Congleton Neighbourhood Plan Regulation 16 Consultation

Thank you for your consultation.

We are the charity who look after and bring to life 2000 miles of canals & rivers. Our waterways contribute to the health and wellbeing of local communities and economies, creating attractive and connected places to live, work, volunteer and spend leisure time. These historic, natural and cultural assets form part of the strategic and local green-blue infrastructure network, linking urban and rural communities as well as habitats. By caring for our waterways and promoting their use we believe we can improve the wellbeing of our nation. The Canal & River Trust (the Trust) is a statutory consultee in the Development Management process, and as such we welcome the opportunity to input into planning policy related matters to ensure that our waterways are protected, safeguarded and enhanced within an appropriate policy framework.

The Trust own and manage the Macclesfield Canal, which runs through the south part of the Neighbourhood Plan Area.

We wish to make comment on the following:

Policy 10 - Access to Health and Wellbeing
The proposed policy text states that “All major developments should be designed having considered the way it can benefit the mental wellbeing of new and future users and occupiers.” The text states that measures may include access to new green and open spaces.

We wish to highlight that opportunities to improve access to, and to improve existing, green and open spaces should ideally be included within the proposed policy text. This would help make the plan more effective in ensuring that the benefits of access to existing spaces can be fully realised. This would be consistent with the aims of paragraph 96 (part c) from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which highlights the benefits of accessible green infrastructure.

As an example of the importance of our spaces, our waterway corridors and towpaths form an important green and blue infrastructure asset, which provide a freely accessible resource for recreation and leisure activities in addition to providing opportunities for active travel in a largely traffic free environment. The Trust’s Outcomes Report (2022) https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/valuing-our-waterways highlights that the annual social value generated by our waterways is £4.6bn, including £1.1bn cost savings to the NHS derived from active use of the waterways and towpaths, and £2.9bn from improved mental health and wellbeing through access to our spaces for leisure and recreation.

We therefore request that the text of the policy is amended if possible to refer more to the opportunities of access to green and blue infrastructure and the benefits of this to wellbeing, which could help ensure that opportunities of improved access can be maximised. We believe this would improve the effectiveness of the proposed Neighbourhood Plan.

Policy 18 – Views, Vistas and Gateways
The proposed policy positively acknowledges the canal as a linear viewpoint.

We note that Map 8 includes key canal-side viewpoints such as the Dane in Shaw embankment and Canal Bridge No.75 which we consider appropriate. We wish to highlight that an additional viewpoint from Bridge 76 Morris Change Bridge contributes to the town’s heritage and canal experience and could also be considered alongside the policy.

The policy text refers to the use of “locally appropriate materials”. We wish to highlight that in the context of the canal, new planting and surfacing should respect the character of the canal and should seek to maintain surveillance, views and access to the corridor.

We hope the above comments will be of use.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries you may have.
Yours sincerely,



Simon Tucker MRTPI
Area Planner
Simon.Tucker@canalrivertrust.org.uk
07885 241223