COUNCILLORS have given the all clear for 84 homes to be built on part of the major Glebe Farm site off Warmingham Lane.

Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning board approved plans from Seddon Construction for the northern end of the Moston site at its meeting on Wednesday.

It is the first scheme to receive full planning permission on Glebe Farm, which is allocated for 450 homes by CEC, while Warmingham Lane as a whole is expected to gain more than 1,100 homes once all its planned new developments are built out.

The plans were previously considered last July with 74 homes made up of two, three and four-bedroom properties, including eight affordable homes.

Councillors asked Seddon to consider changing some of the types of homes so they are more suitable for residents in Moston and Middlewich looking for a property at that meeting.

The latest proposals featured 10 more properties in total, with a mix including four bungalows and only two or three-bedroom properties.

Knutsford Guardian:

The latest plans for the site. Image: Seddon Construction

Lewis Evans, representing Seddon, said: “We consider, and officers agree, that this mix now complies with the Moston neighbourhood plan.

“The applicant has worked proactively with council officers to ensure that the design of the revised scheme represents a high-quality scheme, consistent with the CEC design guide.”

Councillors were told that Moston Parish Council welcomed the new mix of housing, but raised concerns about the scheme’s impact on traffic.

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Seddon will pay £437,388 towards the cost of the Middlewich eastern bypass as part of the project, similar to other developments along Warmingham Lane.

However, that cash means the developer is only providing 11 affordable homes, much less than the 30 per cent of properties usually required by CEC.

CEC’s own children’s services department also objected to the scheme because Seddon would not be putting any cash into education provision, while no funding will go towards NHS services either.

“It seems that we are making concessions here on the affordable housing numbers to get this contribution to the bypass,” said Cllr Ashley Farrall, Labour.

Knutsford Guardian:

“This does not seem like a great benefit for Middlewich or Moston residents.”

Council officers confirmed that an ‘overage’ condition could be attached to the plans – meaning any additional cash that becomes available from the scheme would go towards education provision.

“This is a compromise,” added Cllr Steve Edgar, Conservative.

“It complies with what we asked for, it is making contributions to all sorts of things.

“The question is, would it be refuse-able? The answer is no.”

Cllr Peter Groves, Conservative, added that the council was ‘in danger of missing’ the benefits of securing the cash towards the Middlewich eastern bypass – with officers confirming that the way the project is being funded relies on a number of developer contributions.

The committee approved the plans by six voted to three.