In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of time is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the Cabinet. The Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.
Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.
Minutes:
Sue Helliwell, speaking on behalf of Alsager Town Council, asked if Cheshire East Council would consider relocating any of its services to the children’s centres in order to support the centres’ retention. Councillor Rachel Bailey, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families, indicated that a report on future children’s centre service provision was to be considered later in the meeting.
Viv Belcher, representing Barthomley Action Group and Barthomley Parish Council, objected to the continued inclusion in the Local Plan of site CS15/PSS303, referred to as the Radway Green extension, for the development of 25ha of green belt land in Barthomley for Alsager’s employment land.
Brian Chaplin, speaking on behalf of the South Knutsford Residents Group, said that the Group accepted the revisions to the Local Plan, albeit with a ‘heavy heart’ on the loss of green belt. The Group also accepted the site allocations for Knutsford. He added that the challenge now was to create communities, utilising neighbourhood plans for this purpose.
Eileen Furr, speaking as a resident and on behalf of the campaign group Land East of Fence Avenue in Macclesfield, referred to the description of site CS9 in the draft Local Plan which she said was inaccurate and that fifty per cent of the site was green pastureland. She felt that the brownfield part of the site could be developed for housing but that the undulating grazing land forming the other half of the site should be retained.
Pam Upchurch also felt that the description of site CS9 was inaccurate and misleading despite local residents having drawn the Council’s attention to the matter on a number of occasions. She felt that local residents should be given the opportunity to comment on an accurate description of the site.
The Chairman indicated that there would be a further period of public consultation on the Local Plan which would provide a further opportunity for residents and others to comment on the issues raised at the Cabinet meeting. There would also be an opportunity to raise them at the Council meeting on Friday.
Stuart Campbell of Limelight Developments Ltd referred to a planning permission he had obtained to provide 22 housing units, including social housing, on a site adjoining Browning Street Car Park in Crewe. The scheme depended on vehicular access through the car park. An item on the Cabinet’s agenda was proposing the development of what it called the ‘former car park in Browning Street’ to provide four starter homes. Mr Campbell said that if this took away the vehicular access to his proposed development, this would render his scheme unviable with the loss of the 22 housing units. The Chairman suggested that this matter be considered when the agenda item was discussed later in the meeting.
Councillor Jean Parry of Congleton Town Council referred to the environmental enhancement proposals for the town centre and expressed safety concerns about the shared space elements of the scheme, especially for the visually impaired trying to use the crossings. She referred to a report by Lord Holmes on the adverse impact of shared space on safety. She urged the Council to reconsider the shared space elements of the scheme.
Councillor Amanda Martin of Congleton Town Council added that shared space works best when fewer than 100 vehicles an hour use the road. She had counted over 700 vehicles using Festival Square in an hour that morning. She nevertheless welcomed the refurbishment of the town centre but urged Cheshire East Council to work closely with the Town Council’s project group and to consult the public and groups such as RNIB.
The Chairman thanked both councillors for their comments and gave assurances about further co-operation and consultation.
The Chairman indicated that he had met several of the speakers from the previous Cabinet meeting to discuss their concerns which were being addressed. He thanked all the speakers at today’s meeting and assured them that the Council took their comments seriously.