The Co-operative Group Land at Weston Crewe Vision Document May 2013 Crewe Location Plan Weston Road M6 Basford East A500 J16 Weston Newcastle Road Wychwood Park Land Ownership 2 Introduction Introduction • Provision of high quality new homes to meet need and This document has been prepared by Spawforths on behalf accommodate a variety of tenures and housetypes of the Co-operative Group. The document sets out a vision • Generation of New Homes Bonus for the south of Weston Village to assist in the delivery of • Increase in residents will increase expenditure within much needed housing and infrastructure. The document the locality providing support for local shops and takes account of the existing and emerging Local Plan services documents. • New employment opportunities • Increased GVA within the local economy Executive Summary • Improved public transport and sustainable transport This document establishes a Vision for the land to the south infrastructure. of Weston, Crewe, as part of the Local Plan preparation process. The objective of the document is to secure a The site ‘Land South of Weston, Crewe’ would assist in strategic allocation within the Local Plan. the delivery of much needed housing within Cheshire East whilst also creating construction and longer term The Vision for the site would ensure that the potential for employment opportunities within the local area. This site this strategic site is maximised to deliver benefi ts to the provides the opportunity for the Council to identify a local community as well as for the wider Cheshire area. Strategic Allocation, outside the Green Belt and Green Gap, addressing the need for housing and minimising the need Cheshire East Council are currently preparing a new for incursions in the Green Belt. The site is well related Local Plan which will be the new development plan for to Crewe which is identifi ed as the key area of focus for Cheshire East over the next 15 – 20 years and will identify residential and employment growth. development opportunities over the plan period. The Vision is of fundamental importance to the economic The Co-operative Group acknowledges the Council’s regeneration and development of Crewe. The scheme is requirement to identify new stand alone settlements, as consistent with the pro-growth agenda of the National supported by the NPPF, Para 52, but considers that there Planning Policy Framework and would go some way to are more suitable non-Green Belt and non-Green Gap address the identifi ed need for new homes within Cheshire development sites to the South East of Crewe, such as Land East. to the South of Weston, which are capable of meeting this identifi ed housing need whilst also enabling the delivery of Site Location key infrastructure. As such, we consider that these other The site lies 3 miles to the south east of Crewe, to the more suitable, sustainable, non-Green Gap and non-Green south of Weston Village. It is easily accessed from the A531 Belt sites should be assessed to accomodate this growth. Newcastle Road via the A500 and Junction 16 of the M6 motorway which is 4.3 miles away from the site. The site Land to the south of Weston along with other sustainable lies 13 miles to the north west of Stoke on Trent, sites located to the south east of Crewe are able to provide Wychwood Park lies to the south of the proposed site. fi nancial contributions towards the upgrading of the A500 The site is located within 1km (15minutes walking distance) strategic link. These improvements along with the recently of an allocated strategic employment site, Basford East anounced publicly funded improvements to Junction 16 of There are opportunities to create strong connections the M6 would have a signifi cant impact upon infrastructure in between the communities of Weston, Wychwood and this locality ensuring that Crewe’s excellent communication Basford East. links are enhanced. The Vision This vision will show that there are no constraints that would TThehe VVisionision iiss ttoo ccreatereate a ffullyully iintegrated,ntegrated, ssustainableustainable prevent the site from coming forward for development. ddevelopmentevelopment ooff a ccompactompact wwalkablealkable vvillageillage ooff 885050 ddwellings.wellings. The site is available now, and is both achievable and suitable TThehe ddevelopmentevelopment wwillill eenhancenhance ffacilitiesacilities fforor bbothoth WWestoneston aandnd for development. WWychwoodychwood PParkark bbyy ccreatingreating a ccriticalritical mmassass ooff ddevelopmentevelopment The site would also bring a range of signifi cant social, tthathat ccanan ssupportupport aadditionaldditional sshopshops aandnd sserviceservices wwhichhich wwillill economic and environmental benefi ts including: bbee eeaslilyaslily aaccessible.ccessible. IItt wwillill pproviderovide hhousingousing cchoicehoice wwithith nnewew eeconomicconomic oopportunitiespportunities wwhilsthilst cconservingonserving eexistingxisting ggreenreen • Signifi cant job creation during both the construction iinfrastructurenfrastructure aandnd eenhancingnhancing oopportunitiespportunities fforor bbio-diversityio-diversity and operational