New call for development land in Macclesfield
The council is asking landowners to suggest more sites for homes in second part of Local Plan.
Karen Britton
green belt land on Pexhill Road Macclesfield earmarked for development
More of Macclesfield's land could be up for development after a fresh call from the council for landowners to come forward with potential sites for houses.
It's part of the process to produce the second phase of the Local Plan – which dictates what will be built in Macclesfield and across the borough.
The first part of the plan, named the Local Plan Strategy, has identified large areas of land for development, including more than 100 hectares of green belt in south-west Macclesfield – which could accommodate hundreds of new homes.
But now the council is preparing the second part of the plan, with more detail about what will be built, named the Site Allocations and Development Policies (SADP).
As part of this phase, the council has put out a call for developers to suggest land to be built on – and this could include new areas of land not yet included in the strategy document.
This may concern residents who raised objections to the land already included in the plan, as they fight to protect the town's green belt and its wildlife.
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Tim Whiteley, from Save Macclesfield Green Belt, said: "SMGB is concerned yet more green belt is to be destroyed in this latest 'phase 2' of Cheshire East's plan. Any site capable of being developed with between 11 and 150 houses will now be considered on top of those already allocated, whether it is in the green belt or not. In layman's terms CEC has had the big sites – now they are after the smaller ones. These will be around villages such as Bollington and Prestbury. In fact, the only places that are safe are the ones that have been allocated already.
"Building on the green belt will stop town centre regeneration in Macclesfield. And still the derelict brownfield eyesore sites exist for all to see."
The council started a six-week consultation on the SADP on Monday, which runs until April 10.
Landowners and developers with suitable sites are being asked to put them forward during the consultation process.
Coun Ainsley Arnold, Cheshire East cabinet member for housing and planning, said: "Now that the Local Plan strategy is nearing completion we want to press on and complete the second, more detailed stage of the plan.
"This will provide our towns and villages with a greater depth of policies and proposals.
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"It's very much early days in this process so we are encouraging all who have an interest in development and who care about the future of our borough to get involved in the consultation."
The first phase of the Local Plan has been agreed by a government planning inspector, subject to some changes and a final consultation.
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