Local plan scoping consultation

Haughton Parish Meeting recognizes that the Scoping Consultation is only the first stage of formal consultation. Unfortunately, Haughton Parish Meeting was not informed of the consultation and consequently only found out about it by chance in mid-August 2026 leaving little time to prepare a response.

Haughton Parish Meeting recognizes that the Scoping Consultation is only the first stage of formal consultation. Unfortunately, Haughton Parish Meeting was not informed of the consultation and consequently only found out about it by chance in mid-August 2026 leaving little time to prepare a response.
1.3 Haughton Parish Meeting welcomes Cheshire East Council’s desire for early meaningful engagement in the preparation of a new local plan. Haughton Parish Meeting were not informed by Cheshire East Council of the Scoping Consultation and consequently have been left with very little time to prepare a meaningful response. This consultation took place during the school summer break, making it difficult to gain residents’ opinions and views on a long-term vision for Haughton. We would request that in future that Haughton Parish Meeting is included in any Consultee lists and as such is given adequate notice of future consultations. In addition, we would ask that Cheshire East Council share a detailed timetable of the processes to take place.
1.4 Haughton Parish Meeting intends to prepare detailed responses at the relevant consultation stages.
1.5 Haughton Parish Meeting has established “3 Pillars” which it will use to respond to this and future consultation exercises. These 3 pillars are based on what the parish meeting considers to be the essential character and constraints of our village. The 3 pillars are
- Agriculture, Haughton sits within an area of active and productive farming. The nature of the dairy and arable farming which takes place within Haughton has historically shaped its character as a sparse rural hamlet.
- Environment, the hamlet of Haughton or to give it the full historical name Haughton Moss, has great significance environmentally. The moss, flood conditions, water-table characteristics and drainage constraints have created diverse and highly significant areas of importance. Haughton features a site which has been classified as a Local Wildlife Site by Cheshire Wildlife Trust and Cheshire East Council. Haughton currently provides important stepping-stones to wildlife linking to other important conservation areas within Cheshire and beyond.
- Infrastructure, Haughton is a sparse rural hamlet of scattered housing along primarily two parallel narrow lanes. Traffic along these narrow lanes include agricultural tractors and machinery, horses, cyclists and pedestrians. There is no nearby local transport meaning that there is an over-reliance upon private motor cars and vehicles. The lanes are prone to flash floods, surface damage and are untreated during the winter months. Over the years the hamlet has lost its school, post office and the Mission Rooms; leaving it with no infrastructure to support it.
1.6 Haughton Parish Meeting was not consulted during 2024 on the issues that a new local plan should address. This appears to be opposite to Cheshire East Council’s desire for early meaningful consultation. Haughton Parish Meeting requests that it is included in all future consultations and would like to contribute and be a part of any decision-making which affects Haughton and the surrounding area.
1.7 Haughton Parish Meeting acknowledges that at this stage in the process Cheshire East Council is not inviting the submission of sites for allocation. We would request that we are informed and meaningfully consulted on any current or future allocations of land within Haughton. We reaffirm our hopes and desires that Cheshire East Council allows Haughton Parish Meeting to meaningfully contribute to any decisions made, based on the 3 pillars the parish meeting identified.

The new Local Plan should recognise Haughton as a linear rural village and support development proportionate to its character and infrastructure. Suitable infill, conversion and reuse of existing buildings may be appropriate, particularly where they provide affordable smaller homes and support the rural economy. Estate-style expansion behind the established frontage would be inconsistent with the village's character.

The existing Local Plan was prepared under materially different national policies and housing requirements. The new Plan should reassess Haughton objectively, recognising its physical village form despite the absence of a defined settlement boundary. The increased housing requirement should be met through a balanced range of sites and should not justify disproportionate development in small rural villages.

Earlier call-for-sites submissions establish only that land was promoted, not that it is suitable for development. The Council should publish its methodology and reassess Haughton's sites, settlement status and infrastructure transparently.
The Parish Meeting should be consulted directly throughout the process. Evidence should address highway safety, drainage, accessibility, rural employment and cumulative development effects before decisions are made.

We recognise the urgent need for more housing stock in Britain and offer some thoughts on how the hamlet of Haughton might contribute.

Haughton is a linear development along two through roads (Long Lane and Hall Lane) and one cul-de-sac (Ferret Oak Lane). At present there are 79 dwellings and 279 inhabitants. The roads are surrounded by open countryside and there are a number of large dairy farms with the Haughton address. There is no church, no school, no shop and no public house in Haughton. There is no public transport.

Infrastructure is as expected in an open countryside development. Houses are on septic tank drainage, power is supplied (largely) by overhead cables and internet connections are variable. Some houses have adopted Starlink connections because of poor landline download speeds due to fibre not going to the house.

There is frequent movement of large farm vehicles (occupying more than half of the two lane Long Lane and dominating Hall Lane which is single track with passing places. Neither road is gritted in the winter and Hall Lane in particular is rutted as a result of the heavy farm traffic with patches of road (by Yew Tree Farm) that have lost a tarmac surface. There is little scope for widening Hall Lane because of established native trees on both sides of the track. Ferret Oak Lane is also single track with passing places but being a cul-de-sac has less traffic.

There are problems with surface water drainage in both Hall Lane and Long Lane.

There are possibilities for infill development in all three Haughton roads and we think this may be the best option for us helping with housing development, given the deficiencies in infrastructure.

The Spatial Portrait should recognise the existence of very small, dispersed rural hamlets such as Haughton, which have substantially different characteristics, infrastructure constraints and development capacities to villages. The Local Plan should establish a clear understanding of Haughton's status, character and functional geography before determining its position within any future settlement hierarchy.

The Spatial Portrait should more clearly recognise the distinctive environmental conditions of the Meres and Mosses landscape, including high groundwater levels, flood risk, drainage constraints and biodiversity value. These characteristics are not peripheral issues but fundamental determinants of how some rural areas function and what they can sustainably accommodate.

The Spatial Portrait should more clearly recognise the distinctive environmental conditions of the Meres and Mosses landscape, including high groundwater levels, flood risk, drainage constraints and biodiversity value. These characteristics are not peripheral issues but fundamental determinants of how some rural areas function and what they can sustainably accommodate.

Whilst Cheshire East benefits from excellent strategic transport links overall, the Spatial Portrait should better acknowledge that some rural communities experience very different infrastructure conditions. Development capacity in places such as Haughton is influenced more by local road capacity, drainage, sewerage limitations and access to services than by strategic transport connectivity elsewhere in the borough.

Whilst Cheshire East benefits from excellent strategic transport links overall, the Spatial Portrait should better acknowledge that some rural communities experience very different infrastructure conditions. Development capacity in places such as Haughton is influenced more by local road capacity, drainage, sewerage limitations and access to services than by strategic transport connectivity elsewhere in the borough.

The Spatial Portrait should acknowledge that community assets, agricultural businesses and informal rural support networks are important components of sustainability in dispersed rural communities. Their contribution should be considered alongside traditional measures such as population growth and service provision.