Work starts on a new Cheshire East Local Plan

Cheshire East has started the ball rolling on its new Local Plan which will eventually set the blueprint for development in the borough into the 2040s.

A 12-week consultation is now underway on Cheshire East Council's 'Local Plan issues paper' and feedback is invited from residents, businesses and other organisations about how future planning policies can help to address a wide range of issues.

These include meeting the borough's future housing needs, tackling climate change, providing new jobs, restoring nature and supporting healthier lifestyles.

Views are also invited on a number of other draft reports that will help inform the content of the new Local Plan, including about the availability of land for future development.

The consultation can be found here: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/newlocalplan The deadline for responding is 5pm on Monday 1 July 2024.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, said: "A Local Plan sets out how new development should take place in the future and shows what sort of development is acceptable and where, for example homes, business growth and infrastructure.

"The current Cheshire East Local Plan runs to 2030 and last year, the council decided that a new one should be prepared to replace it.

"We're still waiting for the Government to release full details of the changes they are making to the way future local plans must be prepared, as part of its reforms to the planning system, and we are some way off publishing any draft policies and proposals for the borough.

"But the issues paper is the first important step in preparing our new local plan and provides an initial opportunity for local communities to tell us through the consultation how they feel it could help to tackle local priorities.

"The other documents we are consulting on, while more technical in nature, are still important to how our borough is shaped in future, and I'd encourage people to share their views on those too."

The new Local Plan will take several years to prepare and will be shaped by several rounds of public consultation.