We have made the largest objection to a planning application Cheshire East has ever seen……well done, and thanks, to each and every one of you.
We have achieved our target and have so far seen circa 1140 objections posted against the Haddon proposal for 900 houses. This is a fantastic result and will make Cheshire East Council sit up and take notice. The local residents, and as importantly local voters, have shouted out a resounding NO, to this application.
Next steps are still a little unclear as Cheshire East review the comments and the original application, and I believe they have gone back to Haddon on clarification of a number of points, which will involve some reworking, and may delay this going in front of the Strategic Planning Board. I will advise of the date of that as the Committee and a number of other allies, are planning to speak at the meeting and a strong display of resident support will certainly help. It is very important that due Planning Process is followed and whilst I am keen to get this positively resolved, it has to be actioned within the prevailing planning laws, frustrating though that may be at times.
At this stage can I say a massive thank you to your committee, Andy, David, Ian, Jenny and Paul who have literally put in hundreds of hours of work in preparing our objections, which are truly amazing, and are continuing to work on your behalf on a number of other areas behind the scenes to ensure this application is rejected. There are also so many of you that have helped, not just by objecting, but by turning up to various meetings, helping with printing, delivering leaflets, putting up posters, helping the committee with specialist feedback on objections and in so many more ways. This really has been a genuine community effort to get us where we are today, which I firmly believe is in a very strong position to robustly defend ourselves from Haddon and to get this application rejected both by Cheshire East and by any subsequent appeals.
Interestingly Cheshire East has just won another High Court Appeal, this one against 146 houses in Willaston, added to the recent Gresty Oaks victory at appeal shows that the tide is turning in the favour of South Cheshire residents.
As soon as I know firm dates for Council meetings I will let you know, but trust that your Committee and I will be there to represent you and to get the right result for Wychwood Village and Park, Weston and surrounding villages.
Remember that this could well be the first of many battles to come, which may well involve considerably more effort and expense, and whilst we are looking into setting up a Just Giving page, as agreed at our last residents meeting, there are rules around this, which we have to work through.
You may well have seen we have been active in the media locally and will continue to do so as we run up to the Strategic Planning Board, and are planning an event which we hope will get us local and hopefully national coverage, so watch this space.
Don’t forget you can read the group objections (2 Grange Close) on the planning portal, http://planning.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ApplicationDetails.aspx?pr=14/5671N. We are sure you’ll agree they offer strong grounds for refusal.
Your ongoing support drives us all on.
Trevor Sandry – Chairman
Wychwood Community Group 