Full text:
Sites considered: Bentside Farm (HE103), Jacksons Edge Road (DIS 1 safeguarded land), and
Greystones allotments
Representation: Objection / request for further evidence and reconsideration
1. Cumulative impact
The sites should not be assessed as isolated parcels of land. Bentside Farm, Jacksons Edge and
potentially Greystones would collectively increase the population and traffic generated by Disley and
place additional pressure on the A6 and local road network, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, public
transport, schools and healthcare, drainage and wastewater infrastructure, recreational and open-space
provision, biodiversity and green infrastructure, and the character and landscape setting of Disley.
I request that the emerging Local Plan provides cumulative transport, infrastructure, landscape and
environmental assessment for the combined development scenario, rather than relying principally on
individual site assessments.
2. Bentside Farm – HE103
HE103 is a substantial 11.56-hectare housing submission south of Royal Road and Elizabeth Avenue.
This site requires particularly careful scrutiny because previous Cheshire East evidence assessed the
Bentside sites as making a major contribution to Green Belt purposes.
The Council should explain what has materially changed since that assessment; how HE103 performs
against the current national Green Belt tests; what its contribution to Green Belt purposes is now
considered to be; what reasonable alternatives have been considered; why this particular site is required
to meet the housing requirement; and how the landscape and visual impact of development of this scale
can be satisfactorily mitigated.
The fact that Cheshire East needs additional housing does not, by itself, establish that HE103 is the
appropriate site.
3. Jacksons Edge Road – DIS 1
Jacksons Edge has a fundamentally different planning status. It is 2.43 hectares of safeguarded land
identified under the adopted Cheshire East Local Plan.
Safeguarded land is not an existing housing allocation. It was identified for possible longer-term
development but is not allocated for development at present.
If the new Local Plan proposes to release DIS 1 for housing, the Council should provide a clear
justification addressing current housing need, the appropriate scale of development, alternative sites,
infrastructure capacity, transport impacts, landscape and Green Belt considerations, and consistency
with the wider spatial strategy for Disley.
If DIS 1 is brought forward, I request that the Council identifies the compensatory improvements to the
environmental quality and accessibility of remaining Green Belt land required by adopted policy,
including where they will be provided, their scale and environmental value, how they will be funded, and
how they will be secured.
4. Greystones allotments
I understand that Greystones is currently an operating allotment site, although I have not established
that it is currently a 2026 housing submission.
If the site is reconsidered for housing, the Council should address its existing community function and
the requirements of Policy CF2 of the Disley & Newtown Neighbourhood Plan.
The Council should establish the current number and use of Greystones plots; the quality and
accessibility of the existing facility; whether replacement land is actually available; whether replacement
land would be of equivalent or better quality; whether it would be reasonably convenient for existing plot
holders; and how any replacement would be secured before the existing facility is lost.
If Greystones is proposed again, the Council should explain what has materially changed since its
previous removal from the draft allocation approach and why reconsideration is now justified.
5. Traffic and the A6
Traffic is one of my principal concerns. I regularly use the A6 through Disley and experience very heavy
traffic, including periods when traffic is stationary or moving only at crawling speed.
I recognise that personal observation is not a substitute for traffic modelling. However, congestion on the
A6 is also a longstanding issue identified in Cheshire East and Disley planning and transport evidence.
Before allocating further housing sites in Disley, I request publication of current traffic counts,
queue-length data, junction-capacity assessments, peak-period modelling, committed-development
traffic, predicted traffic from each proposed site, cumulative traffic from all proposed Disley sites,
pedestrian and cycling assessments, public-transport assessment, and proposed mitigation measures.
Particular attention should be given to the interaction between local roads, Jacksons Edge Road and the
A6. It is not sufficient to demonstrate that each individual site can theoretically obtain safe access. The
Council should demonstrate that the combined development scenario can operate satisfactorily on the
existing network.
6. Air quality
I understand that the former Disley A6 Air Quality Management Area was revoked in 2025, and I
therefore do not rely on the former designation as evidence that the A6 is currently an AQMA.
Nevertheless, historic air-quality concerns associated with traffic through Disley remain relevant to
assessing additional traffic. The Disley & Newtown Neighbourhood Plan contains a specific air-quality
policy (AQ1). The Council should therefore provide current monitoring and modelling demonstrating
whether additional traffic associated with proposed housing sites could materially affect air quality,
particularly along the A6 corridor.
7. Walking, cycling and public rights of way
The Neighbourhood Plan contains policies concerning sustainable transport, footpaths, bridleways and
cycleways. New development should not simply provide vehicular access. The Council should
demonstrate that residents of any proposed development will have safe pedestrian routes, safe crossing
facilities, suitable cycle connections, convenient access to public transport, and appropriate connections
to Disley's existing facilities.
8. Green infrastructure, biodiversity, trees and hedgerows
The Disley & Newtown Neighbourhood Plan contains policies concerning nature conservation, trees and
hedgerows and local green spaces. The larger development proposals should therefore be assessed for
their impact on mature trees, hedgerows, wildlife corridors, habitats, landscape connectivity, public open
space and the wider green infrastructure network.
Biodiversity Net Gain should not be treated as automatically eliminating all local ecological harm. The
Council should establish the existing ecological value of each site before determining its suitability for
allocation.
9. Housing need and local housing requirements
I recognise that Cheshire East has a significant housing requirement and that this creates pressure to
identify additional housing sites. However, the existence of a borough-wide housing requirement does
not establish that every available site should be developed.
The Council should demonstrate why Disley should accommodate the proposed level of additional
growth; how that level relates to the settlement's infrastructure capacity; why the selected sites are the
most sustainable locations; and how the proposed housing mix addresses local needs.
10. Disley & Newtown Neighbourhood Plan
The Neighbourhood Plan remains an important part of the development-plan framework for Disley. The
emerging Local Plan should demonstrate how development proposals have been assessed against
relevant neighbourhood policies, including those relating to housing, housing mix, sustainable transport,
air quality, footpaths and cycleways, local green spaces, nature conservation, trees and hedgerows,
design and character, and allotments.
11. Conclusion
I ask Cheshire East Council not to proceed with housing allocations at these locations without
substantially more evidence and a proper cumulative assessment.
In particular, the Council should demonstrate:
• why Bentside HE103 should be released despite the previous assessment of the Bentside land as
making a major contribution to Green Belt purposes;
• why safeguarded land at Jacksons Edge should now be brought forward and how the requirements of
the safeguarded-land policy will be met;
• whether Greystones is actually being proposed again and, if so, how its loss as an existing allotment
facility would comply with Neighbourhood Plan Policy CF2;
• that the combined traffic generated by development in Disley can be accommodated safely and
satisfactorily, particularly on the A6;
• that schools, healthcare, drainage, wastewater, recreation and other infrastructure have sufficient
capacity;
• that landscape, biodiversity, trees, hedgerows and green infrastructure have been properly assessed;
• that the cumulative effect of the proposed sites on Disley's character and environment has been
assessed; and
• that reasonable alternative locations have been properly compared before these sites are selected.
I support the principle of meeting Cheshire East's housing need, but I do not consider that the need for
housing provides sufficient justification for selecting particular sites without demonstrating that they are
the most appropriate, sustainable and deliverable locations.
I therefore ask the Council to retain these matters as key issues in the preparation of the new Local Plan
and to publish the evidence and assessments necessary for meaningful public scrutiny before any of the
sites are allocated for housing
