Local plan scoping consultation

Comment

Representation ID: 3351

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

1.2 Whilst this is the first stage of a consultation and only scoping in nature, it is extremely unfortunate that Cheshire East failed to notify and ignored Haughton as a Parish area (as a defined area in its all its other planning processes) so leaving unreasonably little time for this to be a true consultation with the widest democratic contributions as should have been the aim of the Cheshire East. An explanation of this omission is requested.

Comment

Representation ID: 3352

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

1.5 Haughton Parish has had an urgent meeting to gather views to ensure that Haughton's character is well understood and its future planning profile arrived at in a sustainable and appropriate way. The Summary of that collective effort is attached - I endorse this 100%.
Three Pillars encapsulate the essential character of Haughton:
1. Agriculture & Rural Economy predominance - past, present and future.
2. Environment & Landscape - extensive environmental and flora and fauna value; flooding and water-table risk.
3. Sparse dwellings of a distinctive hamlet within active prime agricultural land with extremely limited and low grade infrastructure.

Comment

Representation ID: 3354

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

The local plan should be evidence-led. Haughton farmers, residents and the Parish Meeting should be asked to participate and provide good research and evidence to support the Council's assessment of this dispersed agricultural hamlet area.

Comment

Representation ID: 3355

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

Section 2.
Agriculture should be expressly recognised as a core and strategic priority sector of the East Cheshire economy. The rural economy, focused on dairy farming, is amongst the most productive and important in Europe as well as being fundamental to the National Strategy for Sustainable and UK Self-Sufficient Food Production. This is omitted in para.2.1 and is a serious oversight in encompassing the essential character and economic strength of this part of Cheshire East's profile and the Council's/Government's responsibility to protect and promote its competitive advantages and strategic priorities in the agricultural rural economy and the jobs dependant thereon.

Comment

Representation ID: 3356

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

Within this planning and timetabled process, Haughton needs to be a formally recognised area as a dispersed rural community and hamlet, and a formal included and engaged consultee in this process, not ignored as has been the case to date by successive Cheshire East Council and National Government administrations. The definition of sustainable development needs to acknowledge and act in line with the need to preserve and promote agricultural and dairy farming activity on some of the most fertile and intense grassland in Europe, its environmental stewardship and community cohesion and resilience as part of how sustainability is genuinely assessed.

Comment

Representation ID: 3359

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

This document seems to be thrusting towards the built environment rather than balancing that with the strategic and vital rurality of agricultural dependency for jobs, economic security, food security, rural economic activity , environmental conservation and diversity within the ecosystem where the UK has the most rapidly declining species and habitat loss in the developed world, climate resilience and food production, primarily grass-feed related given the natural blessings and global competitive advantage that swathes of the South and East Cheshire areas, all of which are proven growth areas with more potential in the agricultural and farming sector.

Comment

Representation ID: 3362

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

The Spatial Portrait does not adequately reflect the distinctive characteristics of dispersed rural hamlets situated amid continuing active prime agricultural land such as Haughton. Considerably greater recognition should be given to the underpinning key importance of prime agricultural land and the rural economy and jobs, notably in dairy farming, that are a direct result of that activity. It should be noted that this is GROWING and is a significant source of growth.
The local infrastructure is poor. The environmental assets are significant. Future development needs to avoid snuffing out these positive trends which are agricultural and environmental to their core.

Comment

Representation ID: 3363

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

In setting out in this section the economic contributions for Cheshire East as a whole, it is a serious omission not to have specifically cited the agricultural sector and dairy farming in particular. That needs to be corrected in the approach how Cheshire East views and presents itself and its residents' economic priorities on the basis of factual evidence.

Comment

Representation ID: 3364

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

A theme that runs throughout the questions and points laid out in this section is that houses are driven by a demand to meet an arbitrary number of new houses overall, more accurately 'dwellings' as much of this may be met by non-new build with conversions/change of use/ extensions especially in dispersed rural areas, rather than first assessing the needs required to support and sustain the local economic agriculturally-based activity in the area and for sparse communities to be connected, thus mutually supportive. Local housing needs and capacity and affordability should first be well researched and published.

Comment

Representation ID: 3369

Received: 30/08/2026

Respondent: Rt Hon Sir Stephen O'Brien

Haughton should be assessed as a distinct rural community before any decisions are made regarding classification within the settlement heirarchy. It is well understood that that is completely different from a nucleated village. Haughton is comprised of a dispersed pattern of farms, homes and agricultural enterprises , both sparse and dispersed.