Local plan scoping consultation

I am writing to register a firm formal objection to any allocation or SHELAA consideration of the 291.03-hectare site (spanning 12 contiguous parcels) surrounding Ashley. Promoting strategic, large-scale development in this isolated rural location is fundamentally unviable and contrary to statutory planning frameworks.

1. Conflict with Spatial Strategy and Settlement Hierarchy
• Lowest Tier Settlement: Under CELPS Policy PG 2, Ashley sits at the lowest tier of the local settlement hierarchy. It lacks basic daily infrastructure, including primary schools, medical services, and major employment opportunities.
• Failure of Sustainable Location Policy: Directing major residential growth into an isolated rural settlement directly violates CELPS Policies SD 1 and SD 2, alongside national plan-making guidelines requiring strategic development to be focused within Tier 1 Principal Towns and Tier 2 Key Service Centres.

2. Transport Infrastructure Deficits, Highway Hazards, and Aviation Restrictions
• Substandard Rail Services: Ashley station currently operates at a low frequency of just one train per hour in each direction with very limited commuter parking. In March 2026, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Keir Mather MP confirmed that the Rail North Partnership Board is reducing services at Ashley and Plumley to just one train every two hours to enable hourly stops at the funded Cheadle station. This downgrade eliminates public transit as a viable option for new residents and fails national "well-connected station" criteria for higher-density rural growth.
• Severe Highway Constraints: Local rural roads cannot absorb major traffic volumes. Critical physical bottlenecks created by narrow, single-lane bridges crossing the railway line, the River Bollin, and Birkin Brook would trigger severe cumulative congestion and road safety hazards, breaching CELPS Policies CO 1 and CO 4.
• Aerodrome Safety Hazards: Positioned directly beneath Manchester Airport's active flight paths, the land falls within strict noise restriction and bird-strike management zones, violating CELPS Policy SE 12 and mandatory aerodrome safety rules.

3. Impact on Landscape, Biodiversity, and Heritage Assets
• Landscape Degradation: Allocating these parcels would permanently harm the settings of both the Bollin Valley and Parklands Local Landscape Designation (LLD) and the Rostherne/Tatton Park LLD, violating CELPS Policy SE 4.
• Ecological Severance: Paving over this open expanse would fragment established habitat corridors and imperil protected ecological sites, including the adjacent Cotterill Clough SSSI / Nature Reserve, contravening CELPS Policy SE 3 and national nature recovery policies. There are also three red listed bird species present on the land year around - grey partridge, tree sparrow and greenfinch.
• Heritage Asset Damage: The open fields frame the settings of 19 Grade II listed buildings, including Ashley Hall. Development breaches CELPS Policy SE 7 and national heritage protections requiring great weight to be given to preserving designated historic assets and their rural settings.

4. Failure to Satisfy Green Belt and "Grey Belt" Standards
• Washed-Over Green Belt Protection: The entire parish of Ashley carries "washed-over" Green Belt protection under CELPS Policy PG 3 to preserve its sensitive rural character.
• Risk of Settlement Coalescence: Ashley forms the narrowest remaining countryside buffer separating Greater Manchester (Trafford, Hale, Altrincham) from Cheshire East (Knutsford, Mobberley). Developing the site drives urban sprawl and causes settlements to merge, violating core national Green Belt objectives.
• Disqualification from "Grey Belt": Under Policy GB7 of the NPPF framework, "Grey Belt" exemptions only apply to land making a negligible contribution to Green Belt purposes. This active farmland performs essential Green Belt functions, while its acute heritage, ecological, and flooding constraints present severe barriers under national policy.

5. Destruction of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Farmland
• High-Grade Soil Quality: Soil assessments, including HS2 Phase 2b survey data, confirm that the 291.03-hectare site consists predominantly of Grade 2 and Subgrade 3a BMV land.
• Undermining Food Security: Converting this contiguous, highly productive agricultural area to housing threatens regional food production, violating CELPS Policy SE 2 and national mandates to safeguard top-tier agricultural land and prioritize lower-grade or brownfield options.

6. Drainage, Hydrological Risks, and Utility Infrastructure Deficits
• Surface Water and Flood Risks: There are a number of areas near the M56 motorway that regularly flood. Converting open farmland into hardstanding would dramatically increase runoff into the River Bollin catchment, compounding downstream flood risks in violation of CELPS Policy SE 13 and national flood resilience policies.
• Infrastructure Constraints: The site lacks the sewer network, power grid capacity, and utility infrastructure necessary for bulk residential development, failing the deliverability criteria of CELPS Policy IN 1.

Requested Action
The submission across all 12 contiguous parcels (totalling 291.03 hectares) fails every applicable local and national planning policy. I formally request that Cheshire East Council record all 12 site parcels as Unsuitable, Unavailable, and Undeliverable in the SHELAA assessment and omit them completely from future Local Plan allocations.