Cheshire East is urging the government to lower its housing target, advocating for 'plan-led development, not developer-led planning'. The borough's target has surged by over 150%, from 997 to 2,471 dwellings annually, due to changes implemented by the Labour government.
At a full council meeting on Wednesday, members across all political parties unanimously supported a motion from Conservative group leader Stewart Gardiner to reduce this figure. An amendment proposed by council leader Nick Mannion (Lab) regarding environmental protection, an increased proportion of social housing, and key infrastructure delivery ahead of development was also approved.
Another proposal from Cllr Craig Browne (Alderley Edge, Ind) urging the council to lobby the LGA to adopt this issue as an official campaign was accepted. During the debate, residents Nick Cheetham and Sarah Bradley voiced their concerns.
Mr Cheetham stated: "The intent of this [rise] was to obviously increase the national housing supply, but also deal with those areas not pulling their weight.
"Cheshire East is not in this position."
Mrs Bradley highlighted that her town of Sandbach had nearly doubled in size recently, leading to overstretched services and congested roads. She noted that 217 new houses had been approved in the last six months and 840 applications for outline planning permission had been submitted.
She said: "To be absolutely clear, this is not about stopping new development, it's about making sure they are allocated fairly across all areas, in sustainable numbers, in the right places for people who need them the most.
All councillors recognised the necessity for housing but insisted it must be plan-led.
Cllr Gardiner informed the meeting that Cheshire East had acted correctly in adopting a local plan and accumulating a robust housing land supply.
"So we are more than over-performing in terms of completions, while some neighbours to the north were behind target," he said.
He expressed concern that losing its 10-year plus housing land supply overnight meant Cheshire East is once again at the mercy of developers deciding which sites come forward, and when.
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) argued that Cheshire East must have the autonomy to determine what is best for the borough.
"In particular smaller homes, first homes, downsizing homes and social homes," she added.
"We need to bear that in mind and not have developers dictate to us executive larger properties that are simply there to make them more profit."
Cllr Mannion voiced his concerns: "We do have a housing crisis in this country, but I am very concerned about my government's initial response to tackling that.
"We do need to build houses, but we need the right houses in the right place, at the right tenure, at the right size, with the right services."
Macclesfield councillor Mary Brooks (Lab) voiced her opinion, stating: "I think we need to send a strong message to the government that they need to actually be reasonable about this and rethink this."
The council's unanimous support for the motion and amendments was met with applause from the public gallery.
