We are seeking your views on the what the new local plan for Cheshire East should contain. The local plan scoping consultation is open until 5pm on 1 September.
Local plan information
What is a local plan?
A local plan sets out how an area will grow and develop over the coming years. It helps shape where new homes, jobs, schools, transport links, green spaces and community facilities should be located.
By having a local plan in place, it can make sure development happens in the right places and meets the needs of residents both now and in the future.
- Your views matter. Local plans are shaped through public consultation, giving communities the chance to have their say on the future of their area.
Why is a local plan important?
The local plan sets out a shared vision for Cheshire East’s future - helping us manage growth, shape development, and protect the places that matter most to our communities.
Without an up-to-date local plan:
- Development can happen in the wrong places
- Opportunities to coordinate where schools, roads, healthcare and other essential services should go can be missed
A strong local plan helps make sure growth and development works for everyone - for current and future generations.
What’s the process for developing a new Local Plan?
Developing a new local plan for Cheshire East isn’t a quick process - we have a 30-month timetable.
That’s because it involves:
- Gathering detailed evidence to support the plan and identify future needs, like housing, transport and community facilities.
- Multiple stages of public consultation, giving residents, businesses and other stakeholders opportunities to have their say.
- Independent assessments and examination to ensure the plan meets legal requirements and national planning policy.
Once we do have a proposed local plan, we have to submit it to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government who then appoints an examiner to review it.
It’s only then that the council can then formally adopt it and we can start using it as the basis for planning decisions.
What’s a five-year housing land supply, and why does it matter?
A housing land supply shows whether a council has enough land available to meet its housing targets and deliver new homes over the coming years.
The supply is reviewed every year to check that enough sites are in place and that progress is being made towards housing needs.
National planning policy says that councils should be able to provide a minimum of five years’ housing land supply, based on the increased housing targets each council has been set by the Government.
For us in Cheshire East, that means our housing target is now 2,530 homes per year.
Compared with the housing targets that are included in our current Local Plan, that’s a 41% increase in homes per year.
What happens if you don’t have a five-year housing land supply?
At the moment, based on the Government’s new higher housing targets, we can’t show that we have a five-year housing land supply.
When this happens, national planning policy set by the Government places significant weight on the need to boost housing supply. It can mean that:
- It's more difficult for the council to refuse planning applications for housing, even where proposals are not supported by local planning policies.
- Developers are more likely to succeed when appealing planning decisions because of the need for housing.
- Development might be approved in locations where it would not normally be supported, unless there are very strong planning reasons to refuse it.
Does the Combined Authority affect who makes decisions on planning and development?
The creation of the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority does not take planning powers away from Cheshire East Council.
We’re still the local planning authority and will continue to decide planning applications and prepare local planning policies.
The Combined Authority will work across Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, and Warrington on issues that affect the wider area, such as economic growth, transport, infrastructure, skills and housing priorities.
So, this means:
- Cheshire East Council will continue to determine planning applications and produce the new local plan
- The Combined Authority will help coordinate investment, infrastructure and growth across the region and develop strategic plans for matters that cross council boundaries.
- Government will continue to set national planning policy and housing requirements.