PLANS for a 119-home estate on the outskirts of Congleton have been given the go-ahead, although councillors have insisted on extra highways safety measures for pedestrians.
Cheshire East’s strategic planning board was unanimous yesterday (Wednesday) in approving the reserved matters application from Anwyl Homes for the dwellings on land north of the Congleton Link Road at Somerford Green.
Anwyl is funding a pedestrian crossing on the Congleton Link Road but councillors raised concerns about the need for other crossing points on Somerford Lane and Back Lane.
Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Knutsford, Con) asked that crossing points be established on these two ‘as a matter of urgency’ and funded by highways money already in the pot from other developments on the land.
This was agreed.
Cllr Gardiner was also unhappy with the mix of housing and the amount of affordable housing.
He said: “I note with some concern that 90 per cent of the market units on this property site are going to be three and four-bedroom, yet there are no one-bedroom properties.”
With regard to affordable, he acknowledged the council had agreed to just a 17.5 per cent allocation because the development was contributing towards the Congleton Link Road.
But he said, in terms of the numbers of bedrooms, if the percentage was based on that rather than units, the developer should be provided 66 bedrooms and not the 36 in the 21 affordable homes it planned to build.
The developer’s agent, Jon Suckley, said the percentage of affordable homes was worked out on the number of units not bedrooms and, regarding the mix, the council’s housing officer had been satisfied.
Cllr Ken Edwards (Bollington, Lab) raised concerns about potential contamination of the site saying the report mentions possible pollutants which require further investigation.
He was told by the agent: “That work has been undertaken…
“There are conditions on the outline permission which require that information to be submitted and approved prior to the commencement of the development and those discharge of condition applications have been lodged with the council for review.”
Cllr Edwards continued: “These seem to me to be serious matters. Shouldn’t this committee, in giving permission, be assured that everything’s alright in relation to them?”
Head of planning David Malcolm agreed the investigation works were serious matters.
He said: “This committee, as you know, has been dealing with an ongoing matter of contaminated land.”
He was referring to the Coppenhall Estate in Crewe, where the council originally granted planning permission for 263 homes in 2018 but revoked that permission in 2022 because developer Countryside Partnerships failed to deal with a condition relating to contaminated land.
That estate is occupied and residents are still waiting for the matter to be resolved.
Mr Malcolm assured Cllr Edwards the conditions on this would require the developer to do works at the start of the process and during construction.
He said that would have been dealt with at outline stage ‘so it’s nothing to worry about in terms of what is being referred to in terms of this application’.
Cllr Rachel Bailey (Audlem, Con) sought assurances about the management company which would be responsible for the public open space within the site once the homes had been occupied.
She was told this was set out in the terms of the S106 agreement.
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