phases of development Weston Vision Document 3 3 1 2 6 4 5 9 7 8 10 4 Site Photographs 1 3 4 2 5 6 10 14 13 7 9 12 8 11 13 11 12 14 5 Weston Vision Document Extract from Crewe and Nantwich Replacement Local Plan (2005) Crewe and Nantwich Replacement Local Plan (adopted, 2005) Within the Crewe and Nantwich Replacement Local Plan, the site currently lies within open countryside outside the settlement boundary of Weston. It is therefore not within land identifi ed as Green Gap nor protected Green Belt. An area of Nature Conservation (Policy NE 8) is situated to the west of the site. A second area of Nature Conservation lies further north east of the site beyond Main Road. The Weston Conservation Area is also located to the north of the site, however it does not adjoin nor form part of the site. The Crewe and Nantwich Replacement Local Plan was adopted in 2005. The NPPF indicates that Development Plans which have been adopted post-2004 should carry the full weight of their policies in relation to Section 38(6) of the 2004 Act (so long as there is only a “limited degree of confl ict” with the NPPF) and provided that they were adopted in accordance with the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Whilst the Crewe and Nantwich Replacement Local Plan was adopted on 17 February 2005, it was adopted under the 1990 Act rather than the 2004 Act. On this basis, the Crewe and Nantwich Local Plan falls within the terms of paragraph 215 of the NPPF and hence it does not benefi t from a position whereby full weight is afforded to it as identifi ed within the NPPF. The weight ascribed to relevant policies will therefore be dependent on their conformity with the NPPF. 6 Planning Cheshire East Local Plan 4. To develop three new settlements - to minimise the Cheshire East Council are currently preparing a new Local impact of building in the Green Belt and to protect the Plan which will be the new development plan for Cheshire individuality of towns and villages by the introduction of East over the next 15 – 20 years and will identify land ‘Strategic Open Gaps’ across the Borough. required to meet identifi ed needs over the plan period. 5. To establish a Housing Growth Policy - based around existing towns to meet local demand and ensure we meet The Draft Crewe Town Strategy Consultation document our fi ve year housing supply target of 7,000 new homes. recognised Crewe as the biggest priority within Cheshire 6. To make the best use of our natural resources - both East for signifi cant growth in housing and employment, minerals and energy to ensure that future generations can infrastructure, developing a more diversifi ed knowledge take full benefi ts that will accrue. economy, enhancing the attractiveness of Crewe, the development of underutilised sites including Basford East The document also identifi es proposed strategic and improving the town’s public image. This vision for development sites which are noted to be critical to the Crewe is supported in “All Change for Crewe” and draft delivery of the overall strategy. Local Development Framework Core Strategy documents which state that Crewe is a key focus for both employment Policy CS 2 `Settlement Hierarchy and Spatial Distribution and housing growth within the Authority Area. New Settlements` details three new settlements which are proposed in the Development Strategy; at Stowford “All Change for Crewe” is an ambitious strategy which aims (near Crewe Hall), Barthomley and Handforth East which to support Crewe’s economic development over the next together could accommodate in the region of 120 hectares 20 years. The strategy identifi es Crewe as the largest town of new employment land and 3,800 new homes along with in south Cheshire with a population of 83,000. The strategy new transport infrastructure, community facilities, open has fi ve aims to ensure delivery of key development projects space and new local centres. and initiatives to ensure sustainable economic development and growth of Crewe is achieved: Cheshire East Council set out the justifi cation for these • Unlocking development potential settlements on the basis that to accommodate growth in • Livability and local transport jobs and houses, new development is necessary and they • Quality image, perception and leadership want to ensure that “development takes place in areas that • A knowledge economy and a knowledgeable work- are well connected to existing urban areas, incorporate force green infrastructure and the latest building technology, • Connections and linkages generate a lower carbon footprint and less waste and enable healthy living”. Development Strategy These three new settlements are set out in the The Council undertook a consultation on its Development Development Strategy in order “to provide jobs and homes Strategy between 15 January and 26 February 2013. This in a planned environment with good infrastructure, rather Development Strategy is based on providing jobs growth than increasing the amount of development that would whilst also ensuring that the character of Cheshire East is need to be located on the periphery of existing constrained retained.