Local plan scoping consultation

Re Site 4376

I regularly walk the footpaths across the fields between Coppice Road and The Coppice, as well as The Coppice itself. This area is an important green lung for many local people, especially following recent housing developments, and should not be subject to further development.
It also has an important flood protection role. There have been many flood events along Poynton Brook, but much the worst was that of 2019 when the capacity of The Coppice and the neighbouring fields to contain runoff was overtopped. Many rescues had to be effected and many properties were seriously damaged. My neighbour could not return to his house for a year, and local roads were closed for longer than that due to the collapse of the Moggie Lane bridge. The authorities have responded by trying to increase the ability of the Poynton Brook catchment to retain water in case of heavy rain: development on these fields would be an abandonment of that strategy and would intensify flood events downstream.
The landscape which mitigates against flooding also has important ecological and historical functions. They are an important habitat for lapwing and curlew, part of a Priority Species for Countryside Stewardship Targeting Area for these at-risk species. They include visible remains of at least three and probably four eighteenth-century coal pits. I think that these links to the history of the local community are important, while their age means that underground mapping, if any, will not be reliable. Development is likely to be difficult and will destroy both a landscape of ecological value and eradicate features unique to the local community.
Finally, I am well aware of the pressing nature of the housing crisis as I have two young adults at home who cannot afford to buy a house for themselves. Development on these fields will not help them. Property values locally are too high. New houses in developments nearby have sold for about £500,000, only affordable by someone with a serviceable house already. A few “affordable” homes sold for about half that amount were still well out of reach of a 30-year-old on average salary: window-dressing rather than anything else. If homes are built on these fields, my children will not be able to afford them, and nor will anyone else who does not already have a house to sell.
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