MIDDLEWICH could soon see a wave of new development, after Cheshire East councillors approved a new ‘masterplan’ for the Brooks Lane area of the town.

The masterplan sets out CEC’s aim for the area, which developers would have to account for when making any planning applications.

Among the stated aims of the plan include 200 new homes; leisure, retail, and community facilities; improved pedestrian and cycle links to connect development to existing employment; a 50-berth marina at the Trent and Mersey Canal; and setting aside land for a new railway station for Middlewich.

At the council cabinet meeting where the masterplan was approved, Labour’s Jonathan Parry spoke in favour of the proposals, and asked cabinet members to give Middlewich ‘a chance’ after he said it had become a ‘dumping ground’ for new homes in the borough.

However, business champion Sarah Pochin raised her own ‘grave concerns’ over the ideas, believing that the meeting of any new housing with the existing industrial businesses could result in job losses for Middlewich if firms had to relocate.

Independent Cllr Toni Fox, Portfolio Holder for Planning, said that no businesses would be forced to move under the terms of the masterplan.