Below is a high level summary of the comments we have submitted on the Local Plan.  This is not intended to replace the detailed comments that we have made on the plan.  However, it should help where you have insufficient time to read the huge amount of material that makes up the Local Plan and/or the detailed comments that we have submitted.  You are welcome to use this information as the basis for you comments on the plan.  If you prefer, click one of the three links to get a copy of this summary:

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• The vast amount of the information is very difficult to understand.  There should be a separate summary of the plan accompanied by presentations in all towns of the impact of the plan on that town.

• Green belt land should not be made available for housing development.

• The housing and population forecasts are unrealistic. An average figure of only 1.5 people for every new house built seems very low and does not reflect the type of properties developers are building and will build in the future.

• The plan states that 56% of newly forming households should be affordable – this cannot be achieved as developers are required to build only 30% affordable housing.

• Increasing Congleton’s housing stock by 30% over 17 years (i.e. 200 houses per year) would seem unrealistic for a town of Congleton’s size, infrastructure and needs.

• Many people are attracted to Congleton due to its rural nature and the very people the town attracts may be less inclined to live in Congleton due to the massive development proposals and this impact should not be underestimated.

• At a recent appeal the Planning Inspectorate dismissed Cheshire East’s claim to have a 5-year housing supply.  How does the information provided support a credible 5-year housing supply?

• The Congleton Link Road is shown as a huge “corridor of interest” so that it is very difficult to make an assessment of its route.  Other comments on the Link Road:The development of the five large sites would appear to split the Congleton into two distinct areas and it is not clear how this will be good for the town centre.  The Core Strategy says that these developments will stimulate town centre recovery – how will it?

  • Why does this “corridor of interest” cover most of the strategic sites, surely it is impractical to even consider routing the Link Road through residential sites?

  • As there is no objective information on the social and economic value to Congleton of building the Link Road, how can the large sacrifice of land through open countryside be judged to be beneficial or otherwise to the town?

  • The Congleton Link Road does not connect to the south part of the A34.  This is a flaw as it ignores one of the primary routes of traffic to/from Congleton and traffic bypassing Congleton.

  • The Congleton Link Road will be part‑funded by the house development – what impact will this will have on the house prices in Congleton?

  • As the road will be close to residential developments how will the air and noise pollution as well as road safety issues be combatted?  How will the road be built such that it is sympathetic to the open countryside in which it lies?

  • Macclesfield and Crewe will be more accessible as a result of the Link Road and new businesses could be attracted to these towns.  Has this been taken into account for the rejuvenation of Congleton?

  • One of the objectives of the Link Road is to help expand business and/or generate new business.  A road in itself will not generate business.

• How can residents of Congleton be expected to make comments on the Local Plan when the locations of the proposed strategic housing and business development areas, along with the route of the Link Road, have yet to be determined?

• There is no information on what further Secondary Schools or expansions to the existing Secondary Schools are proposed for Congleton.

• The projected large increase in the population of Congleton and also of nearby Macclesfield and Sandbach requires an increase in the nearby hospital infrastructure but nothing is mentioned in the plan.

• The western edge of the Back Lane and Radnor Park Site strategic Site should not cross Black Firs Lane to maintain a buffer between Somerford & Congleton.

• How much communal green space will be allocated within each of the sites and how will this be enforced during development?

• What measures will be in place to ensure that only suitable businesses will be attracted to the employment land on the strategic sites so that they do not have a detrimental impact on the residential communities (e.g. keep air pollution and noise pollution to a minimum and ensure traffic commuting to/from the sites takes place at suitable times).

• The housing allocation for Congleton is so large in relation to the size and area of the town that development may spill over into the surrounding rural parishes. The rural parishes should not be subsumed into Congleton.