KNUTSFORD is set for an influx of new houses after council leader Michael Jones announced the town will be targeted as an area to build.

The recently re-elected leader of Cheshire East Council has stated that 36,000 new homes will have to be built in the borough before 2030 and said Knutsford, along with Wilmslow and Poynton, has been identified as an area in need of more houses.

The announcement came after an examination of the local plan by the planning inspectorate.

Cllr Jones said: “When the inspector said we need more houses he mentioned three areas. He said Knutsford, he said Wilmslow and he said Poynton. We are not going to go back to him and say you are wrong. We will take his notice of information and bring it forward.

“So we will look at Poynton, Knutsford and Wilmslow and a certain amount of housing will be going there. “ The new number of 36,000 is an increase of 7,000 on the original number submitted in the local plan and has come about due to an estimated 31,410 new jobs being created in Cheshire East in the next 15 years.

The council leader said building on the Green Belt will have to happen around Knutsford as he claims there is ‘only Green Belt’ in the area.

Cllr Jones said: “We’ve always tried not to develop on the greenbelt and when you have towns that are surrounded by nothing but the greenbelt you have to look at Brownfield sites first and we’ve done that. We never want to build on the greenbelt. If we are going to build on the Green Belt we will do it in a sustainable way.”

“I think we can say that there will not be a massive incursion on the Green Belt. But we will have to build on the Green Belt because there is only Green Belt in the north of the borough. But we’re going to look to be minimising that everywhere; it’s always Brownfield first.”

The first area to be bringing in new houses was also announced with Cllr Jones stating 300 homes will be built at the Alderley park site.

Cllr Jones added: “We’ve got sites already that we know and I can mention one already which is Alderley Park so that’s 300 houses there and that site has been heavily debated and may well come into it now. I think we can all look at as being good quality decision making although relieving greenbelt is not good news.”

Cllr Rachel Bailey is set to take over the local plan in July and will be scouting areas in Knutsford in which to build new houses.