Local plan scoping consultation

Development should be distributed according to genuine sustainability and capacity, not simply land availability or market attractiveness. For Mobberley, the assessment should combine Green Belt function, highways and safe access, infrastructure and service capacity, drainage/wastewater, aircraft noise, landscape, heritage, agricultural land and ecology. These constraints must be considered cumulatively. The Council should demonstrate why development at Mobberley is preferable to reasonable brownfield, urban, non-Green-Belt and less constrained alternatives. The existence of promoted land or a railway station should not outweigh substantial environmental and infrastructure constraints.

Infrastructure capacity should be established before sites are allocated, not left to mitigation after allocation. In Mobberley this should include junction and rural-road capacity, safe pedestrian access, drainage and wastewater capacity, healthcare and education provision and cumulative traffic from development in surrounding areas. The presence of a railway station does not remove dependence on constrained local roads. Mobberley should also be assessed using current Manchester Airport aircraft-noise evidence, including effects on gardens and outdoor amenity rather than assuming building insulation resolves noise impacts. Infrastructure constraints should directly influence development distribution and site selection.

Site selection around Mobberley should be informed by robust ecological evidence before allocation. Bats are regularly observed locally and the landscape contains mature trees, established hedgerows and dark corridors potentially providing roosting, commuting and foraging habitat. Assessment should consider ecological connectivity across whole sites and adjoining countryside, not simply designated habitats or whether a roost is identified within a development boundary. Appropriate seasonal surveys should inform site suitability, alongside impacts from lighting, hedgerow removal and habitat fragmentation. Avoidance of ecologically damaging locations should take priority over relying on mitigation after allocation.

The evidence programme should include robust settlement and site-level ecological evidence, not rely solely on designated-site assessment through the Habitats Regulations Assessment. Around Mobberley this should include habitats, protected species including bats, mature trees, hedgerows, ecological connectivity and dark corridors. Previous Cheshire East site and Green Belt assessments should also be expressly incorporated into the evidence base, with any changed conclusions explained. Highways, infrastructure, drainage, heritage, aircraft noise and environmental evidence should be considered together when assessing sites, so that cumulative constraints influence site selection rather than being deferred to individual planning applications.

Mobberley’s historic character and rural setting should be assessed at site-selection stage. Assessment should consider the Conservation Area, listed and non-designated heritage assets, their settings, important views and the contribution surrounding open countryside makes to their significance. Development capacity should be reduced or sites rejected where necessary to avoid harm, rather than assuming design can mitigate every impact. The cumulative effect of multiple developments around the village on its historic form, rural approaches and landscape setting should also be assessed.

The evidence programme should include robust settlement and site-level ecological evidence, including protected species such as bats, mature trees, hedgerows, ecological connectivity and dark corridors. For Mobberley, previous Cheshire East site and Green Belt assessments should be expressly carried forward, with any changed conclusions clearly evidenced and explained. Highways, drainage/wastewater capacity, infrastructure, heritage, landscape, aircraft noise and ecology should be assessed cumulatively, not separately. Evidence should be sufficiently site-specific to determine suitability before allocation, rather than leaving fundamental constraints to be investigated or mitigated at planning-application stage.

Engagement and evidence should operate at settlement level where significant development is being considered. Borough-wide demographic averages can conceal substantial differences in infrastructure, accessibility and environmental constraints. For villages such as Mobberley, residents should be given clear information about proposed growth, individual sites, previous site assessments and cumulative impacts, with opportunities for locally targeted engagement. Where substantial development or Green Belt release is contemplated, dedicated engagement with the affected community should take place before preferred sites are selected.

Borough-wide community assemblies involving around 25 residents should not substitute for direct engagement with communities materially affected by proposed allocations. Where significant growth or Green Belt release is proposed around an individual settlement such as Mobberley, the Council should hold locally accessible consultation events before preferred sites are selected. Residents should be shown site boundaries, proposed development scales, assessment results and reasonable alternatives, with sufficient opportunity to challenge the evidence and submit local knowledge concerning highways, flooding, infrastructure, ecology, heritage and other constraints.

