Cheshire East Council to refresh Local Plan

Cheshire East Council has shared an update on work to prepare a new Local Plan, setting out future acceptable development in the borough.

The Council agreed to prepare a new Local Plan in 2023, however, delayed starting work amid proposed changes to legislation both under the previous government, and following the 2024 General Election. Subsequent changes have seen increases in housebuilding targets for the majority of local authorities (and an increase of over 600 new homes annually in Cheshire East), and new guidance on approving housing development on previously developed sites in the Green Belt.

A Local Plan sets out how new development should take place in the future and shows what sort of development is acceptable and where, for example homes, business growth and infrastructure. 

Cheshire East Council’s environment and communities committee on 27th March considered a report that gave members an update on the progress made so far and the proposed next steps.

Cllr Liz Braithwaite, vice chair of the environment and communities committee, said:

“A new Local Plan for Cheshire East will eventually set the blueprint for development in the borough into the 2040s.

“Before work on a new Local Plan can formally begin, we need information from the Government about the changes it is making to the way future local plans must be prepared, as part of its reforms to the planning system.

“While we still don’t have that, we’ve been doing what we can to get ourselves into the strongest possible position so that we can hit the ground running once the information and legislative requirements do arrive, which is currently expected to be towards the end of this year or early next year.

“This has included work to develop important parts of the evidence base for the Local Plan, which included the public consultation held last year on an ‘issues paper’.

“This provided an initial opportunity for local communities to tell us how they feel the new Local Plan could help to tackle local priorities.”

The Government has committed to delivering 1.5 mILLION new homes while it is in office and in December last year, published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and advised that new Local Plans should reflect a national rise in housing requirements. Cllr Braithwaite said:

“In Cheshire East, the current local housing requirement for the borough was set at 1,800 homes a year by the Local Plan.

“However, national planning reform has substantially increased the target for Cheshire East to 2,479 homes per year. This means that the council cannot now demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.  

“This position is not exclusive to Cheshire East but will lead to increased pressure for unplanned new housing sites across the whole borough.

“This is why it is even more important that we continue to do the groundwork for a new Local Plan ahead of new legislation being announced – work that is low-cost and low-risk to the council but has huge benefits in ensuring we are ready to proceed.”

The new timetable for the Local Plan, once published, will be available on the Local Plan section of the council’s website.