Cheshire East has approved the design and layout for a 306-home scheme despite one councillor saying the development will join Lyme Green to the town of Macclesfield.

The principle of residential development on the site at Gaw End Lane, Lyme Green, has already been established through the granting of outline planning permission and its allocation in the Cheshire East local plan.

On Wednesday (July 27) members of the strategic planning board were considering the reserved matters application from Vistry Homes for 306 dwellings dealing with the appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.

Ward councillor Andrew Gregory (Sutton, Ind) speaking as a visiting councillor, said the parish council had raised several issues which hadn't been given sufficient weight by Cheshire East.

Cllr Andrew Gregory has been a Cheshire East Councillor since 2019.

"There's a concern to the inevitable significant increase in traffic on London Road," said Cllr Gregory.

"It is a concern that the parish council's requests that the speed limit be reduced to 30mph have been ignored."

Mr Gregory, who recently quit the Conservatives to become an Independent Group Councillor, also said there were no nearby amenities and no schools within walking distance which had the capacity to take extra pupils.

The site falls within a Cheshire East local plan site allocated for around 300 homes.

Outline of the approved Gaw End Lane site. (Image - Ordinance Survey)

A separate application, from a different developer, had also been submitted for an adjacent parcel of land for 42 homes. This application was considered completely separately but reference to it was made, at times, during this discussion because of the proximity.

Cllr Brian Puddicombe (Macclesfield South, Lab) said the two schemes combined, if both were approved, would result in 348 homes and 348 'is substantially more than 300'.

Head of planning David Malcolm said the housing figures are not a maximum.

"I think the description here is around 300. It depends on your take on it," he said.

Cllr Brian Puddicombe has been a Labour Cheshire East Councillor since 2019.

He added where there were smaller units in a scheme, you get more units.

Cllr Puddicombe said he thought the scheme was good when it came to affordable housing, but he couldn't support it largely because of the traffic implications for London Road.

He added: "I think there are too many properties here and there are too many that don't perform to nationally prescribed space standards.

"This application on that side of London Road will join Lyme Green to the town of Macclesfield, there will be no countryside on that side of London Road."

He'd also asked about the presence of peat.

Planning officer Rob Law said: "We can't ever say there isn't peat on the site because we wouldn't know until a spade was put in the ground.

"What we can say is the reports that we have at the moment indicate that peat is unlikely to be present on this site."

Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner (Con) said the scheme has lots of positives, although he was disappointed at the level of smaller units.

"I accept some of the issues we've raised today were previously addressed by the outline and we can't revisit those," said Cllr Gardiner.

"I commend the work undertaken by Mr Law in securing a high quality design. I think that the apartment block and the way it reflects buildings you would find historically on the edge of a canal is impressive."

He added: "The way in which the affordable housing has been mixed within the scheme is an exemplar and I would hope all developers would follow this."

Haslington councillor Steve Edgar (Con) said: "Of all the applications I've seen, this is one of the better ones. It has its faults, it has its problems, it's not perfect, they never are, but overall I think it's a good application."

He moved the recommendation that it be approved.

Seven councillors voted for approval, two voted against and two abstained.

Just last week, Vistry Homes came under fire for starting work on the housing development before planning approval, disrupting wildlife.

Despite this, no action seems to be taken against the Kings Hill-based company for starting work prematurely.

Sutton Parish Council, which includes Lyme Green, has been contacted for comment.

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