CHESHIRE East’s Local Plan will reach a ‘major milestone’ next as it will undergo the final examination hearings.


The hearings will start at Macclesfield Town Hall on Tuesday, September 16, at 10am, and will continue until the end of October.


Members of the public are welcome to attend the hearings, however the inspector will only hear statements from those parties who made representations on the ‘submission version’ of the plan during the prescribed period, and who were seeking some change to the plan.


Clr David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “We are delighted that this major milestone in the progression of the Local Plan has now been reached after many months of preparation.


“We are very much looking forward to presenting our case at these hearings and demonstrating that we have a properly prepared, thorough and sound plan.”


The Examination hearings at Macclesfield Town Hall are held under the auspices of an independent Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.


The strategy has undergone nine rounds of public consultation since 2010, and the final six-week consultation, when even more comments were received over March and April this year, attracted 3,458 responses alone from 657 individuals and organisations.


The Planning Inspector, Stephen Pratt has been appointed to conduct the examination to determine whether the Local Plan Strategy is sound and can be adopted by the Council.


The examination is a continuous process, which runs from submission through to the receipt of the Inspector’s report.


Part of the process will involve hearing sessions, where those invited to attend will have the opportunity to respond to matters raised by the Inspector.