As reported in last month’s Gazette, Cheshire East Council is consulting on its new local plan, scheduled for 2030.

An ‘issues paper’ set out a range of questions and Gawsworth Parish Council prepared a submission highlighting some of the topics which are thought to be of special importance to residents.

There are still many uncertainties about how the plan will develop but your council identified several Gawsworth related issues that it hopes can be addressed in the plan. You can read the Council’s submission below, but here are some highlights.

On the climate emergency, your councillors called for the local plan to increase protections for peatland moss areas, protecting them from development and adverse effects from nearby developments.

Landscape management and preservation featured prominently in the Council’s submission. We argued that there is no justification for further land to be released from Green Belt and consideration should be given to returning safeguarded land to the Green Belt where it is not needed for development.

Another recurring theme was the importance of Neighbourhood Plans. The Neighbourhood Plan runs from 2020–2030 but the Council plans to undertake an interim update in the next few years.

Identifying housing needs and affordable housing were identified as areas that the Parish Council wished to be involved in, more so than had been the case with the ill-fated Cheshire East Council Dark Lane proposal a few years back.

The Parish Council again raised the unfair intention of Cheshire East to give preference for affordable housing to Macclesfield residents, over Gawsworth residents, on the LPS15 development site – which is in Gawsworth!

Conscious of our older population, the local plan should recognise that as people age, they are likely to wish to remain in the communities where they have lived, near to family and healthcare services and therefore accommodation should be planned on a local basis. We also said development which increases traffic on dangerous roads such as the A536 should be resisted.

The Parish Council highlighted that there is no safe active travel route from Gawsworth to Macclesfield and emphasised the need for maintenance and development of the footpath network.

We raised a complaint that the only specific mention of Gawsworth in Cheshire East’s document was misleading and scientifically unsound. It highlighted Gawsworth’s ‘privilege’ linking it to health and was potentially to our disadvantage. We’ve asked for a retraction!

The Cheshire East Council consultation closes on 1st July. Once the Government issues the awaited detailed planning guidance, CEC will be able to commence work on the new plan in earnest.

Gawsworth PC Response to CEC Local Plan Consultation