Application approved (Upper site)

The planning application for the upper site, the land immediately opposite the Red Lion Inn, has been approved by the planning dept at Macclesfield without putting it before the planning committee.

The application can be seen on Cheshire East Council's web site. Click here and enter application no. 10/2108M.

Inquiry date now set (Lower site)

The Planning Inspectorate have announced that the Hearing the application to build on the lower site will take place on Tuesday 14th September 2010, starting at 10.00am at Macclesfield Town Hall. Tim Boddington and Chris de Wet will be in contact with the community nearer the time in order to determine any action required in preparation for the Hearing.

Community action (Lower site)

Twenty five local residents met at the Red Lion Inn on Sunday 30th May to discuss the present situation regarding the appeal by Messrs Cumberbirch against refusal by CEC Planning Committee to build four terraced units in Cumberland Drive. Tim Boddington and Chris de Wet described the process so far and where we go next.

The Lower Site

The lower four, in Cumberland Drive, are now the subject of a planning appeal to be heard before a Planning Inspector. The type of hearing will be an Informal Hearing. In this we, together with the appellant and CEC planners, will be able to put our case directly to the Inspector without legal representation or cross examination.

If you wrote to the Planning Dept at Macclesfield to comment on the application, 09/4335M, or if you live locally, you should have received a notice from CEC, dated 12 may 2010, which describes the Inquiry process. Click here for the notice. A Guide to Taking Part in Planning Appeals is available from the Planning Inspectorate.

If you wrote to CEC in advance of the Planning Committee's consideration of the application, your comments will have been passed on to the Inspector. It is now too late to write with further comments.

Bollington Civic Society and Chris de Wet, among others, have written to the Inspector to headline the comments made to the Planning Committee (all of which the Inspector will have read).

In due course we will all be advised of the date, time and place for the Informal Inquiry.

The Upper Site

Messrs Cumberbirch recently instructed their agent, Mr Copestake, to meet Tim Boddington and Chris de Wet to discuss in more detail the community's concerns regarding both the lower and the upper development sites.

Messrs Cumberbirch do seem to have listened to us regarding the upper site and have sent draft plans showing their current thinking. In these they have answered most of our concerns, although they will still remove the public parking facility presently enjoyed by the pub and the community.

Bollington Civic Society has advised Mr Copestake that they will not oppose an application based on these drawings. Our reason for this is because:

1. This has always been a case of what is built rather than whether it is built,
2. They have answered all our criticisms of the original proposal other than our desire for some public parking space, particularly for the pub. The latter wish could not be used to overturn a planning application. We believe this plan provides the most achievable compromise that we are likely to get.

Going to appeal

Messrs Cumberbirch have applied to go to appeal over the most recent refusal. The Planning Inspectorate have rejected their request for a Full Inquiry and have instead opted for an Informal Hearing. This will provide us with the opportunity to make our case before the Inspector without the need for legal representatives or cross examination of the evidence. The date for the Informal Hearing is yet to be announced.

Planning committee - permission refused!

I am delighted to say that our arguments prevailed and Messrs Cumberbirch's application to build four houses on Cumberland Drive was refused permission at the CEC Northern Planning Committee on 24 February 2010. We have now won three times against them. That must show the strength of our case.

The presentations and discussion by the committee lasted for one and a half hours. The whole subject was very well turned over and I was especially impressed by the amount of plain ordinary common sense expressed by committee members. Only one member spoke for acceptance and then on the grounds that an inquiry might result in costs against the council. The vote was 7 for refusal, 1 for acceptance with 3 abstentions.

As you may know, I was doubtful that we could win this case in view of the agreement reached between CEC planners and the appellant, during last autumn's Public Inquiry, that there was no objection to these four houses. I expected that to overwhelm the discussion. How wrong could I be - members largely ignored that and concentrated on the effect this proposal would have on the Conservation Area. The key things that really swayed it were, in my view:

• The number of letters and emails sent in opposition to the proposal. My thanks to everyone who wrote in;
• The (once again) tremendous turnout of residents at the meeting. My great thanks to all those who turned out on a cold day;
• The use of graphics showing the view up and down Lord Street as it is now and if the development were to be built. Thanks to Chris de Wet for this;
• The complete failure of the applicant to consult with the community. This seemed to carry more weight this time than last.

The speakers in support of our case were (in order) CEC Cllr Matthew Davies, Bollington Mayor Cllr Shirley Sockett, Tim Boddington for the Civic Society, Chris de Wet for the residents. All made very good arguments for the case. Cllr Diana Thompson, another of our CEC ward councillors, is on the planning committee and spoke well for us. My great thanks to them all for their support which was undoubtedly very important on the day. Mr Carl Copestake spoke for the applicant.

The formal grounds for rejection were based on unsuitability for the Conservation Area, too high, and un-neighbourly, particularly with respect to 50 Lord Street.

Immediately after the decision Chris de Wet, Xavier Paterson and Tim Boddington approached the applicant's representative, Mr Copestake, (the only person there in their support) and made it clear that we did not want to see this go to appeal again. We asked him to convey to Messrs Cumberbirch our willingness to sit down with them and work out a plan between us that we and they could support without further ado. We await their answer with interest.

Comments submitted by Bollington Civic Society in opposition to this application.

New application

Messrs H Cumberbirch & Sons Ltd. have submitted a further application to Cheshire East Council, this time for a terrace of four houses fronting on Cumberland Drive. These were the lower four of the previous proposal that was recently dismissed by the Inspector. However, during the enquiry it was agreed between Messrs Cumberbirch and Cheshire East Council (CEC) - but not with the residents or the Civic Society - that there were no objections to that part of the proposal.

The Civic Society committee is commenting to the effect that it seeks refusal of the application. The residents will object to this application. Chris de Wet will once again co-ordinate this campaign amongst the residents. Tim Boddington will do the same for the Civic Society.

The application has Planning Reference 09/4335M and can be seen at the CEC Planning web site. Enter the Planning Reference in the box and click Search.

Chris de Wet has kindly prepared an artist's impression of just what these houses would look like ...

Appeal dismissed

The appeal made by Messrs H Cumberbirch & Sons Ltd. against Macclesfield Borough Council's refusal to give planning permission to build on the land at the top of High Street/ Lord Street/ Chancery Lane/ Cumberland Drive was dismissed by the Inspector after considering the evidence given at a three day inquiry held in Macclesfield Town Hall during August and September.

Obviously, we were very pleased with this result. It demonstrated the value and importance of a well developed opposition case to such proposals which always require strong community support over an extended period of time. We got this in spades and I thank the community very much indeed for this tremendous support. In particular I thank Chris de Wet who single-mindedly gathered the community into a cohesive and effective opposition.

If you would like to read the Inspector's report it's here.