A long-running planning battle over housing development in Henbury, near Macclesfield, reached some form of closure today (24 March).

That's because Cheshire East Council's strategic planning board approved proposals to build 134 homes on the site off Chelford Road, near The Cock Inn pub — but refused permission for another 23 houses on an adjoining site.

The plans, which were deferred from January and rescheduled from earlier in the month, were described as "very, very complicated" by the deputy mayor of Cheshire East.

Why were the 134 homes approved?

Ultimately, members of the board felt they did not have a strong enough reason to refuse the reserved matters bid for 134 dwellings from Bellway Homes — despite a swathe of concerns.

Those worries included the removal of peat, surface water drainage, traffic flow, house mix and density, affordable housing provision, school funding, and air quality.

However, the plans on this site already had "outline" planning approval from 2018 — meaning a previous planning committee was satisfied with the development in principle.

This, in effect, tied the hands of today's meeting to only considering the home design, housing mix, and peat removal strategy — all items listed in the reasons for deferral.

"I cannot see deferral working [again] and I cannot see any serious reasons to refuse this," said Cllr Steve Edgar, who "reluctantly" proposed approving the move.

His comments came three-and-a-half hours into the six-hour summit on the two items.

At the start of the meeting, the board heard ward councillor Lesley Smetham highlight some reasons for local opposition.

She said: "The number of houses on the site has increased by 38 per cent [more] than what was agreed in the local plans. The houses are well-designed but closely packed.

"The loss of green space and separation of Henbury and Macclesfield are issues and this site contributes to the green belt significantly.

"It is clearly known that housing is needed — but at what cost?"

She was followed by Cllr James Barber, another ward member, who pressed the issue of peat removal — which has been likened to rainforests for its carbon dioxide absorption abilities — as a key reason for refusing the submission.

In response, Jon Suckley, representing developers Bellway Homes, said: "Bellway is a highly experienced builder. The design has been revised to significantly reduce the use of timber.

"The scheme has been developed comprehensively to address all considerations. The development will be high quality."

He added that Bellway had brought in e3p to carry out specialist surveys of the peat deposits in the land.

Peat proved to be a crucial issue for the board, with and it proved to be a vote on very fine margins — with only chair Cllr Stewart Gardiner's casting vote able to separate the two camps — although Cllrs Moreton, Critchley, and Weatherill abstained after losing connection.

Why did the 23 homes get refused?

The 23 homes were refused as the board decided this was "overdevelopment" of the land — although the council's head of planning warned that this was a "weak" reason to do so if challenged at an appeal.

However David Malcolm, who made the comments, said he understood councillors' frustration with the way in which the second application had been brought forward.