Full text:
Planning Objection to Large Scale Development at the Wards End Bridge / Coppice Stream Site
There is compelling evidence that the land surrounding Wards End Bridge, Coppice Stream and the upper Poynton Brook catchment performs a vital flood management and ecological function. Based on the available flood investigations, environmental mapping, habitat data, surface water modelling and topographic evidence, large-scale development of this site would be inappropriate and would likely increase flood risk whilst causing significant environmental harm.
The site sits within a catchment with a long and well-documented history of flooding. Cheshire East Council's Section 19 Flood Investigation confirms recorded flood events in the Poynton Brook catchment in 1976, 1994, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2019, demonstrating a recurring and unresolved flood risk issue. During the July 2019 event, a major flooding incident was declared, flood warnings were issued, emergency centres were opened and emergency services attended multiple rescues within Poynton. The event resulted in 78 residential properties and 8 businesses experiencing internal flooding within the Poynton Brook catchment.
The importance of the site itself is demonstrated by its relationship with Wards End Bridge and Poynton Brook. The flood investigation records that floodwaters overtopped Wards End Bridge during the 2019 flood event, causing structural failure of the bridge parapet and substantial erosion of adjacent land. Importantly, the report notes that the bridge acts as a retaining structure which stores water upstream and helps reduce flows downstream. Floodwaters were intentionally held within the upstream floodplain before being released further downstream.
Immediately downstream of Wards End Bridge, Cheshire East Council identifies that Poynton Brook naturally occupies its floodplain and specifically notes that much of this corridor remains undeveloped. Flood evidence showed water leaving the main channel and spreading across these undeveloped areas during the flood event. These open fields are therefore not redundant land awaiting development, but form part of the functioning floodplain system upon which downstream communities rely.
The significance of the site becomes even clearer when considering the Coppice Stream catchment. The flood investigation describes Coppice Stream as originating within Poynton Coppice and surrounding agricultural land before flowing west through a sequence of ponds, depressions and drainage routes towards Waterloo Road and ultimately Poynton Brook. The report specifically states that historical land management upstream of Waterloo Road may have stored more water and slowed runoff more effectively than present conditions. Furthermore, flooding throughout the Coppice Stream catchment occurs when runoff exceeds system capacity, affecting Waterloo Road, Pine Walk, Cherry Tree Avenue, Ivy Road, Holly Road, Brookfield Avenue and surrounding areas.
The flood mapping demonstrates a continuous overland flow route passing through the site, with areas of ponding and floodwater storage visible along the drainage corridor. The site contains multiple depressions and ponds that naturally intercept and store runoff before releasing it into Coppice Stream and Poynton Brook. These features can be seen within both the flood mapping and topographic information and represent a functioning natural flood management system. The surface water flow route crossing the site demonstrates its role in conveying and temporarily storing floodwater during storm events. Development would inevitably interrupt these processes. imageturn2search1†image.png (Image: surface water flow route through site)
What is particularly noteworthy is that Cheshire East Council and the Environment Agency's response to flooding in this catchment has not been to increase development but to increase flood storage. Their recommendations include investigating**"Slow the Flow" Natural Flood Management schemes upstream of Coppice Stream** and implementing catchment-wide Natural Flood Management measures to hold water further upstream. Cheshire Wildlife Trust was subsequently commissioned to undertake Natural Flood Management interventions within the Poynton catchment. These recommendations directly acknowledge that the solution to flooding is the retention and enhancement of natural storage areas, not their loss to development.
The ecological importance of the land is equally significant. The site is identified within a High Priority Farm Wildlife Package Area and falls within a Priority Species for Countryside Stewardship Targeting Area for Lapwing and Curlew. These designations are only applied where landscapes possess characteristics capable of supporting declining species of national conservation importance.
The Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) is one of Britain's most rapidly declining farmland birds and is recognised as a Species of Principal Importance for biodiversity conservation in England. Lapwing depend upon open grassland, wet pastures, seasonally damp fields, shallow scrapes and low-intensity agricultural land. The habitat conditions visible across the site, including open grassland, natural wet areas, ponds and periodically inundated land, are precisely the features that provide suitable feeding and breeding opportunities for Lapwing. The areas of seasonal ponding that may be viewed as a development constraint are often the very conditions that make a site valuable to this species.
Similarly, the site is identified as a target area for Curlew (Numenius arquata), another species experiencing severe long-term population decline. Curlew require open landscapes with relatively low levels of disturbance and access to damp grassland and wet ground for foraging. Large-scale residential development would result in increased lighting, noise, recreational pressure, vehicle movements and habitat fragmentation, fundamentally altering the characteristics that make the site suitable for these species.
In addition, MAGIC mapping identifies the site as containing Improved Grassland and Acid, Calcareous and Neutral Grassland habitats, together with a High Spatial Priority Woodland Habitat Network. These habitats contribute not only to biodiversity but also to flood resilience, water quality improvement, soil retention and ecological connectivity across the wider landscape. The site also contributes towards catchment objectives aimed at delivering Good Ecological Status within the Mersey river system. The loss of permeable greenfield habitat would reduce infiltration, increase runoff and diminish these wider ecosystem services.
From a policy perspective, there are serious concerns regarding compliance with:
• Flood and Water Management Act 2010 objectives to manage and reduce flood risk.
• Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, requiring public bodies to have regard to biodiversity conservation.
• Environment Act 2021, which seeks biodiversity recovery and environmental improvement.
• NPPF Paragraphs 193 and 194, which seek to minimise impacts on biodiversity and resist development causing significant ecological harm.
• National planning policy requiring development not to increase flood risk elsewhere and to make effective use of natural flood management processes.
Taken as a whole, the evidence strongly indicates that this site performs multiple essential public functions. It acts as part of the natural floodplain of Poynton Brook, provides attenuation for Coppice Stream, forms a recognised Natural Flood Management opportunity area, supports habitats associated with priority farmland bird species including Lapwing and Curlew, contributes to ecological connectivity and assists in achieving wider water quality objectives.
The flood investigations repeatedly demonstrate that Poynton's historic flooding problems stem from excessive runoff volumes, overwhelmed watercourses and insufficient storage within the catchment. The response from risk management authorities has been to create more upstream storage and slow water movement. Development of this site would achieve the exact opposite. Rather than solving existing flood risk problems, it would remove a functioning flood storage area, increase runoff into an already stressed catchment and result in the loss of ecologically valuable habitat supporting species of conservation concern.
For these reasons, there is a strong technical, environmental and planning justification for resisting large-scale development of this land and retaining it as undeveloped green infrastructure within the wider Poynton Brook and Coppice Stream catchment.
Evie Merrygold
MSC Green Infrastructure
Flood & Water Officer
