THE man behind Cheshire Lakes’ bid to build a water park in Chelford has slammed the ‘out of touch’ councillors who rejected it.

Director Tim Woodhead has been left ‘appalled’ by the decision, which went against the views of Cheshire East Council’s planning officers.

He adds that the scheme also faced no objection from Manchester Airport or the RSPB, while more than 90 per cent of east Cheshire residents who responded to the application supported it including Cllr George Walton, CEC member for Chelford.

“There was simply no legitimate reason to refuse the application,” Tim said.

“We are utterly appalled at the way this application has been handled and decided upon. They ignored the evidence in front of them, ignored their officers’ advice and ignored the views of the local communities they represent.

“They are completely out of touch with the general public they represent, they completely dismissed all our amazing public consultation results and the huge number of formal public comments left on the planning portal.

“Some of the comments made by the voting members were simply outrageous and not remotely based on facts or evidence.

“If you are one of the many east Cheshire East residents who left positive feedback, you should be utterly appalled at how little weight they gave your opinion.

“What is even more sad is how little effort the case officer and planning department gave to try and back up their expert advice in recommending our approval.”

An earlier application for the water park was rejected last July following an administrative error by CEC.

It was then approved a month later, before being called back in for debate and rejected in November.

That decision has now been appealed by Cheshire Lakes, and for Tim it’s ‘onwards and upwards’ to the summer.

“Thankfully the appeal will be heard by an independent inspector and not the out of touch members of the Cheshire East Strategic Planning Committee," he added.

“We now focus everything on the appeal and will not be giving up any time soon.”