200 Houses on Productive farm land

Bloor Homes plan to construct 200 houses on Green Belt land between Prestbury Road and Bollinbrook Road in Macclesfield in the Upton Ward. This site is clearly designated as Green Belt in the existing Local Plan and holds a Local Landscape Designation, recognizing its environmental and aesthetic value.

The recent government drive to address the housing shortage appears to have emboldened developers to push speculative proposals, often misrepresenting the intentions behind national housing policy. While headlines might suggest a push for development on Green Belt land, a closer examination of the relevant documents reveals this is not the case.

Cheshire East’s Housing Position
Cheshire East is already overperforming in housing delivery and has an 11-year forward pipeline based on the requirements set out in the 2017-2030 Local Plan.

The council is now in the process of refreshing the Local Plan to reflect updated housing targets. Even with the proposed increase in targets (from 977 to 2,461 houses per year), Cheshire East currently has a forward pipeline of 4.8 years against the five-year target, which is a strong position compared to many other authorities.

Furthermore, Macclesfield alone has 2,445 pre-approved housing applications ready to commence. There is no evidence of a housing crisis in Cheshire East that would justify approving speculative developments on Green Belt land.

Concerns
The Bloor Homes' proposal is clearly speculative, seeking to exploit perceived ambiguity around the current planning framework. We urge Macclesfield citizens and elected officials to object to the development on the grounds of:

-  This is not in the Local Plan

- No requirement for additional housing in Macclesfied given levels of currently approved proposals

- No requirement to open-up Special Designation GreenBelt land before exhausting brownbelt and true greybelt options

- Dangerous access

- Impact on local infrastructure (schools, GPS, etc)