Local plan scoping consultation

I strongly object to the proposed housing allocation on land reference MB08 “Land off Ryecroft Lane” Mobberley for a number of reasons:
This land represents vital Green belt, that makes a major contribution to ensuring a gap between Knutsford and Mobberley sufficient to protect Mobberley’s distinctive character as a rural community. This was identified in Cheshire East Council’s Mobberley Settlement Report published in August 2020. Development of the site would significantly reduce the actual and perceived gap between the two different settlements.

Aligned with its countryside setting, the infrastructure supporting the Mobberley village is already limited, with narrow roads and footpaths, that would be insufficient to support additional housing. Therefore, development of this land for housing would bring a need for substantial investment in expansion of local infrastructure.

The additional infrastructure, together with the increased lighting and traffic movement arising as a result of the development; and significant reduction in the gap between the village and neighbouring town would transform the village and destroy its character.

Development of the land for housing should also be avoided, per National Noise Policy, as it falls within the 60d/b LAeq, 16h daytime noise contour from Manchester Airport. This level of noise is at or above the Significant Observed Adverse Effect Level, and planning for housing less than a mile from the site was dismissed primarily for this reason in 2016.

Any development of the land would be hugely damaging to the local environment, it could destroy valuable biodiversity corridors, threaten mature trees that should be protected and be harmful for local wildlife including protected species. The land provides critical habitat for wildlife, such as owls, bats, foxes and hedgehogs. There are mature, ancient oak trees around the field which should themselves be protected and which, alongside the hedgerows, provide a perfect habitat and hunting ground particularly for bats, which use the hedgerows along Pavement Lane for foraging and as a ‘bat highway’.

The land off Ryecroft Lane also provides essential drainage in the immediate area. The roads and gardens adjacent to the field, on Mayfield Road, Springfield Road and Pavement Lane are all regularly flooded in winter months, with Pavement Lane often impassable in multiple places. The land itself is also normally flooded throughout the winter. Development of the land would remove vital drainage, increase surface water run-off and significantly increase flood risk to local properties.