In accordance the Council Procedural Rules, a total period of 30 minutes is allocated for members of the public to speak at Council meetings. Individual members of the public may speak for up to 2 minutes, but the Chair will have discretion to vary this requirement where they consider it appropriate.
Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting and should include the question with that notice. Requests to speak and questions should be submitted via the Register to Speak form.
Petitions - To receive any petitions which have met the criteria - Petitions Scheme Criteria, and falls within the remit of the Committee. Petition organisers will be allowed up to three minutes to speak.
Minutes:
Ms Lillian Burns spoke on behalf of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) about the Adlington New Town proposal. She stated that the New Towns Taskforce report described it as a standalone settlement, but it would not be as it would close the green belt gap between Poynton, Bollington, and Macclesfield. Ms Burns stated that there were already another 1,000 homes planned for the former Woodford Airfield site, in addition to numerous applications for proposed developments between Hazel Grove in Stockport and Poynton in Cheshire East. Ms Burns stated that CPRE supported the right kind of development in the right places, which included some of the new town recommendations located on brownfield sites. However, the Adlington proposal was the worst possible example of unsustainable urban sprawl into the countryside. It would reduce the food resilience of the area; be on parts of the rivers Bollin and Dane that were prone to flooding; and would impact on habitats and wildlife. There were also big questions of the water and sewage capacity, as well as a lack of sustainable transport and infrastructure. It was an unsustainable proposition that should not be supported.
Mr Simon Gleave, Chair of the Adlington Parish Council, referred to the proposals for the Adlington New Town and stated that there had only been silence from Cheshire East Council regarding its views on the proposals. He stated that the residents of North East Cheshire were waiting to hear the view of the principal authority on this hugely important issue, which would have far reaching effects on them. Mr Gleave respectfully asked that the Council engage in discussion of this matter.
In response to the speakers, Cllr M Gorman, Deputy Leader of the Council, stated that the recommendations of the independent New Towns Taskforce had been prepared independently and not proposed by Cheshire East Council.? The Council had no role in the proposals. The applicants had contacted the Council to make them aware, in confidence, of their applications. The Taskforce had met with officers in May 2025 to ask questions on locations, economic opportunities, and challenges. Subsequently, the Council wrote to the Taskforce supporting opportunities in principle for New Towns, but highlighting the major planning, delivery and infrastructure challenges as highlighted today by the public speakers. The Council had no role or influence – it was an independent review. Cllr Gorman stated that the Council awaited further information from the Government on the proposals, with an expectation that more information would be published in Spring 2026, which would then be presented at full Council for discussion and debate.
Mr Richard Slater stated that he had recently received a communication from Jones Homes regarding the proposed roundabout between Broken Cross and The Cock Inn, Macclesfield, and the full closure of A537. He stated that there was no entry on the One Network portal for these works, which raised concerns as to whether the statutory notice had been properly published, so these works must not proceed. He asked that the Council confirm that no works would begin until the full three-month statutory notice had been issued and clearly visible on the One Network system and that there would be appropriate temporary restrictions or controls to prevent dangerous rat-running through Henbury's narrow lanes and Whirley Road.
In response Councillor M Goldsmith, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee, stated that the developer had been working with the Council’s Highways Team to put in place the legal agreement to construct these roundabout works, which allowed the developer to seek a Highways Permit to proceed with works. He explained that this would be agreed with the Council’s Network Management Team and would include the need for advance notice, as per the regulations. Any communications from the developer thus far should be seen as additional to this and not part of any formal notice period. He stated that discussions with the developer were ongoing about the precise detail of the traffic management arrangements but confirmed that the team were fully aware of the sensitivities of this location and would be seeking to ensure disruption was kept to a minimum. This would also ensure that the roadworks could take place as safely as possible for everyone involved.
Mr Robert Douglas stated that fly-tipping was a risk to public health, endangered local wildlife and livestock and that every year, it cost Cheshire East’s communities about £200,000 to clear up. He referred to the Government’s published information about fly-tipping and fixed penalty notices for every council in England and stated that that for the year to March 2024, the level of fly-tipping per person in Cheshire East was 42% higher than Cheshire West, 71% worse than Warrington and over two and a half times that of Staffordshire Moorlands. Mr Douglas stated that two years ago, he pointed out to Cheshire East Council that for the year to March 2022, while Cheshire West was issuing one fixed penalty notice for every 20 incidents, Cheshire East Council was only issuing one for every 200. Two years later while Cheshire West was issuing one fixed penalty notice for every 16 incidents, Cheshire East was only issuing one for every 500. Every time Cheshire East issued a fixed penalty notice, Cheshire West would have issued 31. He stated that Councils were allowed to levy fines of up to £1,000 for fly tipping yet the Council’s maximum remained at £400. He asked that the Council immediately increase the maximum fine for fly-tipping to £1,000, and that all fly-tipping incidents were investigated and pursued.
In response Councillor D Jefferay, Chair of Environment and Communities Committee, explained that the Council had recently improved reporting systems for members of the public to provide more information in relation to whether there might be information within the waste, or if they had witnessed the incident or had evidence that might lead to further investigation of the fly tip. This ensured that more cases were sent directly to the community enforcement team for investigation ahead of any clearance.?? He reported that from September 2024 to the present date, there had been 34 Fixed Penalty Notice’s issued for breaches of waste legislation, i.e. Fly tipping, Domestic Waste Duty of Care and Breach of Section 46 waste receptacle notice. Twenty-three of these were paid in full; two had been referred to court for prosecution; four were currently outstanding, though still within payment time; and five had been cancelled. Councillor Jefferay stated that he had recently attended a conference in respect of Waste Crime, organised by the Police and Crime Commissioner. At this conference, actions were placed for more collaborative working between Cheshire East and neighbouring Councils and agencies, such as the Police and the Environment Agency. This would allow lessons learnt to be shared to help improve performance and disrupt organised waste crime - the perpetrators of which did not respect Council boundaries.