Local plan scoping consultation

I am writing this letter to object in the strongest possible terms to the plans for development in the Ashley area.
As someone who has deep familial ties to the Cheshire countryside and frequently makes us of it, this proposal is beyond madness.

As so many people have already pointed out, the fields between Altrincham and Knutsford are the epitome of the greenbelt - they are at the very centre of why the greenbelt system was created in the first place. This area allows the masses of Manchester to be within touching distance of the countryside, and allows is an absolutely vital corridor of fresh air for residents. It is also a prime area for farming, and forms the cornerstone of the farming heritage that runs so deep in Cheshire. Before you say it, I know that this plan is still at a very early stage, but the fact that it is on the table at all is a damning indictment of both national and local planning frameworks.

The question has to be asked: What is the point of having greenbelt land if it is constantly chipped away until it is no more? The idea of greenbelt land is for it to be safeguarded - untouched by residential developments, but this concept has been breached again and again in recent years. The disgraceful developments already coming into fruition in the Tabley and Crosstown areas of Knutsford, as well as the vast plans set to befall Adlington, add insult to injury. The towns surrounding Ashley have expanded exponentially since World War II, with the large expansion of Knutsford in the 1950s and the development of Warrington in the 1960s. This development all but joins Knutsford to the Greater Manchester conurbation and makes a mockery of the whole system. Will we have any greenfield space left at all? Will it be carved up until we have nothing left?

This proposal will have implications far beyond Ashley itself - the effects will be felt deeply across the whole of northern Cheshire and southern Greater Manchester, from Warrington to Trafford to Wythenshawe, from Northwich, to Knutsford, to Wilmslow, and beyond. If previous local developments are anything to go by, this will be a disaster from every possible angle - soulless architecture, no amenities, huge levels of traffic, loss of local community, loss of connection to the land and to the place we call home, yet we are asked to swallow these evils without complaint.

I understand the pressure that local councils are under to fulfil ever larger housebuilding targets, and that Cheshire East Council are far from the only party in this situation at fault, but it would be hard to choose a worse location than Ashley to fill with poor-quality homes sold off at an extortionate price to people who have no connection whatsoever to the local area.

I urge you desperately to abandon this proposal as the earliest opportunity in light of the staggering harm it poses to millions of people across the region, to the flora and fauna of Cheshire and to the green and pleasant land of England.