Full text:
Subject: Formal Representation: Objection to Strategic Housing and Economic
Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) Submission for Land at Ashley (Site
Reference: 12 Contiguous Parcels Totaling 291.03 Hectares)
I am writing to register my formal objection to allocating or considering the 291.03-
hectare tract of land surrounding Ashley across all 12 contiguous parcels within the
SHE[AA and the broader Locoal Plan review. Promoted development of this
magnitude in this sensitive rural area is fundamentally unviable and directly violates
statutory local policy and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
• Green Belt Protections and "Grey Belt" Disqualification • Protected Wash-
Over Designation: CELPS Policy PG 3 designates the entirety of Ashley
Parish as "wash-over" Green Belt to preserve the Open, rural character Of
sensitive villages.
• Preventing Settlement Coalescence: Ashley forms the narrowest remaining
countryside buffer separating Greater Manchester (Trafford, Hale, Altrincham)
from Cheshire East (Knutsford, Mobberley). Under policy GB2 and policy
GB6, allocating this site fails the national tests set out in Annex E by driving
urban sprawl (Purpose A) and merging distinct settlements (Purpose B).
• Failure of "Grey Belt" Criteria: Under Policy GB7, "Grey Belt" land must not
strongly contribute to core Green Belt purposes. This contiguous tract of
active farmland performs critical Green Belt functions. While the updated
NPPF removes the former Footnote 7 threshold from the initial Grey Belt
qualification test, significant heritage, ecological, and flood constraints across
the site remain decisive barriers to development under broader national
policies.
2. Loss of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Farmland
• High-Tier Soil Classification: Detailed soil assessments, including survey data
from HS2 Phase 2b, confirm that this 291.03-hectare site consists
predominantly Of Grade 2 and Subgrade 3a Best and Most Versatile (BMV)
farmland.
• Food Security and Soil Preservation: Concrete development across this
uninterrupted, productive agricultural landscape directly undermines regional
food production, violating CELPS Policy SE 2 and national soil protection
mandates requiring local planning authorities to prioritize lower-grade Or
brownfield land.
3. Highway Safety Hazards, Rail Deficits, and Aviation Restrictions
• Failure to Meet "Well-Connected Station" Standards: Policy GB7 introduces
specific support for higher-density development near "well-connected" railway
stations. To qualify, a station must offer at least 4 services per hour (or 2 per
hour in one direction). Ashley station fails this test completely, operating on a
maximum of I train per hour with no commuter car park. Service levels will
worsen further following the funded, approved station at Cheadle; in March
2026, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Keir Mather MP
confirmed that service reallocations reducing Ashley and Plumley calls to one
train every two hours are necessary to accommodate Cheadle's stops
• Severe Road Bottlenecks: Local rural infrastructure cannot accommodate
heavy vehicular traffic. The network relies On narrow, single-lane bridge pinch
points over the railway, the River Bollin, and Birkin Brook, creating severe
cumulative congestion risks in violation of CELPS Policy CO 1 , Policy CO 4,
and national transport safety policies.
• Aerodrome Safeguarding Zones: Positioned beneath Manchester Airport's
operational flight paths, the site falls within restricted noise contours and bird-
strike management zones, conflicting with aerodrome safety requirements and
CELPS Policy SE 12 regarding public health.
4. Adverse Impacts On Landscape, Ecology, and Cultural Heritage.
• Landscape Degradation: Allocating these sites would permanently damage the
settings of both the Bollin Valley and Parklands Local Landscape Designation
(LID) and the Rosthernenatton Park LLD, violating CELPS Policy SE 4.
• Ecological Fragmentation: Mass construction would sever critical habitat
corridors and imperil nearby sensitive ecological assets, including the Cotterill
Clough SSSI / Nature Reserve, breaching CELPS policy SE 3 and national
nature recovery mandates.
• Irreversible Heritage Damage: The open fields frame the settings for 19 Grade
11 listed structures, including Ashley Hall. Allocating this site violates
statutory requirements under CELPS Policy SE 7 and national heritage
policies that require loeal authorities to give great weight to conserving
designated historic assets and their rural settings.
5. Hydrological Risks, Drainage, and Infrastructure Inadequacies
• Exacerbated Flooding: paving over this catchment area would dramatically
increase surface water run-off into the River Bollin, creating severe off-site
flood risks in breach ofCELPS Policy SE 13 and national flood resilience
policies.
• Utility Capacities: The local area lacks the sewer system capacity, power grid
infrastructure, and drainage networks needed for intensive growth, failing the
deliverability requirements of CELPS policy IN I.
6. Invalidation under Spatial and Settlement Hierarchy
• Lowest Tier Placement: Under CELPS Policy PG 2, Ashley sits at the lowest
tier of the setllement hierarchy, lacking the primary schools, local healthcare
facilities, and job markets required to support a strategic population influx.
• Contradiction of Sustainable Growth Principles: Directing strategic
housing to an isoiated rural village conflicts with C.ELPS Policy SD I and
policy SD 2, as well as national plan-making principles that mandate
concentrating major developments within Tier I Principal Towns and Tier 2
Key Service Centres.
Conclusion and Action Requested The Submission across all 12 contiguous parcels
(totalling 291.03 hectares) fails every fundamental planning test under both local
policies and the current NPPF I formally request that Cheshire East
Council mark all 12 site submissions as Unsuitable, Unavailable, and Undeliverable
within the SHELAA report and exclude them entirely from future Local Plan
allocations.
