Statement by Fiona Bruce MP at Cheshire East Planning Inquiry
Appeal against Non-Determination
Land to rear of Land to the North of Congleton Road, Sandbach APP/0660/A/13/2189733
Appeals in Cheshire East affected by the SHLAA in the Congleton Constituency
The attached statement was read out, by Cllr Michael Benson Mayor of Sandbach, on behalf of Fiona Bruce MP to Cheshire East Planning Inquiry on the 16th July 2013, the first day of the above major Planning Inquiry currently taking place in Crewe.
- Statement appears below
Appeal against Non-Determination
Land to rear of Land to the North of Congleton Road, Sandbach APP/0660/A/13/2189733
Appeals in Cheshire East affected by the SHLAA in the Congleton Constituency:-
Abbeyfields, Sandbach 2141564
Sandbach Road North, Alsager 2195201
Elworth Hall Farm, Elworth 2106044
Hassall Road, Alsager 2188001
The Moorings and Goldfinch Close/Kestrel Close, Congleton 2188604 and 2188605
Waterworks House, Sandbach 2192130
Land Adjacent to Rose Cottages, Holmes Chapel Road, Somerford, Congleton 2192192
38 Congleton Road North, Church Lawton 2193013
Land South of Hall Drive, Alsager 2196791
The following statement, by me, Fiona Bruce Member of Parliament for the Congleton Constituency, is being made at the request of and in support of my many constituents who will be affected by the above developments should they proceed and is supplementary to the objection letter which I registered with the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate on 31st January 2013, and its attachment, an earlier objection letter to the Chief Executive of Cheshire East Council dated 19th September 2012. As stated in that letter applications for the above developments have caused concern to a significant number of my constituents. Indeed this cannot be overstated. Perhaps I may put this in context when I say that I have had a constant stream of letters, emails, telephone calls and surgery appointments from constituents since I became Member of Parliament for the Congleton Constituency in May 2010 regarding planning concerns and that in terms of my postbag, compared with concerns over planning applications, no other issue comes even remotely close to approaching the volume – or indeed the intensity of concern – of communications from residents to me as their MP. Groups of residents in two towns, Congleton and Sandbach, have launched Downing Street E-Petitions.
I appreciate that at this particular hearing the land at the north of Congleton Road site at Sandbach is your primary consideration together with consideration of the adequacy of the Cheshire East Council’s Housing Land Supply as detailed in its SHLAA.
Concerns which residents have raised with me regarding the above site are shared by residents regarding many of the other applications listed at the top of this letter including impact on greenfield and greenspace sites, pressure on schools, roads, local medical services and other infrastructure, the risk of turning strong local communities into commuter belts and the fact that many of these applications do not reflect local community views as expressed in Town Plans.
It is noted that the National Planning Policy Framework promotes sustainable development – but sustainable in terms of environmental, economic and social respects. In a letter dated 10th June 2013 to me Nick Boles MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Planning) stated in response to a letter I sent – one of many communications over the last two to three years to Ministers expressing the concerns of my constituents about the NPPF and its role in upholding local democratic decision making:-
‘Whilst being pro-growth the Framework does not put the interest of businesses ahead of community. The Framework is clear that the purpose of planning is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and that the economic, social and environmental roles of the planning system that underpin the delivery of sustainable development are mutually dependent. The presumption makes clear that the policy objectives elsewhere in the Framework provide important safeguards, against which the benefits of allowing development will need to be weighed.
Local Plans are a key element of the Government’s planning reforms. Wherever a Local Plan is drawn up, consulted on and agreed, local residents should expect decisions to be taken in accordance with it. This is a sign of true localism in action. Local Plans, Neighbourhood Planning and Community Rights to Build and Acquire are bringing planning powers back to local areas.’
My constituents have made their case clear to me, and I support them fully – that the development of the land to the north of Congleton Road would not be sustainable in economic, social or environmental terms – as detailed below.
In environmental terms, the land which is the subject of the application to the north of Congleton Road is quality agricultural land and very much part of the local countryside enjoyed by residents with two footpaths crossing it, the material use and enjoyment all of which would be lost together with the biodiversity it sustains should this land be built on. The area is not within the local Settlement Zone Line and any development on it, particularly of the height and density planned would be an inappropriate incursion into the countryside surrounding Sandbach.
