects of the bypass.
Introducing built development immediately alongside this corridor would undermine the purpose
and effectiveness of that landscape strategy.
The emerging Local Plan should take this historic planning decision into account.
5. The site would create a precedent for ribbon development along
the A34
I am particularly concerned about the precedent which allocating this land would create.
Once a substantial area of land at the southern end of the bypass is accepted as an appropriate
location for development, the argument that other land adjoining the A34 should also be
considered becomes considerably harder to resist.
This is exactly the type of incremental expansion and ribbon development which the Nether
Alderley Neighbourhood Plan identifies as a threat.
The Local Plan should establish a clear defensible boundary to development rather than create a
new development corridor along the A34.
6. Landscape and visual impact
The site is located in a highly prominent position at a major gateway into Nether Alderley.
Development here would not be experienced simply as an extension of an existing built-up area. It
would introduce a new built presence into an open landscape adjoining a major rural settlement
and the bypass.
The visual impact would be experienced by motorists travelling along the A34; people using Frog
Lane and surrounding roads; residents of Nether Alderley; pedestrians and cyclists; users of
nearby public rights of way; and visitors approaching the historic landscape of Nether Alderley.
The Neighbourhood Plan describes the parish as having an attractive countryside setting and
identifies its rural landscape, woodland, historic estates and landscape features as important
components of its character.Nether Alderley – Frog Lane Roundabout Local Plan Objection Page 3
Any allocation would therefore require a robust landscape and visual assessment before the site
could reasonably be considered suitable.
I do not believe that the mere presence of the A34 makes the land visually or environmentally
suitable for development.
7. Traffic and highway considerations should not be treated as an
advantage
The fact that the land is close to the A34 does not automatically make it a sustainable location.
The Frog Lane roundabout is already an important strategic junction serving movements between
the A34, Nether Alderley, Alderley Edge and the surrounding rural road network.
Development immediately adjacent to the roundabout could introduce additional turning
movements, pedestrian movements and congestion at a location where strategic through traffic
already has to be accommodated.
Any future assessment must therefore consider the cumulative impact of development on the Frog
Lane roundabout; the A34; Frog Lane; Congleton Road; Bollington Lane; Chelford Road; Melrose
Way; and the wider local road network.
It should also consider pedestrian and cycle safety rather than assuming that proximity to a major
road equates to sustainable accessibility.
The Nether Alderley Neighbourhood Plan itself records local concerns regarding treacherous side
roads, pavements, poor public transport and rural-lane safety.
8. Nether Alderley does not have the characteristics of a
conventional urban expansion location
The Neighbourhood Plan identifies weaknesses including the absence of a discernible village
centre, limited local services and facilities, poor public transport and isolation.
These characteristics are important when assessing whether additional development would
constitute sustainable growth.
A site should not be regarded as sustainable simply because it lies beside a major road.
Sustainable development should consider access to everyday services, walking and cycling
opportunities, public transport, community facilities and the ability of residents to live locally
without excessive dependence on private cars.
The Council should therefore undertake a rigorous assessment of the actual sustainability of this
location rather than relying on its proximity to the A34.
9. The recently made Neighbourhood Plan should carry substantial
weight
This is especially important in the present Local Plan process.
The Nether Alderley Neighbourhood Plan passed referendum on 2 July 2026 and has been brought
into the statutory planning framework.
It represents the outcome of a long period of local evidence gathering, consultation, examination
and referendum.
Its vision is for Nether Alderley to remain a distinct semi-rural community with an attractive
countryside setting, while maintaining and enhancing its character.Nether Alderley – Frog Lane Roundabout Local Plan Objection Page 4
Its aims include maintaining and enhancing the rural character of Nether Alderley and its Green
Belt.
The emerging Local Plan should therefore be prepared in a way which is consistent with, and
reinforces, the locally specific planning framework which the community has only recently
approved.
10. Alternative locations should be considered before sacrificing
Green Belt land
If Cheshire East needs to identify additional land for housing or other development, the Council
should demonstrate that reasonable alternatives have been properly assessed.
In particular, the Council should apply the sequential approach of considering:
1. previously developed land;
2. genuinely sustainable locations;
3. opportunities within existing settlements;
4. sites where development would not undermine Green Belt purposes or important landscape
character; and
5. only thereafter, where justified by the evidence, Green Belt land.
The fact that land is available does not mean that it is suitable.
The Council’s own Call for Sites documentation confirms that sites submitted by landowners or
developers are subject to assessment for suitability, availability and achievability, and that
submission of a site does not give it any special planning status.
I therefore ask that the site at Frog Lane is assessed against all of these criteria rather than being
treated as a development opportunity simply because of its proximity to the A34.
11. Cumulative development must be considered
The assessment should not look at this site in isolation.
Nether Alderley has already experienced significant development associated with Alderley Park.
The Neighbourhood Plan itself recognises the scale of this change and the potential for further
development to affect the character, infrastructure and cohesion of the parish.
The cumulative effect of additional development, including development at the Frog Lane/A34
location, should therefore be assessed.
The question is not simply whether another individual development could theoretically be
accommodated. The question is whether continued incremental development would
fundamentally alter the character and spatial identity of Nether Alderley.
I believe it would.
12. Requested conclusion
I respectfully ask Cheshire East Council to:
Reject the land at the southern end of the A34 bypass adjacent to the Frog Lane roundabout as a
location for allocation for future development in the new Local Plan.
The reasons are that the location:
• lies within the Green Belt;
• forms part of an important rural landscape;
• is inconsistent with the objective of maintaining Nether Alderley’s rural character;
• conflicts with the recently made Nether Alderley Neighbourhood Plan’s approach to theNether Alderley – Frog Lane Roundabout Local Plan Objection Page 5
A34/Melrose Way corridor;
• risks encouraging ribbon development and coalescence;
• would undermine the environmental and landscape mitigation associated with the A34 bypass;
• would introduce built development into a prominent gateway landscape;
• raises significant highway, pedestrian and sustainable-transport questions;
• would place further pressure on local infrastructure; and
• would establish an undesirable precedent for further development along the A34.
Most importantly, the Council should recognise that the A34 bypass is not a reason why this land
should be developed; rather, the carefully landscaped and environmentally mitigated corridor
created by the bypass is part of the reason why the remaining open land should be protected.
I therefore ask that the emerging Local Plan positively protects this land and the wider A34/Frog
Lane landscape from development and instead directs future growth towards locations which are
genuinely sustainable and do not compromise the Green Belt, rural character and landscape
setting of Nether Alderley.