THE decision to approve a housing scheme for Holmes Chapel has come under fire as ‘fundamentally flawed’.

The claim comes from resident Martyn Dobinson following approval of a revised application for six houses at Bank House Farm in Middlewich Road.

“We and many of our neighbours filed objections against the original planning application to demolish the dwelling at Bank House Farm and construct seven executive dwellings,” said Mr Dobinson, who lives in Middlewich Road opposite the development site.

Residents objected on numerous grounds, including speeding and heavy traffic on Middlewich Road, the site overlooking elderly and vulnerable residents in sheltered bungalows and having a history of being waterlogged.

Residents said the scheme went against the Holmes Chapel Neighbourhood Plan and the village infrastructure was already unable to cope with the current rate of growth of the village.

Mr Dobinson said the application was rejected, but an appeal was lodged and a revised application was submitted reducing the number of houses to six.

He said: “Despite the apparent relative lack of any significant changes to the proposed development, the revised application appeared to sail through the planning process, although a number of conditions have been set for the approved development.”

He said much of what was stated by Cheshire East Council in approving the revised scheme contradicted that in the decision to refuse the original application.

He said: “Having lived in Holmes Chapel for 13 years and now living opposite the proposed development, I can confidently say the scheme would cause significant issues regarding amenity, highway safety, landscape, trees, ecology, flooding and drainage.

“All of these arguments still stand, despite the relatively minor tweaks to the original application.

“The decision to approve the revised application, and process generally, appears to be fundamentally flawed.

“Those in objection to the development appear to have no right of appeal to the decision, unlike the applicant.

“There appears to be several discrepancies, variances and omissions between the officer’s reports on the original application and those that led to the approval decision.”

He said the original concerns of residents neighbouring the site were significant, and he failed to see how the minor changes to the scheme could have satisfactorily addressed those concerns.

The Guardian has asked Cheshire East Council for a comment.