Local plan scoping consultation

Please treat this email and the accompanying evidence as our formal representation to the Cheshire East Local Plan Scoping Consultation.
[REDACTED] Mandalay, Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington, and wish to raise an issue which we believe must be given significant consideration within the evidence base for the new Local Plan: the existing and documented flood risk affecting [REDACTED] property, the surrounding land and the wider catchment, together with the performance and capacity of the A556 attenuation pond and associated drainage infrastructure.
[REDACTED] Mandalay, Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington suffered serious flooding in January 2021 and again on New Year's Day 2025.
The severity of these events should not be underestimated. On each occasion the flooding rendered [REDACTED] uninhabitable [REDACTED] for more than 18 months while extensive reinstatement works were required. The consequences of flooding in this location have therefore been exceptionally serious and prolonged.
The flooding and drainage problems in this location are not simply theoretical risks or concerns based upon future modelling. They have occurred repeatedly in practice, with devastating consequences, and Cheshire East has previously been made aware of flooding and drainage concerns affecting this location.
Of particular relevance to the Local Plan is what has subsequently become apparent regarding the surrounding land and the A556 attenuation pond and associated drainage system.
The issues surrounding this infrastructure are not simply historic matters which have been resolved. Concerns about the operation of the attenuation pond and associated drainage system remain the subject of ongoing discussions and investigation.
We are currently in discussions with National Highways and Tatton Estate regarding these issues. National Highways is investigating the drainage and attenuation infrastructure and Tatton Estate is actively engaged and has referred the matter to its professional advisers. The Environment Agency has also previously been involved in relation to the flooding and drainage concerns.
This follows earlier investigations after the 2021 flooding, when issues concerning the drainage system were identified and remedial action was undertaken. Despite that intervention, Mandalay suffered another catastrophic flooding event on New Year's Day 2025.
Current National Highways investigation
National Highways has provided information arising from its continuing investigation which raises significant concerns that the A556 attenuation pond and/or associated drainage infrastructure may not have been constructed in accordance with the intended design. This is not simply a question of future capacity: it raises a fundamental concern about the design, construction, operation and historic sign-off of infrastructure which has already been associated with an area that has experienced two catastrophic flooding events.
The current position also raises an important question as to why the underlying issue was not identified and fully resolved following the January 2021 flooding, before Mandalay flooded catastrophically again on New Year's Day 2025. Tatton Estate is now actively raising concerns with National Highways and has referred the matter to its professional advisers. We understand that the matter is being escalated and that further investigation and consideration of remedial action are ongoing.
We consider this information to be directly relevant to the Local Plan evidence base. In our view, it would be unsafe to assess the capacity of the surrounding catchment for additional development without first establishing, through robust technical evidence, the condition, design compliance, capacity and performance of the existing A556 attenuation and drainage infrastructure, together with the reasons for the repeated flooding already experienced.
We believe the fact that concerns regarding this infrastructure remain under active investigation following two severe flooding events is highly significant to the Local Plan process.
Before conclusions are reached regarding the capacity of land within this area to accommodate additional development, we believe it is essential to understand whether the existing attenuation and drainage infrastructure is operating as intended, whether it has sufficient capacity and what relationship, if any, the performance of that infrastructure has had with the flooding already experienced at Mandalay and on the surrounding land.
We hold substantial correspondence concerning these matters, together with photographs and video footage showing actual flooding and the behaviour of the attenuation pond and surrounding land during periods of high water.
We consider this evidence highly relevant to the preparation of the new Cheshire East Local Plan.
The current consultation is concerned with establishing the scope of the work and evidence which will inform the new Local Plan. We therefore believe this is precisely the stage at which known, real-world evidence of flooding and potential drainage infrastructure constraints should be identified and incorporated into the evidence base.
We are particularly concerned that future decisions regarding development capacity or potential land allocations in and around Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington and the wider affected catchment should not be made solely by reference to mapped flood zones or theoretical modelling.
The actual behaviour of water within the catchment, historic flooding, surface-water flows, existing attenuation arrangements and the capacity and performance of existing drainage infrastructure must also be considered.
This is especially important when considering the cumulative impact of development.
Additional development can result in increased impermeable surfaces and changes to surface-water run-off. Where there is already evidence of repeated serious flooding and concerns regarding existing drainage infrastructure, we believe Cheshire East must establish the capacity and resilience of that infrastructure before determining the scale or location of further development within the affected catchment.