With reference to economic sustainability, there is a grave danger that with a high proportion of residents likely to purchase in this proposed development being from outside the area, and this likely to be the trend should other developments be constructed thereafter, commuting to work out of the area will increase putting additional strain on the already strained road network (such as Junction 17 of the M56), and community life and cohesion, one of the great strengths of the towns in my constituency will be seriously denuded. Further, since the Cheshire East Local Development Plan proposed priorities are to focus development of Crewe and Macclesfield, with towns such as Sandbach (and indeed Congleton and Alsager) not being identified as major centres of growth, the volume of development which could proceed, should this appeal be allowed, and possibly using this appeal as a precedent would not be plan-led and therefore, my constituents argue, not economically sustainable with reference to the NPPF guidance. There will simply not be the local jobs to support this volume of house building.
In respect of social issues, my constituents fully accept that some development should be provided for within my constituency, and this is accepted in, for example, the Sandbach Town Plan, but that this should be in sustainable locations, and not to the degree which the above listed applications would involve. May I ask that you give the Town Plans developed in my constituency as much consideration as possible bearing in mind that a great deal of time and thought has gone into their preparation on the part of many of townspeople who feel, and I agree with them, that if localism is to mean anything it must mean respecting their views with regard to planning and developments in their towns. The strength of local feeling in this connection is evidenced by the fact that only last week the Mayor of Sandbach, Councillor Michael Benson, asked me to arrange for him to formally deliver to the Prime Minister at Number 10 Downing Street on Thursday 11th July a letter expressing this from which I quote as follows:
Dear Prime Minister,
As Town Mayor and on behalf of all Councillors and residents I am writing to ask for your help to resolve a growing problem affecting our historic market town.
Sandbach currently has about 8000 homes and faces an onslaught of speculative planning applications which, if unchecked, will increase this to 14000 and change the character of our town beyond recognition.
We are not against plan-led development but our views are being ignored when appeals are heard.
Cheshire East Borough Council is working hard to complete its emerging Local Plan and this has been supported by residents through the consultation stages. It will, however, take upwards of a further year to complete and at present carries on the status of ‘material consideration.’
I cannot tell you how disappointed and disillusioned residents are at the present system which appears to encourage growth at the expense of local communities. The Local Planning Authority should be free to provide additional homes at a pace and in numbers which are in keeping with the expressed needs and wishes of local people and given much greater weight than at present...
In Sandbach, the Town Council is so concerned about the strength of local feelings that it has recently taken the unusual step of launching a Petition which supports the substance of the views expressed in this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Cllr Michael Benson
Town Mayor
Sandbach Town Council
A large volume of house building, even spread over the next few years, in a single town would, as mentioned above, simply not be socially sustainable by the local community and its services. The strength of concern of residents in this regard can be judged from the fact that there are well over ten Action Groups opposing unsustainable development in Sandbach alone.
I should be grateful if you would also be good enough to give as much weight as possible to the Cheshire East Local Development Plan. Local Government reorganisation, imposed upon Cheshire at short notice by the previous Government, has meant that Cheshire East has had less time than other Councils to develop its Plan. I hope that you will be able to take this unusual factor into account. Whilst Cheshire East Council may have commenced its development of its Local Plan later than others, for the reason given above, no one could gainsay that under the present Leadership of Councillor Michael Jones the utmost energy and alacrity has now been injected into this process. I am personally very much aware of this since from the moment I arranged a meeting in Westminster last Autumn between the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Councillor Michael Jones, at which when Eric Pickles MP made it very clear that progress with the Cheshire East Local Plan must be given the utmost priority, there is no doubt that the Council has taken this on board and made considerable headway both in clarifying its priorities and consulting with the local community accordingly.
Finally with reference to the Housing Supply Target, I understand that the Cheshire East Council’s SHLAAs annual target is 1,150 (based on the now revoked North West Regional Strategy 2008) – for the whole of Cheshire East, a large Unitary Council with a population of over 370,000 whereas Sandbach has some 17,000. It would be completely disproportionate if this appeal together with those ‘behind it,’ resulted in almost the entire annual supply of houses for the Council’s area to be accommodated by one town over the next few years, and particularly a town not identified as a key growth area. This would be neither plan-led, proportionate nor sustainable and could simply not be absorbed comfortably into the existing settlement. The Council’s recently produced SHLAA identifies many sites across the wide region Cheshire East sits within which could adequately and more appropriately supply the housing land and numbers required for well over five years to come and it would be significantly unfair to the local Sandbach community, and indeed other towns in my constituency affected by applications listed above, if simply because these particular applications have reached an appeal stage before others, construction on one or more of these sites should proceed when for the many reasons outlined above this would be wholly inappropriate and premature.
With regard to its appeal against non-determination in this case and its arguments in support of the probity of its recently produced SHLAA, Cheshire East Council has my full support.
In closing may I state my appreciation to you for the opportunity afforded to me by the reading of this statement to impress upon you the strength and depth of feeling of residents across my constituency in this matter.
Fiona Bruce MP
Member of Parliament for Congleton
16th July 2013