Engagement with site promoters must be matched by transparency and meaningful community involvement before preferred allocations are selected. Where promoters provide additional evidence or materially revise proposals, relevant information should be published so affected communities can respond. Residents often hold important local evidence concerning flooding, highways, wildlife, drainage and infrastructure that may not be apparent from desktop assessments. Site availability or promoter engagement should not create an advantage over reasonable alternatives. The Council should maintain a clear audit trail explaining why sites progress or are rejected and how community evidence influenced those decisions.

Dear Strategic Planning Team,
NEW LOCAL PLAN SCOPING CONSULTATION – MOBBERLEY
Please accept this email as my formal representation to the Cheshire East New Local Plan Scoping Consultation.
I strongly object to the new Local Plan facilitating substantial residential development or Green Belt release around Mobberley.
Cheshire East has previously undertaken detailed assessment of potential development sites around Mobberley and concluded that no safeguarded-land sites should be allocated here. Several candidate sites were assessed as making a major contribution to Green Belt purposes, while significant constraints were identified relating to highways and access, landscape, heritage, ecology, drainage and aircraft noise.
I therefore ask the Council to explain what material evidence has changed before departing from those previous conclusions.
In preparing the new Local Plan, I specifically ask the Council to:
1. Protect Mobberley’s Green Belt and rural setting, particularly land previously assessed as making a major contribution to Green Belt purposes.
2. Prioritise brownfield land and genuinely sustainable locations before considering high-performing Green Belt and greenfield land around Mobberley.
3. Properly assess highways and road capacity. Mobberley has a constrained rural road network with narrow roads, parking pressures and existing congestion. Any assessment should consider the cumulative traffic impact of development rather than individual sites in isolation. The potential holes which exist are already a significant threat to road users in the village, adding further traffic would only increase the health and safety of both road users and village residents.
4. Require robust assessment of drainage, sewerage and wastewater capacity before allocating additional development. Existing local infrastructure pressures should not simply be assumed capable of accommodating substantial growth.
5. Undertake detailed ecological assessment. Bats are regularly observed in Mobberley and the surrounding countryside contains mature trees, established hedgerows and other habitat capable of providing bat roosting, commuting and foraging habitat. Potential development sites should therefore be properly surveyed at the appropriate time of year before their suitability for allocation is determined.
6. Protect mature trees, hedgerows, wildlife corridors and biodiversity, including the ecological connectivity between development sites and the wider countryside.
7. Assess development against the latest Manchester Airport aircraft-noise evidence and contours, rather than assuming residential development is appropriate subject to later noise mitigation.
8. Protect Mobberley’s historic character, landscape and Conservation Area setting, including the setting of listed buildings and other heritage assets.
9. Assess cumulative development, including potential development around neighbouring settlements such as Ashley. The combined effects on roads, drainage, schools, healthcare, landscape, biodiversity and Green Belt must be considered rather than assessing each site in isolation.
10. Require infrastructure to lead development rather than follow it. Significant housing should not be allocated on the assumption that already constrained infrastructure can subsequently be made adequate.
Most importantly, Cheshire East has already considered development options around Mobberley through previous Local Plan work and decided against allocating safeguarded land here.
If the Council now proposes a materially different approach to Mobberley, it should clearly identify what circumstances and evidence have changed since its previous assessment and demonstrate why those previous conclusions are no longer valid.
Please register this email as my formal representation to the Local Plan Scoping Consultation.
I would also like to be notified of all subsequent stages of the New Local Plan, particularly the publication or consultation of proposed site allocations affecting Mobberley, including any sites submitted through the 2024 or 2026 Call for Sites exercises.
Kind regards,
Pete Powell
Mobberley