We are therefore asking Cheshire East to ensure that the new Local Plan and its supporting evidence base specifically address:
• historic and actual observed flooding within Little Bollington and the surrounding catchment;
• the January 2021 and January 2025 flooding events affecting Mandalay, Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington, including the fact that each event resulted in [REDACTED] for more than 18 months;
• the existing evidence and records held by Cheshire East concerning flooding and drainage problems in this location;
• the operation, capacity and resilience of the A556 attenuation pond and associated drainage infrastructure;
• the ongoing National Highways investigations, including the emerging concerns regarding whether the attenuation pond and associated drainage infrastructure were constructed in accordance with the intended design;
• the evidence and involvement of other relevant organisations, including Tatton Estate and the Environment Agency;
• actual surface-water flows and the behaviour of the attenuation pond and surrounding land during significant rainfall and high-water events;
• the cumulative effect of future development and additional impermeable surfaces upon surface-water run-off and downstream flood risk;
• whether existing drainage and attenuation infrastructure has sufficient capacity to accommodate further development safely; and
• the potential for development within the wider catchment to increase flood risk to existing properties, irrespective of whether an individual development site itself is identified as being within a mapped flood zone.
We would also specifically ask that the Local Plan team liaise with the appropriate Cheshire East flood-risk and drainage officers so that information already held within the authority concerning the flooding at Mandalay, Spode Green Lane and the A556 attenuation system is not considered separately from the Local Plan process.
Given the history of flooding and the ongoing investigations, we believe it would be inappropriate for land within the affected catchment to be considered suitable for significant additional development without first establishing, through robust technical evidence, that the existing drainage issues are properly understood and that additional development would not increase flood risk elsewhere.
We are not asking Cheshire East at this stage to determine the suitability of any particular proposed development site. We recognise that the present consultation concerns the scope and evidence base for the emerging Local Plan.
Our purpose in making this representation now is to ensure that this known and evidenced flooding and drainage issue is formally captured at the earliest stage, so that it forms part of the evidence against which future development strategy, development capacity and potential land allocations in this area are assessed.
We would therefore be grateful if Cheshire East could:
1. Confirm that this correspondence has been registered as a formal representation to the Local Plan Scoping Consultation and provide the relevant reference number.
2. Confirm that the flooding and drainage evidence relating to Mandalay, Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington and the surrounding land will be brought specifically to the attention of those responsible for preparing the Local Plan's flood-risk, drainage and infrastructure evidence.
3. Ensure that the relevant officers have access to Cheshire East's historic records concerning the 2021 flooding and subsequent drainage investigations.
4. Ensure that actual observed flooding, drainage and attenuation performance and cumulative catchment impacts are considered alongside flood mapping and modelling when assessing future development capacity and potential land allocations.
5. Ensure that the ongoing National Highways investigation into the A556 attenuation pond and associated drainage infrastructure, including the emerging concerns regarding design/construction compliance and historic sign-off, is appropriately taken into account as the Local Plan evidence base develops.
6. Ensure that the outcome of the ongoing discussions and investigations involving National Highways and Tatton Estate, together with the relevant historic Environment Agency involvement, is considered before conclusions are reached regarding development capacity or potential land allocations within the affected catchment.
7. Ensure that the cumulative impact of development within the wider catchment is assessed, rather than potential sites being considered solely in isolation in relation to flood risk and surface-water drainage.
8. Add us to the notification list for subsequent stages of the Local Plan process, including consultation upon proposed allocations affecting Little Bollington, Spode Green Lane and the surrounding area.
We enclose the most recent relevant correspondence concerning the National Highways investigation and Tatton Estate’s escalation of the matter. We also hold extensive historic correspondence, photographs and video evidence showing actual flooding and the behaviour of the attenuation pond and surrounding land during periods of high water, which we can provide on request.
Given Cheshire East's previous involvement in the flooding and drainage issues affecting this location, we would be grateful if this representation could be brought specifically to the attention of the appropriate Strategic Planning, Flood Risk and drainage officers rather than simply being recorded as a general consultation response.
We consider it extremely important that the lessons from what has already happened at Mandalay, Spode Green Lane, Little Bollington and on the surrounding land inform decisions about future development in this area.
Two severe flooding events have already resulted in [REDACTED] being uninhabitable for more than 18 months on each occasion. With concerns surrounding the existing attenuation and drainage infrastructure still being investigated, we believe this evidence must be considered at the earliest possible stage of preparing the new Local Plan.
We would be grateful for confirmation that this representation has been formally registered and for an explanation of how the flooding and drainage evidence will be incorporated into the Local Plan evidence-gathering process.